Best budget CPU for gaming nowadays?

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Marty502

Senior member
Aug 25, 2007
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It's hard to give you a price idea since I'm from Chile and prices are a bit disproportional to the US.

But let's say I'm considering something, somewhere between a Phenom II X4 and a Core i3.
The Phenom's got the 4 cores and that's nice, but the i3 has faster single core performance and games love that, as well as HyperThreading.
And of course there's the upgrading factor. With the X4 I can only go up to a X6 (good CPU but for gaming it seems it's not),
while with the i3 I could buy a i7 in the future.

The only heavy tasks I'm keeping in mind for this is casual gaming.
I rarely play heavy strategic games with 1000 units on screen or something.
I like shooters, racing and sports games.
I don't care if it's gonna take a bit longer in rendering a video file or something, I don't do that too often.

Seriously, is there any argument favoring AMD at this point?
I think the i3 route should be much better than a Phenom II.

Thanks for your help!
 
apoppin

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
Marty502 said:
Seriously, is there any argument favoring AMD at this point?
I think the i3 route should be much better than a Phenom II.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Yes
No
():)

You're welcome!

And this is a "depends" - what resolution and detail level do you play at?
- The X4 is going to walk all over the dual core in games that use more than 2 cores
 
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Arkadrel

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2010
3,681
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You can get: (free game cupon for the cpu as well)

Athlon II x4 2.8ghz for ~79$ on newegg (free shipping).
ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 760G Micro ATX Motherboard ~69$ (free shipping)
Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (dual chl) ~24$ (free shipping)

=

total: 172$


2.8ghz quad core Athlon II, 2gb DDR3-1333.


Throw in a 5770 for around ~95$ and you have a decent budget system.
The HIS one atm is selling with free Dirt 3.
 
S

sangyup81

Golden Member
Feb 22, 2005
1,082
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Marty502 said:
It's hard to give you a price idea since I'm from Chile and prices are a bit disproportional to the US.
Click to expand...

The only reason to get an AMD is price. Here in the USA, the prices on the AMDs are better than the prices on the Intels. Especially since I can get a Phenom II X2 and a Motherboard for $89.99 plus tax at Microcenter which is capable of unlocking the X2 to an X4 and overclocking it.
 
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Marty502

Senior member
Aug 25, 2007
497
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richierich1212 said:
You never mentioned which i3
Click to expand...

Uh, a 540 I guess? I always overclock a tiny bit though.

The thing is, I don't really like to swap systems too often.
In fact, I've only had three base rigs in my entire LIFE.
A 486, a Celeron which became a PIII, and a Athlon 64 which became this Athlon X2.
And the Phenom X4/X6 can't compete with the i7, which I'd eventually buy.

I think it's pretty set now. It's not just a thing of CPU vs. CPU, it's a thing of future.

Does AMD have any plans to release a faster chip for AM3?
That would be the only factor making me consider a AMD rig.

I don't want to go cheap/stupid and ruin the upgrade road.
I didn't research and did that with the stupid Celeron. Should have bought a Duron -> Athlon :D
 
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Marty502

Senior member
Aug 25, 2007
497
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apoppin said:
Yes
No
():)

You're welcome!

And this is a "depends" - what resolution and detail level do you play at?
- The X4 is going to walk all over the dual core in games that use more than 2 cores
Click to expand...

:)

I play at 1680x1050. Details, AA and whatnot, as high as I can manage. I like eye candy.
Yeah, I'd buy a new GPU eventually, I know. I'm just planning at this point.

And yeah, the X4 would kill the i3 at certain games, but the i7 I'd eventually buy would drop the X4 pants and laugh at it's tiny... core performance. :D
 
M

Marty502

Senior member
Aug 25, 2007
497
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richierich1212 said:
Marty which i3? And what's the price differences between the Intel and AMD processors?
Click to expand...

A 540.

I should point out that I don't really care if the i3 is a bit slower than the PII X4, as long as it offers a better upgrade down the road.

So if you guys don't mind I'll do a different question, because I realized that what I actually care about is this:

Right now, which would be the wisest 'base' (Socket) I could buy, considering Intel and AMD's plans for their future chips?
Even if because of budget I should settle for a slower CPU by now.
I really don't know what Intel and AMD have in their plans.

I bought a 939 system when AM2 mobos were about to come out and I didn't know that.
I had no idea I'd bought a dead-end socket.
And it turns out I'm again really out of the loop, so I don't wanna screw up again!
 
S

sangyup81

Golden Member
Feb 22, 2005
1,082
1
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Marty502 said:
A 540.

I should point out that I don't really care if the i3 is a bit slower than the PII X4, as long as it offers a better upgrade down the road.

So if you guys don't mind I'll do a different question, because I realized that what I actually care about is this:

Right now, which would be the wisest 'base' (Socket) I could buy, considering Intel and AMD's plans for their future chips?
Even if because of budget I should settle for a slower CPU by now.
I really don't know what Intel and AMD have in their plans.

I bought a 939 system when AM2 mobos were about to come out and I didn't know that.
I had no idea I'd bought a dead-end socket.
And it turns out I'm again really out of the loop, so I don't wanna screw up again!
Click to expand...

A 540 is a Clarkdale, not a Sandy Bridge! You need to get an 1155 not an 1156 if you want to be able to upgrade to Ivy Bridge in the future!

Yes, 1156 is dead end

So basically you need to get an 1155 for Intel or AM3+ for AMD
 
apoppin

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
ElFenix said:
which are those?
Click to expand...
World in Conflict, SC2, Supreme Commander, Civ V, TW Shogun II and the new games ... DiRT 3 can also make good use of a Quad, however a dual does fine.

This year - 2011 - is *finally* seeing some quad-optimized games that play practically better than on a Dual.
I play at 1680x1050. Details, AA and whatnot, as high as I can manage. I like eye candy.
Yeah, I'd buy a new GPU eventually, I know. I'm just planning at this point.

And yeah, the X4 would kill the i3 at certain games, but the i7 I'd eventually buy would drop the X4 pants and laugh at it's tiny... core performance.
Click to expand...
If you are just looking for a *placeholder*, an i3 would be fine
-- however, AM3+ MBs will also support Ph II ... and Bulldozer.

Why is your Athlon X2 at only 2.4GHz?

Edited
 
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z1ggy

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
Personally, I am taking the i3-2100 route, and then if I feel the need to, in a year or two, get an i7-2600k. For budget intel builds i3 is prob the best route for most games.

and PS I thought SC2 did better on 2 hyperthreaded cores, over 4 at the same speeds?
 
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Marty502

Senior member
Aug 25, 2007
497
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0
apoppin said:
Why is your Athlon X2 at only 2.4GHz?
Click to expand...

Because that's all this POS chip can take without turning into a f***ing oven. It's a 3800 so stock it's 2 Ghz.
I can take it to 2.6 Ghz but there it starts getting real hot,
and I don't really wanna stress the chip and the caps on this old motherboard.
Even more so since 939 chips have really poor temperature monitoring.
I've never been really sure how hot it runs.

And even in suicide runs I've never got it above 2.8 Ghz, which isn't all that much.
So 2.4 Ghz it is. Safe and I'm still mostly GPU limited even in modern games, believe it or not.
 
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Absolution75

Senior member
Dec 3, 2007
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i3-2100 is probably the best deal right now. It can beat most amd quads (if not nearly all) and can be had for $100 pretty regularly. I got one + mb at microcenter for $110 a month or so ago.
 
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sangyup81

Golden Member
Feb 22, 2005
1,082
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Interesting. The 2100 has a 200 MHz clock speed advantage which shows. I'd have thought the Hyper Threading would have helped it out.
 
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bgt

Senior member
Oct 6, 2007
573
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Wait for a proper Llano set. Should run rings around a SB anyway for games. Don't let them fool you. SB is good in benches, not in real life. I own a I3 540 but its just plain horrible. My 1090 T is just so much better.
 
BD231

BD231

Lifer
Feb 26, 2001
10,568
138
106
955 black for 96 bucks is currently the best bang for your buck gaming CPU right now.
 
edplayer

edplayer

Platinum Member
Sep 13, 2002
2,186
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apoppin said:
World in Conflict, SC2, Supreme Commander, Civ V, TW Shogun II and the new games ... DiRT 3 can also make good use of a Quad, however a dual does fine.
Click to expand...


http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20188/7

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20188/6

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20188/8


I see now that he is considering an i3 540. Well, that's different! :awe:

I'd say Sandy Bridge (i3 2100 or higher) or an AM3+ motherboard with whatever X4 you can get a deal on
 
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edplayer

edplayer

Platinum Member
Sep 13, 2002
2,186
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bgt said:
Wait for a proper Llano set. Should run rings around a SB anyway for games. Don't let them fool you. SB is good in benches, not in real life. I own a I3 540 but its just plain horrible. My 1090 T is just so much better.
Click to expand...


You should have just stuck to 4 posts.

:|
 
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