A Budget PC Under Rs. 25,000

One of the most significant changes that have taken place, over the last couple of years has been the gradual erosion of the single-core processor market by dual-cores. AMD and Intel have been waging a price war against each other on this front and this has lead to a situation where single core processors are now just literally 200-300 rupees cheaper than their dual-core counterparts. This is of course great news for consumers, as it means that it is now possible to assemble a dual-core powered multi-media ready desktop for as low as Rs. 25,000! Please note that since this is just a basic Rs. 5,000 upgrade from our popular Rs. 20,000 machine, many of our peripherals and components remain the same.Here is our choice of components for the ideal entry-level dual-core machine
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (Rs. 4,500)

While searching for the ideal processor for our machine, we considered both solutions from Intel and AMD. Though Intel has significantly lowered its prices and introduced the Intel 945 GZ chipset, we find that the AMD 4400 X2 processor/AMD 690G chipset combination offers far better VFM.
This is a mid-rung processor that offers a clock speed of 2.3 GHZ, 512K of L2 cache and in an important development has been made on a 65nm die process. This results in decreased power requirement, keeps the processor running significantly cooler and with its clock speed actually offers the performance of the Intel E6300 which costs Rs. 3,000 more.
Motherboard: Asus M2A -VM (Rs. 4,500)
Keeping in mind our budget, we had to choose our motherboard very carefully. Our first choice was the Asus M2NPV-VM board which has been featured in previous roundups. However, while we were making enquires in the market about the availability of the product, we found that most major dealers simply said that it was not available. The product seems to have just disappeared. This forced us to reevaluate our choice. Our second choice therefore and our choice for this machine was another Asus board – the Asus M2A VM.The M2A VM is a newly launched product and is based on the AMD690G chipset. It is the first product to come out of the ATI/AMD stable, since the merger occurred. This new chipset is an impressive effort and supports the entire range of currently available AMD processors. Apart from that it also has support for DDR2 800, offers dual video connectivity options (DVI and D-Sub) with the help of the Radeon X1250 graphics engine. The presence of both DVI and D-Sub is great as it allows you to connect both LCD and CRT monitors. The board also offers a Hi-Definition 5.1 channel audio chip the Realtek ALC883 codec, which offers excellent music playback capability. The board also features a single PCIe slot, which is perfect for people looking to upgrade to a dedicated graphics solution for gaming. For its expansion options, the board offers an impressive 10 USB slots and 1 Firewire.Overall with its support for current generation AMD processors, onboard graphics and sound and a vast array of peripheral connectivity the Asus M2A VM forms the perfect foundation to build our PC on.
RAM: Kingston DDR2 667 MHz (Rs. 2,500)
RAM prices have recently been going south and it's time take advantage of this. 1 GB of system memory is absolutely vital for system operations nowadays with the increased size and requirements of software. Kingston really needs no introduction. They have been making quality RAM sticks for a long time. Now available at a price of Rs. 2,500 with a 5 yr warranty, it’s the perfect product for our machine.
Graphics: Onboard (AMD 690G)
The AMD 690G chipset present on the motherboard, is a direct rival of Nvidia’s onboard graphics and is a reworked version of ATI’s own Radeon X700 series. It features a core clock speed of 400 MHz, is capable of dual VGA/DVI-D output and is fully compatible with DX9. Unlike Nvidia’s products however it only supports SM 2.0. This new chipset is also capable of HDMI output and in fact the board we have chosen here, also retails with HDMI support as a higher-end model.The new chipset also supports ATI’s legendary video acceleration and when you combine it with the fact that the chipset is Windows Vista Premium ready; its advantages really begin to add up.
Sound: Onboard (7.1 Realtek ALC883 Audio Codec)
Onboard audio over the years has rapidly increased in its quality of output and standard support. The codec being used here is the ALC883 which is 7.1 capable and even supports S/PDIF output. This makes this chipset a valuable bargain as it offers excellent audio quality output and does it for free.
Lan: Onboard 10/100/1000
This is the standard Gigabit onboard 10/100/1000 LAN that gives a maximum transfer speed of 1000 Mbps. It is fast enough to take care of your broadband internet (most users have a connection speed of 256 Kpbs or 512 kbps).
HDD: Seagate 160 GB SATA II (Rs. 2,100)
Built on the SATA II platform this drive has adequate storage. With its price now under Rs. 2,500 the drive is more than capable of holding quite a few movies and songs.Optical Drive: Asus DRW-1608P3S 16X DVD Writer (Rs. 2,250)
We carry forward this drive from our previous roundup as it remains amongst the best choices available at this price range even now.
This drive is an OEM product of Pioneer's 111L drive and offers great compatibility with all kinds of DVD media, which can be burnt easily at 16x without quality issues. The drive is also capable of writing to DL media which can hold more data than any other media solution currently available. Pioneer also has some of the best read speeds of any DVD drives and can easily be made region-free.
Monitor: Samsung 17 '' Flat 798MB (Rs. 5,600)
Under Rs. 5000, the 17-inch Samsung Flat CRT offers excellent value for money. And even though LCDs are hot nowadays, there are still certain areas in which CRTs do better. They can output at different resolutions and give excellent viewing angles.As with CRTs, the 17-inch 798MG has a viewing area of 16 inches. It has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024 at 65 Hz refresh rate while the optimal resolution is 1024 x 768 at 85 Hz. The maximum usable resolution is 1152 x 864 at 75 Hz. Maximum usable resolution defines the resolution at a refresh rate of 75 Hz or better. Anything below that will give a flickered output.
Keyboard & Mouse: Microsoft Optical Keyboard and Mouse Set (Rs. 800)
Microsoft makes excellent keyboard and mice which are sturdy and can be used over long hours of work. At a cost of just Rs. 800 this is an excellent buy.Cabinet: I-Ball i648 ATX Cabinet with integrated 400 Watt Powersupply (Rs 1,450)
Prices of cabinets have risen since we last did a roundup. We were forced to drop VIP here and replace it with an I-Ball cabinet that comes with a 400 W PSU and is available for cheap.
Speakers: Creative SBS 370 (Rs. 1,200)
This has been our favorite for a long time. The best part — it comes with a woofer to give you that thumping bass and gives you good sound quality for the price. The satellites are powered at 5 watts RMS each and the Subwoofer is powered at 11 watts RMS.
Specification Table

Components
Model
Price (Rupees)
Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
4,500
Motherboard
Asus M2A -VM
4,500
RAM
Kingston DDR2 667 MHz
2,500
Sound
Onboard 7.1 Realtek ALC883 audio codec
N/A
LAN
Onboard, 10/100/1000
N/A
Graphics
Onboard AMD 690G
N/A
Optical Drive
Asus DRW-1608P3S 16X DVD Writer
2,250
Hard Disk
Western Digital SATA II HDD 160 GB
2,100
Monitor
Samsung 17 '' Flat 798MB
5,600
Keyboard/Mouse
Microsoft Keyboard and Optical Mouse Set
800
Case
I-Ball i648 (400W PSU)
1,450
Speakers
Creative SBS 370
1,200

Total
Rs. 24,800
Our
Our new machine while making use of existing components from our earlier feature, marks a big step up in processing power and storage. Not only is it future-ready but also offers you a very good base to build a good powerful machine on.