Dragon Lord - The inferno within

.......or should I say its ice cool within.

PC-K62 is an amazing case. So many features, amazing attention to detail, great build quality and paint finish.

All the positive things I read about this case before buying hold true.

Things I don't like,

1. It is tough to route the 8 pin CPU power cable once the motherboard is installed. I had to remove the motherboard to route the cable and even then had to route it through some pretty tight corners.

2. Rotating the HDD cage after everything is installed is tough. If u want to rotate it, better do it
before starting the build.

Time for better cable management and get a good CPU cooler.

Driver comparison Forceware 196.21 vs 186.18 (GTX 260 Benchmarks)

Introduction
----------------
After figuring out that low 3DMark Vantage GPU score is linked to the drivers (Forceware 195.62), I decided to continue using the latest drivers as this may be a one off case and usually it is recommended to use the latest drivers. When Forceware 196.21 was released I updated my drivers. I have used these for quiet some time and did not find any major problems.

This week I installed Batman Arkham Asylum and ran the inbuilt benchmark at various settings with 196.21. I found that the results are consistently lower by upto 10% compared to a similar configuration. A quick search revealed that a lot people are complaining about low performance and stuttering in various games. After some research 186.18 are the best Forceware drivers so far for gaming performance. I felt that going back to 186.18 will improve the performance. So I decided to run some tests using 186.18.

I installed 186.18 (Used driver sweeper and ccleaner in safe mode to clean driver and registry traces) and ran some tests. So did it improve the performance. Lets look at some results.

The Tests
------------

Test Machine
------------
Intel i5 750 (@ stock with Turbo enabled)
2x2GB G.Skill RipJaws @ DDR3-1333, 9-9-9-24
500GB WD Black WD5001AALS
XFX GTX 260 xxx edition (core: 640/ mem: 1000/ Shader: 1380)

OS
--
Windows 7 64-bit

GPU Drivers
-----------
Forceware 186.18
Forceware 196.21

Software Used
-------------
3DMark Vantage v1.01
Far Cry 2 v1.3
Batman Arkham Asylum v1.1

3DMark Vantage
--------------------

I ran this test with the performance preset and noted down the GPU scores.

196.21
--------
GPU SCORE: 8051

186.18
--------
GPU SCORE: 9857

As I pointed out in the other article, Vantage score is considerably more with
186.18. There is noticeably less stuttering with 186.18.

Far Cry 2
-----------

For this test 16x AF was forced in nvidia control panel and ultra high preset is selected with Fire, Physics and Real Trees set to very high. Vsync is disabled.

for the gaming results following format is used.
Min, Avg, Max FPS

196.21
-------
No AA, 16x AF, DX10
40, 50, 73

4x AA, 16x AF, DX10
33, 43, 62

186.18
-------
No AA, 16x AF, DX10
42, 53, 75

4x AA, 16x AF, DX10
36, 46, 65

There is an improvement in the FPS.

Batman Arkham Asylum
-----------------------------
In game settings are set to very high and PhysX is set to Normal. D3DOverrider is used to force vsync and triple buffering.

196.21
-------
1680x1050, 4x AA, vsync, triple buffering, Physx Normal, very high (
25, 43, 57

1680x1050, 4x AA, no vsync, Physx Normal, very high
28, 42, 56

186.18
-------
1680x1050, 4x AA, vsync, triple buffering, Physx Normal, very high
30, 50, 61

1680x1050, 4x AA, no vsync, Physx Normal, very high
30, 50, 68

There is a nice boot in avg. FPS. I was surprised, as I was expecting the newer drivers to perform better in newer titles. The gameplay is smoother and image quality has improved.

Conclusion
--------------
I got good performance boost (at least in the apps I use), smoother gamplay and better image qulity by going back to 186.18. For now I will stick with these, till I face some problem or newer ones perform better. I loose openCL and DirectCompute support but I don't need it for the time being.

Extra Batman Arkham Asylum performance data I have with 196.21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1680x1050, no AA, no vsync, no physx, very high
69, 109, 150

1680x1050, no AA, no vsync, Physx Normal, high
32, 52, 78

1680x1050, no AA, no vsync, Physx Normal, very high
26, 50, 71

1680x1050,4xAA, no vsync, no physx, very high
49, 81, 105

1680x1050, 4x AA, no vsync, Physx Normal, very high
28, 42, 56

1680x1050, 4x AA, no vsync, Physx High, very high
20, 36, 55

1680x1050, no AA, vsync, triple buffering, Physx Normal, very high
28, 49, 61

1680x1050, no AA, vsync, triple buffering, Physx Normal, High
27, 51, 62

1680x1050, 4x AA, vsync, Physx Normal, very high
24, 43, 60

nVidia names Fermi based video cards GTX 480 and 470

Fermi based video cards are named GTX 480 and 470, instead if GTX 380 and 3xx. Check this article for more info.

G-Rig-3 (Introduction)

Introduction
----------------

I recently built a new gaming rig, which will be my primary rig. This is an effort to document my experience, from selecting the components to the final build to stability testing.

Guys from Bangalore planning to buy from S.P road, may be interested in "Acquiring the components" section and "The Ankit Hustle". This was my experience at S.P road. May be this will help you.

I call this machine G-Rig-3 (This is my 3rd gaming rig and my 4th machine).

My first was a
PIII 550 Mhz (coppermine) with,
128 MB 100 Mhz SD RAM
i810e chipset. (circa May 2000)
Samsung 15" Monitor

My 2nd machine,
G-Rig-1 (Build date: 26 Jan 2002), was a
---------
P4 1.6 Ghz (Willamette core)
GeForce 3 Ti 200 64MB
Samsung 4x64MB RDRAM (Yes, I indirectly paid royalty to RAMBUS)
Intel mobo, i850 chipset (Socket 423, AGP4x, RDRAM)
(Will update with the exact model number)

The rig I am upgrading from
G-Rig-2 (Build date: 21 Sept 2005)
----------
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (90nm Venice core),
2x512MB TWINMOS DDR-400 CL 2.5.
Asus A8N-E.
Leadtek GeForce 7800 GT 256MB (The first version 110 nm).
Grabbed it as soon as it came out in Sep' 05. Price was insane but I got my moneys worth. Man it rocked hard. Got a lot of power. It came bundled with two free games Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory and Price of Persia: Warrior Within. For 2 years it just maxed out all the games I threw at it at 1182x864@75Hz. For a year I Had to reduce the settings a bit, tweak and fine tune the games, but it was still amazing and the games looked good. It was only in the 4th year the it felt lagging in the latest games.
Then in Sep' 09 its time has came. It was because of the SMPS. I bought a Zebronics 400W SMPS, it was a higher end model in Zebronics. May be it was a mistake that I bought this SMPS. But It worked flawlessly for 4 years, there was never a BSOD or a system crash in those four years. So it did its job. One day there is no display. After a lot of troubleshooting and borrowing parts from my cousin, narrowed down on the problem and the problem was the SMPS and it took the card with it. But surprisingly my 7800gt works on his machine and his graphic card works on my machine with a different SMPS. So there must be a problem with the GFx and my MoBo combo, may be the board is not able to deliver enough power. So I grabbed an ATI Radeon HD4350 512MB DDR2 and used a 300W SMPS from my Cousin's Dell machine, which was lying around after he upgraded his GPU and SMPS. This card also turned this rig into a potential HTPC, when it goes to my parents.

MSI ATI Radeon HD4350 512 MD DDR2. (Temporary substitute for the failed 7800GT)
Samsung 753DF 17" Monitor, from the previous rig
160 GB Seagate 7200.7
Sony DRU-810A (Failed after 3yrs. Bought a Sony V200s)
Zebronics 4OOw higher end SMPS. (Failed after 4yrs 3months, Using a spare SMPS from my cousin's DELL machine)
Zebronics GeForce 2 Case.

So , here it goes the G-Rig-3 story. I have been contemplating the idea of building an new rig since Oct'2008, as G-Rig-2 felt lagging in the latest games of the time like COD-MW, Burnout Paradise etc at high setting. I for one never liked playing a game at low setting, as the game would loose its visual appeal and immersion at those settings. I would hold off till I build a better rig, but I would not play a game at low settings. But the build did not materialize because I was not getting enough time to spend on gaming and hence to justify a new rig. I was spending 3-4 hrs a week re-playing my old favorites and games that I did not play before that G-Rig-2 can
run at high settings.

In Oct' 09 I decided to build a new rig. The latest from Intel, lynnfield is just out and what better time to build a new rig.

I have split this article into the following sections. Each section will be a different post. Click on the title, to jump to the post.

1. Tentative Components
(a) Processor and Motherboard
(b) RAM
(c) Graphic Card
(d) Monitor (DELL 2209WA: Flickering blue)
(e) Speakers (Altec Lansing MX5021: A short review)
(f) SMPS
(g) HDD
(h) UPS
(i) Mouse & Mouse Mat

2. Acquiring the components
(a) Ankit Hustle

3. Final Components

4. The Build
(a) First Boot
(b) Build complete

5. Stability testing, temperatures and power consumption
(a) Max power draw from the UPS. APC 650VA sufficient for this rig?
(b) The Half speed PCI-e bus.

6. Conclusion

G-Rig-3 (Tentative Components)

==================================
1. Tentative Components
==================================

1(a) Processor & Motherboard

In Oct' 09 I decided to build a new rig. The latest from Intel, lynnfield is just out and what better time to build a new rig. After a lot of research I finalized that

Intel Core i5-750

will power my new rig, and for the motherboard the contenders are
* Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2.
* ASUS P7P55D.
* Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R.
* MSI P55-GD65.

I wanted to go with the Gigabyte UD2. Since it fits my requirement, good quality components all over and excellent reviews overall. I may also be able to get some slight over clock with this board. I will not over clock heavily. One concern I had was that the board is a uATX board. Limited slots for add-on card/adapters. I have a PCI wi-fi card from my previous rig which I wanted to use. I thought I can manage to get this card in the second PCI slot after installing the Gfx card. But it will almost touch the GFX. In the worst case I have to buy a USB wi-fi adapter, which are not as good as PCI ones. I very much wanted to go for P7P55D or UD3R, but they are expensive by 3000 and 4500 rupees respectively, which may make me stretch my budget. Any way I kept P7P55D as an option, though I may not get the UD3R.

By spending the extra 3k I get all the features of UD2 and more.
* extra ports and more flexibility for add-on cards,
* 12+2 power phases for excellent over clocking (I may go for those high over clocks after all ) and heat sinks on the power circuitry.
* The board looks awesome with the black PCB and silver blue heat sinks.
* I get two extra fan headers if I want to use fan control options like Q-Fan in the motherboard.

Since this is a new platform and a lot of people are facing various problems I decided to wait for a month or two before the final build. At the same time prices will also settle down. I had 9th Jan in my mind as the tentative date on which I will build the rig.
==================================

1(b) RAM

The contenders are - G.Skill RipJaws F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL, G.Skill RipJaws F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL, CORSAIR CMX4GX3M2A1600C9, CORSAIR TW3X4G1333C9A

I am kind of inclined towards G.Skill RipJaws F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL. If it is not available I wanted to go for G.Skill RipJaws F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL or CORSAIR TW3X4G1333C9A. All of these are 1.5V and i wanted to stick with 1.5v modules as the i5-750 can go upto max of 1.65V. So it gives a good head room for over-clocking if at all I wanted to. I kept F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL as my first preference as there is not much price difference between 1600 and 1333 at newegg. I was not aware of local pricing. So i thought if the price difference here is huge i can go for the 1333 version.

G.Skill RipJaws series has a lot of positive feedback especially from the users. I went through the reviews on newegg. Lot of i5 builds that I found on-line are using this RAM. Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 is a 1.65v RAM and its expensive. So this would be my last option and TW3X4G1333C9A is also expensive compared to F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL. Another reason why I wanted to wait for a couple of months was availability of RAM. Even when I inquiredn December Ripjaws was not available in the Bangalore Market. TE dealer BuyGamingStuff had a thread on this, but looks like availability is tough with him too, as he did not respond to the posts on this thread.
==================================

1(c) Graphic Card

The contenders are - XFX Geforce GTX 260 SP216, Zotac Geforce GTX 260 SP216, XFX Radeon 5770, Sapphire Radeon 5770

Another reason to wait was to see if there will be any news about the GTX3xx by Dec or Jan 1st week and see if the prices on these cards will drop.

I was considering the GTX 260, I use Linux for almost everything except gaming.
* Linux support is a lot better from nvidia and overall nvidia drivers are better.
* I also use the per application 3D profile from nvidia control panel which is a great option to force different settings for different 3D applications.
* I also wanted to play PhysX enabled games especially "Batman AA". GTX260 can run BAA @ 1680x1050 with medium physics and the rest maxed out. So its an added bonus.
* Power consumption is less than HD4870, and 4870 did not have the above advantages, it may have DX10.1, but it is not that important to me. Plus performance wise both are same.

I also used an MSI HD4350 for three months which replaced my 7800GT for temporary usage. Ati windows drivers are good enough, except for the lack of 3D application profiles like in NVIDIA drivers. They are there in some form but they are not as intuitive as in NVIDIA drivers. The catalyst drivers use the .Net framework. On my old rig on win XP the CCC took a lot of time to load. The catalyst drivers are bulky. These are not major concerns for me, but for me linux is important and nvidia's linux support is far better.

The red camp's offering 5770, is also equally tempting it has Almost same average performance as GTX260.

* Power consumption is lot less. This is one of the main reasons that I wanted to get a 5770. 50w lesser power draw then GTX260 in normal usage scenario.
* DX11 support. I feel that in the future when games that make proper use of DX11 come out, this card will be underpowered to run them at high settings.
* I also don't like the 128-bit bus, which already bottle necks the card in some scenarios.
* Eyefinity is not important to me as I will not run triple monitor setup. At least I wont on this rig.

Another factor is this time I am not planning to run the same card for more than 1.5 years. So will probably get successor to the Fermi or an ATI HD68xx series card later. Also the current crop of games are not that graphic intensive (except a few exceptions like crysis etc.). Most of the games I want to play will max out at 1680x1050@60Hz with AA and 16xAF which will be my native resolution. I also think any of these cards should be able to run most of the games in the next 1 to 1.5 years at high settings, since most of the game development is now focused on consoles.


==================================

1(d) Monitor

Tough I decided to wait for the rig, I went ahead and bought the monitor first. I somehow never liked TN panels. I did not own one but from what I have seen I am not satisfied with the viewing angles and colour reproduction, especially after sticking with a CRT all these years. I have been waiting for a good TFT which is good at the above and good for gaming too (less than 6ms response time). I was looking at some TN panels, then came across DELL Ulra Sharp 2209WA. This panel fits my requirement spot on. It has good colour reproduction, good viewing angles, good response time, its an IPS panel plus its an ultra sharp (good adjustable stand).

The panel has also got rave reviews around the web. After finalizing on this I called DELL to book one, but they refused to sell it to home customers. So I started googling for some other means of acquiring this monitor. After some rummaging I found BuyGamingStuff on TE selling it. I knew of TE before and was also a registered member but I did not know about Dealers on TE till that point. Then I called up BuyGamingStuff, he said that the monitor will be billed on his businesses name as DELL sells this only to Businesses. I made the payment on Nov 2nd 2009 and finally received it in the last week of Nov' 09. The deal was good, my only gripe is that it took a long time to deliver.

Head here for my short review.
==================================

1(e) Speakers

I upgraded my speakers to Altec Lansing MX-5021 in Q3 2008, when I was first considering an upgrade. I had a Creative Inspire 2400 system which i wanted to upgrade to a better speaker system, since I use my rig for listening to music, watching movies and for gaming. My friend had the same set of speakers, and they are good. So I went ahead and bought them.

Head here for my review.

==================================

1(f) SMPS

To select the right SMPS I use the extreme power supply calculator to get an idea of where my potential Rigs power requirements would be. Since the GTX260 consumes more power than 5770 I used it to arrive at this number. Link for extreme power supply calculator eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

I selected the following options on the page, with the extreme case of 100% TDP on the CPU and 100% system load with 20% Capacitor aging:
* i5-750 as the processor over-clocked to 3.6 Ghz at stock voltage. (I will not over-clock but if I do I will stick to stock voltage).
* High end Desktop Motherboard.
* 4 sticks DDR3 SDRAM.
* ATI HD5870 (To make sure i can upgrade to this level of card in the future).
* 2 HDDS
* DVD-RW
* 2 x 120 mm fans
* 1 x 140 mm fan
* 1 USB device
* 1 PCI device.

The max power this rig would reach is 482W in the worst case at extreme load. With no over-clock on the CPU it is 452W and with a GTX 260 SP216 it is 438w at extreme load. A 550W SMPS is more than enough even considering future upgrades and decent over-clock. At more realistic loads, with single HDD (I plan to use only one now) and under normal scenarios this rig would not even cross 400W. Even a 450W SMPS would do but I wanted to have some headroom, since an SMPS operating at less load translates to better efficiency (best between 75 - 95 %), less heat, lower cooling requirements and hence less noise from the cooling fan. After reading a lot of reviews I have zeroed in on the Corsair VX550. HardOCP has an excellent review on this, where they do an in-depth analysis of the PSU.

==================================

1(g) HDD

The options
WD5001AALS (500 GB Cavier Black edition), WD6401AALS (640 GB Cavier Black edition), WD1001FALS (1 TB Cavier Black edition), WD6400AAKS (640 GB Cavier Blue edition)

I wanted to stick to either 640GB blue or black, as 1TB goes above my budget. 640GB is the best option because they use higher density 320GB platters compare to the 250GB platters on 500GB. Higher density = Better performance. But 640GB blacks are tough to come by. So its going to be one of the other three. From what I read 1TB black > 500GB Black > 640GB Blue in terms of performance.

==================================

1(h) UPS

APC 650 VA, I did not want to spend much on ups. I want good protection from unclean power and 2-3 min of backup to shut down the machine. I will add More thoughts and analysis on this in the stability testing section.

==================================

1(i) Mouse & Mouse mat

I got a Razer Diamondback 3G in q3 2008. Sourced it from the US. In Nov' 09 I bought the Goliathus alpha speed edition from BuyGamingStuff. Again a good deal, my only complaint is the shipping time. I am very satisfied with the combo. Worth every penny. Adds to the total Gaming experience. Invest in a good mouse and mat if you are mostly into gaming, since this is the interface with your machine, it makes a difference.

I like the on the fly sensitivity adjustment of the mouse. Feels nice to hold and has a good grip, the button are good. My only gripe is that the buttons on the side are not easily accessible especially ones on the right side (I am a right hander). There is some confusion about the speed and control edition, about which one enhances control. I haven't used the control edition. I think speed edition has a tighter wave and hence more friction. It enhances control especially in the middle of intense action.

G-Rig-3 (Acquiring the components)

2. Acquiring the components
----------------------------------

This section and the next (Ankit Hustle) may help, if you are buying components from S.P Road in Bangalore. You can skip these two sections otherwise.

By the end of December I started checking availability and prices of components both online and locally. I sent emails to dealers in Bangalore most of them are located at S.P road. At one point I was also considering buying some stuff online from TE, but this is risky because any one component not working properly would mean a delay in the build. The platform being new and lot of people reporting problems would mean that I should be more careful. More over if I buy locally I can go to the shop and inspect each component at least visually before making the purchase.

I got quotes from four dealers
1. Ankit.
2. Anandit Infotech.
3. Karnataka computers.
4. Bangalore computers.
5. Golchha Computers.

Out of them Karnataka computers and Anandit Infotech gave reasonable quotes, tough they are high. Ankit is a ripoff, he quoted up to 10% high, on some components it was even higher. some of our fellow TE members also pointed this out in the "price quotes from S.P road" thread.

Bangalore computers gave good pricing for processor and motherboard, but for the rest it is on par with the others or higher. G.Skill RAM was not available with any dealer.

Golchha quoted some components at reasonable prices but some prices were very high. I recently bought (Oct' 09) a 9600GT and CM Real Power Pro 460W from this guy as he gave an OK quote at that time. Even when I bought these
components Ankit gave a 10% rip off quote on all the high end stuff. I ultimately bought them from Golchha. There is one thing with Golchha, you cannot bargain with him, his motto is buy for the qouted price or you can buy from any other shop, and he is arrogant, again inline with the S.P road price thread.

In the first week of January I talked with all the dealers over phone. I negotiated the prices as they are higher than normal. Karnatka and anandit said they can work out better prices when I go to make the purchase. Ankit said he can arrange for the G.Skill RipJaws RAM and reduced his prices to some extent. The guy from Karnataka computers said that he can arrange for the G.Skill RAM and all the components I wanted. But there is one problem, the motherboard I have finalized on GA-P55M-UD2, is not available with anybody. Every one promised availability on 8/10/2010 (The day before I wanted to build the rig). So I was hopeful that the board will be available on 9th. Meanwhile the guy from Ankit called me and said that he was ordering the RAM and I can come in a couple of days and collect it. He was sarcastic in all his conversations. Because he had the RAM ready, I thought I will negotiate on the rest of the components with him and buy every thing from him. I wanted to buy everything from the same dealer so that in case of some problem with the components it is easier to sort out the issue.

I also had a plan of buying the components from 2 or 3 dealers (based on best price and availability) as I am going to assemble the Rig anyway. But later, when I went to S.P Road, I learned that you cannot do that and I learned it
the hard way. Read on to know what happened in S.P road.

2(a) Ankit Hustle
---------------------

I built a new i5 based gaming rig and bought all the components from S.P road last saturday. I got quotes from following dealers in the first week of jan by mail before going there.

1. Karnataka Computers
2. Golchha
3. Ankit
4. Anandit

Ankit's qoute was a complete rip-off. He qouted upto 10% and sometimes even higher on all the stuff.

Golchha's Quote was ok for some components but on some it is again very high.

Karnataka computers and Anandit gave better overall quotes, tough prices are still high.

I talked with all of them on the phone and Karnataka computers and Anandit infotech guys said they can give better prices when i walk in.

My experience with Golcha is bad. I bought a 9600GT and CM Real power pro 460w from him before, at that time he was all sweet. I think if he feels that you are going to buy from him he is ok, otherwise he doesnot care. He was rude on the phone also. Some of his prices are good.

Ankit (talked with Dinesh) was not rude directly, but he was sarcastic. I negotiated a little bit on the phone, I had to clearly get the point across that I am completely aware of the current prices and after refering to qoutes by other dealers. He immediatly started to give better prices. But still they are not the best prices and there is still room for bargaining.

I was particular about getting the RAM in my signature. Ankit and Karnataka computers said that they can get it for me. In the middle of the week Dinesh called me and said that he has ordered the RAM and I can get it on saturday. So I thought I could negotiate with Ankit like some one suggested in this thread and get everything from him at proper prices. I also wanted to buy all the stuff from the same guy so that I can get good prices and support in case of problems. If I could not get best prices on every thing from the same Dealer I was also considering to buy stuff from different dealers at their best prices as I am going to self-assemble the rig anyway. Since Anandit guy was unaware of the RAM I wanted, my other option was Karnataka computers.

Finally I went to S.P road last saturday. Its is an i5 based rig. To my surprise IT Gain and Anandit said the Processor is out of stock. But Anandit guy said he can get the processor if i want it. So I thought I will give Ankit and Golcha a shot.

Went to Ankit and he was ready to sell the processor, and his latest quote was also higher then the other dealers qoutes. After heavy bargaining he came to OK prices.

Then I went to Golcha, as usual this guy showed his attitute. He was arrogant. His pricing was Ok, except for vx550 for which he quoted 6600 + tax. He also did not have the RAM I wanted and said that he cannot get it.

Then I went to karanataka computers, there again the processor was not available. I could not get GA-P55M-UD2 also at any shop.

Both Ankit and Glochha are very rude. Even the IT Gain guy was rude when I asked for individual components.

Finally I went back to Ankit almost decided to buy everything from him and told him I will buy everything from him if he gives a reduction on the overall price. By now Dinesh started behaving a lot different from before. He started saying don't get excited ... don't get excited. Probably he got my pulse and thought that he could take me for a ride. Then he asked another guy next to him to give the components to me. I gave the final qoute that Dinesh gave to him, he started entering the components in a different piece of paper. I was asking for reduction on components which I felt are still highly priced. He was saying that I will not get a better price. Finally while entering the GFX card price he started shouting at dinesh saying where can you get the card at this price and had some discussion with him. He quoted higher price on the HDD also, he stiked it off.
Then he qouted high for some other components to which I said I only need the processor, MoBo, Ram and some other stuff from him. Then he blatently said " Jaa, kush nahi dunga" --- " Go I will not sell you anyting". I felt very offended and talked to Dinesh asking him how some one can talk to a customer like that. He said "arey kya karte ho" to the other guy and said he was getting the graphic card i wanted and asked me to wait. There is no apology or any such sign from either of them. They were busy with the other customers. I have decided that I will not buy from a guy who has no manners and minimun courtesy towards the customers. I walked out after saying the same to Dinesh and said that I will post about the incident on TE.
If he cannot reduce the price he can deny to do so politely. He can say that this is the best they can give. I wouldn't mind paying nominal price for good customer service.

Then i went to Golcha thinking I can get half the stuff from him and the rest from Karnataka or Anandit infotech. But to my surprise he did not have the processor and said that in a rude manner. I tried in couple of other shops and got the same reply. Then I tried in Bangalore computers also and got the same reply. When asked he said that stock is not available and wont get fresh stock untill some time in February. I got a feeling that Ankit had some part to play in this and that all these dealers have a network. Another reason may be that they wanted to sell the i7-860 that every one is willing to send. When I told this guy that the same processor is available with Ankit then he called up some people and asked them if it is possible to arrange one for him.
Meanwhile I got a call from Anandit asking me what happened. I explained him the scenario and he said he would get it for me. He asked me to come to his shop. I went to his shop. He asked me if i want the rest of the components. When i said that if he can get me the RAM and graphic I am ready to buy everything from him. I also explained what happened in Ankit and told him all the components I wanted were avaiable with him. He said he would get all the stuff for me.

I lost all hope of getting core i5 on that day and was planning to buy from chennai or order online from TE dealers. But, he finally got everything for me. When asked how he got the processor and RAM. He said he got it from Ankit as there is no other option. May be ankit blocked the one processor that is available with them.
From all this I came to understand that these guys have the same distributors from whom they get the stuff and sell. Finally i got all the stuff I wanted from Anandit after spending some time selecting the graphic card.

Altec Lansing MX-5021 - A Short Review

I have used these speakers for more than an year. This is a short review based on moderate usage over the past year.

The build quality of the sub-woofer is good. The satellites come in a plastic enclosure with a small base and tend to fall off often. The control pod has aux-in and headphones jack which i find very useful. The build quality of the control pod is not so good. The volume knob is not sturdy and its wobbly. My friend owns the same speaker system. His system is not usable now because his control pod is not working. He is planning to get it repaired. I mostly use the remote to control the volume or to make bass and treble adjustment. I set the bass to slightly higher than Half and treble to just about half the level. At these setting the sound delivered is clean up to 90% of the volume or may be even 95%, tight bass and no signs of distortion. After that at full volume there is slight distortion. I usually keep the volume at 50 - 80%. Overall great speakers for the price.

Pluses
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* Good Sub-Woofer.
* Good overall sound reproduction.

Minuses
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* Satellite speakers base is small and tend to fall off often.
* Build quality of control pod.

My Rating 3.5/5 . Would have given a 4 if not for the build quality.