Best CPU/MOBO Combo for $250?

[MooseMan45]

What is the best CPU and MOBO combo for $250?

 

On a strict budget, don't go over!

[paddy-stone]

b350 and 2600x... but kinda depends on WHAT it's for?

[Nocte]

Either of these imo. The AMD one is overclockable and has 6c/12t while the Intel one is locked (no OC) and is 6c/6t, but performs slightly better in games (few FPS increase).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($174.79 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $234.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-29 19:14 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor  ($178.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - H310M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($56.15 @ Amazon)
Total: $235.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-29 19:14 EDT-0400

[Ramaddil]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($174.79 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($77.29 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $252.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-29 19:24 EDT-0400

 

[MooseMan45]

6 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

b350 and 2600x... but kinda depends on WHAT it's for?

Gta V, Rise of the tomb raider, rust, farcry 5 all at 1080p paired with 970

 

Thinking about video editing and projects in future

[Canada EH]

You have ram, case, psu.

 

depends on what you are using the pc for the projects in the future.

 

Games would be Intel

 

Also I think about lots of things, but actually doing some of them, not at all of action

 

[epsilon84]

25 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

b350 and 2600x... but kinda depends on WHAT it's for?

The 2600X alone is $230, good luck finding a motherboard for $20

 

To the OP, either a Ryzen 1600 + cheap B350 motherboard for an all round machine

 

OR i5 8400 + B360 motherboard for a gaming machine

 

Avoid the A350 and H310 mobos if you can

[MooseMan45]

2 minutes ago, epsilon84 said:

The 2600X alone is $230, good luck finding a motherboard for $20

 

To the OP, either a Ryzen 1600 + cheap B350 motherboard

 

OR i5 8400 + B360 motherboard

 

Avoid the A350 and H310 mobos if you can

Those were my 2 options, most likely gonna go with the i5 8400, thanks for the response!

[Tailmon1]

you would be better saving for the 2600X and a B350

 

[Ramaddil]

10 minutes ago, Tailmon1 said:

you would be better saving for the 2600X and a B350

 

I agree with this but if you have to have it now I think the b350 + 1600 is a good deal.

[MooseMan45]

1 minute ago, Ramaddil said:

I agree with this but if you have to have it now I think the b350 + 1600 is a good deal.

Well i can do the 2600, but the b350 board I found in budget looked perfect, reviews were terrible

[johnukguy]

17 minutes ago, MooseMan45 said:

Those were my 2 options, most likely gonna go with the i5 8400, thanks for the response!

An overclocked Ryzen above 1600 will beat an 8400 in many games, or at least hold it's own very well, and give you better performance in just about everything else, especially video editing/rendering and streaming, if you want to do that at some point. If you do want to go for the 2600x and are in the US, you can pick one up, with a motherboard such as the ASRock AB350 Pro4, for about $270 total (not including tax). It is stretching your budget but will likely be worth saving a little more for as Talimon1 said.

[Tailmon1]

I'm running a Ryzen 1700 and a Gigabyte Gaming B350 and its clockable and running nice for the price

 

[MooseMan45]

1 minute ago, johnukguy said:

An overclocked Ryzen above 1600 will beat an 8400 in many games and give you better performance in just about everything else, especially video editing/rendering and streaming, if you want to do that at some point. If you do want to go for the 2600x and are in the US, you can pick one up, with a motherboard such as the ASRock AB350 Pro4, for about $270 total (not including tax). It is stretching your budget but will likely be worth saving a little more for as Talimon1 said.

So you're saying above 1600, not including 1600 right?

[johnukguy]

Just now, MooseMan45 said:

So you're saying above 1600, not including 1600 right?

I would include a 1600 in that too and it will still perform better for video editing and streaming than the 8400.

[MooseMan45]

Just now, johnukguy said:

I would include a 1600 in that too and it will still perform better for video editing and streaming than the 8400.

I would love to go ryzen 2600 but I don't have a cpu to flash bios, might go with 1600 then, gosh this is hard decision! lol

[Ramaddil]

1 minute ago, johnukguy said:

I would include a 1600 in that too and it will still perform better for video editing and streaming than the 8400.

If you had a budget for a 8700 or 8600 then for sure it would be a better buy over ryzen for gaming but the 8400 is not a good buy at that price point when there is r5 1600 or 2600x there.  my 2cents

[Tailmon1]

Here is the 1700 and the board on my wet bench before I transfered it into a nice Roswill Cullin case.

[johnukguy]

2 minutes ago, MooseMan45 said:

I would love to go ryzen 2600 but I don't have a cpu to flash bios, might go with 1600 then, gosh this is hard decision! lol

You don't need one. Most PC parts stores will do that for you for free if you buy anything from them.

[MooseMan45]

Just now, Tailmon1 said:

Here is the 1700 and the board on my wet bench before I transfered it into a nice Roswill Cullin case.

that's pretty dope

[epsilon84]

7 minutes ago, johnukguy said:

An overclocked Ryzen above 1600 will beat an 8400 in many games, or at least hold it's own very well, and give you better performance in just about everything else, especially video editing/rendering and streaming, if you want to do that at some point. If you do want to go for the 2600x and are in the US, you can pick one up, with a motherboard such as the ASRock AB350 Pro4, for about $270 total (not including tax). It is stretching your budget but will likely be worth saving a little more for as Talimon1 said.

'Beat' is a bit of a stretch... it comes close, but the 8400 still enjoys higher mininum fps which is the more important metric anyway for gaming.

https://www.techspot.com/review/1613-amd-ryzen-2700x-2600x/page6.html

 

I agree with you, the 2600X is a better all round CPU, it's just not within the OPs budget. If he can save up an extra $50? Sure, get the 2600X, its a great all round CPU.

[MooseMan45]

Just now, johnukguy said:

You don't need one. Most PC parts stores will do that for you for free.

The area I live has 0 pc stores within 60 mile radius unfortunately, How big will the fps difference be between i5 8400 and ryzen 1600 with light overclock in 1080p gaming? 

[Ramaddil]

I would say minimal there are some games that the 1600 will beat the 8400 others it will fall short by 5-10%.

1 minute ago, MooseMan45 said:

The area I live has 0 pc stores within 60 mile radius unfortunately, How big will the fps difference be between i5 8400 and ryzen 1600 with light overclock in 1080p gaming? 

.  

[epsilon84]

1 minute ago, MooseMan45 said:

The area I live has 0 pc stores within 60 mile radius unfortunately, How big will the fps difference be between i5 8400 and ryzen 1600 with light overclock in 1080p gaming? 

Have a look at the chart above. Do note that is tested with a high end GTX 1080 Ti graphics card though, with lesser GPUs the difference will be less.

[Tailmon1]

Nothing wrong with picking up pieces and then building the system but only if you do it before the seller warranty is still good.

A word of caution on the 1600X if your considering it that there is no cooler included. The 2600 would be the better bet since it has a cooler with it that is pretty good. 

As for the Intel.. Come on this guy is on a budget and where is he getting a cooler to cool that intel to get that kind of numbers?