Best AM3/AM3+ for sub £120?

[Dayzed&Confused]

Hi,
so I finally got some money for an upgrade, and have been given an AM3+ mobo, which processor should I go for for less than £120? I need to be able to play Minecraft and other games like Skyrim or TF2; as well as being able to record gameplay footage. Other requirements include CAD and CFD systems and use as a folding rig. Any suggestions?

 

[SeraphX]

Phenom II X6 would arguably be your best with regards to Bang for Buck.

 

[trickynickyuk]

a phenom 2 if you can find one or look at the FX series

 

[Dayzed&Confused]

Phenom II X6 would arguably be your best with regards to Bang for Buck.

Where could I get one from?

 

[Dayzed&Confused]

look at the FX series

which would you recommend?

 

[Stas823]

FX8120
I run it for tf2 and skyrim etc.. and it runs well

 

[trickynickyuk]

as above plus it has the higher memory bandwidth and overclocks well as well

 

[AllBodies]

This is a good chip for the price:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-253-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=1943

This will be superior to any bulldozer chip, other than perhaps the '8 core' ones.

 

[SeraphX]

Don't waste money on any of the FX series, simply put, they're gash, regardless of cores.
to add to my original suggestion, you should be able to find some Phenom X6's on that auction site, or as ^^Allbodies suggested, the 965 is a pretty good chip,

 

[Stas823]

I played dead island on my Fx8120 and watched a friend play it on the 965 and needless to say the difference was immense with Fx8120 playing smooth at max setting to choppy on the 965 at highish

 

[Gashman]

must admit, using FX 8120 for gaming, haven't have any problems, nothing in the slightest to suggest they are 'gash', so either 8120 or Phenom II will be decent.

 

[Bleek]

Zosma 960T without question!

Virtually all of them unlock to 6 core and run at 4GHz.

Mine will hit 4.7GHz on air but runs 24/7 unlocked at 6 cores 4GHz 1.37v (they're sage to 1.55v so I have lots of headroom).

 

[Hagar]

As above really. I would go for either a 4 or 6 core black edition phenom II or thuban, and wait a bit to see what piledriver brings to the table in Q3, or get an FX8120 now.

If you can get a hexcore 1090T for about £85 go for it, it will be second hand though.

The locked multiplier hexcores are also good as they tend to be cheaper and you can still get a good overclock using the bus clock alone.

 

[FreeStream]

960T.

Just bought one for £90 new and it unlocks. Haven't tested if it is stable, mainly because I hit the thermal limits with my current cooler :/

 

[Martini1991]

I played dead island on my Fx8120 and watched a friend play it on the 965 and needless to say the difference was immense with Fx8120 playing smooth at max setting to choppy on the 965 at highish

Did you have different GPU's ?

 

[AllBodies]

I played dead island on my Fx8120 and watched a friend play it on the 965 and needless to say the difference was immense with Fx8120 playing smooth at max setting to choppy on the 965 at highish

No one take this into account, as this person is either trolling or his friend as a far inferior graphics card. The i7 965 is FAR superior to the fx8120

 

[Bleek]

Did you have different GPU's ?

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Straz]

No one take this into account, as this person is either trolling or his friend as a far inferior graphics card. The i7 965 is FAR superior to the fx8120

Pretty sure he's talking about Phenom 965 not the i7?

 

[Dayzed&Confused]

have found 8120 for £70, should I go for it? (phenom 2 I was after went out of reach, price wise)

 

[Quixote]

Its a decent processor & for that money, a good buy. It should cope with the games you listed well.
The extra cores may help prevent fps drops while using the screen capture software.