Burchell

Hmm.. I could get the H97 board I linked in the origional post with an I3 4150 and only 4 gb of ram. With the rebate on the motherboard it brings it right into my price range and still offers an optical connection. No ability to overclock, but Im honestly not sure I will use it. I guess my only reservation with the I3 would be the extra cost compared to the pentium, when I will (no doubt) be looking at an upgrade in the not too distant future (money will be available for this in a few months). We are also looking at a PC for the bedroom, simply for netflix, videos, etc.. the pentium/i3 could go into a cheap board for this when its upgrade time. I might need to sleep on this and pull the trigger in the morning lol

Overclocking is not likely a priority. I've had a few overclockable rigs in the past but didn't do much with them. Of course, if its within budget and the option is there, im certainly open to it. P.S. Thanks for all the great help everyone!

Faceman, Thanks for the great suggestion! Sadly, I'm up in Canada, and those prices climb a fair bit out of my price range I should have mentioned the Canada part. I just assume everyone lives in Canada. Also, an optical audio connection is key for me, as my entire HT system is feed optical connections. A cheaper board + optical sound card seems to run more than a more expensive board with optical. I'd like to save some more cash and spring for a better build, but my main rig is dead and I need it for work. Sadly this needs to happen ASAP.

Thanks, Im thinking the same. Given that this is essentially an HTPC, the pentium should suffice and offers a respectible upgrade path. I'd just like to make sure its the right move before I drop $275 on cpu, mobo and ram.

Hey folks, So i'm just about ready to pull the trigger on a cpu, ram and mobo (tonight) but figured I would ask for a little advice before I do. Im looking at the following Pentium G3240 Asrock H97M Mobo 8gb 1600mhz ram (would run at 1333 with pentium) Or Fx 6300 Asus 760g Mobo 4gb 1600mhz ram Unfortuantly at the time my budget is absolutely not able to be increased, otherwise I would look at an i5 and call it a day. This PC will be used 75% for media, 25% for light-older gaming/photshop/office (plus the usual youtube, email, etc) I figure with the 1150 h97 board I open the doors to a possible haswell/broadwell upgrade down the road. The FX build would likely not be upgraded as the only realistic upgrade would be an 8320/8350 unless AMD decides to launch another AM3 chip. I'm pretty sure the pentium is the better bet, as It's likely great for media use and leaves the upgrade path open. It also allows me to squeeze an extra 4gb of ram into my build. Any thoughts? I should ad that I have a 240gb samsung evo ssd, 7900gs gpu (looking for a used HD 7850.. see them for $80-$100 on my local kijiji), 430 watt psu, case etc. I just need the cpu ram and mobo at the moment. Thanks! P.S. I had an old thread that I felt was no longer relevant as my budget changed dramatically.

Thanks for the quick responses! I was origionally set on the fx-8320 as the price seems reasonable. I just read a lot of the Intel or amd love and get a bit confused. I wont lie, I keep gravitating towards the APU's for some reason. Not sure why. Im mostly torn on the idea of spending more than I really need too on a cpu that will mostly be used for media playback. I should add that I currently use a dated, core 2 duo e6300 with 2 gigs of ram. Served me well for 8..ish years but is starting to show its age. Im sure anything would be a tremendous upgrade! Would you be able to elaborate on the sound card portion? Hifi audio is a passion of mine, and I'm quite experienced with speaker and amp building (I run a small, local speaker building business), but the whole "computer as a quality source" thing is a bit new to me. Cd's and vinyl have been my choice material, but digital is just so much more convenient.

Hey folks, After hours, and hours, and countless hours of research and review reading, I'm still unsure what CPU to buy for my new build. I'm hoping I can get a few recomendations that will help me decide what to do. I'm building a PC for general use with a focus on media playback and photo editing. I would like to be able to do some light gaming if possible, but this is not a priority. I will elaborate later. This PC will mostly be used for HD video playback and Lossless audio playback. It will use either dedicated or discrete graphics and a high quality sound card (asus xonar essence). I do some light photoediting in lightroom and photoshop as a hobbyist photographer. I suppose I would like some recomendations on some good CPU choices in the $100 and $200 price ranges. I am debating the following AMD APU (a10-7850k). The cpu performance seems to be decent, probably more than good enough for my needs. The integrated gpu seems to be powerfull enough for any games I may opt to play (Im fine with low-medium details and 720p). The added HSA support is what intrigues me most. Since this computer will likely be in service for 5 years give or take, the speed boost from HSA (if it catches on) will likely help prolong the life of the cpu.. me thinks. Also, the thing I like about APU's (as a casual gamer) is that a CPU upgrage also brings with it a GPU upgrade. AMD FX-6300/8320. The performance for the dollar here seems high, but the dated socket scares me in the event I decide to upgrade someday. Intel i5 (which ever I can afford). Seems like a popular "jack of all trades" cpu. Though I wonder if I need to spend the money on this much speed given my relatively low requirements. AMD x4-760k. Modern socket, quad core, performance seems resonable and the price is attractive. Intel Pentium G3220. Value seems to be very high here. Although I hesitate to purchase a dual core cpu for future reasons. So, with that said I am searching for a cpu that will provide plenty of grunt for my basic needs, last a few years and not break the bank. I would like to keep the price down, unless more money buys me a lot more performance. Also, I will be using an SSD for my OS, 8 gigs of ram and could recycle an old nvidia 7900gs if need be. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance