CPU recommendations?

The build is finished. I might get the OS and other software installed over the weekend, then move on to testing.

I read through all those tips about making sure you buy a decent power supply😵😵😵 😵😵 😵:bonk :😵😵
At the end of the day, we can talk about what people should be buying all we want, but they're just going to go with whatever they feel like... I honestly wonder if any kids even bother asking questions...

Anyone managed to snag an Intel Core i5 yet? 🙂
Saw this morning they're actually back in stock.
Prices are way higher than they should be, though.

They completely missed the mark here—charging nearly $3,000 for the weakest CPU in the current lineup. Even if it outperforms the competition, the pricing just makes zero sense.

Hey 🙂

Maybe some experts could help me out? I really need to swap my old PC. It’s been a beast, but it's probably time to retire it, I guess. Right now I've got this power supply
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and for the GPU, I think it's this one
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My monitor is a newer Samsung with HDMI

So, I'm not totally sure if those two parts would actually fit into a new build 🙄. If they work, cool, otherwise I'll just grab new ones
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The current rig works pretty well most of the time. I mostly use it for playing LOL, World of Warcraft, watching movies or shows on Max... and since Doom Eternal came out, I'd love to play the 2016 Doom too. I've always used ASUS boards before and they've been great. I'm looking for a 250 GB SSD for the OS and a few games, plus I have a 500 GB Seagate BarraCuda for everything else. I also need a new case—doesn't need to be anything fancy since nobody's gonna see it 😁—and an external DVD burner, since we have a few computers here but none of them have a drive
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Price is $1000, and I'd probably put it on a payment plan 😉.

Let me know if you guys need more info 😉.

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out, THANKS!

$3,000 on a payment plan is actually pretty low for a rig that can handle Doom Eternal on decent settings, especially once you factor in the cooler and the case.

First off, what’s your current full setup look like?
Second, would you consider picking up a used GPU?

With $833, you could pull off a solid platform upgrade without touching the graphics card, and then grab a decent used GPU for about $500-$$333.

wiredotter14 said:I mean, $3000 on a payment plan seems pretty low if you want a rig that can actually handle Doom Eternal on decent settings, especially once you add a PSU and a case.

First off, what’s the full build you're running right now?
And second, would you ever consider a used GPU?

With $833, you could probably pull off a decent platform upgrade without a GPU, and maybe grab a solid used one for around 500-$333.

uhh... my old setup is ancient 😉 CPU AMD Phenom II 955 x4 3.20 GHz, Gigabyte FM2 motherboard, 6 GB 800MHz RAM, that power supply I mentioned, a GPU, and a hard drive.

No way am I using the old GPU, and since I'm doing installments, I really need to stick to monthly payments 😉

Let's just drop Doom Eternal 😉 from the list so we're just looking at the 2016 Doom 😉

If the case is overheating, this should work, I guess. It's old, but it'll do. I only thought about buying new because I felt like I could find something for maybe 200-$100

So I was checking out some stuff:

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so
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and
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and
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I kind of ran the numbers through an online calculator, cc $1000, but now I'm stuck wondering if these parts actually work together, or if there are cheaper options with basically the same speed. Plus, I'm guessing about the GPU—like, is my old one okay or should I grab something new? I'd love to get some expert advice 😉 on how much extra it might cost, or if maybe I should just scale back my expectations 🙂

Ryzen 3 3100 and a B550 board just aren't worth it.

If you're sticking to that budget, the smart move is a Ryzen 5 1600 paired with a B450 board. But here's the real question: what exactly are you running right now, and are you planning on picking up a used GPU?

Also, you could easily grab much faster RAM of the same capacity for way less money. That shop you're looking at doesn't have great prices.

P.S.

My bad, I missed your reply about your current specs.

Look, if that's the case, just hang onto the GPU you've got. Grab a Ryzen 5 1600 AF, 2x8GB of 3200 RAM, and some kind of B450 board instead.

Could use a little help, maybe? I've been hunting through a ton of stores trying to find the best deals, but I keep hitting walls. Prices are high, and finding a CPU Ryzen 5 1600 AF is getting pretty tough since most places don't even have it in stock. Also, I'm super lost on which motherboard to pick. I was mostly just looking at ASUS, but all these different labels are confusing me, like these two:

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and
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I saw you mentioned one is B450 and the other is B550, so there's a price gap $3.25, but I didn't realize it wouldn't be worth pairing a Ryzen 3 3100 with a B550 Motherboard. Plus, one says ATX and the other is mATX. Oh, and is the CPU Ryzen 5 1600 AF actually more powerful than the Ryzen 3 3100?

Thanks in advance 🙂

boldpilot5 said:Could use some help here. Which stores should I be looking at for the best deals? I've scanned a ton of shops and keeps hitting walls—prices are high, and finding a Ryzen 5 1600 AF is surprisingly tough since most places don't even have it in stock. Also, I'm lost on which motherboard to pick. I was mostly looking at ASUS, but I'm confused by these labels:

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and
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I know you mentioned B450 and the other is B550, but the price difference $3.25 makes me wonder if pairing a Ryzen 3 with a B550 board is a waste. One is ATX and the other is mATX. Also, is the Ryzen 5 1600 AF actually better than the Ryzen 3 3100?

Thanks in advance 🙂

1) Always check PriceGrabber to see who has what in stock. Amazon and Best Buy usually have similar pricing for credit card purchases, otherwise, you have to hunt for stores offering cash discounts.
2) The difference isn't $3.25, but it's an apples-to-oranges comparison because B550 boards for the "same model" are beefier and significantly more expensive.
Take the ASUS example—the ASUS B550 DS3H is a much more robust, "beefed up" board compared to the B450 DS3H, and it costs more.
3) If you're sticking with ASUS, the B450 DS3H is a perfectly fine choice and won't break the bank.
https://www.nabava.net/maticne-ploce...-ddr4-92851951
You don't need a high-end board for those CPUs; there's zero point in trying to overclock them anyway.

4) The 1600AF is basically a rebranded 2600; it has 6 cores, while the R3 3100 only has 4. Personally, if the money is similar, I'd grab the 1600. You can find it at a few places—just make sure it's the AF version and shop around for the best credit card price.
https://www.nabava.net/procesori/amd...ijena-41853411

5) 1600AF vs. 3100—you won't lose out if you go with the 3100. It has slightly better single-threaded performance, but fewer cores.

6) If you aren't buying a GPU right away and it fits your budget, you could snag a Ryzen 7 2700 X. It's much stronger (8 cores and higher clock speeds than the 1600AF) and it's a steal right now—under $400—plus it comes with a decent cooler. It works on the same motherboard.
https://www.nabav.net/search.php?q=2700x

So, let's say you get the motherboard, CPU, and RAM for about $2000-$733. For $333, you could grab a GTX 1050 Ti if you absolutely need a new card immediately, but honestly, I’d hold off and wait until you can scrape together enough for a real card closer to $500.

If you're building a budget rig, the smartest move right now is grabbing an i3 10100f. You can snag one for roughly $100, and honestly, it’s basically a rebranded i7 7700.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=i3+10100f

From there, just pair it with a decent H410 motherboard for about $167, throw in 16GB of RAM (2x8GB), and put every remaining cent into your GPU. A killer deal would be picking up a used GTX 1070 for around $433.

I have an extra ASUS B550 DS3H lying around. It's brand new. If anyone is interested, let me know the price $167.

boldpilot5 said:uhh... the old setup is ancient 😉 CPU AMD Phenom II 955 x4 3.20 GHz, FM2 ASUS motherboard, 6 GB 800MHz RAM, the PSU mentioned above, plus the graphics card and hard drive.

Forget about the old GPU. I can pay, but it has to be installments 😉

Let's ditch Doom Eternal 😉 so we're just left with the 2016 Doom 😉

If the tower is lagging, this should work. It's old, but it'll do. I only thought about buying new because I got the impression you could find something for around $200...$100

A Phenom 955 definitely won't work on an FM2 motherboard

Timothy Kim60 said:Honestly, if you're building a budget rig, going with the i3 10100f is the smartest move. You can grab one for around $130, and it’s basically just a rebranded i7 7700...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=i3+10100f

Then just pair it with an H410 motherboard for about $167, throw in 16GB of RAM, and put as much money as possible into the GPU. A used GTX 1070 for roughly $433 would be a total Best Buy.

That i3 is solid... interesting combo.

Bryan Taylor6 said:A Phenom 955 definitely won't work on an FM2 motherboard

It actually works, I've been using it there for years, I guess😉 I just had to flash a new BIOS, I think it was on F1, but for the Phenom 955 you need F6 or F7😉 which I figured out, obviously🙂

Timothy Kim60 said:I guess for a budget build, going with an i3 10100 f is probably the smartest move. You can snag one for around $150ish, and it's basically just a rebranded i7 7700.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=i3+10100f

Then maybe grab an H410 motherboard for about $167, add 2x8GB of RAM, and just dump as much into the GPU as possible (a used GTX 1070 for around $433 would be a total steal)

Hey 🙂

So, when I decided to pick up some new gear a few days ago, my main plan was based on this:
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$358, but I think it's out of stock now 😢
Basically, I had the prices set for the CPU, motherboard, and RAM... then I checked out the forums and everyone seemed to be saying (not at me specifically, just reading other people's threads) that stores are packed with Intel chips, that you have to buy everything new once the socket changes, and that AMD Ryzen is way better than Intel right now—like, they said AMD has like 75% market share compared to 25% for Intel and stuff. So, following what I read, I switched things up to AMD Ryzen 😉 but now I'm kind of confused because I'm seeing an Intel processor being offered again 🙄

I was even thinking about bumping up the budget, though I'm not sure by how much. Either way, paying in installments 😉 is pretty much a given for me. Given all that, what kind of setup would you guys recommend? We'll see how much that ends up costing, since I might have set the budget a little too low 😉

Thanks for understanding 😉

We looked at that specific processor because it’s the right call for this budget. If you had a little more cash to play with, an Intel Core would be the better move. wiredotter14 sent you a link to Best Buy so you can check where it's in stock everywhere.

wiredotter14 said:We were looking at that specific CPU because it’s solid for that price range. If the budget was a bit higher, maybe a Ryzen would be better. Timothy Kim60 sent you a link to Best Buy so you can check where it's in stock.

I guess, how much higher would the budget need to be, and what would that actually get me?

Yo, can I actually run a Q9550 paired with an HD 7850 on a 500W power supply? I'm looking at one with 12v1 at 19amp and 12v2 at 19amp. Is that enough juice or am I just asking for a meltdown?