Some nice AMD deals on Newegg

[funnyperson1]

First Off Sempron 3400+ for $20:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819104006

Perfect for a PC for a web-browser type machine you're building for someone else. With a hardware decoding video card, this would even be a nice HTPC option imho. The combo deal with the excellent Biostar 560+ (both for $80) basically means you're getting the processor for free.

Secondly we have an F3 stepping 3800+ for $35:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103067

The F3 stepping chips were the best overclocking AMD chips before the G2 Brisbanes came out. From what I remember people were averaging 3.2-3.3Ghz with these things on air.

[chop_wood]

im all over that sempron. htpc time!

[Pinky]

First Off Sempron 3400+ for $20:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819104006

Perfect for a PC for a web-browser type machine you're building for someone else. With a hardware decoding video card, this would even be a nice HTPC option imho. The combo deal with the excellent Biostar 560+ (both for $80) basically means you're getting the processor for free.

With a comparable Sempron I was having problems playing certain encoded media, especially high bitrate stuff like HD. Ended up getting a dual core solution (939) and no problems since. The Sempron worked fine for standard DVD playback and obviously web/email, but it does have its limits as a single Athlon XP core.

Because of this I would advise against the Sempron. In the classifieds here people are unloading their 939 cpus and motherboards (I'm not, don't feel the need). These combos are plenty fast for a HTPC, and I even game with mine. I think this offers a more future proof solution for under $100 /combo.

[funnyperson1]

With a comparable Sempron I was having problems playing certain encoded media, especially high bitrate stuff like HD. Ended up getting a dual core solution (939) and no problems since. The Sempron worked fine for standard DVD playback and obviously web/email, but it does have its limits as a single Athlon XP core.

Because of this I would advise against the Sempron. In the classifieds here people are unloading their 939 cpus and motherboards (I'm not, don't feel the need). These combos are plenty fast for a HTPC, and I even game with mine. I think this offers a more future proof solution for under $100 /combo.

This one is a Socket AM2 Athlon 64 based Sempron, it shouldn't have any problems playing content up to 720p. I mentioned using a hardware-decoding video card for HTPC use, something like a 4350 for $40 would decode 1080p video and pass through 8 Channel Audio through HDMI.

[doublejack]

This one is a Socket AM2 Athlon 64 based Sempron, it shouldn't have any problems playing content up to 720p. I mentioned using a hardware-decoding video card for HTPC use, something like a 4350 for $40 would decode 1080p video and pass through 8 Channel Audio through HDMI.

This is 100% correct. A good, inexpensive vid card with hardware decoding will handle almost all of the work for HD playback. However, a faster processor would still help for transcoding and converting video from one format to another. For people who use their HTPC to record in HD and burn discs later, that would be a consideration.

[Pinky]

My bad, I hadn't realized until I followed the linkage :(.