Which CPU-mobo combo?

[Pimpom]

I'm trying to decide between two CPU-motherboard combos for use as a general-purpose, jack-of-all-trades home computer - occasional light gaming, very occasional video editing, light CAD work, word processing, dabbling with Photoshop, viewing movies, etc. The combos are -

1. Used AMD Phenom II x4 955, Asus M5A88-M
2. New FX6100 with perhaps an MSI 970A-G46 mobo priced about 35% more than the other one.

Both motherboards are SATA III and USB 3.0. I already have 4*2GB of Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600, GF 9600GT gfx card, Samsung 830 128GB SSD, other HDDs. Helpful comments and suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

[socialfox]

Used Phenom II X4 955? Are you buying it used or you already own it?

Check out this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/104947-8-phenom-black-edition

There are nice deals on the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, only 69.99

Applies to both Americans and Canadians.

Now for the combo, I'd go for the first one. The processor is a better one. Also are you bound to those two decisions or are you open to other suggestions?

 

[Pimpom]

Used Phenom II X4 955? Are you buying it used or you already own it?

Check out this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ck-edition

There are nice deals on the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, only 69.99

Applies to both Americans and Canadians.

Buying it. I'm not in a western country and new PII x4 955 BE's have long disappeared from the shelves here, including online shops. As for the pricing, things are more expensive here and I deliberately omitted mentioning the actual prices to avoid confusion.

Now for the combo, I'd go for the first one. The processor is a better one.

That's what I thought, and had almost confirmed the deal on the 955 combo. But then I checked them out with THG's comparative charts and was surprised to see the FX-6100 take the lead in many real-world applications.

Also are you bound to those two decisions or are you open to other suggestions?

I'm certainly open to other suggestions. That includes Intel systems but even now AMD still seems to offer more bang for the buck in this price range.

 

[socialfox]

How much does the i3-3220 cost in your area? In addition, you could stretch your budget a bit more and reach for a FX-6300.

 

[Pimpom]

An i3-3220 costs about 5% less than an FX-6100 here. I can't find the FX-6300 listed anywhere. The next step up from a 6100 is the FX-8120 at ~30% more.

The i3-3220 is not included in THG's comparative charts and I'm not familiar with its capabilities except for a quick look just now at an A10-5800K vs. i3-3220 review at hardwaresecrets.com.