[barryflood22]

Thanks in advance guys, im looking to buy a new CPU for my computer, it must be socket 939 (amd) and must be dual core.

im not interested in opterons, it must be athlon, my budget is £250 ($500).

which processor should i buy?

athlong 64 4400+ x2

athlon 64 4600+ x2

athlon 64 4800+ x2

athlon 64 fx-60

any ideas?

any other opinions?

any help would be greatly apprecitated

by the way, its gonna be a lanparty ut motherboard, 4gb pcs3200 ram, and 2x x1900xtx gfx cards in crossfire so which processor to get?

 

[barryflood22]

anyone?

 

[BrianTwigley]

You'll never afford an FX-60 with £250. That will cost you about £800. I would say a 4400 X2 should be in your price range. Definately go for an X2 though, they are great

 

[Tumbleweed36]

Hi,

Any of the X2 chips that you can afford are excellent buys. The one BrianTwigley recommended is a great chip for the price. However, if you can afford a faster one and find a good buy, go for it.

 

[ebackhus]

The 4400+ offers the most bang for the buck.

 

[koala]

The 4400 can easily be overclocked to 4800 if your PSU and cooling are good enough.

 

[barryflood22]

im after buying the 4400 for 125 pounds (250 dollars)

when i get it will u guys advise me on overclocking?

i.e. HOW TO DO IT

 

[koala]

Post back when you get the CPU and give us your full system specs, fan layout and PSU details. Overclocking is generally not advised as it can lead to overheating and damage your components, but if you want to give it a go, we can give you some tips.

I've got a 4200+ overclocked to approx 4600+. Benchmark tests show an increase in performance, but in real life situations like playing 3D games or photo editing I don't notice any particular improvement, maybe a few extra frames per second.

With 4gb RAM and 2 x1900xtx cards any of the CPUs you mention will be fast, so while overclocking is an option it may not be the ideal solution in your case and should be done carefully.

 

[BrianTwigley]

I wouldn't overclock it unless you really desperately need a few extra Mhz. It will void the warranty and almost certainly reduce the CPUs Lifespan. Thats a very powerful chip as it is.

 

[linderman]

athlon 64 4400+ x2 >>>>> my choice


Koala is right I have the same CPU as above; I tried an overclock to 2.6 it was stable but I saw no noticible improvement when burning cd's or dvd movies ???????????????? or other "real" world application


I think overclocking is for people who are bored with their system and need another challenge but dotn want to spend upgrade dollars

the intel core-2's have been getting real big overclock steps in that vein maybeeeeeeee overclocking is worth while but jumping up 600 0r 800mhz is not any big whopeeeeee

 

[TheKolkster]

You can get an AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 2.6 GHz for $439 or An AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.6GHz for $278 (Prices from newegg.com)

That should fit your budget if the prices are the same over there.

 

[TheMatt]

He is in the UK, that is why he is limited to the selection.

You will most likely be able to achieve a stable overclock of 200 MHz, and maybe 400 MHz if you are lucky. Just focus on getting it to 2400 MHz, and once you have run all the stability and memory tests, you can move on if you have reasonable temps.

Stock speed:

200 MHz x 11 = 2200 MHz

Bump the FSB up to 218.18 MHz so...

218 MHz x 11 = 2400 MHz.

That is pretty much it.

 

[barryflood22]

thanks