Best $100 CPU

[Egad]

An i3 or used i5/i7 would be ideal.  About the time the i3 starts to become unusable due to games wanting more cores, the older gen i5s and i7s will be quite affordable and you'll be able to buy one, install it on your current mobo, and use it for some time.  With the AMD, the processor's poor IPC means the thing already has one foot in the grave and you have zero upgrade path that doesn't involve a new motherboard.  

 

Unless you already have a AMD board or are getting a really excellent deal on a board and CPU, there is no reason to consider AMD's current offerings.  Their top of the line is beat by lesser Intel processors and they have no upgrade path.  

[Guest]

This is exactly what he's talking about. For gaming the 6350 is a very solid i3 competitor but many people just disregard it because its an AMD cpu.

Except its different because you can get a used 2600k for $100 and smoke the 6350

[bobhays]

Except its different because you can get a used 2600k for $100 and smoke the 6350

We aren't talking about used parts that's a different market. You will always get better performance/dollar from used parts.

[DannyA]

athlon 860k no brainer

[EllieThePurpleFuzzy]

Xeon X5650! >8D. Beast of a CPU still to this day.

 

nah for gaming you probably could try find something like a used i5 2300 or such.