What would be a good above entry level CPU and Mobo?

Rendier

Rendier

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I know I can get a good price on ebay etc but I want the local warranty regarding all the smaller stuff so this time round local is lekker.

Only interested in AMD CPU and Nvidia supported Mobo's.

What in your opinion would be a good above entry level CPU and MOBO?

I am looking for something that will still be decent in a year or so.

Using it mainly for browsing the internet and playing the odd game. I am more worried about processing windows programs etc.

My max amount to spend is R2500.

Thanks
Rendier
 
R2500 on both the CPU and mobo?

What programs are you planning on running?
 
So you are definitely going new then.. because there are amazing deals for all the 939 DDR400 stuff, especially with ram, right now.

but new, I guess a AM2 3800+ X-2. That is R1350 from www.computersonly.co.za

That leaves you with R1150 for a board, which is more than enough.

This board looks pretty nice: http://www.computersonly.co.za/productdetail.aspx?sku=AM2NE&categoryId=40357

R1100

- NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP
- ASUS Fanless Design:Heat-pipe Thermal solution
- 8-CH High Definition Audio
- ASUS Crystal Sound Noise Filter
Gigabit Lan, SATA II etc
 
Ask around for the following

Gigabyte GA M51GM S2G - AMD2 Mother, has onboard nVidia 6100 and 5.1 sound, SATAII RAID, 4x DDR2 (up to 16 gigs) 8x USB, 2x PCI Slot, 2x ATA 133, 1x PCI-e and ieee1394 (firewire) - You should pick it up for about R 800,00

The firewire is great for when you want to connect up a digital video camera and start making movies, say goodbye to your spare time and hard drive space though

But wait, there's more

Here is the best part, AMD are now making Sempron AMD2 CPUs... so you can get a dirt cheap Sempron 2800+ and up-grade it to a AMD2 Athlon or Dual core later - Shop around for AMD 2 Semprons, I would imagine you can pick one up for about R 450,00

DDR2 RAM is cheaper than DDR 400 at the moment, but remember that if you do up grade to dual core later your RAM speed needs to be 667 or 800 - so I would make sure your RAM is at least 667 to start with - Get a RAM with a three year warranty
 
hj2k_x said:
Such as? u got linkeys?
Click to expand...

I was talking about second hand. In the Cape Ads, or just on any of the hardware sales places around the net. System Shock forums, Pc Format forums, PCBuyersguide.co.za etc.

Everyone is selling there DDR400 ram and a lot of 939 components pretty cheap now.

@ DragonLogos: He did say above entry level, so I was thinking he wants to spend his whole R2500 on something pretty decent. I wouldn't get a Sempron chip, rather just go for something a bit better and dual core is nice of course. but the 3600+ X-2 (Dualcore sempron) is a nice chip too if you want to save some cash.

And a mobo you can go cheaper, that gigabyte board is probably pretty much as good as the Asus one. No need to spend all the rest of your cash on a board if you don't need to.
 
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why not get the e6300 plus a cheapy gigabyte or asus board for like 900 and overclock it

will fit in with your budget
 
Intel is currently faster than the AMD's and probibly more future proof too. See killadood's awnser.
I personally would go for the E6600 with the 4mb cache, but that alone is more than your R2500 budget. Then you have a serious machine that can outperform most (if not all) current AMD's
 
I'm sure he realizes this, but he asked for AMD.

then again, if he could afford the intel, it could be a better bet.
 
In my opinion, the Intel Core2 Duo processors are better value for money, but you'd have to spend a little over R2 500 for one. You can get a Core2 Duo E6300 and a Gigabyte Intel GA-945GME-DS2 Socket 775 Motherboard for R2 657 from www.take2.co.za .

Keeping strictly to the R2 500 limit, you can get an AMD Athlon64 x2 4200+ Dual Core CPU with a Gigabyte AMD GA-M61VME-S2 Socket AM2 Motherboard for R2 375, also from Take2.

Judging from this benchmark, however, for the mere R282 extra to get a Core2 Duo, you will have a massive increase of speed: the AMD chip scored 182.9 on the benchmark, while the Intel one scored an impressive 213.4, which is faster than even the most expensive AMD Athlon64 chip in existence. That's a 16.68% increase in performance for an 11.87% increase in price, which is excellent, since you rarely get a better performance to price ratio for more expensive CPU's.

My 2 cents: DO NOT buy an AMD chip at this time - you WILL regret it later. Rather save or borrow another R300 for a Core2 Duo - it will be worth it in the long run.

PS: I'm buying a Core 2 Duo E6400 for my new PC later this month, after doing extensive research on value for money.
 
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Thanks to all the replies. It helped.

I went for the following:

CPU: R1300 (They give the 4200+ at the same price as the 3800+ :-)....)

AMD socket AM2 athlon64 x2 Dual core 4200+ (2200mhz) , dual core

http://www.prophecy.co.za/socket-athlon64-dual-core-4200-2200mhz-dual-core-p-2139.html

MOBO: R650

FOXCONN 6100M2MA-RS2H AMD/AM2/DDR2/PCIE/VGA/LAN/SATA/MATX

4 x DDR SDRAM sockets Dual channel, max 4GB Integrated NVIDIA high-performance graphics controller (standard core) plus PCIe x16 slot Supports up to 128MB shared system memory - virtualized up to 256MB Integrated, 5.1 channel AC97 (Realtek), 4 x USB2.0 Back Ports, 1 x serial, 1 x parallel, 2 x Serial ATA 2 x IDE, 1 x PCI Express x16, 3 x PCI, Intel PRO 10/100 Network Connection

Ram: R450

512MB, 533MHz, DDR2, 240-PIN Memory Module

Case with 350 Power Supply: R190...

Total: R2600. All of the above was bought at Eurobyte.

What you guys think?
 
lol but i rate give the man what he wants, so i think just a am2 3600+ for around 1200 bucks, and throw in R1300 mobo, and you at budget, then you'll be dual core, the mobo should support sli and have all the required features and its AMD, so with this prosessor you'll be very happy and will last a year maybe to.
 
Rendier said:
CPU: R1300 (They give the 4200+ at the same price as the 3800+ :-)....)

What you guys think?
Click to expand...

Well the chip for R1300 doesn't sound bad at all. If only I had a few hundred rand more I'd get that for my new PC too :(

I'd say getting another 512mb ram would be the best investment for your PC now.
 
Do you think 2048MB of RAM (2x1024MB DDR2-667) will suffice for a while? I'm about to buy a new Windows Vista system. My motherboard will only have 2 RAM slots, so there's not much chance of expanding later unless I replace the original modules with 2x2GB's, which would be very expensive.
 
Why only 2 slots?
What board is it?
rather go for board with 4
 
lol Brawler sounds like you attacting him, some budget mobo's come with only 2 slots, it's no biggy but i think it's wise going with a mobo with 4 slots,
 
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