Need help picking a CPU

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Prozac1964

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
309
Hi everyone. I'm in a bind. My CPU and Motherboard got fried by a lightning storm here in good old Florida so now I've got to replace it all. :mad: I'm only concerned about the CPU at the moment. I figure I can work backwards from there in picking a mobo. Well I'm not rich and I can only spend very close to $120.

What makes matters worse, is that I haven't purchased a cpu for 3 years and everything is new technology of course. That's where you come in. I need to be educated on what is the latest class of processor in my price range. It's looking like an Intel i3 or an AMD FX series, but I don't know what the hell I'm doing at this point. :confused:

I would be so thankful if you could get me up to speed on both the AMD and the Intel cpus. Any advice you can offer would help. I think it is listed in my sig the Athlon CPU that just got fried.

Thanks for any help :)
 
He stated the only concern right now is the CPU, then mentioned the i3 and FX, so that tells me the $120 is for the CPU.
 
maboblivion said:
micro center fx combo PII x2 1045t 99$ +stick of ddr3
Click to expand...

This would be a good choice.

If you are primarly gamer & can strech your budget JUST a little I think MC has the i5-3450 for $149.99 (3rd gen core i5) which would smoke the 1045T (in gaming at least)
 
Thank you all so much for helping me out. I wasn't expecting to get this many hits! :) I use it mainly for gaming first, and surfing second. Writing and paying bills third. And the money amount was just for the CPU. It seems like most things low to midrange are normally about $100. Maybe this info can help you better understand what I'm going for. But cpus and video cards always cost the most.
 
I'd also recommend you give some good thought to a Pentium or i3, then pair it with a Z77 MoBo. You'll have more upgrade paths available such as any i5 or i7 for LGA1155.

OTOH, the 1045T for $99 is a nice choice, and if you get the right MoBo, you can drop in any FX Bulldozer and perhaps Piledriver when they arrive.
 
i3 is overpriced IMO and not great outside of games.
I'm quite pleased with the FX processors they run cool, are good when you need them (ie heavy lifting video/photo work) BTW I gave AMD a good hammering on the FX but now I've had a chance to actually use them (ie not bar stool commentary) they are better than I expected and whilst I don't take back the price argument at the time (ie they were not priced effectively)..right now they are much better placed bang per buck

In the UK you can buy an FX6100 for less than an i3 and get AMD's cashback. No brainer really, for what I do the FX runs rings around the i3 for that type of work. Intel get more interesting i5 and up. Pentium well that's just an office machine spec they're not bad processors, but you'd be better off with a bit more grunt for down the road in case you start using it for more demanding work
 
The Phenom II X4 965 is right around $100 at Newegg last time I checked. That's hard to beat for the money.
 
I think the best thing I could learn is which Category does the cpu fall in to: For example:

is it an:

AMD Phenom II X4

AMD FX - Series

Intel Core i3

Intel Core i5

etc. If I could get which basic category I should be looking at. For instance I could possibly get an i3 but there's no way I could get an i5. I don't know on the AMD side of things which class leans towards the cheaper side.

Oh well I just thought I'd throw up this example. Once I pick the cpu, I'm golden. I can pick the mobo from there based on the cpu specs.
 
You may want to compare CPUs here:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

I am not a gamer, but i think the 1045 is more future-proof. I have the 1090 and i can tell you that even with all cores at 100%, you don't have lags, the bottleneck is the HDD (outside of games).

Right now i have my CPU downclocked to 2300Mhz (due to summer heat), am streaming live TV, playing Shogun II (at low settings due to my video card), encoding to x264, downloading at 18mbps and replying here and there isn't the slightest feeling of lag or slowdown.

If you multitask outside of gaming, i don't think the 1045t will disappoint you and the price mentioned sounds very good.
 
One of the reasons I'd go for a 6 core FX v a Phenom II x4 is the FX is a cool processor heat wise and very easy to keep the temps under control.

Worth thinking about really surprised how cool the FX is I've temps in the mid 20's at idle and low to mid 40's even with a mild overclock.
 
Thank you all so much for your help today. I really caught up on my tech knowledge. :) I think I'll be going with an AMD FX series cpu.....they seem to give the most bang for your buck. And all of the processors will be better than what I have now.
 
Definitely a solid choice, especially for the price! You'll be happy with it.
 
I would get the 965 Black Edition from tiger direct for $79 plus $2 shipping. See the thread in today's hot deals.
 
6 vs 4 cores won't have a profound impact...today. There's no telling what tomorrow's games and programs will be able to utilize. I'd probably go with the hexacore just because I tend to go longer periods of time between upgrades and so my system is more adequate just in case those games and programs coming out in the next few years will be able to utilize the extra resources.
 
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