MSI 880GMS-E41 (FX) AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Micro ATX AMD Motherboard for $29.99 AR w/FS

Quote from Liv4Deals : Anyone know of a good cheap processor to go with this? I just want to build a cheap HTPC and I have everything except the motherboard and processor. This looks like a pretty good motherboard for my purposes but I'm wondering if it might be better to wait on a motherboard/processor combo deal?

didn't see anyone mention this [superbiiz.com] might unlock the 2nd core. currently (15% off coupon there)
- not so great for ECS boards because they rarely support ACC

Quote from woomer051 : If i dropped a x6 1045t in this does the board have grx support? The phenom 2 series doea not have integrated grx,i figured this board maybe has radeon 3000 or 4000 in it, i didnt see it in the specs though.

Yes, it has an integrated Radeon HD 4250. You won't be playing any halfway demanding games on it, but it will do fine for general computer use or HTPC. It will do hardware DXVA decoding including H.264 High Profile @ Level 5.1 with 16 reframes.

The XION XON-720 White Steel MicroATX Slim Case deal is a good match for this motherboard.

$30 after rebate, free shipping.

Quote from scstocks : AMD put out another version of the 620 called the 620E, still being sold oem by tg as of a few weeks ago. It is a quad core 2.6 Athlon, 45 WATT chip and I can say that I am VERY HAPPY with. Have 2 of those chips running both a server, and a HTPC. More than enough power for that kind of work, many times the strength of those itx e-350 board folks buy. Obviously slower on ripping dvd's, but running 24x7 at 45 watts max on a quad core K10 based cpu, combined with the oboard video of this 29 motherboard and this looks like a winner all the around in my book, at least as a back up cheap server for home board. I bought this board yesterday for a NAS project I have kinda bubbling up in the back of my mind, ha. Nice post OP.

Is there still something comparable for sale - decent quad power at a 45W level? Any successors of that CPU?

Quote from dhc014 : I'll be putting a Phenom II X4 B93 in this board for a low budget gaming build for a friend.

Looking to do the same for my husband... He likes to game but hates to spend money, and I think this along with a decent CPU (preferably less than $60), a killer deal on a graphics card, and a HD may be just the ticket. I'd rather build him an Ivy i5 setup, but that will be considerably more cash.

Quote from Wasser : Is there still something comparable for sale - decent quad power at a 45W level? Any successors of that CPU?

here is the supported cpu list,

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/880...CPUSupport

i see a 2.7 x3 425e at 45 watt in there,

and in quads i see, along with the 620e, the slightly slower 615e, 610e, and 605e, all quads and all 45 watt.

the big auction site sometimes has them, tigerdirect had the 620e as of a few weeks ago, they also had them on the big auction site, oem, and bundle oem with fan.....

a poster mentioned they don't have them anymore, but if they don't carrythem again, you might try emailing them to see if they have more, or keep checking the auction site to see if anyone list any of the triples or quads.....

the cpu list has exact numbers of the cpus,

GLTU

Trying to decide whether to pull the trigger on this or wait for a 125W capable motherboard... ahhh I hate decisions.

thanks op!

Im building a new HTPC/Gaming rig...and i figured i didn't want to break the bank on it. I'd rather put my money in the CPU/GPU...

Repped!!!


Digi

Quote from digitalvynil : thanks op! Im building a new HTPC/Gaming rig...and i figured i didn't want to break the bank on it. I'd rather put my money in the CPU/GPU... Repped!!! Digi

Hey you might want to look at the AMD Socket FM2 APU family of CPUs...I am currently using a A6 5400K which has an embedded Radeon 7460.... MB and CPU was about $130!

Quote from scstocks : here is the supported cpu list, http://www.msi.com/product/mb/880...CPUSupport i see a 2.7 x3 425e at 45 watt in there, and in quads i see, along with the 620e, the slightly slower 615e, 610e, and 605e, all quads and all 45 watt. the big auction site sometimes has them, tigerdirect had the 620e as of a few weeks ago, they also had them on the big auction site, oem, and bundle oem with fan..... a poster mentioned they don't have them anymore, but if they don't carrythem again, you might try emailing them to see if they have more, or keep checking the auction site to see if anyone list any of the triples or quads..... the cpu list has exact numbers of the cpus, GLTU

Thanks, but it seems like none of them are actually available for purchase. I remember I had the 620e set up as an alert, but it never once popped up. Weird, seems like nobody is interested in low wattage anymore.

Quote from Wasser : Thanks, but it seems like none of them are actually available for purchase. I remember I had the 620e set up as an alert, but it never once popped up. Weird, seems like nobody is interested in low wattage anymore.

I found several when looking last night over on the bay site, lower than the 620e, (615e, 610e, 605e, forget exactly which of those, but they were there, live. Looks liked they knew what they had as prices were higher than what I paid recently from td. I used the regular search form.

TD has no 620's listed, but under completed auctions you can see that they recently did, 2 auctions back they had "more than 10" listed with 3 sold, and their last auction, from jan 21st or so if memory serves, they had 4 listed and 3 sold. They may relist them at some point. I bought one of mine from that site, and the other right from td with a coupon bringing it to around 70 bucks for the 45 watt 620e. The original 620 was 95 watt, so I figure running 24x7, the 45 watt 620e will pay for itself in time. Some folks still have 615's listed for a lot over there but they are there, or were last night, searched the words AMD 620e, or 615e, ect, and got some listings for the non-620e's. Under completed auctions you can see what some of them went for that were not buy it now as those seemed to go for less than the buy it nows still listed.

Both of mine fly, relatively speaking, and both are using bf ssd's and one has 8 gig ddr2, and the other 16gig ddr3.

A have an e-350 netbook, and the 620e's are many, many, times faster feeling than that thing, also with an upgraded ssd drive.

Anyway, GLTU, 50 watts an hour a day times 2 machines, 2400 watts a day times 365 days, seems like good savings over a year in power bill, and I am cheap, ha. (actually the htpc is not running 24x7 quite yet as I am still kinda working on that, but expect it to once I get a TV tuning card with chip from cable co., but the home server is 24x7 now)

Take Care.

Quote from Wasser : Thanks, but it seems like none of them are actually available for purchase. I remember I had the 620e set up as an alert, but it never once popped up. Weird, seems like nobody is interested in low wattage anymore.

That has always been a niche market for home desktop use since there's a decent price premium for the low voltage parts. Right now I'd probably recommend just getting an X4 640 for $70 and undervolting to 1.10v Vcore if you want a lower power envelope. Or if someone wanted a bunch of cores for heavy VM use or other reasons you can still get a Phenom II X6 1045T relatively cheaply (for a true hex-core anyway).

For a super cheap decent gaming rig, what's everyone's thoughts on a 95W Zambezi in this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...QgodPBIARw

That one is currently $105, which is too high. However, if it dropped to $80, I would be tempted.

Will the motherboard bottleneck the cpu in any way?

Quote from Jasnah : For a super cheap decent gaming rig, what's everyone's thoughts on a 95W Zambezi in this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...QgodPBIARw That one is currently $105, which is too high. However, if it dropped to $80, I would be tempted. Will the motherboard bottleneck the cpu in any way?

You might be able to get a better price from superbiiz with their 15% (max $15) off code HARBOWL. These even seem to beat or nearly match Microcenter's prices. List of AMD FX CPUS at superbiiz [superbiiz.com].

Prices after coupon:
FX-4100: $91.98
FX-6100: $104.98 (+$13)
FX-4300: $114.98 (+$23)
FX-6300: $123.98 (+$32)
List of AMD FX microprocessors [wikipedia.org] for specs

Personally, I would go with the newer Vishera FX-4300 for a gaming system. http://www.anandtech.com/show/639...0-tested/5

To get the price lower, you could go with the AMD Athlon II X4 640 [superbiiz.com] for $64.33.