Cheap processors have been heavily criticized in recent years, and this has surrounded them with a bad image that still exists today. A long time ago, these criticisms made a lot of sense, however This reality was gradually overcome And today, with a few exceptions, we can say that almost all cheap processors offer more than acceptable performance, provided we are aware of their limitations.
The last one is important. To believe that a processor with less than 100 euros can offer the same performance as a processor with 300 euros is crazy and normal, since we compare two components that are on very different levels. However, this does not mean that this processor of less than 100 euros simply offers poor performance will not reach the same ceiling than the most expensive model.
Thanks to AMD’s masterful return in 2017 with the Zen architecture introduced The cheap processor sector has gone through an enormous development and has also shaped a very interesting used market where we can find CPUs at a good price that can still offer excellent performance.
We recently published a guide dedicated to choosing the best processors on the market for less than $ 200. This number is reasonable. Today we’d like to add a new article to this guide, in which Let’s focus on the strip of less than 100 euros. In order to offer you a more comprehensive and interesting vision, we not only limit ourselves to the selection of new, cheaper processors, but also take into account interesting models that we can buy second-hand.
Cheap processors: preliminary considerations
Before going into the subject, I would like to remind you that you need to be clear to choose the right processor What benefit do you want to give him? If you plan to mount or upgrade a PC for little money and just want to use it for office automation, multimedia content, and little else, a chip like the Athlon 200GE is more than enough. If you want to play current titles, you should look for less than four cores.
We also need to consider the rest of the team components and our medium and long-term expansion plans. At the moment we are in a somewhat complicated situation as it is not clear which support cycle the AMD series 500 chipset motherboards will receive and it seems that the 400 chipset motherboards They will end their life cycle with Zen 3.
The same applies to Intel. The chip giant has launched the 400 series with the LGA 1200 socket, compatible with Comet Lake-S processors, and everything seems to indicate that this will be the case compatible with Rocke Lake-S, However, the level of actual support they can offer is unclear and we can assume that they are not compatible with Alder Lake-S, the successor to Rocket Lake-S.
The useful life of the two most important platforms that currently exist has not yet been precisely defined. Therefore, we play with a certain degree of uncertainty when we support the purchase of a new processor with a platform change. In any case, we shouldn’t worry too much, since both motherboards with socket AM4 and those with socket LGA 1200 are compatible with a variety of processorsThis leads to a variety of medium and long-term update options.
For example, even if we get a motherboard that doesn’t support the next generations of both brands, we could Switch from a Ryzen 3 1600 to a Ryzen 7 3700X in a few years and significantly extend or jump the life of our equipment from a Core i3 10 series to a Core i7 10 series.
Recommended cheap processors: Athlon 200GE
We are without a doubt one of the best solutions in your range. This APU is in the low range, but it is able to offer one good performance in many applications and for moving current games that don’t require four physical cores.
Uses AMD socket AM4, integrated CPU and GPU in the same package and has a price of 45.99 euros. These are its specifications:
- Zen CPU at 14 nm with two cores and four threads at 3.2 GHz.
- GPU Radeon Vega 3 with 192 shaders.
- Compatible with socket AM4.
- 4 MB L3 cache.
- 35 watts TDP.
What kind of users are you targeting? For those who want to build a PC for office automation, multimedia and internet surfing for little money. With this chip, we were able to play previous generation games without problems (Xbox 360 PS3 level).
Recommended cheap processors: Ryzen 3 1200 AF
One of the best cheap processors we can currently find to play without having to make a big investment. Thanks to its four physical cores and its good IPC With a few exceptions, you can easily move any current game (games that use eight threads or six cores, such as Battlefield V).
We can buy it for 55.99 euros.
- Zen + CPU at 12nm with four cores and four threads at 3.1 GHz-3.4 GHz.
- Compatible with socket AM4.
- 8 MB L3 cache.
- 65 watts TDP.
- Supports overclocking with B350 motherboards and higher.
What kind of users are you targeting? This processor is an excellent option for assembling a gaming PC for very little money. Since it is based on the AM4 platform, we can also update in the short, medium or long term without having to change the motherboard.
Recommended cheap processors: Used Ryzen 3 2200G
It is an APU and as such integrates a processor and a graphics unit (GPU) in the same package. With the Ryzen 3 2200G we can play current titles in Resolutions below 1080p with no problems, which makes it a very interesting option to put together a very economical gaming PC that you can start playing with minimal investment. We could expand later without having to change platforms.
The price on the used market is around 60 euro.
- Zen CPU at 14 nm with four cores and four threads at 3.5 GHz-3.7 GHz.
- GPU Radeon Vega 8 with 512 shaders.
- Compatible with socket AM4.
- 8 MB L3 cache.
- 65 watts TDP.
- Supports overclocking with B350 motherboards and higher.
What kind of users are you targeting? This APU is a great option to build gaming PCs under maintenance a very small budget, since we don’t have to add a graphics card. If necessary, we can update later by keeping this chip and adding a dedicated graphics card.
Recommended cheap processors: Used Ryzen 5 1600
The price of the Ryzen 5 1600 AF has risen like foam due to high demand, and this has made it no longer a good option (around 140 euros). However, on the used market we still find the Ryzen 5 1600 at a very good price, some of them 70-75 euroswith a little bit of luck.
Today the Ryzen 5 1600 remains as a processor able to move any current game smoothlyand thanks to its six-core, twelve-wire configuration, it should be able to handle the transition from next-generation consoles quite well, especially if we overclock a little to improve performance with one thread, which we can easily do with the Ryzen Master Tool.
- Zen CPU in 14 nm with six cores and twelve threads at 3.2 GHz-3.6 GHz.
- Compatible with socket AM4.
- 16 MB L3 cache.
- 65 watts TDP.
- Supports overclocking with B350 motherboards and higher.
What kind of users are you targeting? Well, for those who want to build an off-road PC that is able to postpone current games and run sophisticated multithreading applications with little effort. The IPC of this processor is halfway between the Core 4000 and the Core 6000, so it still has a lot to offer.
Recommended cheap processors: Used Ryzen 7 1700
A real miracle, although it is not easy to achieve. On eBay we find auctions that start and end between 60 and 70 euros less than 100 euros. In other second-hand markets, it’s easy to find when the price is pretty high. So be careful there it is not worth paying 130 or 150 euros for it that some ask.
The Ryzen 7 1700 is a processor that can handle any task thanks to its eight-wire, sixteen-wire configuration. I am convinced that we can use it to survive the entire transition to new generation consoles, and we can easily overclock via the Ryzen Master Tool to easily compensate for the low clock frequencies.
- Zen CPU at 14 nm with eight cores and sixteen threads at 3 GHz-3.7 GHz.
- Compatible with socket AM4.
- 16 MB L3 cache.
- 65 watts TDP.
- Supports overclocking with B350 motherboards and higher.
What kind of users are you targeting? Like the previous one, it is aimed at those who want to design a PC that can perform almost any task. Thanks to its eight cores and sixteen threads, it can process demanding games and applications with a high parallel workload. A fantastic purchase from the best cheap processors available today, especially if you can find it for less than $ 100.
