Budget CPU Opinions

[dcox690]

So I've been slowly putting together a budget gaming rig over the past couple of months. And so far my system is as follows:

-Biostar TA780G M2+ Motherboard
-AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800 OC'd to 2.4ghz (pulled from my dads hp with dead mobo so didn't cost me anything)
-2gigs Kingston Hyper X DDR2 1066 memory
-PNY 9800GTX+ GPU (slightly OC'd)
-BFG 450w PSU

I've decided its time to replace my outdated cpu and being on a very limited budget i have narrowed it down to: Phenom II X2 545 ($66), Athlon II x3 435($72) and Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition (i know its not as good as the other two but at $48 it seems like i should consider it. would probably buy more memory with it if i went this route). Also please take overclocking into consideration.

So please any opinions would be much appreciated. I've spent a couple weeks looking into this and still can't make up my mind so it is why i've come here for help.

[Tetrium]

If you intend to use your system for a longer time (and seeing you're using DDR2) I'd suggest getting an Athlon II x4.
However, seeing you're using a top-range graphics card with a 450W PSU, you'll have to take total power usage into consideration.

I've always preferred mid-range cards myself (myself being a gamer on a budget).

[dcox690]

I have looked at the Athlon x4 and the 620 and the 630 are really the only 2 in my price range (i'm determined to keep the cpu cost under $100) but like you said i might be pushing it as far as power consumption and i really don't want to have to buy a new psu.

I would typically agree with you as far as mid-range cards go i had a 4650 but a friend offered to sell me a 9800gtx+ for $50 so it would have been hard to say no.