What do you consider the best value in used processors today?

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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Here are current prices from ebay "Buy it now" listings:

E6850 starting @ $7 shipped
E8400 starting @ $7 shipped
E8500 starting @ $10 shipped
E8600 starting @ $19 shipped

Q6600 starting @ $22 shipped

Xeon E5440 starting @ $18 shipped (Q9550 clocks and cache, 80W TDP, needs LGA 771 to LGA 775 mod)
Xeon E5450 starting @ $23 shipped (Q9650 clocks and cache, 80W TDP, needs LGA 771 to LGA 775 mod)

Core i5 750 starting @ $43 shipped.

LGA 1366 Hexcore Xeons? (The only thing holding me back from being more interested is the price of motherboards and pre-built desktops)

P.S. I have been surprised at how well Sandy Bridge i5 2400/i5 2400s and i5 2500/i5 2500s have been holding value. Currently the lowest price I can find for these locked processors starts at $105 shipped.
 
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Charlie98

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2011
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P.S. I have been surprised at how well Sandy Bridge i5 2400/i5 2400s and i5 2500/i5 2500s have been holding value. Currently the lowest price I can find for these locked processors starts at $105 shipped.

I was lucky to get my 2500K chip for $150 at MC on BF, I've seen some used chips in the $130-140 range... o_O
 

master_shake_

Diamond Member
May 22, 2012
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you wanna be really surprised?

check out 45nm core2quads.

lga 1156 is a bust these days, there are hardly any good motherboards left.
 

TeknoBug

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2013
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Q6600 and i5 750 were nice processors, still holds up today. Also those Phenom II X6's still holds up today too- in fact I still got a 1090T sitting here unused.
 

superstition

Platinum Member
Feb 2, 2008
2,219
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Q6600 and i5 750 were nice processors, still holds up today. Also those Phenom II X6's still holds up today too- in fact I still got a 1090T sitting here unused.
The 750 is a much better choice for gaming today although it uses a lot of watts when overclocked to 4 GHz and more.
 

dbcooper1

Senior member
May 22, 2008
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Hard to beat the value of a $7 E8400 upgrade for the many socket 775 OEM systems out there still in use. Add a used SSD, and for general use, it's like a new machine; I've done several.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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Add a used SSD, and for general use, it's like a new machine; I've done several.

Another option for cheap storage on a very low end system:

NOS (New Old Stock) Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB drives at $22 shipped:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2433743

In fact, I bought one this morning for my SFF Dell Optiplex 755. (It will replace a 80GB HDD that is still good, but just too old for me to trust for every day usage)
 
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escrow4

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2013
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They are obsolete. A G1820 is as fast as an old Core 2. An i3 4330 is faster than most if not all of the quad's. No point upgrading a box from 2007 or 2008. A new chipset brings huge improvements never mind a new CPU. Its $7 of crap. May as well save up and buy new.
 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
38,485
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Got my 4790K for $250 at MC. I'm happy. I'm sitting on my old i7 920/P6T that I'm going to roll over to a kickass HTPC. It's my next project. Not sure where it falls of importance as I'm wanting to upgrade to a 32" UHD monitor this year. We'll see.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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They are obsolete. A G1820 is as fast as an old Core 2. An i3 4330 is faster than most if not all of the quad's. No point upgrading a box from 2007 or 2008. A new chipset brings huge improvements never mind a new CPU. Its $7 of crap. May as well save up and buy new.

A system with G1820 will cost more money.

For example, I bought my Optiplex 755 for $51.75 shipped (with Windows 7 Home 64 bit. It also included new keyboard and mouse) --> http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37007203&postcount=22

In contrast, New LGA 1151 Pentium SFF system is going to be at least $250 (even when on sale).
 
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aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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Xeon Hexcores, although finding a board for them is harder / expensive then finding the cpu now...


But if i had to build a used machine, i would need to know what role its going to play...
Cant really say cpu X is the best, unless one stated the exact role.
 
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escrow4

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2013
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A system with G1820 will cost more money.

For example, I bought my Optiplex 755 for $51.75 shipped (with Windows 7 Home 64 bit. It also included new keyboard and mouse) --> http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37007203&postcount=22

In contrast, New LGA 1151 Pentium SFF system is going to be at least $250 (even when on sale).

That system would be horrifically slow. 2GB of RAM doesn't cut it anymore, no SSD, slow old 80GB HDD (PATA?) and a tired old Core 2 that isn't even an E8xx. I'd rather put 50 toward a new system. Guts of a G1820 (CPU + MOBO + RAM) would be around $120 or so. CPU is around $35 in Microcentre.
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
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Be careful people. All the Intel LGA775 processors may be less than $5 and you'll be thrilled in bidding many, but the motherboards are expensive and priced more than AMD AM3. I found Athlon II X2 240 combo paired with a new ECS A960M-MV board cost less than any of the new LGA775 boards out there.
 
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cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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That system would be horrifically slow. 2GB of RAM doesn't cut it anymore, no SSD, slow old 80GB HDD (PATA?) and a tired old Core 2 that isn't even an E8xx.

The Optiplex 755 has four DIMM slots, so I added two 1GB DIMMs for a total of 4GB RAM. (2 x 1 GB DDR2 are about $10 shipped for used Samsung DIMMs, but I didn't buy any since I already had some spare Hynix memory)

The HDD is a SATA Western Digital Caviar SE 80GB and with 4GB of RAM the E6550 CPU has worked well for browsing this forum and other places on the web.

Overall, I am pretty happy with this little desktop even with the 80GB HDD for light daily usage. However, I might do some more upgrades in the future (beyond the NOS WD Caviar Blue 320 GB I just bought) as the opportunities present themselves.
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
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In contrast, New LGA 1151 Pentium SFF system is going to be at least $250 (even when on sale).
LGA-1151 is not even out yet. Not true by what you said. I've seen refurbished Acer i3-4160 PCs for $219.99 with free shipping on eBay listed right now. Change the processor inside to Celeron and sell the i3-4160 for $115 on eBay, it drops it down to $134.99 after Celeron purchase. I've bought two units already.
 
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cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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Xeon X5650 is a great deal if you already have a X58 motherboard, or if you can get one for next to nothing.

Once thing I want to look into is the 2P workstations. (re: 2P LGA 771 workstation prices aren't that bad and I have noticed fully buffered DDR2 ECC can be surprisingly cheap, so hopefully the same ends up true for the 2P LGA 1366 WS Desktops. If not now, maybe in the future?)
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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I've seen refurbished Acer i3-4160 PCs for $219.99 with free shipping on eBay listed right now. (snip) I've bought two units already.

Yes, I see the listing right now (from the Acer Outlet).

Core i3-4160
Windows 7 Home 64 bit
4GB RAM
1TB HDD

(Nice find)

Change the processor inside to Celeron and sell the i3-4160 for $115 on eBay, it drops it down to $134.99 after Celeron purchase

I think it is going to be tough to net $115 for a used Core i3-4160 (without heatsink) on ebay. In fact, I am seeing new boxed i3-4160 going for $120 shipped on ebay "Buy it now" auctions.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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For 2P LGA 1366 Workstation, here is what I have found so far:

Dell Precision T5500 with dual Xeon quad core @ 2.0 Ghz
6GB RAM
3 x 250GB HDD
NVidia Quadro NVS 420 (16 CUDA cores)
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

$200 shipped on a "Buy it now" ebay auction.

Not bad considering it is a complete desktop with OS. In contrast, I believe X58 boards (single socket, but overclockable) are priced $150 and up.

Still with a 2P system it will need two processors and I believe X5650 hexcores go for around $80 shipped each.

So figure that system upgraded is going to be $360 with 2 x X5650.

Then there is the cost of adding more FB ECC RAM, and it looks like the price of every 12GB (3 x 4GB) is about $50 shipped.

So for $460, a person could have 2 x X5650 Xeon (hexcore @ 2.66 Ghz), 24GB RAM, 3 x 250 GB, NVidia Quadro NVS 420 ( a weak card, but has four video outs), Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. (This With 6GB (3 x 2GB) RAM and two 2.0 Ghz quad core Xeons left over)
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,603
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Used sandy/ivy is good value, dunno about the best though.

Tough to compete with those X5650 hexacores, pretty sure the 3930k and equivalents still hold some value.
 

dbcooper1

Senior member
May 22, 2008
594
0
76
Another option for cheap storage on a very low end system:

NOS (New Old Stock) Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB drives at $22 shipped:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2433743

In fact, I bought one this morning for my SFF Dell Optiplex 755. (It will replace a 80GB HDD that is still good, but just too old for me to trust for every day usage)

Or for a bit more life, the WD Black² Dual Drive.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7682/the-wd-black2-review

The last few I bought were $99; 120GB SSD and 1TB data storage will make an Optiplex 755 or Vostro 200 useful for quite a while in the office environment. Many have a budget authorization for repair/upgrade but not replacement.
 

XavierMace

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2013
4,307
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Once thing I want to look into is the 2P workstations. (re: 2P LGA 771 workstation prices aren't that bad and I have noticed fully buffered DDR2 ECC can be surprisingly cheap, so hopefully the same ends up true for the 2P LGA 1366 WS Desktops. If not now, maybe in the future?)

There's a reason they're so cheap. They suck electricity like a black hole, generate massive amounts of heat and don't offer competitive performance while doing so. I literally just tossed tossed a stack of 771 boards in the donation bin at my roommates work. I've still got half a dozen complete 771 systems I'm trying to get rid of plus a bunch of extra DDR2 FB-DIMM's.

For 2P LGA 1366 Workstation, here is what I have found so far:
Dell Precision T5500 with dual Xeon quad core @ 2.0 Ghz
6GB RAM
3 x 250GB HDD
NVidia Quadro NVS 420 (16 CUDA cores)
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

$200 shipped on a "Buy it now" ebay auction.

Not bad considering it is a complete desktop with OS. In contrast, I believe X58 boards (single socket, but overclockable) are priced $150 and up.

Still with a 2P system it will need two processors and I believe X5650 hexcores go for around $80 shipped each.

You don't have to go with X5650's. You can get the L series 5600's (low power) for less. I paid $55 each for my last batch of L5640's. 60w hex cores? Yes please. Given you're going dual socket and are on a budget, I'd just go with a pair of quads and save the $30-$40. Keep in mind, these are Hyperthreaded where as the 771's are not.

So figure that system upgraded is going to be $360 with 2 x X5650.

Then there is the cost of adding more FB ECC RAM, and it looks like the price of every 12GB (3 x 4GB) is about $50 shipped.

It's not FB, just ECC. FB was a DDR2 thing. But that system is going to be magnitudes faster than a 771 system and be far more efficient while doing so.