Micro Center has made it obvious that current AMDs are out the window

[Uggorthaholy]

Just got an e-mail ---> get $50.00 off of a compatible mobo when purchasing an AMD processor - makes quite a few of the low end AMD mobos free. completely free motherboard with an AMD processor. Anyone you are building a budget rig for that doesn't involve gaming, this is your time to shine on a deal.

Just couldn't believe what I saw. It's an incredible deal, and $10.00 more than the SB bundles they are running ($40.00 off when you buy a SB proc and a compatible mobo)

[Drunkenvalley]

AMD's lower-end mobos begin at literally half the price of Sandy Bridge's lower-end mobos. Certainly helps those on budgets.

[Keller]

We all know that AMD hasnt got anything on intel. For the moment. We'll wait and see what bulldozer does. What amd has is an unbeatable Price/Performance ratio.

[vesseblah]

What amd has is an unbeatable Price/Performance ratio.

Only on low end.

i3-2100 beats current PhenomII's in price/performance ratio when building a gaming computer today.

[OhpUldum]

For an everyday email and internet surfer it is a great deal for sure.

[Uggorthaholy]

For an everyday email and internet surfer it is a great deal for sure.

This was mostly my point in this thread. Get an Athlon ii X2 255 for $60.00, and $200.00 worth of gear in an intel system just cost you $60.00 on the low-end AMD system (which is perfectly acceptable for a non-gaming e-mail and internet only user.

Throw in a cheap 4GB 1333 kit ($28.00 or so), a $25.00 to $30.00 case, a cheap keyboard/mouse combo with a 17" monitor and you can have a full build from top to bottom for $300.00 or so

[kailtas]

Anyone you are building a budget rig for that doesn't involve gaming, this is your time to shine on a deal.

This statement is WRONG

CPU needs today are massively overrated. I understand that this is a WOW forum, a game that requires quite a bit of CPU in order to run smoothly. But budget AMDs not fit for gaming?

CPU needs today are disgustingly overrated, i know that this is a WOW forums. And using WOW when talking about performance is natural, but there are other games out there. Games that dont require allot of CPU power in order to run at a respectable performance.

Cheapest Dual core Phenom
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Produ...60.61.62.63.64

Stop believing that a SB CPU is required to play games!


Reprhase that statement to: If you are not playing any RTS, RPGs or MMORPGs. Now is your time to get a cheap AMD CPU for your gaming needs.

[Fuzzykins]

This statement is WRONG

CPU needs today are massively overrated. I understand that this is a WOW forum, a game that requires quite a bit of CPU in order to run smoothly. But budget AMDs not fit for gaming?

CPU needs today are disgustingly overrated, i know that this is a WOW forums. And using WOW when talking about performance is natural, but there are other games out there. Games that dont require allot of CPU power in order to run at a respectable performance.

Cheapest Dual core Phenom
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Produ...60.61.62.63.64

Stop believing that a SB CPU is required to play games!


Reprhase that statement to: If you are not playing any RTS, RPGs or MMORPGs. Now is your time to get a cheap AMD CPU for your gaming needs.

Or not, since Black Ops and BF:3 are both shining with great CPU's.

[haxartus]

Stop believing that a SB CPU is required to play games!

Exactly.
Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Phenom II and a SB CPU without fraps in general gaming. I can't think of a game that actually requires a SB CPU right now. Except maybe WoW 25m raiding, but WoW is perfectly playable at 30-40fps with lowered shadows. It's not a shooter after all.
To me this forum is full of people that bought a more expensive CPU and are looking for a way to justify the purchase in their mind.
And Phenom II 955BE has an unlocked multiplier, so there is not even a comparison with i3-2100 here. The Intel fanboys here tend to ignore that completely.

[Llunai]

Stop believing that a SB CPU is required to play games!

A Sandy Bridge is required if you want to be awesome while playing games. Plus you gotta overclock it to 5GHz.

[Maleia]

Newegg's CPU listings, 6 cores

tl;dr

AMD's 6 core Phenom II:

L2 6x512
L3 6mg
3.3-3.7ghz
"Black" Edition avail

Price Tag 190USD

Intel's 6 core i7

L2 6x256
L3 12mg
3.4ghz
"Black" Edition avail

Price Tag 550-1,000USD




Oh look, almost IDENTICAL PERFORMANCE, 1/3-1/5th the price. And sorry, but no, you won't notice any difference in their HT/HTT performance platform differences on any games available today.

[Fuzzykins]

Newegg's CPU listings, 6 cores
tl;dr
AMD's 6 core Phenom II:
L2 6x512
L3 6mg
3.3-3.7ghz
"Black" Edition avail
Price Tag 190USD
Intel's 6 core i7
L2 6x256
L3 12mg
3.4ghz
"Black" Edition avail
Price Tag 550-1,000USD
Oh look, almost IDENTICAL PERFORMANCE, 1/3-1/5th the price. And sorry, but no, you won't notice any difference in their HT/HTT performance platform differences on any games available today.

We're not talking about previous generation i7's, so a 6 core i7 on Sbridge does not exist, and isn't 1000 USD. Nor does it have a Black Edition. The reason SandyBridge is recommended so much is because not only is it a great CPU with more up to date architecture, it also clocks higher and is vastly more futureproof. In fact, the i3 2100 = AMD Phenom X4 965 BE and the 2500k = AMD Phenom x6 1100T in terms of performance. There's no reason not to get a SandyBridge.

And there are reasons to get better processors, as games ARE bottlenecked by them. Black Ops, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, BF3. All take sufficient processing power to run that if you're having performance issues, you should probably look toward your GPU and CPU as opposed to exclusively your GPU.

[Drunkenvalley]

Allow me to be the first to say that I'd rather recommend the 9x5 etc over an i3 2100 for budget builds, exclusively because the mobo is generally cheaper for AMDs. :<

[Fuzzykins]

Allow me to be the first to say that I'd rather recommend the 9x5 etc over an i3 2100 for budget builds, exclusively because the mobo is generally cheaper for AMDs. :<

False, H61 and AM3 are roughly the same price.

[Llunai]

Oh look, almost IDENTICAL PERFORMANCE, 1/3-1/5th the price. And sorry, but no, you won't notice any difference in their HT/HTT performance platform differences on any games available today.

Just because YOU can't notice the difference between the performance of those CPU's doesn't mean others cannot. Those two CPU's are nowhere close in terms of performance. It's like night and day.

[haxartus]

You can overclock the 955BE extremely easy. Recommending i3-2100 makes absolutely no sense.
And yes, AM3 motherboards are cheaper. Significantly cheaper. With better features.
With the $30-40 that you save from the motherboard you can buy a Hyper 212+.

[Fuzzykins]

You can overclock the 955BE extremely easy. Recommending i3-2100 makes absolutely no sense.
And yes, AM3 motherboards are cheaper. Significantly cheaper. With better features.
With the $30-40 that you save from the motherboard you can buy a Hyper 212+.

But the AM3 motherboards AREN'T cheaper. .-. They're roughly 50-60 dollars for the lowest "good" motherboard. (Good being a reputable brand.)

[haxartus]

But the AM3 motherboards AREN'T cheaper. .-. They're roughly 50-60 dollars for the lowest "good" motherboard. (Good being a reputable brand.)

Beat that in terms of features/price. It's not a low end, but who said that we're talking about low end motherboards ?

[Fuzzykins]

Beat that in terms of features/price. It's not a low end, but who said that we're talking about low end motherboards ?

Because if you're going to pay for a motherboard thats $170 and a processor that's $100, it's better to get a 2500k and cheap-ish P67 at $300?

[haxartus]

Because if you're going to pay for a motherboard thats $170 and a processor that's $100, it's better to get a 2500k and cheap-ish P67 at $300?

If you don't need the features, you can get this thing.
I'm pretty sure that it's cheaper than P67.
And how about this.