Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[Cortexian]

I did not know that, good to know.

/Doesn't use AMD.

[Warsaw]

I know they are not the most powerful, but they are always a better long-term investment than Intel. Their platforms stick around longer and are less costly than Intel, and you get as much performance as you could need barring special requirements.

[Cortexian]

Just because Intel releases new chipsets more often doesn't make the older ones any less viable than their AMD counterparts though. My Socket 775 is two chipsets and 6 years old and still running strong and powerful.

[Warsaw]

I know. But I like to know I have the best that my chosen platform has to offer and that I can always update it as needed. When Intel changes sockets every other year, they throw a wrench in that plan because now I have to get a new motherboard, too. I can't just slap in a new CPU and be done.

[Cortexian]

That's why you do what I do and build a system with the best of the best every 6-7 years. Doesn't matter if the sockets change because you've already got a setup that will last that long at least.

[Rook]

Dear Modacity:

I'm looking for a new dual core CPU to put in this PC in order to speed up gamecube emulation (I miss Metroid Prime since I sold my wii ) but I only want to spend about 100 dollars. I found this one here, and it seems like exactly what I want. Thoughts, advice?

I've got a 600 watt power supply with nothing overclocked, and I don't plan to do any overclocking. Is that enough? I'm kind of a newb at this stuff.

I own the 550 since 2009 and it's pretty much the same thing cept mine has 0.1GHz less of a clock. Runs L4D2, ME2, Dragon Age, number of things all on high on stock w/ good frames and if you want to get into it these chips can get ~3.8GGHz OC real easy with a decent cooler. Only thing it's really chugged on is BC2 at 1080p which is a CPU intensive game that supports quads.

[Warsaw]

I do believe AMD has a $100 Athlon II X4 quad core part...

@Freelancer: I like to update more often than that. If I get a new GPU, chances are a new CPU will follow soon to limit bottlenecking. =þ

[Cortexian]

@Freelancer: I like to update more often than that. If I get a new GPU, chances are a new CPU will follow soon to limit bottlenecking. =þ

Extreme Edition Core 2 Quads still don't bottleneck iirc, not very much if they do.

[Warsaw]

They do. Even the newest i5s bottleneck. The only way to get out of it is to use an i7. I refuse to drop money on second-tier platforms (1156, 1155).

Anandtech does some very thorough testing.

[EagerYoungSpaceCadet]

I've decided to upgrade my CPU, and I don't need anything flashy or expensive, so I found this one, what do you think? Should I change my mind? Does it have good stock cooling, overclockable etc.

How well would it run newer games?