Best bang for the buck dual core CPU?

Ok going to be building my HTPC in about 3 weeks, and I just can't seem to find a common ground on what CPU I want to use. The rig will be mainly used for Movies/Music obviously, but I will also be doing some gaming on it too. I don't play any of the latest and greatest games, just a few titles that are about a year plus old.

Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-EG41M-S2H
Gfx - HIS 4850 512mb
Case - Antec Fusion HTPC
Memory - 2x2gb OCZ Fatal1ty Edition
PSU - Corsair 520w Modular
HD - 1TB Seagate
OS - Vista 64bit Home Premium


So far I am leaning towards the e5200, it just seems like a great bargin. I am currently on the top rig in my sig (AMD 3200, 2gb ram, 6600gt for those of u with sigs turned off ), and it plays the games I like but with a lot of the settings turned down quite a bit just to get it to play at 1440x900 res.

The E5200 will do great, especially if you can get a decent OC going on the G41.

I don't know much about much more recent motherboards, but if its anything like the P45s, then that would be great.

You might want to look at E72/7300s if the price will cost you about the same (happens in some areas)

mdamda said:

The E5200 will do great, especially if you can get a decent OC going on the G41.

I don't know much about much more recent motherboards, but if its anything like the P45s, then that would be great.

You might want to look at E72/7300s if the price will cost you about the same (happens in some areas)

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Yeah I was looking into the e7x00 cpu's, but they are $35+ more and dunno how much more powerful they'd be over the e5200. I still have a few weeks, so if I can find a way to get an e7x00 for around $100 or less than I will probably just grab it.

I see that you will be buying a video card right off the bat....is there a reason that you are opting for an integrated graphics motherboard?

Edit: excuse my ignorance....with microATX it looks like you don't have a choice.

not sure what OCZ memory you are looking at but i have had very good luck with this corsair stuff on a couple of computers....I would definitely buy ddr2-1066 though. The price differences for lower speeds aren't worth it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214

imo this board looks a little better....getting newer G45 chipset as well as 4 DDR dimm slots just in case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186162

tachi1247 said:

I see that you will be buying a video card right off the bat....is there a reason that you are opting for an integrated graphics motherboard?

Edit: excuse my ignorance....with microATX it looks like you don't have a choice.

Click to expand...

There is one P45 mATX mobo, the DFI JR. It's not as 'friendly' as Gigabyte and Asus boards when it comes to overclocking though, requires patience and tweaking like most DFI boards.

tachi1247 said:

imo this board looks a little better....getting newer G45 chipset as well as 4 DDR dimm slots just in case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186162

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That looks like a good board, but I don't really plan on ever running 4 sticks of memory, plus that board lacks an HDMI + SPDIF output.

MadMan007 said:

There is one P45 mATX mobo, the DFI JR. It's not as 'friendly' as Gigabyte and Asus boards when it comes to overclocking though, requires patience and tweaking like most DFI boards.

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I was looking at that DFI board, and yeah for what I need it is way over the top. I don't really plan on going crazy with OC'ing (maybe squeeze out a few hundred MHZ with decent quiet air cooling).

The E5200 is not that bad. I have one and even with the C0 stepping I can get it to 3.5 on stock cooling with aftermarket paste. They dont run that hot, max load is 67C at 1.344V. A good aftermarket cooler could get that well below 55C, probably even below 50.

If you order from newegg you'll most likely get the M0 stepping and those overclock great.

My bad...you're right on the SPDIF output, but the 4850 should have its own hdmi output via adapter. I saw the DFI board too, but i figured that the price was too high.

The board you picked out is probably a good solution then, just not sure that it has the OC potential of a G45 board but what can you do.

Good luck.

e1200 cheap and easy 100% OC on air. Lacks cashe thats it.