best value CPU under $130

[syseng]

AMD or Intel

I really don't care which brand I use. I just want the most power for the $$. This week, I read several articles about how great the Intel Pentium D 805 overclocked. Some say that it is the base deal around. At about $120, it is at the top of my budget. What do you think, is this the best bargain today?

Since this is related to a system upgrade, I have a related post in the motherboard forum.

Thanks,


syseng

Motherboard = Soyo SY-K7V Dragon
CPU = Athlon 1.4GHz Thunderbird (stepping)
RAM = 2x256 MB Corsair 2400, CAS 2.0
Video = ATI 9700 Pro 256 MB
OS = Windows XP
Magnetic Disk Drives = 2 x IBM 60 GXP 60-GB
DVD / CDROM = Toshiba SD-M1502
CD W/RW = Plextor PX-W1610A
power supply = PS350EG Enermax Ultra Cool EG365P-VE 350W

 

[phaxmohdem]

It all depends what you want to do with your PC. Gaming, I'd prolly recommend an A64 3000+ Venice core which is under your budget. If you will be doing lots of multithreaded stuff, and are comfortable with overclocking you might give the Pentium D 805 a whirl... However someone brought to my attention today that Intel is planning some pretty nice price cuts in a couple months once Conroe hits the streets, and I imagine AMD will follow suit. So if you can wait until July or August, you should be able to get a hella sweet deal on a processor then.

 

[Captante]

THG got a Smithfield 805 up to 4ghz on air cooling & at that speed its just about the fastest CPU you can get for any money.. although YMMV of course, I'd have to agree with then that for the first time in a LONG time, I'd suggest going with Intel if I was buying an oc'ing system right now.

 

[robertk2012]

well i picked up a sempron 3100 and motherboard combo for $80.....I doubt you will beat that for price/performance.

The 805 overclocks well but even a 4 ghz it will have trouble with a mildly overclocked 3800. Add up your additional costs (mobo, ran ect.) before you make your choice.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: Captante
THG got a Smithfield 805 up to 4ghz on air cooling & at that speed its just about the fastest CPU you can get for any money.. although YMMV of course, I'd have to agree with then that for the first time in a LONG time, I'd suggest going with Intel if I was buying an oc'ing system right now.

Wrong they used water cooling, and a very high voltage. Mine is hitting 57c on water at 3.7ghz. On air, it would be throttling. Most don't seem to get past 3.5ghz on air, and thats with a good air cooler. None the less, if you are on a budget, and run programs that can take advantage of dual cores, it's still a decent choice. Otherwise get a single core A64 so you don't have to worry about temp problems.

 

[Markfw]

Listen to Stevty ! And my 805 is @3.5 and thats with good memory, a 550 wat PSU, and a $50 HSF required to keep it cool. I couldn;t get any OC on the retail HSF that came with it. And its a flamethrower, so if you don't like heat, don't get it.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: stevty2889

Originally posted by: Captante
THG got a Smithfield 805 up to 4ghz on air cooling & at that speed its just about the fastest CPU you can get for any money.. although YMMV of course, I'd have to agree with then that for the first time in a LONG time, I'd suggest going with Intel if I was buying an oc'ing system right now.

Wrong they used water cooling, and a very high voltage. Mine is hitting 57c on water at 3.7ghz. On air, it would be throttling. Most don't seem to get past 3.5ghz on air, and thats with a good air cooler. None the less, if you are on a budget, and run programs that can take advantage of dual cores, it's still a decent choice. Otherwise get a single core A64 so you don't have to worry about temp problems.

I thought they switched to water-cooling to get to 4.1ghz (oops), but regardless water would be a good idea with any extreme oc like that. I have an oc'ed Opteron 170 myself right now & its plenty fast for my needs, I just like the idea of 4ghz (or close to it) with a dual-core.... the only downer aside from the high temps is that they did say you would need a motherboard with serious power output to run stable at those speeds.

 

[acegazda]

the athlon 64 3200+ is right around $130, it fluctuates every now and then, right now the best price is here although it is also available at newegg, chiefvalue and zipzoomfly for an identical price. OEM versions are less.

 

[jlbenedict]

the new AMD 3200+, AM2 is sitting at a nice $135 on the 'Egg right now.

 

[RideFree]

I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

 

[larciel]

you have to consider motherboard cost too. for that matter, outpost combo $80-90 for sempron and mobo is kickass deal. oces very nicely

 

[the cobbler]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
the new AMD 3200+, AM2 is sitting at a nice $135 on the 'Egg right now.

if you want a nice budget board for this chip, check out Biostar TForce 550 ~$80

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: RideFree
I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

And how much did the mobo and the ram and the HSF code you ? Please give details, model numbers and prices.

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: larciel
you have to consider motherboard cost too. for that matter, outpost combo $80-90 for sempron and mobo is kickass deal. oces very nicely

You might even have enough money left over to justify a video card or memory upgrade too!

 

[sixopace]

what ever you do, do not get an underpowered cpu, even though i got the athlon 64 3200 venice, overclocked to 2.2, i wish i would have gotten a dual core 64 at the same speed. and for a low cost budget, consider socket 754. although it is older, it is very low cost, and you can still build a pretty fast gaming rig with that... no dual channel memory though. but reusing some parts, i managed to build a decent 754 as a present for someone for around 200 dollars.

 

[bluemax]

That's the kicker... WILL YOU NEED dual-core?

If you're 99% gaming I'd say no, and a Sempron (might as well go AM2 if you're replacing mobo and RAM anyways!) would do the trick.

nForce 6100 AM2 board = $100 Canadian. Sempron 2800+ AM2 = $80C.
Add DDR2 which is cheaper than DDR and use the integrated GeForce 6200TC video and you've got a cheap, decent system *with room to grow later!*

The 754 platform is near its end, as is 939. New stuff being released will all be for AM2.


Of course, if you're not worried about the heat, the $145 PentiumD 805 and a motherboard that can run a Crusoe processor when it comes out is also an option. More expensive, but a better processor to begin with (especially if you like multitasking) and still room to grow. Downside there is possibly needing a fancier cooler if you want to overclock, and the frustration of finding a board that will support the future Crusoe processor..... someone should make a list. ASROCK has two I know of so far...

 

[Markfw]

The crusoe processor has been out for years, and won't fit in socket 775, and its a pig. Why are you recommending this ?

Conroe on the other hand appears to be a good future chip, but only one motherboard is currently certified to run it AFAIK.

 

[o1die]

In my local Fry's ad today, they have dropped the 805 combo with ecs board to $129.99. Unfortunately, this deal is only available at the stores, and not at outpost.com.

 

[Viditor]

Originally posted by: RideFree
I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

Sorry, but are you saying you have an 805 on air at 4.014 GHz running at 45C???
What's even more amazing is that you could reach 200 MHz FSB stably at 1.46v (THG and every other OC I've seen was unstable under 1.6v past 190 MHz FSB).
Could you grap a CPUZ screenshot for us as well, I'd like to see that...

Cheers

 

[i3igpete]

hey if you're looking for a cpu i've got an athlon 64 3200+ winchester that i'd be willing to sell for 100 or so shipped. i dont have the heat sink, but i could throw in the stock one from an athlon x2. let me know.

 

[hardwareking]

the pentium d 805 is the overclocking king(provided u have good cooling and a great motherboard).
So i suggest u get that?
And i got a question.Does intel's virtualization technology have any sort of real world performance gain?
See the pentium 9xx series has virtualization,but the pentium 8xx series doesn't.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: Viditor

Originally posted by: RideFree
I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

Sorry, but are you saying you have an 805 on air at 4.014 GHz running at 45C???
What's even more amazing is that you could reach 200 MHz FSB stably at 1.46v (THG and every other OC I've seen was unstable under 1.6v past 190 MHz FSB).
Could you grap a CPUZ screenshot for us as well, I'd like to see that...

Cheers

As you wish.
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-1.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-2.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-3.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-4.bmp

At 100% load on both CPUs it hits 57° running RightMark - no throttling.

 

[Running]

RideFree, you got an amazing chip thats for sure =D

 

[rogue1979]

Originally posted by: syseng

AMD or Intel

I really don't care which brand I use. I just want the most power for the $$. This week, I read several articles about how great the Intel Pentium D 805 overclocked. Some say that it is the base deal around. At about $120, it is at the top of my budget. What do you think, is this the best bargain today?

Since this is related to a system upgrade, I have a related post in the motherboard forum.

Thanks,


syseng

Motherboard = Soyo SY-K7V Dragon
CPU = Athlon 1.4GHz Thunderbird (stepping)
RAM = 2x256 MB Corsair 2400, CAS 2.0
Video = ATI 9700 Pro 256 MB
OS = Windows XP
Magnetic Disk Drives = 2 x IBM 60 GXP 60-GB
DVD / CDROM = Toshiba SD-M1502
CD W/RW = Plextor PX-W1610A
power supply = PS350EG Enermax Ultra Cool EG365P-VE 350W

Depending on your budget, you may want to look at a Sempron combo if you are cash limited. If this system is gonna be used for gaming, then I suggest this:

Biostar Tforce (socket 754) combo with a Sempron 2800+ for about $149 shipped at newegg. Comes with a heatsink and I have used two that both hit 300MHz @ 2.4GHz with a modest voltage bump and run under 50c full load. Then dump the rest of your money into a big hairy pci-e video card.

This is suggested for a budget gaming system only, if you are gonna do cpu intensive programs then you might want to spend the extra cash on a dual core. But if you just want to frag at the fastest framerates possible for the least amount of cash, then this is hard to beat.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: RideFree

Originally posted by: Viditor

Originally posted by: RideFree
I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

Sorry, but are you saying you have an 805 on air at 4.014 GHz running at 45C???
What's even more amazing is that you could reach 200 MHz FSB stably at 1.46v (THG and every other OC I've seen was unstable under 1.6v past 190 MHz FSB).
Could you grap a CPUZ screenshot for us as well, I'd like to see that...

Cheers

As you wish.
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-1.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-2.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-3.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-4.bmp

At 100% load on both CPUs it hits 57° running RightMark - no throttling.

How bout a screenshot of temps at 100% load as well. Not that I don't believe it's possible to hit 4ghz on air under the right conditions, but I am hitting 57c on water at 3.7ghz.