CPU + motherboard less than $175

[gman07]

I'm buying parts for a computer build; I've been able to find some decent deals for most parts, but I still need a CPU and motherboard. Unfortunately I don't have a Frys nearby, so this needs to be an online deal. The computer is used for basic stuff (Office, internet) and also some Autodesk Inventor, including some assembly rendering. $175 is my upper limit for the CPU + motherboard.

I'm thinking dual core, unless there are any cheap quad core deals. Either AMD or Intel is fine. I'd like to overclock some, with an end point of somewhere over 3.0 GHz, but nothing too extreme.

The motherboard can be either ATX or micro ATX, and must be compatible with DDR2 800MHz RAM. Integrated video is not necessary.


Thanks

[skcolb]

I don't know how good parallelization in Autodesk Inventor is -- but I'd guess for rendering tasks you'd benefit from multiple cores. For that reason, you might even want a quad core.

The new AMD Athlon II X4 620 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706) might be a good fit for you (2.6 GHz, Quad-Core). The reviews indicate people overclocking well above 3.0 GHz.

I won't try to pick out a motherboard for you, since I don't know where your sweet spot is on cost and features, and plus you seem to know what you're doing. There are a ton of combo deals with that processor here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706&SubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=100&Page=1) (unfortunately Newegg doesn't allow sorting out just the mobo/CPU combos). Several are under $175. Good luck!

[2cheap4retail]

your budget says "amd", so i'd start looking at the dual core phenoms with a fat L3 cache that already run around 3 ghz to run your autodesk software, starting with this combo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.271891), or dig a few more quarters out from under the sofa cushions for this x3 combo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.273371).