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Cheapest, modern, budget, dual-core rig platform?

VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
I have a client with two computers (have a thread in Computer Help regarding diagnosing those PCs, since they don't seem to have issues on my test bench). If I need to replace those CPU/mobo/RAM, what is the cheapest, yet modern, platform I can get away with?

FM1? FM2? 1155 SB Celeron? If so, what mobo?

Probably not ATX, micro-ATX is fine, mini-ITX also considered, if the price is around the same.

Was also looking at the all-in-one E-350 and Celeron NM70 1.1 Ghz boards. However, those are less than ideal from a performance perspective. The two PCs in question potentially being replaced are AM2 dual-cores, one is I think a 6000+, and the other is possibly a 5200+.

Edit: No Foxconn products, please. Don't need to be an accessory to suicide.

Edit: Since it is "legal" to replace a failed mobo, how hard is it to remove a COA sticker from an OEM box, and re-use the code, and re-attach it to the new box? I am assuming that the case + mobo (front-panel connections) are proprietary, and incompatible with simply dropping a new mobo in there, so I'll need to provide a new case + PSU for these rigs too. Basically, an almost complete overhaul, except I would likely re-use the HDD and DVD-RW, and take the RAM and CPU out of the old rigs and sell them on ebay, to make up for some of my expense re-doing these rigs.

1155
ASRock B75M-DGS LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157335
$54.99 + ship

FM1
ASRock A55M-HVS FM1 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157277
$48.99 + ship

FM2
MSI FM2-A55M-E33 FM2 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130661
$49.99 + ship

Intel Celeron G540 Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G540
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116408
$49.99

Intel Pentium G645 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz LGA 1155 Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623G645
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116778
$69.99

AMD A4-3300 Llano 2.5GHz Socket FM1 65W Dual-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6410D AD3300OJHXBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819106013
$39.99

AMD A4-3400 Llano 2.7GHz Socket FM1 65W Dual-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6410D AD3400OJHXBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819106014
$46.99

AMD A4-5300 Trinity 3.4GHz (3.6GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 65W Dual-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7480D AD5300OKHJBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113283
$54.99

Edit: Sorry, should have been more clear. I'm not looking for complete builds. I already have case + PSU, DDR3 RAM, and DVD drives, should I need one. When I said "platform", I meant, FM1 / FM2 / 1155, just mobo + CPU (as I have the RAM).
 
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On Sandy Bridge:
G465 Celeron: $41.58
Asrock H61 Mobo: $44.99

That's as cheap as I could find, but you may get better if you go for an integrated mobo/CPU:

AMD A68 APU (mITX, compatible with ATX): $86.97 w/shipping
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Celeron G530 2.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($43.99 @ Mac Mall)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($23.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.99 @ Compuvest)
Case: Apex PC-389-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Elite Power 460W ATX12V Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $219.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-21 22:41 EST-0500)

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yTUyPCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A4-3300 2.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($39.77 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock A55M-HVS Micro ATX FM1 Motherboard ($55.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($23.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.99 @ Compuvest)
Case: Apex PC-389-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Elite Power 460W ATX12V Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $226.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-21 22:43 EST-0500)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A4-5300 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($23.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.99 @ Compuvest)
Case: Apex PC-389-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Elite Power 460W ATX12V Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $240.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-21 22:46 EST-0500)

If you want things even cheaper, then you swap out the Asrock FM1 and FM2 mobos for MSI mobos.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009HP42J4/?tag=pcpapi-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PN2C10/?tag=pcpapi-20
 
VirtualLarry said:
Cheap: Yes. Dual-core: No.

I want, as a minimum, a real dual-core. Otherwise, I could have gone for a Biostar 760G + Sempron 130 combo at Newegg for under a hundred.
Click to expand...

What about the AMD A68 APU I mentioned (integrated into a Biostar mobo for $86.97)? Obviously, it's basically comparable to an Atom, but still... dual core.

Or, the Asrock motherboard I recommended and Torn Mind's dual core Celeron (the G530, for $44.00 at Amazon)?
 
Sleepingforest said:
What about the AMD A68 APU I mentioned (integrated into a Biostar mobo for $86.97)? Obviously, it's basically comparable to an Atom, but still... dual core.
Click to expand...

That's definitely under consideration.

I'm just concerned, if I "upgrade" the rigs to those, will the owners notice a slowdown? I could throw in a 30GB SSD, I have a few of those around.

My own experience with those rigs, was alright, but not 100% positive. Some things that I wanted to do (watch streaming videos online, while also talking on Skype video chat) didn't really run so well on the E-350 rigs.
 
The closest review that I can find to the 350D which is inside the mobo is the E-350D, a mobile processor on Zacate. It is faster than Intel Atoms, generally speaking, because it can do out-of-order execution and the Atoms cannot. Here's the Notebookcheck.net overview. I expect that the desktop version would be a bit faster than that.
 
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VirtualLarry said:
That's definitely under consideration.

I'm just concerned, if I "upgrade" the rigs to those, will the owners notice a slowdown? I could throw in a 30GB SSD, I have a few of those around.

My own experience with those rigs, was alright, but not 100% positive. Some things that I wanted to do (watch streaming videos online, while also talking on Skype video chat) didn't really run so well on the E-350 rigs.
Click to expand...
Brazos is competitive with "elite" Pentium 4s performance-wise. Even Llano blows it out of the water.
 
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Torn Mind said:
Brazos is competitive with "elite" Pentium 4s. Even Llano blows it out of the water.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Windows rates the chip as a 3.7, while my 4.2 GHz i5-3570K gets a 7.8 (each out of 10). I'm pretty sure that the scale isn't linear, because a 670 clocked at the speed of a 680 gets an 8.1. If it's a logarithmic scale, we're talking orders of magnitude slower.
 
Sleepingforest said:
Yeah, Windows rates the chip as a 3.7, while my 4.2 GHz i5-3570K gets a 7.8 (each out of 10). I'm pretty sure that the scale isn't linear, because a 670 clocked at the speed of a 680 gets an 8.1. If it's a logarithmic scale, we're talking orders of magnitude slower.
Click to expand...
Yep.
I'm not sure if this E-350D is any different from the one in notebooks. But even if it is at higher clocks, it is trailing the Llano APUs and Celerons so much the huge gap will remain.

A6-3650 vs. E-350
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/403?vs=328
Pentium G620 vs. E-350
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/406?vs=328
A6 vs Celeron
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/406?vs=403
 
Sorry about that dead end in the Biostar board. Anandtech recommends the G530 in their 2012 Fall (no more recent ones have come out) Guide, for $44 on Amazon, and the cheapest H61 board possible (a $45 one on Amazon). Only a few bucks more for a pretty big jump up in power. Couple that with a tiny SSD for the OS and possibly their Microsoft Office suite, and they won't notice a thing.
 
VirtualLarry said:
I'm thinking that I might just go with the FM2 solution, it's the newest platform out of the three, and that MSI mobo for $50 looks decent and has HDMI. I could still throw in a 30GB SSD too.
Click to expand...

Eh. I would go with Intel simply because they tend, when prices are equal, perform better in single-threaded applications (which are common in an office environment). On the other hand, the HDMI is moderately compelling for the AMD side. I would definitely go for a 60GB SSD though since it's only about $10 more apiece ($20 more for you total, if I'm correct about the number of computers you're replacing) and doubles the volume. I linked to two 60GB drives in my last post; one is $55, and the other is $65, but a better performer. The cheapest 30GB drive I could find was $45.
 
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Sleepingforest said:
Eh. I would go with Intel simply because they tend, when prices are equal, perform better in single-threaded applications (which are common in an office environment). On the other hand, the HDMI is moderately compelling for the AMD side. I would definitely go for a 60GB SSD though since it's only about $10 more apiece ($20 more for you total, if I'm correct about the number of computers you're replacing) and doubles the volume. I linked to two 60GB drives in my last post; one is $55, and the other is $65, but a better performer. The cheapest 30GB drive I could find was $45.
Click to expand...
Depends on the user's usage. If they game even just a little bit or take issue with the so-called 24p bug when watching a movie, then an APU might be more suitable. If graphics won't matter for the user, then the Celeron is the way to go.
 
If this is for kid's games I'd go with the FM2 platform. The graphics will be more capable and you can always toss in an A10 for a simple upgrade when the kids get older and want more demanding games. You might step up to the A6 5400K for the machine that games though.
 
I'm going to have to inquire about the second computer's usage patterns. I'm wondering if an H77 with SSD caching might be better for that one.
 
Your cheapest dual-core option in a currently-supported platform is likely to be the Ivy Bridge-based G1610 when it hits the channel in a few days. At $42 MSRP, it undercuts all the dual-core Sandy Bridge Celerons.
 
AMD A4-3300 2.5Ghz dual core is pretty cheap ($40). It's FM1 though, which is on its way out, but none of the current sockets are going to be long lived so I wouldn't really count that against it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819106013

Cheapest Intel:
Intel Celeron G530 2.4ghz ($49)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116409

The AMD does have some decent combo pricing though.

Here's another:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...=Combo.1170538

Intel G860 combo for $145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1176555

AMD A8-3850 combo for $153 - $10 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175746

AMD A6-5400K 3.6Ghz combo $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175849

A6-5400k combo $138
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175848

A6-5400 combo $135 - $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1176104
 
Be sure to check Amazon's prices, too. For example,
MSI FM2-A55M-E33 is $3 less
Intel Celeron G540 is $5 less
Intel Pentium G645 is $4 less
AMD A4-3400 is $3 less
AMD A4-5300 is $5 less
...and everything at Amazon will be eligible for free slow shipping, further decreasing costs.
 
VirtualLarry said:
Interesting possibility. It also supports ECC.

Edit: Found a motherboard for it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135323
ECS H61 ITX board, $49.99 + ship
Click to expand...

Yeah that is completely random that it supports ECC when other higher end CPUs don't. Though the number of people actually using ECC with it will probably approach zero.

You might not want to get that H61 board unless you have another Sandy Bridge processor to flash the BIOS with.
 
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