Computer processor

I've been wanting to upgrade an 8 year old PC that is really getting too slow... I know the intel i5's & i7's are the best but I'm also on a bit of a budget so I found 2 within my budget and I'm really stuck between the 2 I need some opinions from people who know as I'm not the best with this stuff...

Anyways here's the 2 I'm debating over

There's the AMD Athlon II X4 or X3 they are 10$ apart so ill almost surely go for the X4 if this is good

Or the AMD Phenom II X4 which is about 30$ more but I read pretty good things about it.

I know again intel is the best but just the i3 is 130$, the i5 is 200$ so I'm looking at AMD's

Thanks

So what are you running now and what do you need the new processor for? Also, are you looking at those AMD processors because you have an AMD motherboard and need an AMD processor to fit the socket? If so, you should list what socket your motherboard uses so that your options are clearer. If you need to upgrade your motherboard too, you'll need to factor that into the cost of your new computer, possibly including the RAM.

Oh yes it has an AM2 socket with a AMD processor which I don't know which kind... I'm buying a new motherboard that fits with new DDR3 ram it's really just the processor I'm wondering about... And those are AM3 or AM3+ socket types, it's not a gaming setup just for simple tasks, Internet, Microsoft office, some simple video editing and a bit of media so I don't need an all powerful but I want something decent.

BTW if there are any intels <100$ I'd be fine with that too

Picked up one of these recently.. 6 cores. Not the fastest clock speed, turbo-boosts to 3.2GHz.. all for 90 bucks US from Microcenter (only sold for in-store pickup otherwise I would have posted a link to their site). They can be found on ebay for similar cost... not quite as cheap as MicroCenter but pretty close last I looked. It really is a lot of bang for your buck.. it's not the latest i7, but it's freaking fast nonetheless.

New AMD Phenom II x6 1045T 2 7GHz 95W Thuban Six Core HDT45TWFGRBOX? Processor 0730143301480 | eBay

ElektroFreak said:

Picked up one of these recently.. 6 cores. Not the fastest clock speed, turbo-boosts to 3.2GHz.. all for 90 bucks US from Microcenter (only sold for in-store pickup otherwise I would have posted a link to their site). They can be found on ebay for similar cost... not quite as cheap as MicroCenter but pretty close last I looked. It really is a lot of bang for your buck.. it's not the latest i7, but it's freaking fast nonetheless.

New AMD Phenom II x6 1045T 2 7GHz 95W Thuban Six Core HDT45TWFGRBOX? Processor 0730143301480 | eBay

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Good to know
What ram setup do you have? How many gb?

only 8GB right now, DDR 1333. Just run of the mill Samsung sticks, nothing fancy, normal timings. No overclock anywhere in the system except my graphics card. When I upgraded this particular system I only upgraded the CPU and mobo from an Athlon FX-62 dual core setup. It cost me about $160 all told..

Nice that's good to know

I found the quad core version on newegg and ill also be running with 8gb ram too

You should be able to beat the single-core performance of this chip at nearly the same price point by going with a quad, but I can't remember if the K-10 based quads have turbo-boost. If they don't you should maybe still go with the 6-core Thubans.. with them when you're taxing the chip with a lower thread count, as in up to three cores, the chip will throttle to 3.2 GHz.. that's not too shabby. I'm not ready to dive into the latest die designs from AMD.. at least not until they're refined a bit.

Oh and the upgrade did include RAM, I didn't mention that but it would obviously be included. I already had the sticks though, so the cost isn't in the $160 figure I mentioned.

Yeah I found a motherboard for 60$ 8g of ram for 35$ and I can get the quad core for 100$ or six core for 25$ more.

Thanks for your help its good to know it works good for you I'm gonna do a similar setup ( processor and ram setup ) but I beleive those are the crucial components for performance ( tell me if I'm wrong )

Intel G860 best for it's money.

I think you'll be fine with that setup. Most people aren't using CPU-bound programs anyway.

Go to Newegg.com - Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More! If you've not tried there, you should.

Thanks everyone

Now you got me googling all night. Lately I've been catching up with GPU's, memory, smartphones, OSs, never occured to me that I'm not up to date with latest CPUs.

Not too long until I have to upgrade my rig so might aswell start reading up.

So basically Core i5 and i7 is latest sh't on the market.

According to tables here:
Intel Core - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If I want a CPU without integrated GPU, I want i7 on Sandy-Bridge-E architecture, correct? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like every other Core iX has integrated GPU which is a money terribly wasted if you ask me.

Thoughts?

As I understand it, integrated GPU doesn't necessarily mean it works on graphics. GPU architecture is much faster, but only for certain types of processes - graphics being only one type.

Well it does have dedicated GPU unit, along side of primary CPU. If I'm having a seperate video card, then the GPU on the CPU board isn't doing much beside costing me money anyway, right?

Which CPU would you reccomend I'd go for if I had to buy one tomorrow? Budget cuts, best buy, you know. Not highest of all ends.

My current rig consists of AMD Athlon II 7750, and M52L-SP Gigabyte motherboard, revision 1 (so I can't unlock any cores on my Athlon, damn it). That's obviously too slow to run my GTX 560 to full potential, so basically I'd be replacing everything except GPU. Now, I'd want to be able to replace the GPU at some point in future with faster one so the rest of the rig has to be future-proof.

Yeah I am OCD regarding those things.

Things short, reccomendations for CPU today, and a question:
Do you guys think it's not really wise to buy CPU's today?

All things considered, looks like we're about to hit new 22nm fabrication process and all 8-cores start being cheaper and move available, it seems to me it'd be wise to wait a year. Also, 16GB or high-end RAM costs like $80. Which is good because my current 2GB of old DDR2 crashes my Supreme Commander Forged Alliance sometimes when things get too damn hectic.