~150 Dollar CPU/Motherboard Combo?

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ludus

ludus

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Hello, I am going to be making a gaming pc soon, all I need now is the cpu and mobo. It is in fact a budget build and will be used for 1080p gaming. I hope to buy the cpu/mobo as soon as possible. And if I can, I would like the cap to be $150, but preferably under that. Previously, I was looking at the AMD FX-6300 and Msi 970A-G46 cpu/mobo combo at microcenter for $139.98, but that has been out of stock for a while at Cambride and I don't know if Msi is reliable. So it all comes down to the final question.

What is the best CPU/Motherboard combo I can get for ~$150 or less, amd or intel, I don't care?

My Build
Microcenter

UPDATE: I should probably add that I will be upgrading in the future, I have planned to eventually add a ssd, 8 more gb or RAM, and a second 660.
 
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CTurbo
Well, $150 is not really enough to get anything of worth, but you could go at this in two ways. You could get the best cpu possible and use a cheapo motherboard, or you could grab a cheap cpu and get a really good motherboard. I would choose the latter if I wasn't patient enough to save up more money. I would find the best deal possible on a Z87 motherboard, and then get the most expensive Pentium I could find with the leftover money. Something like a Pentium g3220 would do for a start. Would it be great? No, but you're not going to get anything great for $150. Getting a good motherboard now would at least give you a foundation in which to build on. Especially if you want to use SLI later. You could always get an i5 later too when you...
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Xtwargodtx

Xtwargodtx

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I would go for a AMD 5800k and Msi a75ma e35 mobo. I have this setup and it is very good. I dont know hwat games your going to play but the 5800k can max out my COD black ops 2 on max. you just need some fast ram and you should be good.
 
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ludus

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Well 1, I am going to be playing games like Skyrim and Portal. And would an apu really be good, because i got an EVGA GeForce GTX 660 so I don't really think it would make sense to get the integrated graphics? And uh, would you like to provide a location to actually purchase this so I can see prices, or are you talking about Microcenter?
 
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CTurbo

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Well, $150 is not really enough to get anything of worth, but you could go at this in two ways. You could get the best cpu possible and use a cheapo motherboard, or you could grab a cheap cpu and get a really good motherboard. I would choose the latter if I wasn't patient enough to save up more money. I would find the best deal possible on a Z87 motherboard, and then get the most expensive Pentium I could find with the leftover money. Something like a Pentium g3220 would do for a start. Would it be great? No, but you're not going to get anything great for $150. Getting a good motherboard now would at least give you a foundation in which to build on. Especially if you want to use SLI later. You could always get an i5 later too when you have the money.
 
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ludus

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Thanks for the idea, I never would have thought of that! I will do that, but instead, since Intel is more expensive, I will go with AMD and get an FX 4130 and upgrade to a 6300 or 8320 later on.
 
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CTurbo

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Thanks for the idea, I never would have thought of that! I will do that, but instead, since Intel is more expensive, I will go with AMD and get an FX 4130 and upgrade to a 6300 or 8320 later on.
Click to expand...

Well, unless you're just sold on AMD, the Intel solution offers a much MUCH better upgrade path. Also, stay away from the FX 41xx cpus as they are crap. The FX 4300 is basically the same price as the FX 4130 and it is a lot better. But that still has you buying a $100 cpu and a $50 motherboard as opposed to a $50 cpu and a $100 motherboard. A $50 motherboard is not going to be very good unless you find a steal of a deal.
 
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ludus

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I understand that Intel is better, but I just don't have the money right now to buy it, so I have to go AMD. And in fact, I am getting an $110-120 motherboard from Asus either the Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 or Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0. And I am just getting the AMD 4130 because it is pretty darn cheap, and it has easy overclocking (even though i probably wont need/do it, it's just I already bought an Hyper 212 evo and I dont want to waste it) and it also will be upgraded in the future. So in fact, I'm actually getting more of a $50 cpu and $100 motherboard. Just to clear that up. But if you could find a cpu and mobo of Intel make that totals under $180, and it beats my choices, then I'm all ears.

 
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CTurbo

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Ah I see I didn't know your were getting the FX 4130 so cheap. I looked it up and it was almost $100. I'm not an AMD hater. I'm a fan of the FX 6300 and FX 8320. They are great values. I have an HTPC with an A10-6800k and I'm very happy with it. If AMD was going to release Steamroller on AM3+ I would never even mention Intel, but it looks like AM3+ is going to die after a Piledriver refresh later this year. Intel just offers a more viable path for upgrade and "future proofness" lol. A stock FX 4130 is barely going to outperform a lowly Pentium g3220, and an overclocked FX 4130 is still not going to be as good as a Haswell i3. FX Bulldozer cpus have TERRIBLE single thread performance, and they may put big numbers down on paper like 4+ghz clock speeds, but that doesn't mean anything when you see an Intel at 3.0ghz will outperform them.

If you have moved your budget up to $180, you can practically afford a FX 6300 and still get a pretty good motherboard. That's probably what I would do if possible. Or for an Intel solution, you could probably get an i3 + Z series motherboard.

Either way, if you really can get the FX 4130 for super cheap I suppose it would be alright for a little while. Especially if it allows you to get a great motherboard.
 
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ludus

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Yea the motherboard is pretty great, and the reason it doesn't appear is because I would be getting it from Microcenter and its in-store pickup only. But The exact cost would be $63.74 HERE. And yea, just for now of course, because that cpu is horrible for gaming. But what is the upgrade you were talking about? AM3+ going away? What does that mean for me, since I'm getting an AM3+ motherboard? Should I try to go intel for $180???
 
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ludus

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Hey, so I was wondering, should I go with the AMD choice, or get the Intel Pentium G3220 w/ either an ASUS, Gigabyte, or Msi motherboard up to $130 (since I can actually get the G3220 cheap ($53 from Microcenter))? Because that would hopefully be "future proof" because it is an 1150 socket am I right? Of course, I would need help choosing the board though.

Edit: Here are the mobo choices to go with the G3220

ASUS
MSI
MSI
Gigabyte
 
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ElMoIsEviL

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I recommended the BIOSTAR because of your budget. You can't be too picky when you've only got $150 to spend. You also have to play it smart.

Socket AM3+ will likely have a longer shelf life than Socket 1150, even if AMD don't release new CPUs for the AM3+ socket. The AM3+ CPUs which are currently available, will likely be available throughout 2014 and into 2015.

This is because AMD appear to be concentrating on their FM2+/APU platform. Intel will likely get another CPU on the socket 1150 (EOL on all existing CPU SKUs once they do) before it retires that socket themselves (probably sometime before the end of 2014).

As for an Intel Pentium G3220, it is about on par with an AMD Athlon II X3 450 in terms of multi-threaded performance (2C vs 3C). I wouldn't get such a CPU if I were you. I'd jump on the AMD FX-6300 and then save up for a motherboard capable of SLI.

No sense in getting a weak CPU and semi-decent motherboard only to upgrade either of the two a short while down the line. That's a waste of money. Best to be patient imo.
 
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CTurbo

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Yea the motherboard is pretty great, and the reason it doesn't appear is because I would be getting it from Microcenter and its in-store pickup only. But The exact cost would be $63.74 HERE. And yea, just for now of course, because that cpu is horrible for gaming. But what is the upgrade you were talking about? AM3+ going away? What does that mean for me, since I'm getting an AM3+ motherboard? Should I try to go intel for $180???
Click to expand...

Well everybody was hoping AMD was going to release a new FX series based on the new Steamroller architecture, but AMD said that Steamroller would only be for fm2. That means that the best upgrade you could get for AM3+ is the disappointment that is the FX 9590 which is nothing more than a factory overclocked FX 8320/8350. The best cpu that I would buy for AM3+ is the FX 8320 since it is a much better value than the FX 8350. The FX 8320/8350 was pretty competitive with Intel's Sandy Bridge, and kinda competitive with Ivy Bridge, but not so much with Haswell. By going LGA1150 you have an assortment of i5s to choose from that would be better in gaming overall than any FX. Then you could even get an i7 that blows the FXs out of the water.

I'm a firm believer in getting a REALLY good solid motherboard and psu to build around as they are the most important components. Especially if you are interested in longevity, overclocking, and SLI/crossfire. So yes, I would rather have a $50 cpu and a $300 motherboard than an i7 and a $50 motherboard. Of course that's just an example and you don't need a $300 motherboard lol. $100-120 range should be just fine.

Personally I like the Pentium + Z87 motherboard option for starters. The Pentium would be better than you think, you will have endless options when you are ready to upgrade, and you will have a solid foundation on which to build on. Intel's next generation Broadwell will be released on LGA1150 too.

 
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CTurbo

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The Pentium g3220 @ 3.0ghz is equal to the FX 9590 @ 5.0ghz in single core performance. In overall gaming it will trade blows with a FX 41xx. The FX 6300 trades blows with a Haswell i3 in gaming. The AMDs also use 2-3 times the power and put off 2-3 times the heat too, and that's at stock speeds. Overclock and you've just doubled that easily.

The best thing about buying a Pentium for $50 now is that you could sell it for $35-40 when you're ready to upgrade. Plus there are slightly beefier Pentiums for just a little more money like the 3.2ghz g3420 and 3.3ghz g3430.
 
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ElMoIsEviL

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Irrelevant no? How well a CPU performs in a Single Core task won't tell you how well it will perform in a Multicore scenario. The reverse is also true. If we're talking games, and we are, then aside from a few examples (say Skyrim, Borderlands 2 or other poorly programmed titles)... Single core performance isn't the deciding factor.


That may be true but why would that matter? You said it yourself, the FX-41xx is crap (and it is). Why would he avert getting one piece of crap in order to instead obtain another piece of crap? Obviously the use of the term "piece of crap" is entirely subjective here.


I'm not sure why the FX-6300 is being mentioned alongside a Haswell i3 for gaming. You're still thinking in terms of 2012/2013. This year... things won't be so clear cut. You're talking to a guy who will be investing money, he barely has, in a system to last him, I would assume, a set amount of time (3-4 years I would guess). You have to think ahead. You have to factor in Mantle, OpenCL as well as Multi-core in general. Mantle has the ear of around 10 developers right now (over 25 titles). Heck Crytek is beta testing Mantle as we speak. Shouldn't you factor that in given the API comes out Jan/Feb this year?

As for the power usage... irrelevant imo since it doesn't even make a large difference energy cost wise.



I disagree. Best thing is to purchase a CPU with a decent assortment of Cores. An i5 or AMD FX 63xx should be the bare minimum for a 2014 gaming rig imo. The AMD FX-6300 will likely perform quite closely to the i5 (in Mantle titles anyway). I say this because heavily threaded games (such as the DirectX version of Battlefield 4) already highlight this truth:

CPU_Performance_BF4_zps364b9b11.jpg


Honestly, I don't care about Intel vs. AMD or any of the hoopla people pull over which manufacturer is better. As it stands right now... Intel do have the more powerful CPUs (brute force wise). There is no denying that. But once you add parallelism to the mix... the difference just seems to melt away.

2014 is the year of Parallelism, the year of Openness and Transparency. The year of Open Source, OpenCL, Mantle, SteamOS and Linux/Android in general.

The Windows/CUDA/PhysX/Emphasis on IPC days may very well be numbered.
 
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ludus

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I hate to sound rude but, this is all well and good, but it doesn't provide me with an answer. Should I go with AMD FX 4130 and an Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 or with the Intel Pentium G3220 with one of the boards from above? And, this is slightly confusing me, are you saying that AMD might blow Intel out of the water, or that it shouldn't be counted out yet? And also, what is this information's relevance to me, because it's a lot of info. to take in.

Btw, once again heres the list of the choice of motherboards to possibly go with the Intel Pentium G3220:

Asus
Msi
Msi
Gigabyte
 
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ludus

ludus

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I hate to sound rude but, this is all well and good, but it doesn't provide me with an answer. Should I go with AMD FX 4130 and an Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 or with the Intel Pentium G3220 with one of the boards from above? And, this is slightly confusing me, are you saying that AMD might blow Intel out of the water, or that it shouldn't be counted out yet? And also, what is this information's relevance to me, because it's a lot of info. to take in.

Btw, once again heres the list of the choice of motherboards to possibly go with the Intel Pentium G3220:

Asus
Msi
Msi
Gigabyte
 
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WhiteSnake91

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In Tom's Benchmark of the bf4 beta the 4170 fx got 42-51 fps, the i3 cpu did even better than that. Bulldozer was pretty bleh so you will need to update no doubt. Even as bad as bulldozer was, I'd probably honestly personally take the quad core over the dual core just for multitasking.

The main point is, what games are you planning on playing, which gpu will you pair with it, monitor resolution, and will you ever even sli/crossfire? If not, you can get the ~$95 mobo Asus 970 chipset mobo r2.0 (not the LE edition because no VRM heatsinks and can't overclock/will throttle) , and with the money saved you can get the much better fx 6300 cpu. Piledriver improved alot on bulldozer. I urge you to spend the measly 10 more dollars that the 6300 costs over the 4130/4300

 
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ludus

ludus

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Well, seeing as I provided insufficient information, I will provide a link to my build (ignore the cpu/mobo) and elaborate more. I will be playing at 1080p playing games like Skyrim, Portal, Garry's Mod, and other games possibly including Thief. Probably not any FPS games. I will be planning to do SLI in the future to get two GTX 660's. I also plan to overclock in the future, when I need to. And it would probably be about a year minimum until I upgrade, considering I need to save up some money. But I will upgrade in the future, if I go AMD then I will upgrade to an FX 8320 and if I go Intel then I will upgrade to an Intel Core i7 4770k. I hope that clears things up. And also I will most likely be getting my cpu from Microcenter, because they offer great prices, unless someone else has better.

My Build
 
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