Major Overhaul for a Cheapskate

[cattb]

Yeah, I could see that...$174 for an e8400 3.0Ghz versus $67 for an AMD Athlon II x2 3.1Ghz or AMD Phenom II x2 3.2Ghz for $99.

Well it looks like 00Z is looking at Intel, I just making a suggestion and seems to be a very popular CPU here.
When I built my PC I was looking at Intel because of the problems AMD was having about 3 years ago. The price was to much for me to afford and went AMD and was using AMD before that. I have also used Intel also. Intel is a good processor.
I have to agree and to say if a person wants to save money AMD would be my answer. I have 2 pcs with AMD and i don't have any problems. The problems I do have is my OS needs to be refreshed, my PC runs kinda slow with XP. With WIndows 7, its fast,the OS is still fresh and not used alot.

[skribetm]

Q6600 for $120. look at forums, if you dont mind buying used.



phelan1777 at xtremesystems is selling an E8400 for $115 shipped(you prolly can ask $100).
not sure if you have access to the for sale link though.

[gyrene81]

If it's got less than 200 hours on it and never been overclocked I might consider buying a used E or Q series Intel...for under $100.

[OOZ662]

I am still reading these, guys. I've been pushed back until the beginning of next month for buying parts.

[humble]

As far as I'm concerned the best general overview for this is toms hardware, rarely have they steered me wrong. For low and mid end systems they go with AMD and I agree with them having built out a few.

Unless you go high end the AMC's are easily the better bang for the buck right now...same for ATI on GPU's. Here is the last Toms write up...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-cpu-gpu,2656.html   

[cattb]

There are deals at Newegg also. Look at the open box section, they give you 30 days to return. The way I read it is there is no warranty available from the manufacturer though. I run a 940BE AM+2  AMD and I paid a 103.00 from Newegg open box. Some of the open box cpu's go very fast.

I would imagine people buying the wrong cpu for the motherboard, whether it be the wrong socket or memory issue.

[Spikes]

I agree with cattb. For a budget PC (best bang for the buck) I'd go AMD any day. A lower end quad like the Athlon X4 630's run cheap (100) and higher end dual cores and quads are much cheaper than Intels.

[OOZ662]

This isn't specifically a budget build. I'd more consider it an "average gamer." No SLi/CrossFire, no super top-end components, but not a bottom-of-the barrel system. Upgradability is a plus.

[Spikes]

Rgr...then I guess it's your choice what make you want to go with...775 is reaching the end of it's life...but you can always go from a E8400 to a Q9550 or something as an 'upgrade'...

AM3 is the latest AMD socket...so it'll be around a lot longer than 775 will...You can go with a Phenom dual core and later up to the Phenom quad 965's or even the AMD 6 cores.

If you go 1366 you are forced to get an i7-9xx, 1156 you are forced to go i5/i7-8xx. So there's a better 'upgrade' path for the future. I actually think the i5 might be a good route too.

[Ghastly]

{snip}
AM3 is the latest AMD socket...so it'll be around a lot longer than 775 will...
{snip}

I'm not sure how much I'd want to count on any socket/motherboard as being a "sure thing compatibility-wise" beyond current processor offerings to begin with - but one think I do know for sure is that after the 939 debacle I'm very very very sure how much I "count" on AMD continuing to provide processors for any processor socket.

Exactly none.

<S>
 

[cattb]

Amd has been working on a Bulldozer CPU, if it ever comes out could be a change of socket. Intel could decide to change thier socket in the future also. Hard to tell what either company will do as far as couple years from now.

Amd has built in memory controller so I would think eventually they will goto all ddr3, but this is just a guess.

[skribetm]

amd bulldozer is compatible with current mobos.
no change of socket, only BIOS update needed.

intel is changing sockets. surprise.
LGA1155(replacing LGA1156, 4Q 2010).
LGA2011(replacing LGA1366, 3Q 2011).

[Tac]

I just upgraded from:

ASUS A8NE mobo
AMD dual core 4400 2ghz
2gig ram (DDR2)
nvidia 7800GT 256mb

(that machine lasted me 7 years.. only upgraded the vid card 3 years ago to that 7800)

to
MSI 870A-G54 mobo (cost about 80 bucks)
AMD quad core 3.2ghz phenom II black edition (160 bucks)
4gig ram (DD3) (about 100 bucks)
Nvidia GT240 (90 bucks)

for about 400 bucks total.

as long as you have your hard disk and a power supply of 500W+ you can do the same.

as for intel vs amd... its up to you.

for gaming the AMD performs the same as the intel for a LOT less money. and its a FACT that you will need to upgrade the cpu speed at least once every 5 years. So... why are you paying twice (or more) for an intel cpu that has a minimal performance advantage over the much less expensive AMD cpu when you will have to replace either of them in 5 years anyway? The money you save buying an AMD pays for the video card upgrade. its that big a difference.