AMD A6-3670K for gaming?

[andy317]

I'm looking for a CPU to build a low budget gaming pc for my 10 year old cousin. He likes playing L4D 2, Mine-Craft, Block Land, BF Bad-company 2. Can AMD A6 with integrated GPU handle those games?

 

[8350rocks]

I'm looking for a CPU to build a low budget gaming pc for my 10 year old cousin. He likes playing L4D 2, Mine-Craft, Block Land, BF Bad-company 2. Can AMD A6 with integrated GPU handle those games?

It may be able to handle them ok, but a better bet would be the A10-5800k or A10-6800k. If you don't intend to overclock, you could go to a 5700 or 6700 and it would be more or less the same thing but not unlocked.

Those APUs have the best built in GPU of the APUs available. If it was my money being spent, I would look at the A10-6800k and something in either an A75/A85 chipset motherboard. That is the best combination of performance and capability available, though, if you're on a tighter budget, the A10-5800k would do nearly as well.

A few tips for APU builds:
1.) APUs need a good 8 GB of RAM to run properly and see best performance
2.) APUs are very "bandwidth sensitive" when it comes to RAM, you want at least DDR3-1866 MHz to get best performance
3.) When you buy RAM for it, make sure you get a kit that has 2 sticks of RAM, not one, as the dual channel memory makes an enormous difference on APUs.

When you build an APU build, you are saving yourself about $200 by not buying a GPU, but you're going to have to spend some of the money you're saving on better RAM, because the GPU on the die of the APU uses your system RAM for graphic functions. It doesn't have inherent RAM like a GPU card would. So the more bandwidth you can get out of your RAM, the better off you are.

Hope that helps

 

[jaguarskx]

For an inexpensive solution I would not consider the A6-3670k which is based on AMD's 1st generation APU (CPU + GPU). It is relatively inexpensive, but tI think you would be better off with the A10-5800k for $130. AMD just released the newer A10-6800k, but the performance increase is marginal and not worth spend the extra $20 for.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113280

AMD'a APU also benefits from fast RAM. Getting DDR3-1866 would be the best option as mentioned by 8350rocks. There is even faster RAM, but they cost more and the benefits are marginal at best. Besides, you are going from about $75 to $130 if you decide to choose the A10-5800k vs. the A8-3670k. I recommend 8GB of RAM since the APU uses some of the system RAM for graphics; such as the following for $70.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231550

The total cost excluding the motherboard is $200.
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As an alternative, you can opt for a dual core Intel CPU since the games you listed do not make use of more than 2 cores. Intel CPUs are clock for clock more powerful than AMD CPUs and APUs. For example, click the link below which compares a dual core Penitum G850 to the A10-5800k. The game benchmarks is based on whatever discrete graphics card is used for both test rigs (same GPU for both). As can be seen, the dual core Pentium G850 is better than A10-5800k when a discrete graphics card is used.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/404?vs=675

However, I recommend the newer Pentium G2120 which is not only 200MHz faster, but in general, the average performance increase over the prior generation (assuming the same clockspeed) is 6%. The G2120 (3.1GHz) costs $80; alternatively, you can buy the G2020 (2.9GHz) for $65.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116777
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116886

Because you will need to buy a discrete graphics card for the Pentium G2xxx, you do not need to buy 8GB of RAM. 4GB will suffice an Intel CPUs do not really benefit from very fast RAM so the overall cost is less. You can get the following 4GB for $40.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-231-276&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=100&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

To keep costs down just go with the Pentium G2020 and the 4GB of RAM which works out to $105. Compared to cost the A10-5800k + 8GB of RAM, you have $95 left to spend on the graphics card to come to the same $200 total cost.

The best graphics card you can buy is the Radeon HD 7750 w/ DDR5 RAM for $85 after a $10 rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102969

That brings the total cost to $190; Radeon HD 7750, Pentium G2020 and 4GB of RAM.

Alternatively, you can buy the Radeon HD 7750 w/ 2GB of slow DDR3 RAM for $80. But you don't really get any benefit from 2GB of RAM unless you play above 1920x1200 resolution. The Radoen HD 7750 is not powerful enough for that. DDR3 vs. DDR5 probably means a 6% - 10% decrease in performance; not worth it to save $5.

If you really want to save money on a graphics card then consider the following Radeon HD 6670 w/ DDR3 RAM for $50 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102988

Going with the Pentium G2020, 4GB of RAM and the Radeon HD 6670 works out to $155.
===================================

So... how do the different graphic cards compare?

The integrated Radeon HD 7660D in the AMD A10-5800k is a little more powerful than a desktop Radeon HD 5570. It's considered more of a multimedia card rather than a gaming card.

The Radeon HD 6670 w/ DDR3 RAM is about 6% - 10% slower than if it came with DDR5 RAM, but it is still faster than the Radeon HD 5670 by a decent amount. This card is considered the absolute minimum for a budget gaming rig.

The Radeon HD 7750 is more or less equal to the Radeon HD 5770 / HD 6770 (same card; different name), and is significantly more powerful than the integrated Radeon HD 7660D graphics core.

Whether you go with the $155 configuration or the $190 configuration of the Pentium G2020 + 4GB of RAM + whatever GPU, the gaming performance will be much higher than the A10-5800k and it's integrated graphics core.

Even if you were to play Battlefield 3 multiplayer which is known to benefit from a quad core CPU, the difference in graphic card performance means that the Pentium G2020 will perform better in BF3.

 

[8350rocks]

$415.00 build with A10-5800k. Doesn't have peripherals (monitor/keyboard/mouse). You can get an OEM copy of Win7 64 bit for $90 right now if you need an OS.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/14YA9
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/14YA9/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/14YA9/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-D3H ATX FM2 Motherboard ($76.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: PNY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($57.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.41 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($33.39 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $414.24
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-10 14:36 EDT-0400)

Good luck

 

[jaguarskx]

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)

Note:

The A10-5800k can only be purchased for $120 if you buy it in the store. Ordering it online means you pay the normal $130 price for it. Click following link to see if there is a Microcenter within driving range.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/400669/A10_5800K_Black_Edition_38GHz_Socket_FM2_Boxed_Processor

Look for the "Shop your store's selection" at the top of the page for a drop down list of all locations.

That also means you need to pay tax. Even if you only pay 6% tax where ever you live, that works out to $126 + time + gas to get to Microcenter. You might as well order from newegg (assuming you do not live in a state where you will be taxed by them) unless saving $4 (assuming 6% tax) is worth more than your time + transportation costs.

 

[jaguarskx]

Anywaste,

To the OP, I suggest you read through my 1st post regarding the Pentium G2020 as an alternative since you will get better performance.

 

[andy317]

@ Jaquarskx, 8350rocks: Thank you for taking your time to answer my question.
This is the system I'm thinking about.
CPU: AMD A10-5800K $127.98
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-DGS $49.99
Memory: Corsair 8GB $59.50 *
Storage: Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM $44.99
Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX $12.99
Case: Rosewill R363-M-BK $39.99
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS $16.99
Monitor: AOC e2051Sn 20.0" $89.99
Subtotal: $442.42
* Mail-In Rebates: $10.00
Total: $432.42
Estimated Wattage: 189W
What I wonder is that I have to get an after-market CPU cooler or I can use the cooler that comes with the CPU. Also, what about the PSU, is the psu that comes with the case good enough? And please tell me your opinions about the system!

 

[andy317]

l finally decided to go with the A10-5800k. I'm surprise about the performance, its worth every penny.Thanks all for the inputs!