Sempron 140 + MSI K9N6PG-V2 MB ---- $29.99 after $10MIR

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
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Wow, that is a smokin' deal! I don't need it, but heck if there was a Fry's nearby I'd buy one of these combos just to keep my Hot Deals street cred! Alas, the closest Fry's to me is in Downer's Grove, around a 3 hour round trip and over $5 worth of tolls.
 

jrichrds

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,537
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Great for a budget build if you happen to have the rest of the parts (DDR2 memory in particular) already lying around. But Fry's has had hotter deals in the $40-70AR range over the past couple of months.
 

esquared

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 8, 2000
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Yep, saw the ad in the Merc at lunch and picked one up on the way home. :)
 

Andrew1990

Banned
Mar 8, 2008
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Man, I dont feel like driving all the way to downers grove, but this may tempt me....
 

Ricochet

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 1999
6,390
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What is the lowest price videocard for this combo that will allow blu-ray playback? Should be a nice HTPC setup.
 

hans007

Lifer
Feb 1, 2000
20,212
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what would anyone do with a system that slow? IRC server?

a sempron 140 is not that slow.

a 2.7 ghz single core athlon II is pretty fast , i mean they sell machines with 2650e chips from emachines, or dell zinos, and sempron 140 is much faster than either of those.
 

thecoolnessrune

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2005
9,673
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a sempron 140 is not that slow.

a 2.7 ghz single core athlon II is pretty fast , i mean they sell machines with 2650e chips from emachines, or dell zinos, and sempron 140 is much faster than either of those.

This. Heck, with Windows 7 with a low number of startup items, even my gf's old Athlon 3000+ (2Ghz single core) felt completely adequate. I imagine a K10.5 single core clocked at 2.7Ghz would be more than enough (my rough estimations put it at around 110% improvement over Athlon 3000+).

If I needed a little rig, or heck, even just the processor I'd definitely jump on this deal.
 

ChaiBabbaChai

Golden Member
Dec 16, 2005
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Well, I mean... $30 for a board and CPU is ridiculous. Like, I ordered a video card last night - low-mid range for $70 (XFX 4670 1GB with DDR2) and it will barely be enough according to reviews. It will be great for my 19" G90f and since I don't game until I upgrade to a 24" widescreen. The Athlon 64 system I built in 2005 had a $200 video card in it back then. $40 is like dollar store computer stuff. That's like you shouldn't even be looking to build a computer if you're in the price range.
 

jrichrds

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Well, I mean... $30 for a board and CPU is ridiculous. Like, I ordered a video card last night - low-mid range for $70 (XFX 4670 1GB with DDR2) and it will barely be enough according to reviews. It will be great for my 19" G90f and since I don't game until I upgrade to a 24" widescreen. The Athlon 64 system I built in 2005 had a $200 video card in it back then. $40 is like dollar store computer stuff. That's like you shouldn't even be looking to build a computer if you're in the price range.

That's the thing...you spend only $30 for a board/CPU and then end up spending $50 for memory, $50 for hard drive, $30 for PSU, etc.

It's great for a budget build if you have the rest of the parts on hand already. But if you're building a new system with mostly new parts, it makes sense to spend $30 more and get a dual or even triple-core CPU and better motherboard (when on sale at Fry's of course).
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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Great for a budget build if you happen to have the rest of the parts (DDR2 memory in particular) already lying around. But Fry's has had hotter deals in the $40-70AR range over the past couple of months.

waiting for one of those dual core athlon ii deals to pop back up. would be a great way to rejuvenate the sr1710nx.
 

Lead Butthead

Senior member
Oct 5, 2009
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Some people have luck unlocking the 140 to dual core when paired with motherboards using 710/750 SB.
 

douglasb

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2005
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Yeah, but I don't think that motherboard will support unlocking the 2nd core.

No, it won't. Fry's combo deals are notorious for coming with crappy motherboards. At least they seem to have stopped offering the "PCChips" brand. Basically, you're buying the chip and getting a free motherboard that you most likely won't want to keep (unless it's for a really budget-oriented system that you don't plan to overclock, like a file server). Most people I know eBay the boards, and keep the chips, and usually make out pretty decently. But the boards in Fry's CPU/mobo combos are NEVER anything to write home about.
 

jrichrds

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
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No, it won't. Fry's combo deals are notorious for coming with crappy motherboards. At least they seem to have stopped offering the "PCChips" brand. Basically, you're buying the chip and getting a free motherboard that you most likely won't want to keep (unless it's for a really budget-oriented system that you don't plan to overclock, like a file server). Most people I know eBay the boards, and keep the chips, and usually make out pretty decently. But the boards in Fry's CPU/mobo combos are NEVER anything to write home about.

This is something I'd expect someone who hasn't followed Fry's combos in years to say. I wholeheartedly disagree.

The Gigabyte motherboard I got in the $69 x3 425 combo that has taken it to a Phenom II x4 3.3Ghz on stock voltage (and likely higher once I start messing with voltages) isn't a worthless board I'll have to sell.

Even the board in this super-budget $29 combo can do enough overclocking for your average user.
 

Jimbo

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 1999
2,641
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I think Fry's has gotten better in their choice of boards, but coming from PC Chips they had to get better.
MSI boards are OK, and for the average computer user they are more than enough.
 

edplayer

Platinum Member
Sep 13, 2002
2,186
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This is something I'd expect someone who hasn't followed Fry's combos in years to say. I wholeheartedly disagree.


maybe you mean one year?

A year ago they were mostly ECS deals. Now, Biostar, MSI and Gigabyte is what you see in the combo deals.
 

ahenkel

Diamond Member
Jan 11, 2009
5,357
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Frys combos have gotten a lot better. I got the i5/p55-ud3r combo a few weeks ago I still can't find a deal that good yet.