Thread: CPU + motherboard less than $175

your budget says "amd", so i'd start looking at the dual core phenoms with a fat L3 cache that already run around 3 ghz to run your autodesk software, starting with this combo [ newegg.com ] , or dig a few more quarters out from under the sofa cushions for this x3 combo [ newegg.com ] .

I don't know how good parallelization in Autodesk Inventor is -- but I'd guess for rendering tasks you'd benefit from multiple cores. For that reason, you might even want a quad core. The new AMD Athlon II X4 620 [ newegg.com ] might be a good fit for you (2.6 GHz, Quad-Core). The reviews indicate people overclocking well above 3.0 GHz. I won't try to pick out a motherboard for you, since I don't know where your sweet...

I'm buying parts for a computer build; I've been able to find some decent deals for most parts, but I still need a CPU and motherboard. Unfortunately I don't have a Frys nearby, so this needs to be an online deal. The computer is used for basic stuff (Office, internet) and also some Autodesk Inventor, including some assembly rendering. $175 is my upper limit for the CPU + motherboard. I'm thinking dual core, unless there...