Price Guides November 2004: CPU and Motherboards

AMD Processors - Sempron

Sempron is AMD's newest kid on the block and will eventually overshadow and replace the Athlon XP for budget system builds, basically becoming the new Duron while the Athlon 64 takes the reins as top-performer.

When an A64 can be had for so little, it is a bit challenging to find a reason to stray from it - yet, everyone has their reasons. Certain Sempron models will allow you to utilize socket 754 motherboards, which means more upgradeability down the road versus the future options of socket A. Currently, this is limited to the Sempron 3100+, but more will arrive as AMD releases them. In the meantime, the Sempron is best suited for the average user who just needs a place to check email, browse the web, and chat with family and friends online. The Sempron 2200+, which is a socket A chip, is currently available for under $50 and should work very well for many users who don't need high end gaming, or expect to compete with a supercomputer cluster. This is a price-point, which makes building a simple rig very affordable, especially since socket A motherboards are so widely available and prices for those same motherboards can also be extremely low.