Best value CPU per dollar

[AtenRa]

I would get this one. Price seems to be right as well.

I have that board with a Core i7 920, but that price is laughable.

He can get a new FX8320 + 990FX AM3+ motherboard for less than $300.

AMD FX8320 = $150
The CPU has a 125W TDP Cooler and it will be able to OC to 4.2GHz. At that clock and price it is faster than any Socket 1366 6-core CPU on default cooler OC or not in x264.

ASROCK Fatal1ty 990FX Killer = $125
The board even has M2 Socket, 6x SATA-III and USB3. All of that are missing from the majority of socket 1366 boards.

Total = $275

If you want cheaper, ASUS M5A97 R2.0 at $90 will get you down to $240 for both the CPU and the Motherboard. Again the CPU can be OCed to 4.2GHz with its default cooler.

Those 1366 boards are way too expensive.

 

[MountainKing]

I like the debates about PC parts.
@AtenRa: AMD stuffs can be bought only online and this is what I am getting:
FX8320: $200
Mobo ASUS M5A97 R2.0: $143.
Total: $343. But then again, the CPU is new.

edit: fx8350: $204

 

[Magic Carpet]

I have that board with a Core i7 920, but that price is laughable.

It's a nice, compact board that is high on features and low on power consumption. How much did you pay for yours, just curious?

I suppose, for that kind of money, this board with the newer tech is a better buy.

 

[AtenRa]

It's a nice, compact board that is high on features and low on power consumption. How much did you pay for yours, just curious?

I suppose, for that kind of money, this board with the newer tech is a better buy.

I got mine new with the i7 920 4-5 years ago, i believe it was close to 180 Euros + 280 for the CPU if i remember correctly.

Yea for that price the new 2011-v3 is a no brainer but cheapest CPU is $390.

If you can find a cheap 1366 board then yes i would consider it, but used boards at north of $100 is not worth it even if you can find the CPU for that cheap. Plus you really need an aftermarket Heat-Sink to OC those 6-cores above 3.6GHz.
So even with a $150 board + $60-70 for the CPU and you also have to add at least $30-50 for a Heat-sink and you get close to $250-300 for a 3-4 year old hardware.
No thanks.

 

[AtenRa]

I like the debates about PC parts.
@AtenRa: AMD stuffs can be bought only online and this is what I am getting:
FX8320: $200
Mobo ASUS M5A97 R2.0: $143.
Total: $343. But then again, the CPU is new.

edit: fx8350: $204

How about that,

New HP Z800 Workstation Motherboard Dual LGA 1366 Sockets = $118

Get two XEONs x5660 and you dont even need to OC. 12 Cores 24 Threads monster for close to $300

 

[janeuner]

Err.

AMD FX-8310 + Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P + Heatsink = $205

I mean, the HP workstation option is pretty neat, but that 8310 combo is no-risk and right at the peak of perf/$ in the current market. And if you think you can forego a USB3 header and overclocking with a mATX motherboard, you can toss in 8GB of ram for the same price.

 

[Burpo]

The HP Z800 work station board requires proprietary PS..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-H...420?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c47592b54

 

[4ghz]

I would consider sandy i7s. The prices are starting to dip below $200 used and the boards are dirt cheap. I would probably skip 1366 if you leave your computer on a lot and pay a decent amount for electricity. Most of those boards suck down alot of power even at idle.

 

[MountainKing]

That PC will be left 24/7 on probably...Maybe the best option would be to wait new CPUs from AMD or Intel and wait for some price drops again....

 

[Brekyrself]

I have that board with a Core i7 920, but that price is laughable.

He can get a new FX8320 + 990FX AM3+ motherboard for less than $300.

AMD FX8320 = $150
The CPU has a 125W TDP Cooler and it will be able to OC to 4.2GHz. At that clock and price it is faster than any Socket 1366 6-core CPU on default cooler OC or not in x264.

ASROCK Fatal1ty 990FX Killer = $125
The board even has M2 Socket, 6x SATA-III and USB3. All of that are missing from the majority of socket 1366 boards.

Total = $275

If you want cheaper, ASUS M5A97 R2.0 at $90 will get you down to $240 for both the CPU and the Motherboard. Again the CPU can be OCed to 4.2GHz with its default cooler.

Those 1366 boards are way too expensive.

http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1289?vs=444

Let's go one step further, take the FX-9590 vs the 1366 990x. Where is the FX faster? Overclock the x5650 to > 4ghz and it's almost as fast as the latest and greatest Intel chips.

 

[MountainKing]

To upgrade at the moment, I only need the CPU, mobo and RAM. All my other parts will be reused.

From my casing, PSU, GPU, HDDs, Cooler (Zalman CNPS9500. I'll need a clip kit), monitor, mouse and keyboard

Given the performance I would probably get from the x5650 and compared to the i5 CPU only price, I'm saving some bucks. If I can get a cheaper board, all the better.

 

[netxzero64]

any good ivy bridge core i5s is a good upgrade or sandy i7s. if you play RTS games, intel beats the shit out of any AMD cpus out there. else, you can go for AMD for cheaper upgrade.

 

[Yuriman]

http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1289?vs=444

Let's go one step further, take the FX-9590 vs the 1366 990x. Where is the FX faster? Overclock the x5650 to > 4ghz and it's almost as fast as the latest and greatest Intel chips.

Impressive, I hadn't realized these older chips were still so strong in single-threaded workloads. ~45% better IPC than an FX and 12 threads, with plenty of overclocking headroom to boot.

If motherboards weren't so expensive, I'd be giving these a hard look for a new build.

 

[MountainKing]

Core i7 4790: $415
Core i7 4790 + mobo: $540

x5650 + Mobo (ebay): $~300-325

mobo choices from ebay: NONE available locally....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-P6T-SE...453061084?pt=Motherboards&hash=item1c472aa3dc
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Intel-D...145882028?pt=Motherboards&hash=item51c1ecf1ac
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-P6T-So...453060057?pt=Motherboards&hash=item1c472a9fd9
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-RAMPAG...470243801?pt=Motherboards&hash=item1c4830d3d9

Which of these mobos would support a x5650? The CPU support list from the official websites do not talk about xeon x5650 support.

ASUS-P6T-SE-Socket-1366
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P6T_SE/HelpDesk_CPU/

Intel-DX58SO
http://processormatch.intel.com/Processors/CompatibleProcessors?componentName=DX58SO

ASUS-RAMPAGE-II-GENE
http://www.asus.com/ROG_ROG/RAMPAGE_II_GENE/HelpDesk_CPU/

 

[NTMBK]

I got a Phenom II 965 off eBay for £25. Pretty fantastic value imho.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I'm surprised you found one for such a low price. Most of the chips like that I've looked at have been ~$100 or so.

 

[Burpo]

Those boards all support X5650, but the Rampage II Gene will be best overclocker..

 

[MountainKing]

Those boards all support X5650, but the Rampage II Gene will be best overclocker..

Are you 100% sure? Any clue how much will these chips OC?
If I'm going ahead with this one, I won't be upgrading my CPU for the next 5 years. That is for sure!
EDIT:
I just saw that this is as high a board price as I want to go... $170 shipped. Else it is not so cost effective.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Intel-D...145882028?pt=Motherboards&hash=item51c1ecf1ac

 

[Burpo]

This was as high as I could go but not stable at load & throttling due to heat.. Pretty amazing for a 2.66Ghz chip..

 

[MountainKing]

Pretty damn amazing. I'd be happy on a 3.5 to 3.8 OC to be honest What mobo was it?

 

[ClockHound]

Pretty sure that was with his Sabertooth. Which is the board I got for my 5660 on his recommendation. Great board. Great recommendation. So much OC fun!

There's one now for $219 OBO:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-X58-Sa...555611917?pt=Motherboards&hash=item4ade35410d

And a Rampage for $190 OBO
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-Rampag...US_Motherboard_CPU_Combos&hash=item20de730f59

And for your inner cheapskate (and the outer one too):
P6T for $140:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUST-P6T-L...589778038?pt=Motherboards&hash=item3397c7ae76
Check the big Xeon thread. For best OC, some replace the stock bios with the Pro version:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36492308&postcount=1409

 

[Burpo]

Yeah, I got lucky last November & found a New Asus SaberTooth X58 for $159.. Military grade components, FAST & most stable board I have ever used.. Accurate power delivery & never blue screens, no matter how hard it's pushed.

 

[BUTCH1]

I'm still running a 775 rig on an E8400@3.6Ghz, these can be had on Ebay for $15 shipped if OP is on a tight budget, IDT anyone is making new 775 MB's these days but tou can probably scrounge up an old Gigabyte for cheap $$, mines 6 years old and no capacitor issues, as long as your not a heavy gamer (or you don't mind turning down the eye candy a bit) this is stil a usable rig, I run a 4850 in it with only 4 gig ram, the addition of a SSD and installing Win7 64 bit pro breathed some more life into the old girl.

 

[IGRACINA]

4690 if you play mmo fps online fx 8320 for all the others

 

[PingSpike]

I'm still running a 775 rig on an E8400@3.6Ghz, these can be had on Ebay for $15 shipped if OP is on a tight budget, IDT anyone is making new 775 MB's these days but tou can probably scrounge up an old Gigabyte for cheap $$, mines 6 years old and no capacitor issues, as long as your not a heavy gamer (or you don't mind turning down the eye candy a bit) this is stil a usable rig, I run a 4850 in it with only 4 gig ram, the addition of a SSD and installing Win7 64 bit pro breathed some more life into the old girl.

I think you can still get 775 boards on newegg. There's only a few but they're there. They're G43 chipsets IIRC though. I sold off all my 775 stuff as I transitioned away from DDR2, but there's actually DDR3 supporting boards since the memory controller was still on the chipset back then.