Best overall CPU for ~$100

[ericlow]

Thanks and sorry in advance if this has been covered 4,000 times!

I'm looking for a CPU around the $100 price point, eventually to build a system around a 430W PSU that I just bought for my old system.

My first reaction is go with an E8200 (microcenter $99) with an Asus P5Q SE. But I know in the past AMD generally offered more performance for the money.

Any suggestions as to where I can find the best value? Deals?

e5200 with an OC...cheaper than $100 too

 

[heyheybooboo]

Well, what about unlocking the X2 550?

It's not technically scientific but over at Xtreme Systems Forums the 'Unlock Success Rate' is over 75% ...

There are nearly 800 posts so good luck with all that ----> X2 550 Unlocking & Overclocking Consolidated





==

 

[halley]

It's not technically scientific but over at Xtreme Systems Forums the 'Unlock Success Rate' is over 75% ...

There are nearly 800 posts so good luck with all that ----> X2 550 Unlocking & Overclocking Consolidated





==

I'll go with the AMD 550 because it works with both DDR2 and DDR3 rams. It can be overclocked to 3.4 with stock voltage on my MSI 790GX Platinum. It passed my Lavaly stability test with 4 cores @ 3.4 (stock voltage).

 

[Rifter]

I3 520 will be out next Thursday and will be 87 Dollars

Yeah but its only a dual core. For programs that use all cores even if its faster clock for clock than the athlons it wont beat a quad core.

 

[Hey Zeus]

Yeah but its only a dual core. For programs that use all cores even if its faster clock for clock than the athlons it wont beat a quad core.

Agreed. The base model Clarkdale won't have HT but it's turning out to be a monster overclocker.

 

[soccerballtux]

Agreed. The base model Clarkdale won't have HT but it's turning out to be a monster overclocker.

Haha, hardly monster, that's 1.52v on a 32nm part! This is almost like running an e8400 at 1.55-1.6v-- You might as well zap it with a static gun right now.

 

[bobsmith1492]

I've never seen Matlab use more than one core. I know it's supposed to be multithreaded; perhaps I'm just not using the right toolboxes (mostly signal processing for me).

 

[Hey Zeus]

Haha, hardly monster, that's 1.52v on a 32nm part! This is almost like running an e8400 at 1.55-1.6v-- You might as well zap it with a static gun right now.

I ran a E3200 with 1.6v for two months with no side effects

Chips are so cheap these days if i fry my 540 in a few months i'll just buy another

 

[johnnydrinkawater]

I've never seen Matlab use more than one core. I know it's supposed to be multithreaded; perhaps I'm just not using the right toolboxes (mostly signal processing for me).

I'm really not sure. I use the control systems toolbox most of the time and Simulink. I do a lot of global searches, those can take about 10 minutes on my core 2 duo laptop (2.0 GHz).

It also gets lava-hot.

 

[soccerballtux]

I ran a E3200 with 1.6v for two months with no side effects

Chips are so cheap these days if i fry my 540 in a few months i'll just buy another

I don't buy that, Anand blew a chip after only 24hrs running at....1.6v IIRC. Out of curiosity, how fast did you get it at 1.6v?

 

[Zebo]

Best is Phenom 2 550 for $100. This is by far one of the best CPUs ever! Starts off with 2 cores at full cache at a respectable 3.1Ghz. Coupled with a cheap board but very good board like Gigabyte's MA770T-UD3P for $70 NOTHING can touch this price to performance ratio, period. Then, you can unlock two more cores and OC!!!

Second Best is E5200 if overclocking.

 

[Stefan Payne]

Number of cores isn't too important, just looking for best performance for the money.

Yes, it is.

This computer will be used for light gaming and heavy scientific software usage (Matlab, Simulink, 3D function plotting, CAD).

Than you'd better get a 4 core processor.

e5200 with an OC...cheaper than $100 too

Agreed. The base model Clarkdale won't have HT but it's turning out to be a monster overclocker.

Overclocking on a productive machine?!
Are you serious?!
Think about data corruption or instabilitys that only occur when the CPU is under high load for a long time, like VIAs 686B bug...

No one can guarantee anything if something is not working as the manufacturer expectet it...

I remember a 'performance tip' of a German hardware mag, called PCGH, who advised to overclock the PCIe clock up to 125MHz...
Wich is a pretty good idea, if you forget the setbacks like the S-ATA clock is also generated out of the PCIe clock wich caused empty harddisks in the end...

Everytime, there is more than one side, you should not forget (to mention) the 'dark side' as well!

 

[Zebo]

Honestly, my last few E5300s have clocked to 3.6ghz on stock voltage and the stock cooler, and thats with garbage motherboards.

That's still not very fast. Stripped out cache wolfdales are over 10% slower than Phenom II's c4c. Besides he didn't say anything about overclocking...

 

[bobsmith1492]

I'm really not sure. I use the control systems toolbox most of the time and Simulink. I do a lot of global searches, those can take about 10 minutes on my core 2 duo laptop (2.0 GHz).

It also gets lava-hot.

Run some of your heavy-duty Matlab code and pull up the task manager. See if you're using more than one core (if the total gets over 50% use that is - it will probably load balance between cores making it look like both cores are running at half-capacity or so).