CPU for budget gaming PC build

Hi - I'm building a new PC for my nephew, and it's been a few years since my last build. Any advice on a CPU for a budget gaming machine? He'll be using it for general purpose/schoolwork stuff, and also for some gaming ... nothing too hardcore. Haven't settled on Intel or AMD yet - still open. I'll be looking for a deal on a lower/medium-range video card, but I've read the CPU can act as a bottleneck for gaming. Any recommendations for a decent CPU for this build? I'd like to keep it in the $100-$150 range, if possible.

Any opinions greatly appreciated!

You'll be needing the mobo and ram to go with it, so you might look at the barebone kits at Tiger Direct [tigerdirect.com].

What is your overall budget? What games, How old is the kid?

There should help you to educate yourself a bit.
http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...,3106.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...,3216.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...,3219.html

For their $500 build I would spend a bit more on the processor to get at least a base i3, but back on the GPU if needed to save money since gaming doesnt sound to be a huge thing and its more easily ugradeable in the future if needed. A mid range $150 GPU should be ok for most casual gamers. Intel has had the lead in performance for many years, and are pretty competitive in prices too. Personally I would not give too many thoughts to AMD. It all depends on budget.

An i3-21xx would be perfect. If that $150 budget includes mobo and RAM, though, you could go with a Celeron or an AMD. CPU usually isn't the bottleneck, unless you start getting into really underperforming CPUs. I game with a C2D (e8400) still, and don't see any problems. When I finally make the switch to the newer socket and DDR3, it'll be to an i3.

Here is the setup of my $300 box:

Intel G620 (oem) from superbiiz $49
ECS H61H2-M2 from newegg $15
Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus from newegg $5
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 memory from newegg $22
OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB SSD from newegg $27
Case+ 500W Power (Dynex deal from BB a few years back) $19
XFX double D Radeon 6870 from newegg $133

total ~ $270. The rest of the budget was spent on a molex to 6pin PCI-E power adapter, extra case fan, and a used 320GB (~$20 from ebay) hard drive for games (I have an old USB dvdrom for game installation discs).

i3-2120 is probably the sweet spot. It's not much more money than the i3-2100, but it is noticeably faster.

unless you are building it with your nephew as a project, just buy a prebuilt outlet system, will be faster and cheaper.

Quote from teetee1 : Here is the setup of my $300 box: Intel G620 (oem) from superbiiz $49 ECS H61H2-M2 from newegg $15 Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus from newegg $5 CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 memory from newegg $22 OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB SSD from newegg $27 Case+ 500W Power (Dynex deal from BB a few years back) $19 XFX double D Radeon 6870 from newegg $133 total ~ $270. The rest of the budget was spent on a molex to 6pin PCI-E power adapter, extra case fan, and a used 320GB (~$20 from ebay) hard drive for games (I have an old USB dvdrom for game installation discs).

You done good with that one.
It would be difficult to find anything new on the market, that could give you anything close to that much CPU and GPU power and speed for $270.

Quote from fenderman : unless you are building it with your nephew as a project, just buy a prebuilt outlet system, will be faster and cheaper.

Agreed.
When it comes to good value and rock solid systems, Dell PC's are really hard to beat, when they are on special.
I build new PC's for people but when I buy for myself, I always land up with a Dell.

Even an AMD Phenom II x4 "around 3ghz" can play BF3 fine, so it's not like a hardcore CPU is needed unless it's for a really kickass gaming computer. That CPU is in the same ballpark of an I3 dual-core. Usually AMDs are cheaper, and usually you can overclock them somewhat, too.

Having said that, there's a lot of posts around the net of people oc'ing AMD x4s to 4+ghz. While it's not always necessary, often those people are jacking up the voltage quite a bit. This not only causes more heat and more instability, but the watts used can go up bigtime, and the electricity cost could have justified getting a faster/more efficient CPU in the first place. ymmv on that since it's not a technically complicated subject but is a "what's best for you" subject, but just mentioning it.

Thanks (and reps) to everyone for the advice. I think I'm going to go with the Intel i3-2120 for the CPU, particularly after reading the reviews. Now to find an inexpensive mobo and a good deal on a midrange video card ...

If you're near a Microcenter, check out their cpu/mb combo deals, as well as if they have any of the $50 AMD x4 left. If you're not near a Microcenter, bummer.

CPU/GPU Specs. are dependent on what type of games he plans to play and your overall budget.

Intel CPU- i3 2100($110)
AMD CPU- x4, FX-4100 or FX-6100 on sale
AMD GPU- HD 6770($70) or HD 6870($130)
PSU-29.99 CORSAIR CX430 430W PFC [newegg.com]


549.99 CyberpowerPC AMD FX-4100 8GB 500GB HD 6670 [newegg.com]