Best Budget CPU?

[five0hfox]

Do you have DDR2 RAM already? If not, then you should consider getting a DDR3-based platform. Get a DDR3 AM3 micro-ATX mobo, and an Athlon II X2 250 is a fine choice, although you probably get more bang-for buck with the X4 630, 635, or maybe 640 if you can find one. Your PSU seems acceptable to re-use.

Consider getting an 880GX chipset based motherboard, they are the most current, and will likely support an AM3 Bulldozer CPU in the future.

No the ram in my old computer is just ddr.

I don't really plan on upgrading again for quite some time really so by the time I upgrade the new stuff should be cheaper..

I've been browsing the newegg combos with different processors actually and now I'm not quite sure what route I'm going to take.I have my eye on these two combos.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.466394

2nd combo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.455949

So for the $25 more, I'd have a better graphics card and .1ghz more. I'm not sure if that's enough for me to justify the $25 or not .

and while the phenom II x2 or athlon II x4 would offer better performance, I think the athlon II would be much better than my current processor and save me a decent amount more money.

 

[Vette73]

^

The 2nd one has HDMI and many other features the first board does not have. So its more then just better video, its a better chipset.

 

[five0hfox]

I think it seems like it's pretty good for being budget?

 

[DrMrLordX]

That is pretty good actually. I would sort of hesitate to pay $85 on DDR2, what with DDR3 being as cheap as it is, but you would save money going that direction.

 

[Vette73]

^^

I would look on eBay or other places for the software. I have seen REAL versions go much cheaper. I think I got mine for $60 or so on eBay. and yep it was legit.

Also how about this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.470593

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227316

$151 and $74 (after rebate) = 226 with DDR3, newwer chipset, USB3.0, etc...

I just built a HTPC and used the 785 chipset. Only reason I did not go for soemthing newwer like the newwer DDR3 chipset was I had some old DDR2 ram I could reuse. That and it sounds like you will keep tje system for a while so something to add.

also check the ForSale section here for Win7 along with eBay. You should be able to get that a little cheaper.

 

[richierich1212]

^^

I would look on eBay or other plkaces for the software. I have seen REAL versions go much cheaper. I think I got mine for $60 or so on eBay. and yep it was legit.

Yeah or find a friend/relative who has a school e-mail so you can go with Win 7 Pro OEM for $29.99

 

[five0hfox]

^^

I would look on eBay or other places for the software. I have seen REAL versions go much cheaper. I think I got mine for $60 or so on eBay. and yep it was legit.

Also how about this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.470593

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227316

$151 and $74 (after rebate) = 226 with DDR3, newwer chipset, USB3.0, etc...

I just built a HTPC and used the 785 chipset. Only reason I did not go for soemthing newwer like the newwer DDR3 chipset was I had some old DDR2 ram I could reuse. That and it sounds like you will keep tje system for a while so something to add.

also check the ForSale section here for Win7 along with eBay. You should be able to get that a little cheaper.

First link is bad.

Yeah or find a friend/relative who has a school e-mail so you can go with Win 7 Pro OEM for $29.99

I actually have a school email. Isn't it only the upgrade for $29.99?


I could get this

http://cgi.ebay.com/WINDOWS-XP-PRO-PROFESSIONAL-SP2-OEM-COA-/120607802234?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book

Then use my school email the upgrade for $30, saving me $30. That gives me $30 more I could put into the computer, as $300 is the most I wanted to spend with OS.

 

[Cerb]

I don't really plan on upgrading again for quite some time really so by the time I upgrade the new stuff should be cheaper..

For about the last ten years, at least, the low-end has gotten much better, but not that much cheaper, unless you count inflation (at which point, the thread aught to get moved to P&N ).

So for the $25 more, I'd have a better graphics card and .1ghz more. I'm not sure if that's enough for me to justify the $25 or not.

For $25 more, you get a good AMD chipset, avoid nVidia chipset drivers, and it will be attached to what appears to be a very nice board (I haven't used any of the three Asus boards linked, here). The situation is kind of an inverted version of the video one: nVidia's chipsets give a significant minority issues, where AMD's tend to 'just work' for all but an insignificant minority. You will be likely to be one of the lucky ones (Ok, the majority seem that way), or maybe current drivers for the 7025 are great, but I've pulled my hair out with them (except Quadro NVS 210) too much to just go with a nVidia motherboard chipset. So, fine, I'm biased.

and while the phenom II x2 or athlon II x4 would offer better performance, I think the athlon II would be much better than my current processor and save me a decent amount more money.

That it would. Going with a AII X4 would be worth every penny, but you would have to want to spend those pennies on it.

 

[Bman123]

Buy a ssd. I use to have a 2.2ghz celeron in a laptop and it was fine for Internet and email. A Ssd would give you a big speed boost.

 

[jvroig]

Buy a ssd. I use to have a 2.2ghz celeron in a laptop and it was fine for Internet and email. A Ssd would give you a big speed boost.

Not a bad suggestion. Still, it's not a cure all for everything he needs. An SSD won't make Flash sites / Flash videos run faster or acceptably (I'm assuming "internet" means flash content as well, seeing as to how it's practically unavoidable these days), and certainly won't contribute to better performance in games where actual CPU power is required (most games, most likely including his Runescape game) and not just loading times.

For something that is just for office work, an SSD would undoubtedly be a great upgrade, which is what makes it such a great upgrade for a laptop. For a more "general purpose" machine that includes any sort of gaming, even the best SSD won't be a cure for an aging CPU.

 

[airdata]

Do you have a microcenter near you? They have some good AMD cpu/mobo combo's. The 630 quad core is around $100 and includes a motherboard. You'd likely need to grab some new ram also.

 

[five0hfox]

An update. I appreciate all the responses I've gotten from you all. On the mustang forums I go to, everyone kept saying to get a more expensive chip even though I stressed budget. Luckily someone on there pointe me this way for the benchmark.

I decided to go with the athlon II x2 245 at 2.9ghz which I might try to overclock, with the $75 Asus board that was posted in a combo, and 2gb of Crucial memory for a grandM total of $160 with shipping. I think I'm going to try to go Linux, if not I'm getting xp because it seems to go for about $40 on eBay and this is a budget build.

Little off my original topic, but could anyone recomend a netbook for under $300? With at least 8 hours of battery life?

 

[jvroig]

I decided to go with the athlon II x2 245 at 2.9ghz which I might try to overclock

With a 14.5 multiplier, it won't take you too much effort to get to 3.4-3.6 at least, although with the stock cooler on, I'm not sure how much is actually realistic before hitting some sort of thermal limit. But even if you only manage to get a stable OC of 3.4 before you hit some thermal wall, that's still a pretty good deal considering it's a budget system.

Little off my original topic, but could anyone recomend a netbook for under $300? With at least 8 hours of battery life?

There's a forum for that ("SFF, Notebooks" - check the left panel of the forums), you are likely to get better responses in there if you start a new thread there. As for me, I have not kept up to date with netbooks, but most ASUS models I've seen sport battery life that are at least 8 hours (even 10.5 or 12 hours), so you shouldn't find it terribly difficult.

 

[five0hfox]

With a 14.5 multiplier, it won't take you too much effort to get to 3.4-3.6 at least, although with the stock cooler on, I'm not sure how much is actually realistic before hitting some sort of thermal limit. But even if you only manage to get a stable OC of 3.4 before you hit some thermal wall, that's still a pretty good deal considering it's a budget system.


There's a forum for that ("SFF, Notebooks" - check the left panel of the forums), you are likely to get better responses in there if you start a new thread there. As for me, I have not kept up to date with netbooks, but most ASUS models I've seen sport battery life that are at least 8 hours (even 10.5 or 12 hours), so you shouldn't find it terribly difficult.

I was reading reviews on it and it seemed like it would oc to the 3.5 area on the stock fan if I remember right. I figured instead of getting the 255 like I planned for I believe $70, I figured why not get the 245 for $10 less and just oc it which would be a better bang for the buck.

 

[DrMrLordX]

For that 245, see if you can get someone to part with the 4-heatpipe AVC cooler that come stock with the Phenom II x4/x6 for cheap/free. There are a lot of those coolers kicking around, and any one of them released since the AM2 days should fit your board. Should. That way you can get around any potential thermal limitations, hopefully without breaking your budget.

 

[richierich1212]

With the Microsoft Ultimate Steal Win 7 Pro "upgrade" for $29.99 you can still install it as a clean OS. No previous OS required. I think MS took that out because people were bitching and moaning that Vista didn't have that upgrade problem before. I've installed a couple of the Win 7 Student "upgrades" without installing it over a previous OS. You can google around. Basically all you have to do is install it but don't enter the serial # yet. Once you go into Windows 7 you have 3 days to enter the serial #. Enter it and voila, legit OS, and cheaper than the XP you've mentioned.

 

[richierich1212]

AMD Athlon II X2 260 3.2GHz + Biostar A770E AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard for $114.98 seems like a decent deal

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

For that 245, see if you can get someone to part with the 4-heatpipe AVC cooler that come stock with the Phenom II x4/x6 for cheap/free. There are a lot of those coolers kicking around, and any one of them released since the AM2 days should fit your board. Should. That way you can get around any potential thermal limitations, hopefully without breaking your budget.

OT - OP, I'm selling one. Shoot me a PM if interested.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2098898

 

[five0hfox]

AMD Athlon II X2 260 3.2GHz + Biostar A770E AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard for $114.98 seems like a decent deal

Full atx board won't fit in my case and it doesn't have integrated graphics and it's the same price as what I ordered, not as good for a budget build.

 

[five0hfox]

OT - OP, I'm selling one. Shoot me a PM if interested.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2098898

I'll think about it.