Which cpu should i get for my budget gaming build?

[slader166]

which cpu would you guys recommend for gaming under $140?

 

[67kv]

If you live near a micocenter the i5 2500k is only $150 which is a great steal

 

[slader166]

thats the 2400, the 2500k is 180.
thats still over my budget.

 

[de5_Roy]

[quotemsg=2990734,1,605755]which cpu would you guys recommend for gaming under $140?[/quotemsg]
ph ii 955 be, x4 970 be, x4 960T, core i3 2100 .... ... .. . fx 4100.
fx 4100 $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
core i3 2100 $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
ph ii x4 960T (95w) $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995
ph ii x4 970 $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103894
ph ii x4 955 be $125 (out of stock)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808
recommendations are based on price.
dunno about microcenter deals. iirc i heard that i5 2500k was going for $150 before.

 

[Guest]

2500k
find 40$ lol
cut back on other components if you need to (if not too late)

 

[slader166]

well im looking to go budget for now, and upgrade later.

 

[Guest]

But since you are putting almost the right amount of money, might as well just go on it now and not need to upgrade later, right?

 

[de5_Roy]

[quotemsg=2990755,6,605755]well im looking to go budget for now, and upgrade later.[/quotemsg]
how about a core i3 2100 + z68 mobo that has dual x8 cfx/sli support. you could upgrade to ivy bridge (untested).
asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
ASRock Z68 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157250

 

[slader166]

so i3 2100
snd
z68 mobo?

 

[de5_Roy]

you can also look into ph ii x4 960T/970/ fx 4100/6100 + 970/990x/990fx motherboards.
you never specified your chosen cpu or motherboard budget, so i posted the intel stuff.

 

[kenshin333]

buy a good board one time so u wont have to upgrade it later, i recomend amd x2, x3 processr, sounds like ur not into hardcore gaming so this ought to be sufficient.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

If you are going with amd, don't bother with the dual cores and triple cores. If you have a microcenter nearby, here is your hookup.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371961

You can grab one of those now, and a nice socket AM3+ board, good cooler, maybe some overclocking, that should hold you till later. I have an Athlon II x4 640 which is almost the same chip, just a little slower, and it handles most games pretty well right now.

 

[slader166]

my budget for cpu is $140,
my budget for mobo is $130.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

In that case dude, if that is what you want to spend, if you do have microcenter nearby, here are a couple of other good deals. I'm kicking the idea of upgrades around also, I've got my Athlon quad core and it does well, but mine is only the Athlon quad core.

Here is the Phenom II 970 quad-3.5 ghz stock, 139.99

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351903

If you can stretch another 10 dollars, microcenter also has the i5 2400

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590

Which is much better pricing than even newegg and tigerdirect, I've looked. But they are brick and mortar, so see if you have one nearby.

For 160 they've also got the 1090t 6 core, also a quick processor. Mind if I ask what you are budgeting for a video card?

 

[slader166]

for gpu i can go up to $200,
i have a microcenter 30-40 minutes from me.
but from what i've read they dont have very good service.

 

[de5_Roy]

[quotemsg=2990883,13,605755]my budget for cpu is $140,
my budget for mobo is $130.[/quotemsg]
amd:
AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HD96ZTWFGRBOX $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995
AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510
ASRock 990FX Extreme3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157281
ASRock 970 EXTREME4 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262
970, 990x, 990fx motherboards from $90 and up.
intel:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512
GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128488
ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $132.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131773
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
h61, h67, p67 and z68 motherboards from $54 and up.
recommendations are based on price.

 

[slader166]

i think im going with:
intel i3 2100,
and
asrock z68 extreme3 gen3.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Hm, I would be suprised if they don't. The one by where I'm at is great, good prices and the guys are pretty knowledgable. Though newegg and tigerdirect have good deals also.

 

[slader166]

cool.
i pass tigerdirect on my way to work everyday,
so i would prefer to buy from them.

 

[Wisecracker]

Take $60 from your cpu/mobo budget and spend $260 on a dual-BIOS HD6950.

A 650w PSU should work nicely for a single video card -- a 750w should cover 2 'tweaked' video cards and a nice OC.

Snag the GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ and an AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz. You could drop down on the mobo if you have no interest in dual video cards, and cover the cost of a CM Hyper 212+ (if you have not budgeted for one).

 

[slader166]

$260 Isnt really for a budget gaming build.

 

[Wisecracker]

[quotemsg=2990912,21,605755]$260 Isnt really for a budget gaming build.[/quotemsg]

Your identified budget: $470 for cpu, motherboard, and video card

My proposed budget: $470 for cpu, motherboard, and video card (and possibly a cooler)

[:jaydeejohn:5]

In any gaming build .... it's the video card

 

[bwf1975]

mate has i5 2400, got it for really good price from shop as all want 2500k.
Compared to my i5 2500k with similar spec internals, is really good chip if not worryed about overclocking.

 

[slader166]

the i3 seems kinda like a baby i7.
the 955 seems like a beast.
im going with 955.

 

[slader166]

holy crap,
i just read on tomshardware that amd is not shipping phenom ii's and athlons.
should i still go with a phenom ii or go with intel?