I read somewhere that Skein doesn't like the low end processors. Is that true?
Not that I've noticed, but there are some non-mining stuff that wants more CPU - and if you get an efficient CPU you can mine XMR on it like Phil says and possibly pay for the "upgrade" over a bottom-end CPU over time.
I plan on getting my newest rig (dual 1080ti on my Intel G4600/Gigabyte Z270-HD3 board "experiment", VERY similar to Phil's MB in this build) up and running today, will see how it compares.