Recommended Posts

No, no no we cannot be having this. The dual core i3 obviously beats all of the quad/hexa/eight core processors :p. It is also so much cheaper (even though the motherboards are more expenisve).

at least that way you are forced to get a good mobo, not the crap suggested in the OP.

Here is my AMD + UK Price recomendations:

This is for the full machine, PSU + Case and the lot.

APU Build

?327.70 inc VAT + Free Delivery

Budget Build (General office work, internet browsing, flash games)

?209.67 inc VAT + Free Delivery

Mainstream (Medium settings, office work, photoshop.etc)

?388.04 inc VAT + Free Delivery

High-End (High settings, photoshop video rendering.etc)

?610.57 inc VAT + Free Delivery

Ultimate (Maximum settings, Video Rending, Extreme power!)

?1201.80 inc VAT + Free Delivery

This build could do with a lot of changes, for example the PSU costs nearly as much as the processor :o. I chose corsair because it is a reputable brand and 850W is more than enough juice for this :p

  • Like 1

I haven?t looked over all your builds, Site Lab, but it seems like you?ve just thrown in AMD processors for the sake of it, regardless of their performance.

In your APU build by including a discrete graphics card, you?re negating any value you would get with the AMD 3870K. I?m not sure it would be able to outperform the Pentium G850 in the budget build which is cheaper($87 vs $139). We don?t have a low cost HTPC build, and that?s probably where an AMD APU would shine, using integrated graphics.

In your high end build, an Intel i3-2120 ($127) is going to outperform that FX-6100 ($149) according to that chart I posted on the last page. Hell, it looks like even the Pentium G850 will out perform at less than two thirds the price.

And, I don?t know how you can honestly recommend the AMD FX-8150, which is underpriced and outperformed by the Intel i5 2500K, for any build, much less an ?extreme power, money be damned? build.

  • Like 1

but it seems like you?ve just thrown in AMD processors for the sake of it, regardless of their performance.

I haven't. There is reason why I have chosen each setup. These aren't meant to beat intel, but where they do they are quite good machines for the prices.

In your APU build by including a discrete graphics card, you?re negating any value you would get with the AMD 3870K. I?m not sure it would be able to outperform the Pentium G850 in the budget build which is cheaper($87 vs $139). We don?t have a low cost HTPC build, and that?s probably where an AMD APU would shine, using integrated graphics.

Ok, the reason i including a discrete graphics card with the APU is because of the crossfire performance when combining a 6670 and the intregated graphics in the GPU. Since I cannot find any benchmarks with the crossfire here in question, I turned to Youtube. For example here we have:

<- Battlefield 3 running on this setup with 40FPS on medium/high settings.

Infact, change that just found one.

game05.jpg

60 FPS on Dirt 2 on medium, which is more than playable for the price of the system.

Here is Saints Row 3 running on the same setup -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIYeRy2nQlc

For the price, this is quite an excellent budget gaming system, this is why I chose this setup.

In your high end build, an Intel i3-2120 ($127) is going to outperform that FX-6100 ($149) according to that chart I posted on the last page. Hell, it looks like even the Pentium G850 will out perform at less than two thirds the price.

Here, the i3-2120 will probably beat the FX-6100. (If a Phenom X4 970 or X6 1090t was available, I would have chose that but I chose the next best thing due to reviews/ratings on ebuyer itself...).

According to PassMark benchmark scores, the FX-6100 scores 5,616 and the i3-2120 scores 4,200. Plus the FX-6100 has more cores than the i3. (Six cores vs Two)

However, lets look at what a similar system would cost on the same website:

Total price is now: ?643.16 compared to ?610.67. For ?32.49 extra you are basically getting 4 less cores, a bit more performance in gaming and less performance in multi-tasking/other stuff.

And, I don?t know how you can honestly recommend the AMD FX-8150, which is underpriced and outperformed by the Intel i5 2500K, for any build, much less an ?extreme power, money be damned? build.

Course the i5 2500k may be cheaper, but "money be damned" like you said :p

Anyway, the reason i recommended the FX-8150 in the AMD category is because it is the fastest AMD CPU available and actually offers more performance than the i5 2500k.

In passmark the FX-8150 scores 8244 whereas the i5-2500k scores 6743. Also, the FX-8150 has 8 cores compared to the 4 in the i5-2500k. (Not that will be much of an improvement for most applications).

In DIRT 3:

http://www.hardwares...php?image=39558

The FX-8150 offers 7 MORE FPS! (Such a MASSIVE improvement *sarcasam*)

http://www.hardwares...php?image=39556

In Cinebench 11.5 the FX-8150 comes closer to the i7-2600k (which is dearer than the FX-8150.)

In photoshop CS5 the FX-8150 takes less time than the i5-2500k:

image014.png

However, in 3d Max the i5 does beat the FX-8150 by a small margin :(

image015.png

41713.png

IN Civilization the FX-8150 gains an additional 4 fps.

41708.png

In Dirt 3 here, Il admit the i5-2500k is faster.

41705.png

In Metro 2033 it is 0.5fps slower. (Not that much)

41706.png

At 1920x1200 it is 2.5 slower.

41704.png

In the Rage vt_benchmark the FX-8150 takes less time to transcode textures.

41695.png

In multi-threaded benchmarks the FX-8150 beats the i5-2500k, however in single threaded the i5-2500k wins.

41698.png

The single most important benchmark. ITS FASTER IN 7-ZIP THAN THE I5!!!!!

41697.png

Renders faster.

41693.png

Its faster in EXCEL as well.

Lets see at the price though:

Quote

With intel options of:

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor ?168.46

AND Asus SABERTOOTH P67 R3 P67 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard ?148.83

The price comes to: ?13 dearer.

Ok, the reason i including a discrete graphics card with the APU is because of the crossfire performance when combining a 6670 and the intregated graphics in the GPU. Since I cannot find any benchmarks with the crossfire here in question, I turned to Youtube. For example here we have:

Battlefield 3 running on this setup with 40FPS on medium/high settings.

Infact, change that just found one.

60 FPS on Dirt 2 on medium, which is more than playable for the price of the system.

Here is Saints Row 3 running on the same setup ->

For the price, this is quite an excellent budget gaming system, this is why I chose this setup.

You're right, it's not easy to find a benchmark that pairs the AMD 3870K with discreate graphics against an Intel CPU with the same. If there were, these would be a lot clearer issue.

Here, the i3-2120 will probably beat the FX-6100. (If a Phenom X4 970 or X6 1090t was available, I would have chose that but I chose the next best thing due to reviews/ratings on ebuyer itself...).

According to PassMark benchmark scores, the FX-6100 scores 5,616 and the i3-2120 scores 4,200. Plus the FX-6100 has more cores than the i3. (Six cores vs Two)

However, lets look at what a similar system would cost on the same website:

Total price is now: ?643.16 compared to ?610.67. For ?32.49 extra you are basically getting 4 less cores, a bit more performance in gaming and less performance in multi-tasking/other stuff.

The Asrock P67 EXTREME4 V3 is a bad deal (at least in comparison to the Gigabyte GA-970A-D3). If you go with the Asus P8Z68-V LX, you end up saving ?16 and getting a better system.

Course the i5 2500k may be cheaper, but "money be damned" like you said :p

Anyway, the reason i recommended the FX-8150 in the AMD category is because it is the fastest AMD CPU available and actually offers more performance than the i5 2500k.

Lets see at the price though:

Quote

With intel options of:

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor ?168.46

AND Asus SABERTOOTH P67 R3 P67 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard ?148.83

The price comes to: ?13 dearer.

Sure, if we're buying on value, you can make an argument against an i5 2500k. But if you're comparing performance (and this build is suppose to be the ?extreme performance? machine) the i7 3930k (or any i7 for that matter) will win handily.

Plus the FX-6100 has more cores than the i3. (Six cores vs Two)

?

Also, the FX-8150 has 8 cores compared to the 4 in the i5-2500k. (Not that will be much of an improvement for most applications).

I'd just like to point this out since you've compared the number of cores. Much like it was a bad idea to compare MHz during the Pentium 4 days (when AMD was thoroughly out preforming them at a lower clock speed), so too is it to compare cores. They are two different architectures and your performance in the real world will vary as a result.

Secondly, AMDs Bulldozer?cores? are not cores in the traditional sense. A Bulldozer ?module?, a pair of core, is what is a traditional core. Each ?core? has it's own integer logic, L1 cache, and 128-bit floating point logic. However each pair of ?cores? (one ?module?) shares early pipeline stages (eg. fetch, decode), L2 cache, and 256-bit floating point logic. The result is something in between 2 traditional cores and 1 traditional core, that works well at integer heavy workloads and less so at floating point work. I hesitate to liken it to Hyperthreading because they are two wholly unrelated technologies.

With Ivy Bridge launching in like a week these AMD to 2500K comparisons are kind of pointless. Anyone thinking about buying a system right now would be waiting to see what happens with Ivy Bridge as Intel will be unleashing a full compliment of i7 and i5 processors in all price ranges.

And even if someone wasn't interested in the new Ivy Bridge chips the older Sandy Bridge processors will still hold their own and be significantly discounted.

SiteLab, you are partly right about APUs, but not, at all, about the Phenoms and Bulldozers.

Here is a read you might find interesting.

Of course, its concentration is mainly on gaming, but also, in other benchmarks, Bulldozer can't compete with i5, in some even i3, obviously not in multi-threaded apps.

Vice, I agree, about the IvyBridge part.

Thing is, that there are people who can't wait for the next gen tech. I personally have built 2 PCs in the span of last 2 weeks.

I will update the processors lines, when IVyBridge is available in masses

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Hey guys, is the AMD 6870 still the best card for under $200 USD?

Or would the Nvidia GTX 560

or something not on the list?

I'm trying to help a friend pick the best card for under 200.00, and since I've completely switched to a mac, I've lost touch with the PC hardware scene. :s

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Half of the system specs above are missing hard-drives, other half have hard-drives listed & priced.

No consideration for optical drives.

Also, I don't (personally) agree with a number of your proposed specifications; I can either build better for less on the budgets or better for similar on the higher end specs (assuming USA only websites).

Wasted my time opening this thread, let alone reading it - very disappointed.

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

How often is this updated? Just curious, I'll be in the market in a few months, will probably just post a thread for all of your thoughts when that occurs but I like the idea of this thread.

What do you want to know?

  • 2 months later...

What the hell is this 'guide'??? Seriously... this is total crap.
I haven't looked at the PC hardware market since 2006 so reading something to get me up to speed would've been perfect. Being given example builds with NO explanation whatsoever is just crap. Then obviously you get people disagreeing with that build....

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Go for a Echo Dot or Pop instead. These Echo shows just advertise to you.
    • NetSpeedTray 1.3.3 by Razvan Serea NetSpeedTray is a lightweight, open-source Windows network monitor that shows live upload and download speeds directly on the Taskbar. Designed for efficiency, it quietly sits in the system tray, conserving CPU and battery with dynamic updates. It blends seamlessly with Windows 10/11, adapts to light/dark themes, and auto-positions to avoid overlaps. Features include accurate interface detection, customizable display, optional mini-graph, color coding, granular font and unit control, detailed per-interface history graphs, safe data management, and easy CSV export—bringing the network monitoring Windows forgot. NetSpeedTray key features: Lightweight & Efficient Runs quietly in your system tray without consuming resources. Features a "Dynamic Update Rate" that lowers refresh frequency when the network is idle to save CPU and battery life. Native Look & Feel Blends seamlessly with Windows 10/11 UI. Smart detection for light and dark taskbar themes ensures text is always visible. Intelligent & Adaptive Positioning Automatically finds empty space next to your system tray and shifts to make room for new icons, preventing overlaps. Seamless OS Integration Behaves like a native Windows component. Hides instantly with auto-hiding taskbar Hides when a fullscreen app is active Smart Network Monitoring Accurate by Default: Auto mode identifies your main internet connection and ignores noise from VPNs or virtual adapters. Easy Interface Selection: Switch effortlessly between Auto, All, or Selected network interfaces via intuitive radio buttons. Total Visual Customization Free Move Mode: Unlock and place the widget anywhere on your screen. Optional Mini-Graph: Real-time graph of recent network activity with adjustable opacity. Color Coding: Customize colors and speed thresholds to quickly see network status. Granular Display Control Text & Font: Adjust font family, size, weight, and alignment. Units: Automatic (B/s, KB/s, MB/s) or fixed Mbps display. Precision: Set decimal places and always show them for uniform appearance. Detailed & Intelligent History Graph Smart Scale: Logarithmic scale shows low-level traffic and large spikes clearly. Per-Interface Filtering: View speed history for specific adapters (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, VPN). Safe & Efficient Data Management: Adjustable retention, automatic cleanup, optimized database. Easy Data Export: Export raw data to .csv or save high-quality graphs for reports. NetSpeedTray v1.3.3: The Updater Fix A stabilization release that repairs a critical regression in v1.3.2: the app shipped without OpenSSL, which silently broke every HTTPS request — including the built-in update checker (the "Could not check for updates" error many of you hit). This release restores it, hardens the build so it can't happen again, and fixes a startup crash plus four other reported bugs. Changes: Fixed update checking — Resolved a critical issue that prevented the app from checking for updates ("Could not check for updates"). Fixed startup crash with Auto-Cycling — The app no longer crashes on launch after enabling Cycle display mode. Fixed incorrect network speeds on 10GbE adapters — Multi-gigabit network cards now display speeds correctly instead of being stuck at 0. Improved color coding — Default color is shown when idle, and color/threshold changes now apply immediately without restarting. Fullscreen visibility fix — The widget now correctly stays visible over fullscreen apps when Keep Visible is enabled. Improved AMD Ryzen temperature detection — More reliable CPU temperature monitoring for Ryzen processors. Cleaner upgrades — Installer now removes outdated application files during upgrades, preventing DLL/version conflicts while preserving user settings. Improved stability — Fixed potential DLL loading issues by excluding critical OpenSSL and NumPy components from UPX compression. Better settings window — Scrollbars removed and layout improved for a cleaner experience. Localization improvements — Updated translations and completed missing UI text across all supported languages. More reliable releases — Added regression tests covering recent critical fixes, bringing the test suite to 196 passing tests. [full release notes] Download: NetSpeedTray 1.3.3 | 87.9 MB (Open Source) Download: NetSpeedTray Portable | 101.0 MB View: NetSpeedTray Home Page | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Why Delta Chat is the best decentralized messenger you have probably never tried by Paul Hill There is no shortage of messaging apps out there; we have WhatsApp, Messenger, and Telegram, just to name a few. While Meta has taken steps to incorporate encryption into Messenger and WhatsApp, they still leave a lot to be desired. If you are in the market for a messaging app that promotes security, privacy, and optional anonymity, you'll want to read what I have to say about Delta Chat. For those not familiar with Delta Chat, rather than relying on centralized servers as you do with Facebook Messenger, it relies on email. Essentially, it is a chat interface that feels like a messaging app, but secretly in the background, it is firing off emails. In the past, you used to have to sign in with your email account. When you sent messages to people, it would just be sending encrypted messages to their inbox, which their Delta Chat client would decrypt. When I first learned about Delta Chat, it required users to sign in with an email account, but I was pleasantly surprised upon trying it in 2026 that this is no longer a requirement, or the preferred method was to use the app. Recently, I’ve tried UAD-ng on my old Nokia 3.4 to disable most of the Google apps because the bootloader is locked, and this is the next best option. While finding replacement apps in F-Droid, I came across Delta Chat again, and it has undergone quite a big change since I last used it, with its new chatmail relays, which no longer require you to sign in to your own email account, providing anonymity, and they offer greater security. Android and Desktop Delta Chat apps. Not only does it run on my de-googled phone, but it also works on desktop computers and iOS, making it truly ubiquitous. For me, Delta Chat is a wonderful alternative messenger because it gives you more control. It supports switching between different profiles, which you can set up super quickly; you don’t register a username, you don’t register a password. The only thing you do have is a random string email address on a chatmail relay (which you don’t have to memorize). To maintain access to your profile, you just need to add a second device to your account via QR code or make a backup of your account, which you can restore later. Fail to do these, your account is gone - as it should be if you don’t want to leave accounts that could get hacked later on. My decision to block Google stuff on my Nokia was done for practical reasons; the device sucked when it launched, and it sucks even more now. The nice thing about F-Droid and the apps within is that they’re usually lightweight, free of bloat, and work well on that device. What was inconvenient for me was that it was hard to send messages from that device, say if I wanted to copy a code over to my main phone or send family members a link from that device. That’s when I decided to look at the available chat apps and saw Delta Chat. Another nice thing about Delta Chat is its notifications. Some messaging apps rely on Google’s ecosystem for notification transport on Android; however, with Delta Chat, it can use Google’s solutions if you have Play Services or MicroG installed. Otherwise, it is able to keep a background connection to the chatmail relay server so that you can get notified when you receive a message. As free software, the code of Delta Chat is open for all who want to take it and build upon it. In the future, if the developers of Delta Chat make a catastrophically bad decision and take the app in an undesirable direction, users can take the code and fork the project. This contrasts with closed-source apps from corporations that can take their products in any direction they like. By relying on free software instead of closed-source programs, you actually control your computing. I’ve spoken at length about how running this type of software is like owning your own home rather than renting it. The same applies here; if you use Delta Chat, you don’t need to worry about it going away in the future. Whether it is Telegram, WhatsApp, or Messenger, you are required to register a username and password to use these services. A major flaw in this design is that anyone can try various passwords and potentially break into your account with your complete chat history intact. Sure, there is encryption in Messenger, where you need a second PIN and two-factor authentication in Telegram, but breaches happen all the time. Unlike before, when you used to sign in to your email account to send and receive messages, the primary way to do it now is to create an account on a chatmail relay. The resulting email address is a random string followed by the name of the relay you pick. This means you can start and begin adding contacts Without a username and password, you either need to ensure you have a backup or at least one device running your Delta Chat profile. The primary way to log in on another device is to go to the settings and add a second device. Then, you’ll just scan a QR code with your new device, and it’ll log in to your account and sync all your chat history and contacts. To end users, Delta Chat just looks like any instant messenger; however, it is really sending your messages as encrypted emails to your contact. This is pretty cool from a censorship perspective, as it makes the service more difficult to block. Previously, the main way to use the app was by logging in with email, but nowadays, it’s recommended that you use chatmail relays. Chatmail relays temporarily hold messages in case your device is offline. They are cheap, simple servers that don’t store data as group states. Other information, like your name and avatar, only exists on your device and the devices of those you share your contact information with. The relays are also decentralized and operated by various groups and individuals. It is even possible to set up your own chatmail relay, but most people will want to use one hosted elsewhere. To keep your messages secure, Delta Chat uses a secure subset of the OpenPGP standard that gives you automatic end-to-end encryption. It also uses Secure-Join to exchange encryption setup information through QR-code scanning or invite links. Autocrypt is also used to automatically establish end-to-end encryption between contacts and all members of group chat, but sometime this year Autocrypt v2 will be rolled out, bringing post-quantum resistant encryption and forward secrecy. The Delta Chat FAQ is an interesting read that explains many more details about the app. Credit: Pexels Delta Chat is unique among messaging apps because it is built on email, a technology that’s decades old and isn’t going anywhere soon. What’s more is that email is not centralized either, so it’s far more difficult for any authoritarian regime to disrupt the Delta Chat app. I haven’t spoken too much about features yet, so I will do that now. Delta Chat allows you to do one-on-one chats, group chats, and create channels. It also supports file sharing and making audio and video calls when chatting one-to-one, but it’s not available for group chats right now. At the time of writing, the calling functionality is disabled and can be enabled in Settings > Advanced > Debug Calls. I have used the video calling feature, and the quality is excellent. It works over WebRTC, another open standard. The app also lets you send voice notes, enables disappearing messages, and has its own app ecosystem. I did try playing chess one time there, but it was a bit spotty; though, we did manage to complete the game with a victory for me. To add people to Delta Chat, you can either give them your Delta Chat link or your QR code to scan. These are the only ways to add users, so you won't have any spam bots bothering you. If the people you want to chat with don't have the app yet, just send them your link, and it will take them to a webpage where they can install the app and then add you. It's really quick for them to install it and get started, which is nice. Credit: Microsoft. The Majorana 2 quantum chip unveiled in 2026. I do not think quantum computers are too far out now, and I do hope that Delta Chat is able to push out Autocrypt v2 sooner, rather than later, so bad actors do not attempt to collect encrypted communications and then decrypt them in the future using quantum computers. By getting people’s messages post-quantum-safe now, users won’t have to worry when quantum computers start cracking legacy encryption. Overall, I would recommend this app to people who are already past WhatsApp and Messenger and have perhaps begun using apps like Telegram or Session. It shares a lot of characteristics with these apps and goes a lot further than Telegram in terms of security. By being based on email, it is also resistant to censorship, and the lack of a username and password makes you anonymous (if you want to be) and safe from brute force password cracking attempts. Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried Delta Chat recently. Do you think it's a good bulwark against governments that are tightening their grip on the internet?
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      bernmeister earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      tuben earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      OffsetAbs earned a badge
      First Post
    • Reacting Well
      OffsetAbs earned a badge
      Reacting Well
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      474
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      220
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      156
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      73
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!