Budget Intel CPU?

[de8212]

My dad is wanting to build a new system. He has everything except for the main components (cpu, mobo, RAM). He wants intel so it will be a Sandy Bridge. Problem is he will not spend the ~$200+ I did for my 2500K. So what's the next step down that is recommended? No overclocking and no gaming will happen on this pc.

He might be interested in the on chip video so I'd be interested in hearing what mobo you would pair this with but I honestly don't know what all he needs on board. I would imagine he wants to stay as close to 100 as possible (less would be better). Obviously the usual on board lan/sound and USB 3 would be fine. I know he has some older ide drives in his current pc so if any have ide connections that would be a bonus. I do have an older Promise IDE PCI card so I could give him that.

I think he's ready ASAP.

 

[notty22]

This thread might interest you. Your goal money wise is so low, things like where your buying, country, etail or not are important.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2171237
Also, many low cost intel m/b's lack usb 3.0 because it needs a extra controller.

 

[de8212]

Thanks notty. His budget is low, i agree. No Fry's Microcenter, etc. around here. Will have to resort to newegg/amazon/superbiiz, etc.

CPU is the most important, I was just hoping someone would know of a mobo as well. So what would be a step down from the 2500? I saw some talk of the i3 2100 but seems it's mostly used in htpc's. Would it still be a significant increase to his old E5200? Down the line he could always replace it with a faster chip. He really only does email/internet/excel and general usage. Not heavy into video/photo editing or games.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Here's the AnandTech Bench comparison, it's up to twice as fast:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/66?vs=289

Pair it with an under-$100 H67 motherboard and you're set.

A quad-core i5-2400 might be worth considering for +$65, but it won't make a huge difference except for certain multi-core programs or for doing many things at once:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=363

 

[Zap]

Pick up a $60 H61 chipset motherboard and a $75 Pentium G620. Done! Alternately, get a Core i3 2100.

The Pentium G is also a dual core Sandy Bridge CPU, and differs from the Core i3 by slightly lower clock speed and lack of HyperThreading. They have the same amount of cache, and both have HD 2000 graphics.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> Pentium G620

That looks like a very interesting part for a playback-only HTPC. Any idea how the stock heatsink compares to the 2100 (noise-wise, cooling with low airflow), and if there differences in idle or load power?

 

[mfenn]

The G620 is the only way you're going to get CPU, mobo, and a reasonable amount of RAM into $200. $225 gets you the i3 2100.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Here's the AnandTech Bench comparison, it's up to twice as fast:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/66?vs=289

Pair it with an under-$100 H67 motherboard and you're set.

Wow, nearly twice as fast, that's very impressive. I like that chip more and more (the i3-2100).

Even if you overclocked the E5200 to 3.5Ghz (easy for 99% of E5200 chips), the i3 would still beat it. I'm really looking forward to the i3-2120K, if it ever comes out. That should be out of this world performance-wise, and still be fairly power-miserly.