A Cheap CPU/Mobo Upgrade.

[PuRpLeSmUrF]

Okay, My brother wants me to pick out a new CPU/Mobo for him. With about a 125 spending limit for both combined. The only games he plays are WoW and Warhammer Online.

I was thinking of going with
Newegg.com - Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

or

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600 Brisbane 2.9GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

This Biostar Mobo is what I'd prolly get if I went with the Intel

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR P4M900-M7 FE LGA 775 VIA P4M900 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

EDIT: Linked the amd cpu as the Bio mobo.

 

[Evolv]

I'd say go for the E5200, it has more cache. Here is a better motherboard to go with it:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

 

[PuRpLeSmUrF]

The amd 5600 out performs the Intel E6600 though in this 3dmark Vantage benchmark chart though.

Charts, benchmarks Desktop CPU Charts Q3/2008, 3DMark Vantage - CPU

and I assume the Intel E6600 is faster than the E5200?

 

[veg1992]

Its not, the e5200 is faster than the e6600...

Don't go by the number of the model number unless they are in the same series

 

[PuRpLeSmUrF]

Okay, cool. Well, I did a google search of the e5200 and found some benchmarks since Tomshardware didn't seem to have any on it. That will be a pretty good cpu for 70$ don't yah think?

On the motherboard you suggested I don't need a 1000mb lan because I use satalite and the max dl's I get are at about 300kb a sec...but, the FSB is 1333/1066 and the Biostar is 1066/800...so I the Biostar would work just fine since the E5200 FSB is only 800mhz anyways right?

 

[hikaricloud]

The e5200 is a great little CPU.

The G31 he mentioned is a fine mobo, I would prefer that one over your VIA chipset Biostar.

 

[PuRpLeSmUrF]

Thanks for the sharege of knowledge guys. Rep points for all of you! lol.

I found a list of intel chipsets on wiki so that will help for future refrence now that I know about em.

Btw, are Intel chipsets usually better than the others?

 

[hikaricloud]

Well, it depends on who you talk to really. I used to be a huge fan of the nForce chipsets, back with the 680i and such. But lately, I've been taking a liking to the P43/45 series. It really boils down to a matter of preference and which chipset you're talking about specifically. For example, I'm not a huge fan of the 750i, even though I like nForce chipsets.

For a budget board, the G31 is great, but if I was actually spending money, I'd buy a P45. So it all really depends.

 

[ricanflow]

Stay away from anything with a via chipset.....thats just asking for failure.

 

[PuRpLeSmUrF]

I will.../fail isn't a fun thing to do