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

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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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Problem is, everything I find is just insane on price considering how old it is! It came out in 2011, finding a good quadcore for it should cost no more than $100, but everything I've found is vastly overpriced (almost $300 for an i5-2500, $250 for an i5-2320).

Not that insane. Increases in IPC for generations after Sandy have been "mediocre" (putting it charitably). So they've held their value well.
 

lyssword

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2005
5,761
25
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Best performance out of any chip for the dollar has been the i3 2100 i used to have before i dropped in my i5 2500.BF3 was the only game that could choke somewhat on a i3 but everything else in my library flew on the i3.

2100 and a 4710 are 2 whole different beasts i am sure.It's why my money would be on the 4170 for my older games while BF4 and the like would fly on the i5.:thumbsup:
wait.. wah? why the hell would any1 suggest haswell i3, when skylake i3 is liek 30% faster stock, and has potential for OC with some boards?
 

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
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Not that insane. Increases in IPC for generations after Sandy have been "mediocre" (putting it charitably). So they've held their value well.

Honestly, I think they're old enough that they shouldn't be holding their value THAT well. What else 5 year old piece of technology still costs almost as much used as it did new?


All I want is a cheap quad to go in this unused 1155 board and there isn't such a thing.
 

crashtech

Lifer
Jan 4, 2013
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I've been trying to find a Sandy/Ivy to go in an older Intel board I have (DP67BG) to upgrade my server - it's currently running an ancient E6300 and Gigabyte mobo.

Problem is, everything I find is just insane on price considering how old it is! It came out in 2011, finding a good quadcore for it should cost no more than $100, but everything I've found is vastly overpriced (almost $300 for an i5-2500, $250 for an i5-2320).

Where are you looking? You want new and not used, maybe?

3570K for $149

or

E3-1225 for $119
 
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skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
5,035
1
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Honestly, I think they're old enough that they shouldn't be holding their value THAT well. What else 5 year old piece of technology still costs almost as much used as it did new?


I had to google and check that out for myself,wow 5 years old and still a damn relevant chip.I didn't buy my particular i5 2500 non k back in 2011 but nice to know this thing holds up with the others.

I had upgraded back in December of 2007 to a E6750 to a Q6600 to a i7 940 by mid 2009.All good considerable upgrades.

Going to need a bad ass video card of some sort before a i5 2500 becomes a bottleneck.Something perhaps that makes pci-express 2.0 the bottleneck?
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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I had to google and check that out for myself,wow 5 years old and still a damn relevant chip.I didn't buy my particular i5 2500 non k back in 2011 but nice to know this thing holds up with the others.

I had upgraded back in December of 2007 to a E6750 to a Q6600 to a i7 940 by mid 2009.All good considerable upgrades.

Going to need a bad ass video card of some sort before a i5 2500 becomes a bottleneck.Something perhaps that makes pci-express 2.0 the bottleneck?

Yes, the Core i5 2500K, Core i5 2500 and even the Core i5 2400 hold there value well.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
12,968
221
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Interestingly, Core i5 2400 starts at $86 shipped (i5 2400S starts at $84 shipped) and now actually costs more than the E5 2670 which is $82 (or best offer) shipped.

Core i5 2400: SB 4C/4T with 6MB cache (3.1 Ghz base/3.4 Ghz turbo)

E5 2670: SB 8C/16T with 20MB cache (2.6 Ghz base/3.3 Ghz turbo)
 

SPBHM

Diamond Member
Sep 12, 2012
5,056
409
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Interestingly, Core i5 2400 starts at $86 shipped (i5 2400S starts at $84 shipped) and now actually costs more than the E5 2670 which is $82 (or best offer) shipped.

Core i5 2400: SB 4C/4T with 6MB cache (3.1 Ghz base/3.4 Ghz turbo)

E5 2670: SB 8C/16T with 20MB cache (2.6 Ghz base/3.3 Ghz turbo)

now compare the motherboard prices.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
12,968
221
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now compare the motherboard prices.

That is a problem, and unless a motherboard manufacturer helps us bring back X79 (in the form of new motherboards) it would be more economical to use a refurbished Windows 7 Pro 1P Workstation (eg, Dell Precision T3600/T3610, HP Z420, Lenovo S30).

The 1P Workstations are pretty nice and would make a good gamer build (re: Factory PSU on all those models I mentioned have two 6 pin power connectors). I just wonder if there is enough of them to go around? The amount of E5 2670 chips available is just staggering.
 
Jun 18, 2000
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Interesting thread. I've got an old E6550 core2duo (2.33ghz 65nm). I considered grabbing a 45nm core2quad for next to nothing and an SSD to freshen up the rig. I don't game much any more. Not really interested in spending a couple hundred for a new cpu/mobo/ram.
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
23,049
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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.

Given the outlook, anything pre haswell-ish, even at 0$, is not worth it. If I was buying today, 6700K or bust. Given how long you'll be dragging that chip around - NOT going with top notch performance is too expensive.
 

Denly

Golden Member
May 14, 2011
1,433
229
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I scored a couple x4 with 4gb, SSD+HD and COA HP business PC for $100, drop an old video card and extra 4gb in and it does everything I need(don't game). I considered it great value.
 

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,141
138
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Are you positive? I saw some info that looked like your board took the Ivy E3 Xeons, I can't imagine why the Sandys wouldn't work:

http://processormatch.intel.com/Processors/CompatibleProcessors?componentName=DP67BG


I guess I was going off bad info. The guy who gave me the board designs and builds server configurations for companies for a living, and I've known him for almost 20 years - not sure why he would give me bad info.

The board in question:
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel/DP67BG.html

Looks like a bunch of Xeons would work.