Hand-picked top 13 AMD/Intel CPUs at $100 – $230 price range

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Link to a list of CPUs that are worth buying in a price range of $100 – $230. I didn't pick the costliest CPUs, basically this is for a saver who wants to have a nice system.
Hope somebody will find this useful! :)

13 years ago*

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31 Comments

Zenphic

Tom's Hardware monthly "Best Gaming CPU" and "Best Gaming GPU" per price range is also a handy reference:

CPU: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-llano-processor,2989.html

GPU: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Thanks, I will look at those in an hour or so.
My next writing is going to be either about motherboards or memory, though.

13 years ago

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heyytonytony

Hardware Revolution is also a pretty nice reference site. It separates items into categories based on price, performance, etc to cater to specific budgets or needs.

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Thank you, I will look into this one too. :) Bookmarked.

13 years ago

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GintheCat

GPU vs GPU Comparison
CPUs, GPUs and SSD Comparison
Compare GPU Cards

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Thanks again for some new links. :) Bookmarked too.
Well, only one actually.

13 years ago

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f0ku5

currently there's no better gaming processor other than I5-2500K

13 years ago

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Mysterious

There is, but it costs significantly more. The next a little better CPU costs $80 more than 2500K.

13 years ago

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GintheCat

actually i agree with f0ku5 "gaming".
You wont see much difference between the i5 2500k and the i7 2600k.

Furthermore my amd phenom ii x4 920 (my htpc build) can still hold his own ground with my other rigs (i7 860, i7 870 and i5 2500k). Obviously i mean in gaming.

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Oh, I forgot to include that. I meant 2600K by that $80.
Anyway, these are the other better CPUs:
Intel Core i7 990X
Intel Core i7 980X
Intel Core i7 970
But again - they didn't go into my price range. These are the costliest CPUs available, and in my opinion - not worth buying if you are only gaming or zipping files. When there will be games which will be able to actually use the full potential by these CPUs, there will be next-gen CPUs.

13 years ago

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f0ku5

they're not better than Sandy Bridge chips in games. "Gaming" is the keyword ;)

For games 2500K is the best processor available now, and 2600K isn't better, because he have HT which won't work good in many games.

13 years ago

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Dellmaker

Thanks, Mysterious. A new processor was something I was actually considering, but didn't have the time to check the low/mid-range ones out. Using your review, my next CPU will be the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T.

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Glad I helped someone. :)

13 years ago

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f0ku5

do not buy Phenoms now, wait for Bulldozer.

13 years ago

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GintheCat

He might need a new Motherboard for a Bulldozer (If I am correct you need a AM3+ Socket)

13 years ago

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Dellmaker

Either way, I'm planning on getting a new mobo...but I'm in the same boat that I was in for the CPU. Something good, nice, and generally cheap. If I have to trade down for a mobo that'd take Bulldozer, when I could have a "moderately great" mobo to match the processor, then it's not a win.

13 years ago

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Vek17

The Phenom is plenty powerful for what you need right now, and its got a good price point... Why do you need an octo core processor anyway?

13 years ago

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GintheCat

well since he is going to get a new motherboard he might as well wait a bit longer.
If you have a microcenter they do have that $80.00 off the motherboard if you buy a combo cpu/motherboard, so if you can't wait i would jump for that

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Another good point...

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Bulldozer is highly overrated in your post.
Prices of Bulldozer CPUs will be ranging from $190 to $320. Top model will be able to compete with 2600K (8 cores, $320), while FX-6110 (6 cores, $240) will be able to compete with 2500K, which is $220.
So basically - it isn't worth waiting for Bulldozer nor performance-wise, nor price-wise.

13 years ago

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lokonopa

If you live near a Micro Center, GO THERE FIRST! Also, I currently own an i5 2400. Contrary to popular misconception, they can be overclocked. If you purchase a Z68 based motherboard, you can overclock it to 4.1GHz on one core and 3.8GHz on four active cores. Not only that, but with QuickSync, you can use a discrete video card and the onboard Sandy Bridge GPU (HD Graphics 2000/3000). I run pretty much everything in my library while I wait to save up for a graphics card.

i5 2500k - $179.99
i5 2400 - $149.99

I don't recommend any of the other Intel processors right now. These two are the best bang for your buck when it comes to comparing dollar to performance.

As for the AMD CPUs, they are all either the same price listed on the OP link or $10-20 cheaper at Micro Center.

To compare processors, use the AnandTech Bench. It's quick and easy to get a rough idea of the performance between two or more current processors.

Overclocking can be pretty overrated, so you're not really losing that much of performance by not being able to go over 3.8GHz, unless you're somehow maxing out all four cores at 3.1GHz.

Or you can wait until Ivy Bridge or Bulldozer, but that wouldn't really be cost effective. Ivy Bridge might be pretty pricey at first when it comes out next year, but Bulldozer should be fine, but will come out around the same time next year as well. If you're going that route, make sure to buy a motherboard that supports PCIe x16 3.0 and the next architecture you're looking at buying.

If you're going AMD, Bulldozer is a pretty large upgrade from the previous arch compared to Sandy Bridge -> Ivy Bridge. If you're seriously thinking about going IB, do some research to figure out why you would wait that long to go IB over SB and just wait for Haswell in 2013. That amount of time until the next possible upgrade makes more sense, too.

13 years ago

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GintheCat

Paterson Microcenter Whooo!!

13 years ago

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cowbell

I think the better CPUs are the ones which overclock very well. Add a Hyper 212 and the i5-2500K goes far above 4 GHz.

13 years ago

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GintheCat

if you have a good case the i5 2500k should be able to overclock at 4GHz with a stock cooler.

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Well, they really do overclock good, can go high. However, most likely you won't need that powerful CPU... Unless you are zipping ton of files or rendering ton of videos, or doing something else what puts heavy load on your CPU, then you can get the job done faster. :)

13 years ago

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cowbell

Considering how getting a much better CPU that might not beat the 4GHz barrier will cost around $200 in three years, getting a better cooler for just $25 will make that extra 400MHz+ add more life to the aging CPU. Also, numbers get more big.

13 years ago

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Mysterious

Speaking of good CPUs, 2500K costs $220 now. :)

13 years ago

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cowbell

Last months sales were great timing on my part.

13 years ago

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