Best CPU for an Asus M4A88T-M

[IamTimTech]

Hello guys, got another quick question for you. I just became the owner of an older computer with an Asus M4A88T-M AM3 motherboard, an AMD Athlon II X2 255 and 4GB of AMD Memory. I would love to turn this thing into a decent little rig. My question is the best processor that this board will support healthily?

I have a 4x2GB G. Skill 1866Mhz DDR3 memory kit and a GTX 650 I am installing right now. The processor is ok, but I really want to put a quad or six core, or even an FX chip if it will facilitate it. I don't need to go overboard. I just want to make this machine the best it can be on a budget. My plan is to pick up a cheap chip off of eBay.

Here is the MOTHERBOARD

 

[Darkbreeze]

Probably the Phenom IIX6 1100T.

 

[IamTimTech]

Wow, that is a powerful chip for its age. It's pulling down $100+ on eBay easily though. Maybe "best" won't be best. I'm not trying to spend more than $45 tops for a a used chip. Maybe I should just try to get the newest Athlon Quad-Core I can in that budget.

 

[Darkbreeze]

They're not expensive due to them being powerful, they're expensive because there are hardly any still around. The Athlon II's aren't much different, but sometimes you get lucky. This would be the best Athlon it supports:

Athlon IIX4 655

 

[IamTimTech]

Can't find exactly that chip, but I am finding a ton of 620, 30 40's. I'm going to patiently wait and snipe out the cheapest 30/40 I can find, maybe even the 20 if it's cheap enough. With the dual core in there I was maxing out my monitor's refresh rate on league and that's all that really matters to me. This machine is going to just be a test/play machine until I finish up my i5 build and then it's going to find a new home with someone who will appreciate it.

My question is, with proper cooling how well will the 620, 30 40's overclock? I've had systems with both 620's and 630's and I liked them well enough. The board supports 1866 memory and will overclock to 2133, I would like to push up the chip to like a stable 3.3-3.5 or so Ghz. Just wondering if that is a reasonable expectation. I'm not trying to squeeze ultra settings out of it or anything, just push it to it's snappy full potential.

Also thanks Dark for helping me out, really appreciate it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Then I'd probably go with a 640. You could probably take it to 3.5Ghz which would give it FX-4300-ish type performance. Still not great, but ok considering the platform.

Personally, for my 45.00, I'd save a while longer and get a cheap i3 and H97 or B85 motherboard that would stomp all over that AND most of the FX chips.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($104.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-GAMING 3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($55.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $160.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-18 13:35 EDT-0400


That would be a better investment by far than the fifty bucks you're going to throw at an older platform.

 

[IamTimTech]

I have an i5-4440 on an H87M-Plus for myself, working on getting a 280x for it right now. I am just building another used machine starting with the parts I have laying around. I actually just grabbed a 630 for $37 shipped so I am pretty happy. This machine will have the Athlon II X4 630, 8GB of DDR3 1866 (which I am pretty sure will be capped at 1600 due to the processor cap) and a GTX 650. Perfect for somebody who wants to browse fast and play all those free to plays.

 

[Darkbreeze]

That board supports 1866(OC) so you should have no problem manually setting the memory to 1866mhz in the bios if it does default to 1600mhz.

That's a good price on the CPU, so long as there are no issues with it. Hopefully not. Sometimes you get lucky with used processors but it can go either way. I'm sure it will be pretty decent for the investment.

 

[IamTimTech]

Thanks Dark, I thought so too. I was under the impression that the processor itself only supported a memory frequency of 1600Mhz, if it doesn't and supports the 1866 I will be pleased as punch! The processor has "been tested" and the person I bought it from has 100% feedback thus far so I'm not too concerned. If it does have a problem I will simply return it and just be satisfied with the Dual core in it now. I am going to be using the stock AMD cooler that has the heatpipes so I should be able to bump it up at least a little but.

 

[Darkbreeze]

According to the AMD spec sheet it only supports up to DDR3 1333mhz, but that was likely all that was available at the time they created the spec list. More often limitations are due to what the board supports but all you can do is try it and see. It's been a while since I worked with an X4 but it seems I've used 1600 and 1866mhz memory with it before without issues.

I highly do not recommend overclocking using the stock cooler if your overclock requires any voltage increase as it will not be able to keep up. If it's a multiplier only overclock, then it might be ok.

 

[IamTimTech]

I used the AMD heatsink which has the copper heat pipes to get a mild overclock on the FM2 build in my sig before I sold it, it's actually not bad at all compared to the AMD aluminum blocks and stock intel heatsinks. I am going to follow your advice though; I will see what I can bump it up to without raising the voltage (or at least barely raising the voltage) and see if I can get a mild overclock on the stock cooler. If it won't overclock then I am not going to invest in a cooler just to overclock it, as an overclock isn't really something I can use to sell the computer.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, that's a good plan.

 

[IamTimTech]

Thanks dark, I appreciate all the feedback

 

[Darkbreeze]

Always, anytime.