Getting the best bang for the buck

With the release of the new Intel 'Sandy Bridge' Pentium and Celeron and AMD Llano CPUs come new options in the low-end or value segment of the processor market. Assuming that CPU performance is directly related to overall system performance by ignoring other factors such as memory, storage, graphics etc., we strive to create the best 'bang for the buck' desktop systems using these essential components.

In reality, there is very little overall system performance difference for any of these CPUs based on a different architectures and motherboards. Indeed in a recent comparative test of generations of these architectures less than 25% of general performance separated the oldest and latest. It isn't until the mid-range performance where great differences are noticed such as the Intel Core i5-2500K when it is suitably overclocked. Then personal desire seems to take preference over necessity. DIY and bespoke system builders take advantage of this. The mainstream PC manufacturers mostly take the easy option of standard configurations. DELL is perhaps the odd one out here with its XPS and Alienware brands.

The variation in performance in the dual-core Socket AM3, FM1, LGA1155, LGA1156 and LGA775 CPUs is fairly minimal as is their quad-core versions. Bargains can be had by taking a £50 processor overclocking it by 20% (no expensive cooling solutions here) and by unlocking a core or two as well. They st