Best Intel Processor for $100?

[skiddy]

x264 video encoding for one. That's pretty "real world" compared to Cinebench and things like that. Plus, that's what the OP is trying to do anyway.

Actually, I have yet to see the OP make a statement that he will be doing x264 encoding on the machine.

so what exactly was it the features 1366 was missing cause truthfully i just wanted to know for my own knowdege of course

Nothing major, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head:
-Native USB 3.0
-SRT SSD caching
-PCIe 3.0
-Lots of SATA 6Gb/s ports

Which in all honestly, none of those are ground breaking features for most (as long as you have some USB3.0 & SATA 6 support). S1366 is still a viable platform for nearly any application. I'd probably still have one if my motherboard didn't crap out a few years ago. On the flip side, I don't think it would be the best application for the OP unless he found a hell of a deal on a motherboard. You'd also have to take into consideration that a cheap dGPU would be needed which is another expense.

For a non-gaming media PC, haswell or haswell refresh platforms are the best options in my opinion. S1155 would also suffice, but suffers from 29/59 bugs and limited 4k support with iGPU (both which could be fixed with a dGPU).

 

[primetime]

Actually, I have yet to see the OP make a statement that he will be doing x264 encoding on the machine.



Nothing major, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head:
-Native USB 3.0
-SRT SSD caching
-PCIe 3.0
-Lots of SATA 6Gb/s ports

Which in all honestly, none of those are ground breaking features for most (as long as you have some USB3.0 & SATA 6 support). S1366 is still a viable platform for nearly any application. I'd probably still have one if my motherboard didn't crap out a few years ago. On the flip side, I don't think it would be the best application for the OP unless he found a hell of a deal on a motherboard. You'd also have to take into consideration that a cheap dGPU would be needed which is another expense.

For a non-gaming media PC, haswell or haswell refresh platforms are the best options in my opinion. S1155 would also suffice, but suffers from 29/59 bugs and limited 4k support with iGPU (both which could be fixed with a dGPU).

I actually agree with everything you said....my input to this thread was mostly for people who already had a decent 1366 board or could buy one pretty cheap...and was just pointing out a lot of the newer cpus are actually a downgrade performance wise compared to cheap 1366 hexacores (cost wise) if there overclocked properly...

Once upon a time every two years it seemed like cpu performance doubled.....that all changed when amd practically went bankrupt when they bought ati.......i still love amd cards though as they wipe the floor with nvidia on the value basis as a hole, even though i like both teams in there own way...

How bout this? You run the exact same test and post your findings, as im very curious how close they are performance wise. the test only takes a few seconds, so it wont take long

 

[primetime]

I was just thinking, what if I just go for an older processor like the Core i7 i960? $100 for a used processor on Amazon, just not sure how it benchmarks with the latest. Is going for older top of the line better than newest budget?

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-960-Processor-Socket-LGA1366/dp/B0036Z6GH2

A xeon hexacore would be a better choice all the around like XEON L5640 6 CORE should overclock to 3.6-4ghz at almost default voltage for around 70 bucks shipped. I sold my 920 for like $25 dollars shipped to an [H] member since he needed it to update his bios to make use of the Xeon he purchased. If your spending 100 dollars you would be getting ripped off money wise buying a 1366 quad core in my opinion.

Now if you have no need for the extra cpu power than a cheap i7 quad at around 25 bucks is a hell of a deal if thats all you want and in my opinion blows the doors of any i3 or dual core, no matter how new it is....but thats just my opinion....since i have no desire to downgrade pc wise....its either upgrading on nothing unless its specifically for a use that doesn't need much if any cpu power...like a mining rig or a media center only where the cpu performance is of zero use. but like has been mentioned time and time again 1366 boards are or can be overly expensive compared to the newer boards....its really just a great value if your score a great deal on a board or already have one

 

[skiddy]

How bout this? You run the exact same test and post your findings, as im very curious how close they are performance wise. the test only takes a few seconds, so it wont take long

4min 39sec. 4770k at stock speeds (3.5->3.9GHz) and RAM at 1866mhz.

 

[primetime]

4min 39sec. 4770k at stock speeds (3.5->3.9GHz) and RAM at 1866mhz.

Thank You Sir..this is want we all wanted!!!!!!!!!!.. pick the next one if you desire

second run though:

HandBrake 0.9.9.5530 - 64bit Version
OS: Microsoft Windows NT 6.2.9200.0
CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5670 @ 2.93GHz
Ram: 12279 MB, 6x

x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2
x264 [info]: profile Main, level 3.0
[02:28:48] reader: done. 1 scr changes
[02:28:48] work: average encoding speed for job is 291.194702 fps edit: i believe the average encoding speed (higher is better)

 

[chx]

I buy a BluRay and then torrent the rip. All problems solved. Who wants to struggle with ripping and recoding 50GB? Not me. And, I would think, this approach might even be legal...

 

[primetime]

I buy a BluRay and then torrent the rip. All problems solved. Who wants to struggle with ripping and recoding 50GB? Not me. And, I would think, this approach might even be legal...

we have a media center with a 2tb drive for storage.......just a simple click on the remote brings up all 500 shrunk bluerays very conveniently, as well comes in handy for visiting family days.....very nice in my opinion being able to watch with just a press on a remote, not to mention makes nice backups ...some people consider torrents illegal as well not to mention varying quality's

 

[skiddy]

Thank You Sir..this is want we all wanted!!!!!!!!!!.. pick the next one if you desire

<snip>

HandBrake 0.9.9.5530 - 64bit Version
OS: Microsoft Windows NT 6.2.9200.0
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Ram: 32726 MB

x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX AVX2 FMA3 LZCNT BMI1 BMI2
x264 [info]: profile Main, level 3.0
[08:39:37] reader: done. 1 scr changes
[08:39:37] work: average encoding speed for job is 235.965164 fps

These aren't surprising though. A highly O/C'd 1366 hexacore should beat out many newer quads in heavily multithreaded benchmarks.

 

[ssnyder28]

If you're considering 1366 hex-core xeons I think one of the biggest things you have to consider that hasn't been discussed in this thread vs newer cpus are that the xeons support ecc ram (which can be found much cheaper than desktop ram) plus you also have triple channel support and 6 ram slots vs 4.

Really in the end its going to come down to either having more cores (assuming that more applications/games will support more cores/threads in future) or having native support and features of newer boards.

I think in an application where the majority of usage is in an htpc capacity, the obvious choice is the i3.

 

[primetime]

If you're considering 1366 hex-core xeons I think one of the biggest things you have to consider that hasn't been discussed in this thread vs newer cpus are that the xeons support ecc ram (which can be found much cheaper than desktop ram) plus you also have triple channel support and 6 ram slots vs 4.

Really in the end its going to come down to either having more cores (assuming that more applications/games will support more cores/threads in future) or having native support and features of newer boards.

I think in an application where the majority of usage is in an htpc capacity, the obvious choice is the i3.

Very good point, and i totally agree

 

[primetime]

These aren't surprising though. A highly O/C'd 1366 hexacore should beat out many newer quads in heavily multithreaded benchmarks.

Very true, its just sad since once upon a time when there was actual competition in the cpu industry things like this would never happen....Seems like about 6 years ago everything changed regarding moore's law and the cpu race was over...You didn't have to spend 1000 dollars to nearly double your cpu power

 

[primetime]

If you're considering 1366 hex-core xeons I think one of the biggest things you have to consider that hasn't been discussed in this thread vs newer cpus are that the xeons support ecc ram (which can be found much cheaper than desktop ram) plus you also have triple channel support and 6 ram slots vs 4.

Really in the end its going to come down to either having more cores (assuming that more applications/games will support more cores/threads in future) or having native support and features of newer boards.

I think in an application where the majority of usage is in an htpc capacity, the obvious choice is the i3.

would you please post some links to some of this ram your talking about that would work in my asus p6tdelux v1.......i would love to get a hot deal on 48gigs of ram or even just double my current ram...if you find the time...thanks

 

[ssnyder28]

would you please post some links to some of this ram your talking about that would work in my asus p6tdelux v1.......i would love to get a hot deal on 48gigs of ram or even just double my current ram...if you find the time...thanks

I have ecc ram kits that have worked and some that haven't. 6x4gb kits can be had on the cheap ($100 or less) with a little bit of work searching and some luck. I think it has something to do with buffered/unbuffered or dual rank etc.