I purchased a $9 processor.
I purchased a $9 processor.
A coworker recently handed me his old HP A6500F and I was feeling bored. I decided to upgrade it with a $150 makeover. I found a used CPU for just $9 on Newegg and thought, "Fine." Besides the low price, it was in great shape—surprisingly solid! I was taken aback by how much I didn’t expect. Not a weak CPU, but at only nine dollars it felt like a risk. I’m hoping it works out. I’ll share my progress photos once everything arrives.
It's clearly a better model than the E220 it came with! I thought it would be in poor shape, but it looks great.
9 dollars for an e8400? In my region those cost around 3 dollars or less, 9 dollars is for quad or better dual-core chips like e8600 or x5260. Oh wow, you don’t need to spend that much on a dead system, especially not on low-quality hardware like an OEM setup. 775 is just budget-friendly for office and gaming PCs plus overclocking fans. Your machine fits the dirt-cheap office/gaming category. I made the same error with my first build in 2018—could have upgraded to 1156 or at least a solid P45 board like the Giga EP45 UD or ASUS P5E 150 for around 775. It’s more suited for enthusiast builds, so if you’re spending that much on something average, consider getting a Giga EP45 UD board or a decent X38/X48 board with good RAM (preferably DDR3-1200 or higher) and start bench testing. I’ve already wasted too much on this platform with outdated boards or mediocre P45 boards that can’t reach 500+ FSB (looking at you, P5Q). Just don’t bother.
It's not really a great deal. I have seen Q6600's go on AliExpress for about $5-6
it's really confusing to invest 150 dollars in trash tier gear unless you plan to upgrade to quality enthusiast boards and an OEM is the worst choice, only making sense if you want a solid gaming setup for a low price (~10-20 dollars) that turns you into a cheap gaming machine or lets you experiment with overclocking (though not advised since you'll likely need voltmod for real control). The 775 model is great because everything is affordable and CPUs are reliable, making it perfect for beginners who want to bench without breaking the bank—just find good samples if you're serious about building. Still, cheap CPUs are pretty easy to find.
Lol $150 isn't that much money after all. I've already spent more on in-game buys before. It seems our views on money and life are totally different, bro. As I said, it's not about performance or just setting up a PC. It's a fun project for me and my kids, and honestly, that's worth it.