Need help deciding on cpu

[Planefreak]

My desktop is no more. The mobo died a few weeks ago and now I have decided that instead of buying a new board to replace an outdated CPU and ram I have decided to get newer components, but I can't decide where to even start.

I see most people are still going with Intel CPU's for gaming setups. I am not a gamer so I don't really know.

Can anyone point me to some newer reading material or at least get me started on a cpu type?

I can pick out a mobo and ram, but CPU's change so much in a short time...


Thanks for all your help,

Travis.
ps. recommendations welcome. Looking for a mobo, ram, and cpu for $250 to $300.

[pam123]

What is the primary use ?
If it's for photo/video work, the 3 DVD burners in your signature suggest that, then a quad core and 8 GBs of ram are a good place to start.

This AMD processor delivers great bang for the buck : Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

[David M]

How much do you want to spend on the entire computer? Which applications will you be running?

[Planefreak]

I'll mostly be using it for school stuff (Matlab, PSpice, Inventor...), and some video editing.


Looking to spend around 250 to 300.


That's one of the processors I came across, and thought that might be a good one.

[Khalil]

For what you are looking to do I recomend this:

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX
Newegg.com - ASUS M5A78L-M LX AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9/4G

this will meet and exceed your needs for less than you wanted to spend, saving money is smart!

[glc]

Khalil, why are you recommending a single memory module instead of a dual channel kit?

[Planefreak]

I was thinking the same thing. Should I look for dual channel ram for speed?

Also, would 8gb be beneficial? On my current build, it started lagging because my 2gb ran out of.

I like the idea of saving money, but my PC is huge so, an ATX board will fit. This would also give me some more PCI slots and more memory slots.

For an extra couple bucks would this be a good decision, or is everything changing so quickly upgrading ram would be a waste when the whole machine needs to upgraded?

[glc]

I can't get you a quad core Intel with mobo and ram for $300, so you will have to depend on the AMD guys for recommendations.

[Planefreak]

This is kind of unrelated, but why is Intel stuff more expensive?

[glc]

Because it performs better. You do get what you pay for. Intel has chosen not to release a low end quad core, so AMD owns that segment of the market.

[Planefreak]

So in terms of performance what would the difference be between an AMD and Intel?

If it is 25% faster it might just be worth it to go with Intel, but I think my system might bottleneck at the GPU or the HDD.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Depends on what you're doing. Games rely on the video card, everything else (for the most part) is CPU-dependent... which makes Intel the way to go: it'd be money well spent.

Hard drives are not noticeable bottlenecks.

[Planefreak]

good info to know

So for an AMD which CPU should I go with?
and Intel?

[glc]

Khalil has given you an AMD recommendation. This would be an Intel recommendation in your budget:

Newegg.com - ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9

HOWEVER - if your apps can take advantage of a quad core, the AMD would be a better bet unless you can spend $185 on just the CPU.

[Planefreak]

Is that the Intel build you would recommend, or just the one that fits my budget?

What would you recommend in general? I might be able to go over budget on this one.

[birddog_61]

In order of slower to faster it would be i3-2100 dual core, i5-2500(2400) quad core, and i7-2600 quad core with hyper threading

[glc]

If you want to build Intel, I'd recommend both a better motherboard and a better processor.

Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52400

[Planefreak]

thanks for all the replies. I'm still not sure what I'm going to choose yet, but I have some ideas now