What is the current price/performance leader in processors?

[BentValve]

What is the current price/performance leader in processors? I am looking to upgrade my Athlon 1600+ system...I would like to keep the mobo/proc/fan/memory under $500.

Thanks

 

[EKAtBzboyz]

i would say you already have it covered in amd (since those are mad overclockers, well teh "good" stepping ones are..)

for intel its probably 1.8a or 2.26b (they are both good ocers too)

 

[Zap]

If you need all those parts for under $500, figure it out in reverse. How much RAM do you need? It will probably be DDR RAM, and 512MB seems popular so... ~$150 for 512MB DDR, leaving you with $350. You can guestimate an average of $100 for a reasonable motherboard. Not too many frills, but not a stripped bargain basement board either, leaving you with $250. If you're not going to be overclocking (which you don't mention) then you can use either retail box HSF or a cheap aftermarket unit. Let's start with retail box (since it IS adequate for non-overclocked systems). Hmmm, under $250... leaves you with a LOT of choices. You can get P4 2.4B for around $200. Athlon 2400+ is similarly priced. This leaves you with $50 to pay for tax and shipping, LOL. As to AMD or Intel... your call. The AMD actually runs at 2GHz, but still gives great performance. With Intel you get a very cool running processor with a relatively quiet HSF. Flip a coin.