Best bang for buck build advice

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zer0xp

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Long time (over 15 years lol) hardocp reader, first time poster.

I just sold my complete 2500k rig that has been pretty faithful for a few years, but I'm waiting on Zen to be released later this year, so I'm not looking to spend a lot of money. I'm using an old HP celeron laptop and its pretty painful for even browsing the internet. So I figure I'll build something to hold me over.

With some light gaming in mind -- I'm not exactly looking to break the fps records here -- what would be the best bang for the buck CPU setup? I'll be using a discrete GPU eventually, so that is an option, but I won't mind holding out for polaris with an apu for the while.

I don't mind used either, keep that in mind.
I'm budgeting $200 max for motherboard and CPU. Any advice?
 
Bang for buck is prebuilt domain.

ebay an HP elite, or Dell Optiplex that fits budget and chill until zen.
 
If you want something thats not used. Check out the new Athlon X4 845. Pair it with an Asrock A68M-ITX and 8GBs of 2133 (and whatever video card, ssd/hard drive/case/psu of your choice) and you'd have a decent little ITX rig to play around with.
 
I think used will be your best option, you can find used 6 core xeons + server mobo for 200 on ebay, you can also get i3 6100 + h170 for 200, you can get a 860k + mobo + ram for 200.
but if you are going to add a discrete GPU costing more than 100 bucks i recommend the i3 - it is the best (not used) bang for buck CPU out right now.
with 860k you save some money on cost of performance, but it is kinda worth it if u just need it for 7-9 months
 
If you are sticking with AMD look for something as a 970 board and maybe FX 8320e depending on your "needs" scale down to less cores but be warned that you need to keep track of the motherboard phases if you want to overclock ....
 
Pieter3dnow said:
If you are sticking with AMD look for something as a 970 board and maybe FX 8320e depending on your "needs" scale down to less cores but be warned that you need to keep track of the motherboard phases if you want to overclock ....
Click to expand...
He's going to use it till Zen, why waste money on an expensive mobo trying to overclock a really slow CPU? Above the 860k there is no budget offering in the AMD side. he shouldnt be spending more than 40 bucks on a mobo
 
Thanks for the input so far!

Clearly I haven't been following the CPU market for some time... I didn't realize AMD's offerings were THAT bad. I was kinda leaning towards an APU setup, but from what I've gathered, anything other than an A10-7860k or higher probably won't make any sense. Other than that, investing in an FM2 setup is probably another bad idea at this point seeing as the platform is pretty much dead when bristol ridge comes out, right?

It's not that I honestly have preference for AMD over Intel, but there is some nostalgia affecting my decision making. After being intel since Northwood, I kinda wanted to come back to AMD, hence the whole "waiting for zen" thing. I don't care to have the fastest gaming rig known to man, but getting my money worth is pretty important to me.

With that said, how does an FX6300 w/ a 970 chipset stack up to something in a similar price range, i.e. an i3-4160 w/ h81? I can't find much comparing the two.
 
zer0xp said:
Thanks for the input so far!

Clearly I haven't been following the CPU market for some time... I didn't realize AMD's offerings were THAT bad. I was kinda leaning towards an APU setup, but from what I've gathered, anything other than an A10-7860k or higher probably won't make any sense. Other than that, investing in an FM2 setup is probably another bad idea at this point seeing as the platform is pretty much dead when bristol ridge comes out, right?

It's not that I honestly have preference for AMD over Intel, but there is some nostalgia affecting my decision making. After being intel since Northwood, I kinda wanted to come back to AMD, hence the whole "waiting for zen" thing. I don't care to have the fastest gaming rig known to man, but getting my money worth is pretty important to me.

With that said, how does an FX6300 w/ a 970 chipset stack up to something in a similar price range, i.e. an i3-4160 w/ h81? I can't find much comparing the two.
Click to expand...

The i3 4160 is inarguably superior to the FX 6300 while even beating the 8350 at some titles, while the 6100 is inarguably superior the the 8350. [Gaming]

If you aren't doing anything heavy just web browsing, I'd still get an i3 because the FX platform is just too slow on the IPC department and 6 cores are really helpful only when you render, virtualize etc...

Don't even think about an APU - you can get a dGPU + CPU for the price of the a10-7860k which will outperform it by 10 -20%, APUs are really bad for the money at top end.
If you are going to buy a new one later on, i suggest doing this - 290 bucks with a GTX 950, will play you most games at 1080p nicely. Don't buy an i3 if you really are going to upgrade very soon to Zen.

If you are spending some money now, then just get an i5 as there is no way Zen will be faster than Skylake.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A68M-DG3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($138.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $288.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-03 15:55 EDT-0400
 
That motherboard layout isn't great and is that a 3 phase power setup?

Asrock A68M-ITX

For $20 more, you get an 8 pin cpu plug and from what I can tell a 5 phase power setup.

I recommended the Athlon 845 because at these prices, you're not gonna get a motherboard that has heatsinks on the VRMs. I wouldn't reccomend overclocking on any of the the cheap AMD boards anyway since most manufactures kind of neglect the AMD side of things.

Anyhow, from what I've seen the 845 performs above or equivelant to the the 860K and for less money and a lower TDP.
 
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Best bang for your buck is going to come from a whole used machine. I buy allot of Intel i3 and i5 Sandybridge generation Dell refurbs off Amazon. $200 quad core complete machine. $150 dual core i3 machines.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...olp_refurbished?ie=UTF8&condition=refurbished

I'm sure HP has the same but I don't know their product stack. Dell Optiplex 790 has been my go-to for awhile. I typically reimage them onto a $40 SSD for small businesses. They are excellent.
 
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Private_Ops said:
That motherboard layout isn't great and is that a 3 phase power setup?

Asrock A68M-ITX

For $20 more, you get an 8 pin cpu plug and from what I can tell a 5 phase power setup.

I recommended the Athlon 845 because at these prices, you're not gonna get a motherboard that has heatsinks on the VRMs. I wouldn't reccomend overclocking on any of the the cheap AMD boards anyway since most manufactures kind of neglect the AMD side of things.

Anyhow, from what I've seen the 845 performs above or equivelant to the the 860K and for less money and a lower TDP.
Click to expand...


It is bad to recommend spending an extra $20 on mobo for better overclocking on a budget build, next he would need a cheap cooler like CM 212, another 20 - 30 bucks. Even if he gets 5 GHz with that it is an utter waste of money as that puts him more than an i3 build with 2400 Mhz ram. And the lowest i3 SKU will destroy the 860k at any frequency.

I3 6100 is 112.99 and you can get a motherboard for less than 45. That removes the AMD build from the equation.

The 845 is 3$ cheaper than the 860k so they are basically same cost.

When you do budget builds you don't look at quality of your mobo's power phases, it is simply not a good idea to do so. Cheapest = Best.

Spending extra $30 to overclock your 860k destroys the "budget" point of the 860k and puts it in same price territory as the i3 which is a much faster CPU.

ochadd said:
Best bang for your buck is going to come from a whole used machine. I buy allot of Intel i3 and i5 Sandybridge generation Dell refurbs off Amazon. $200 quad core complete machine. $150 dual core i3 machines.
Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Dell Optiplex 790 Intel i5 3100 MHz 250Gig Serial ATA HDD 4096mb DDR3 Memory DVD ROM Genuine Windows 7 Professional 32 Bit Desktop PC Computer

I'm sure HP has the same but I don't know their product stack. Dell Optiplex 790 has been my go-to for for awhile. I typically reimage them onto a $40 SSD for small businesses. They are excellent.
Click to expand...

This is probably going to be the best option if going used, I agree. Can add 750ti to it and play games decently.
 
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The best choice would be an i3 6100+z170 with the non k oc bios or get an i5 unlocked on z68/77/87/97
 
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I'd get a 2500k used on ebay and a Z68 board.

Seriously, best you can get for $200.
 
mid range APU laptops can be had around the $200 price range from time to time. Not sure if portability is worth anything to you, but it's something to look at.
 
AMD chips do work fine, but nothing that is really an upgrade from your 2500. bang for the buck im pretty happy with my $55 860k but sometimes i wonder if id be happier with an i3-6100 and some ddr4 to play with. I personally dont like the apu for anything other then media center -- the graphics are not powerful enough for much over angry birds at 1080p. Im playing the division right now on an overclock 860k, 380x and only averaging 40fps on 1080p / high settings.
 
Do you have a microcenter around? You can get a 8320e and Mobo for around $100 AR, maybe a 7770k and Mobo for $110, You could do an i3 6100 and msi h81m-e33 for about $120 AR.
 
I've been looking at bang for buck options myself. My Phenom x4 955 is ancient. Still just about doing the job for gaming paired with a R9 285. I can't complain, 6/7 years of faithful service.

I'd be wanting to double or treble my CPU speed really to get the most valve for money.

Zen would be preferable if the price is right. The more time that passes - the more I think it could be disappointing on launch.

What if it doesn't even match Haswell? If it does match Haswell - is it worth it to buy Zen at current Intel prices or will it be less? How much less over Skylake or newer?

I think they've got quite the dilemma.


Nonsensical in going with FM2 (Athlon 880K) or AM3+ (FX 8350, 8370, 8370E) due to the horrid retail pricing in the UK and general age of the design.

No chance I'm paying £132 / $191 for a FX 8350 plus the cost of a decent board. (unfortunately I've got AM3)

I'd prefer not get an i3 6320 - I don't think the chip will age well compared to Intel's better offerings.


So then there's used...

Phenom X6 and FX chips are hitting stupidly high prices on eBay.

I can't believe the older Intel chips (2500K, 2600K) are still holding their value - 5/6 years after their introduction. New boards are scarce now. The platform is a bit old in the tooth...

I've seen used Haswell parts sell for close to their initial retail price!

There's no bargains to be had here ='(


LGA 2011 is being price gauged on - I'd grab a Xeon E5-2670 without hesitation otherwise. (If only it would work in a 2011v3 socket!)

I wish I'd had the foresight to grab a 2011 board!

Maybe an Asrock EPC602D8A might be worth a buy? Or just keeping trying to grab a cheap X79. I think a dual socket board would be overkill.

Overall it's cheaper than a Haswell-E or a Skylake setup and just as powerful.


I think the three best choices are:
> E5 2670 + LGA 2011
> Wait for Zen
> Cheap Sandy Bridge 2600K, Ivy Bridge 3770K + LGA 1155

Ideally I'd do a complete overhaul - bite the bullet and pick up a LGA 2011v3 and 5820K; that setup will last for years. (drop in a xeon v3 in the future, maybe?)
 
zer0xp said:
Thanks for the input so far!

Clearly I haven't been following the CPU market for some time... I didn't realize AMD's offerings were THAT bad. I was kinda leaning towards an APU setup, but from what I've gathered, anything other than an A10-7860k or higher probably won't make any sense. Other than that, investing in an FM2 setup is probably another bad idea at this point seeing as the platform is pretty much dead when bristol ridge comes out, right?

It's not that I honestly have preference for AMD over Intel, but there is some nostalgia affecting my decision making. After being intel since Northwood, I kinda wanted to come back to AMD, hence the whole "waiting for zen" thing. I don't care to have the fastest gaming rig known to man, but getting my money worth is pretty important to me.

With that said, how does an FX6300 w/ a 970 chipset stack up to something in a similar price range, i.e. an i3-4160 w/ h81? I can't find much comparing the two.
Click to expand...




Here is a idea try and find a 1090t overclock it a mb and a 970 video card and you have a fair rig for cheap.What I use and it runs just fine
 
DrDoU said:
Here is a idea try and find a 1090t overclock it a mb and a 970 video card and you have a fair rig for cheap.What I use and it runs just fine
Click to expand...

The AMD will bottleneck the 970 way more than an i3. i5 is optimal but i3 is still better than a 6300 or phenom if going to spend $150ish
 
a3venom said:
The AMD will bottleneck the 970 way more than an i3. i5 is optimal but i3 is still better than a 6300 or phenom if going to spend $150ish
Click to expand...
Do you get paid everytime you post about an i3? Seriously is there a single AMD thread you haven't posted about an i3 in?

An i3 is a terrible idea, ever. Go i5/i7 or go home.
 
mwnn said:
I've been looking at bang for buck options myself. My Phenom x4 955 is ancient. Still just about doing the job for gaming paired with a R9 285. I can't complain, 6/7 years of faithful service.

I'd be wanting to double or treble my CPU speed really to get the most valve for money.

Zen would be preferable if the price is right. The more time that passes - the more I think it could be disappointing on launch.

What if it doesn't even match Haswell? If it does match Haswell - is it worth it to buy Zen at current Intel prices or will it be less? How much less over Skylake or newer?

I think they've got quite the dilemma.


Nonsensical in going with FM2 (Athlon 880K) or AM3+ (FX 8350, 8370, 8370E) due to the horrid retail pricing in the UK and general age of the design.

No chance I'm paying £132 / $191 for a FX 8350 plus the cost of a decent board. (unfortunately I've got AM3)

I'd prefer not get an i3 6320 - I don't think the chip will age well compared to Intel's better offerings.


So then there's used...

Phenom X6 and FX chips are hitting stupidly high prices on eBay.

I can't believe the older Intel chips (2500K, 2600K) are still holding their value - 5/6 years after their introduction. New boards are scarce now. The platform is a bit old in the tooth...

I've seen used Haswell parts sell for close to their initial retail price!

There's no bargains to be had here ='(


LGA 2011 is being price gauged on - I'd grab a Xeon E5-2670 without hesitation otherwise. (If only it would work in a 2011v3 socket!)

I wish I'd had the foresight to grab a 2011 board!

Maybe an Asrock EPC602D8A might be worth a buy? Or just keeping trying to grab a cheap X79. I think a dual socket board would be overkill.

Overall it's cheaper than a Haswell-E or a Skylake setup and just as powerful.


I think the three best choices are:
> E5 2670 + LGA 2011
> Wait for Zen
> Cheap Sandy Bridge 2600K, Ivy Bridge 3770K + LGA 1155

Ideally I'd do a complete overhaul - bite the bullet and pick up a LGA 2011v3 and 5820K; that setup will last for years. (drop in a xeon v3 in the future, maybe?)
Click to expand...

I just won an e3-1240v3 for US $148 and bought an HP Elite 8200 with i7-2600s for $150.....
 
He said "light gaming" so I don't think is the question how much the platform will bottleneck EVENTUALY the GPU.
 
a3venom said:
LUL
Click to expand...

It's worth noting that there's basically no way in hell he can afford what he sold on his budget. In fact... Probably just the chip. /Maybe/ chip and 8GB or less of RAM assuming the seller really wants it gone. Chip/RAM/motherboard for $200? Not going to happen.

flatty said:
He said "light gaming" so I don't think is the question how much the platform will bottleneck EVENTUALY the GPU.
Click to expand...

Quiet, you're ruining my fun.
 
silent-circuit said:
It's worth noting that there's basically no way in hell he can afford what he sold on his budget. In fact... Probably just the chip. /Maybe/ chip and 8GB or less of RAM assuming the seller really wants it gone. Chip/RAM/motherboard for $200? Not going to happen.



Quiet, you're ruining my fun.
Click to expand...

If you poke around on Ebay long enough you can find full pre-builts with i7's for sub $250'ish (and sometimes sub $200'ish). Doesn't mean they will necessarily take a graphics card, however.
 
It's funny because he shouldn't have sold his i5 (unless he got a good deal on selling it)
 
Pentium G3258 with a mobo, awesome little setup. Great overclocker, just a bummer it does not have hyperthreading.
 
Most bang for the Buck? I am honestly impressed with this little system I am building my wife's nephew. I thought it was going to be total garbage, but it is surprisingly snappy. Not i5, or even i3 snappy, but for the $43 i paid for the processor and motherboard, I would challenge anyone to get something new thatcan even compete.

AM1 socket Athlon 5350 ($39.99 Microcenter)
ASrock AM1B-ITX ($0.01 bundle price, Microcenter, other boards available)
Tax = $3...
In-store pickup only, unfortunately...

Tossing some unused DDR3 1600 (once I get the RMA back, got 4GB from the 8GB kit in my server tiding it over until then) in there, then I had a R9 250 laying around from a failed attempt at dual-graphics in my HTPC (turns out it's actually a 250x, which has too many shaders, won't work in dual graphics) an older PSU, a 60GB SSD, a DVDrw, and a 1TB HDD I had collecting dust, tossed in a cheap $25 Rosewill mATX case with a $8 USB Wireless N adapter (amazon) Old keyboard, mouse, monitor I had lying around, $14 for Win 7 Pro key (bought from the buy/sell/trade forum here)... I spent maybe $90 for a system he will easily be able to play Starcraft 2 on with medium settings...

Even if I had to buy all the things I already had (PSU, GPU, RAM, HDD) I would have probably spent less than $200... probably wouldn't have bothered with an SSD or DVDrw if I didn't already have them. also not counting monitor, KB/M, etc...

I thought about building a system based on a Lenovo LGA 1155 Motherboard I had lying around, but even used i3's alone sell for almost as much as I paid for this entire system. that thing is also insanely limited despite it being built for Sandy-Bridge (Only PCIe 1.0, picky with RAM, Slower than the $40 ECS board I ended up dropping the i5 2500 into...)

Again, this thing won't be breaking any records, but it is certainly faster than any budget laptop I get my hands on. I was expecting lag with just about everything, I guess the 4 cores actually work in this sub-25w 2.05GHz processor...
 
I grabbed a Dell 24 aio with the a6 76xx something from cowboom refurbished for about $200 a few months back. Basically the mobile version of the 5350, actually a lot faster than I was expecting, and a sweet 24 in dell ips 1080p screen to boot. Fast enough to play all my non fps steam library.
 
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rhansen5_99 said:
I grabbed a Dell 24 aio with the a6 76xx something from cowboom refurbished for about $200 a few months back. Basically the mobile version of the 5350, actually a lot faster than I was expecting, and a sweet 24 in dell ips 1080p screen to boot. Fast enough to play all my non fps steam library.
Click to expand...
I saw Wal-Mart selling some old desktops for insane prices a few weeks back on Slickdeals. Like an HP i5 4xxx with 23" monitor for under $200... I'm sure they're gone now, but it seems like Wally Word is clearancing a lot of electronics lately (Routers, hard drives, etc...)worth keeping a lookout for if you go there once in a while...
 
Nside said:
I saw Wal-Mart selling some old desktops for insane prices a few weeks back on Slickdeals. Like an HP i5 4xxx with 23" monitor for under $200... I'm sure they're gone now, but it seems like Wally Word is clearancing a lot of electronics lately (Routers, hard drives, etc...)worth keeping a lookout for if you go there once in a while...
Click to expand...

A friend picked up a Netgear Nighthawk X4 for like $110 on clearance there.
 
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FX8320Es and mobo combo's go quite cheaply sometimes at microcenter. I personall got the FX8320E and the ASRock ASRock Fatal1ty Gaming 990FX very affordably. Ironically the ASRock ASRock Fatal1ty Gaming 990FX has gone up in price since i purchased it. Seems strange but it's a great board. I many focused on the chipset and went with the best of the budget brand and it's been great.
 
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