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#1 Jan 11 2012 at 9:26 AM Rating: Good
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For a while I have been thinking of upgrading my computer. I am running an Athelon X2 3.0 ghz CPU on an Asus M2E mobo. I play FFXIV and while my graphics card is adequate (GTS450) I am thinking that upgrading to quad core would be a good idea.

So what would be a good choice for a CPU around $100? I was thinking of something in a Phenom II but am wondering about the FX series as one happens to be on sale at the moment.
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#2 Jan 11 2012 at 10:01 PM Rating: Excellent
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I don't think that motherboard will take a Phenom II. Unless Phenom FX is a Phenom II. Wither way, you are likely to have approximatly 1 choice for a CPU replacement in the $100 range, and it might be the same CPU you have now. I personally would start saving for a motherboard / ram / processor swap and upgrade the entire core.

According to here: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2/M2NSLI/
Supports AMD Socket AM2+/AM2 for Phenom FX/Phenom/ Athlon 64 X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64 / Sempron
The motherboard supports AMD socket AM2+/AM2 for Phenom FX/Phenom/Athlon 64/ Sempron/Athlon 64 X2/ Athlon 64 FX/ processors with 2MB / 1MB / 512KB L2 cache, which is based on 64-bit architecture.It features 2000 MT/s HyperTransport1.0 Bus, dual-channel un-buffered DDR2 1066 (AM2+) and DDR2 800 (AM2) memories support and AMD Cool ’n’ Quiet! Technology.

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#3 Jan 12 2012 at 2:21 AM Rating: Good
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Yes I know this will involve a new mobo, and memory. Its just a matter of finding a quad core or better that will give me a noticeable performance boost without costing a fortune
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#4 Jan 15 2012 at 3:28 PM Rating: Decent
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Addyyuna wrote:
Yes I know this will involve a new mobo, and memory. Its just a matter of finding a quad core or better that will give me a noticeable performance boost without costing a fortune

The bold statements are normally in direct contradiction unless you're upgrading a 5 year old or better PC.
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#5 Jan 16 2012 at 11:07 AM Rating: Good
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Actually the mobo is 5 years old and limits me to AM2 cpus, older PCIe standard, ect. I have a reasonably good graphics card (gts450) but need a little better performance for FFXIV. I am just looking for a good AM3 quad for light to moderate gaming. Current CPU Athelon 64 xII 6000 (3.0 ghz)

Edited, Jan 16th 2012 12:08pm by Addyyuna
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#6 Jan 17 2012 at 9:54 AM Rating: Excellent
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From an i3 (i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz to be exact), is there value is going to an i5 or would I need to jump to an i7 to make it "worth it"?

I'm not unhappy with my current performance but i5's are inexpensive enough to be feasible. Not sure I'd want to drop the $300+ on an i7 right now. For that, I'd rather invest in a new graphics card instead (but I'm not spending $300 either way so it's moot).

Edited, Jan 17th 2012 9:56am by Jophiel
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#7 Jan 18 2012 at 1:23 AM Rating: Excellent
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An I7 would give you additional hyperthreading cores. The i3-530 is a dual core CPU, stepping up to an i5 quad core would definitly give you a boost at the same or even slightly lower GHz clock. Going to an I7 is going to give you 8 total cores, 4 real and 4 virtual, which ends up being a realistic performance gain over the I5's of about 35-40% during games that support multiple cores, which is most of them nowadays, even if the game doesn't, the operating system does, so you will see a performance boost regardless. Given the prices of the I7's these days, it would be a worthwhile upgrade, the problem being they are becoming rare. Remember you need a socket 1156 processor for that board, none of the 1155 processors will work. If you can find one. The I7-2600k Quad core with hyperthreading is going for about $360 from serversupply.com, which I have ordered multiple server parts from recently. That seems to be about the best price i'm seeing on a vendor i'm familiar with. http://www.serversupply.com/products/part_search/pid_lookup.asp?pid=140332 you might be able to find a good price locally though too. Tigredirect has the 2.93 GHz i7 for $400 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=i7+1156

You might also want to grab additional ram at the moment. a single corsair 4GB DDR3 stick is presently running $22. I can't remember what you had in there, but most games, especially things like civilization V, can use all the ram you can throw at them. your motherboard will support all the ram you can put in it, if I remember right you have 4 DDR3 slots, but you might want to download and run cpu-z or open the side of the case to verify. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html the memory tab will tell you what you currently have installed, per stick, and how many slots you have total.

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#8 Jan 21 2012 at 9:33 PM Rating: Good
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Actually, what I am wanting to know if anyone knows the best choice in AMD CPUs for gaming. I mean should I go Athelon, Phenom, or how about the FX bulldozer series
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#9 Jan 21 2012 at 10:10 PM Rating: Excellent
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At the mid range end, an AMD FX-8150, at the upper end, an AMD Opteron 6272. The 8150 runs about $260 fo the chip alone, the the $6272 is going to be closer to $600.
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