Budget CPU recommendations

[precisiontech]

My 8 year old P4 box is slow so I'm ready to build a new within the next 2 months. I need some CPU recommendations for surfing (<8 tabs), photo editing, office tasks, light music production. I want something that will fly with these tasks yet is low on power consumption. No gaming, video editing, or OC. I'll be dual booting W7 & Ubuntu and plan on having 8GB RAM. I don't see a need for a dedicated video card. CPU budget is <$130. MB budget is $100ish.

My best options (IMHO):

1) i3 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
2) AMD A6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103943
3) AMD Athlon 640 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871
4) AMD 955 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Which will best handle running four programs at once (i.e. W7, Firefox, Word, Photoshop)?

Suggestions?

 

[o1die]

Prices are dropping, even for Intel. Frys had the 2400 i5 four core for $149.99 last week (in store only, priced higher online). That's the cpu I recommend. Get a low end board and spend more on the cpu. Newegg has an ecs p67 board for $99.99 after rebate if you have a separate video card; otherwise, look at the h61 boards with two ram slots. They start at about $60. I personally feel that too many folks recommend a low end cpu with overclocking in mind; I recommend you spend more on the cpu up front so you don't have to fool with it. Intel is faster for most applications; you can run the 2400 in turbo mode for a modest overclock.

 

[Uther39]

For your multi threaded uses and your budget with low power.
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103921&cm_re=19-103-_-19-103-921-_-Product
MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130559
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161364