AMD A6-5400K for Gaming

[tierehl]

I was look for a CPU for gaming around the 80 dollar price range and when the A6 came out I put it on my list of possible Processors, I already have a GTX 560 SE for graphics however I was wondering would I benefit from APU graphically in a game or if there is a similarly prices CPU I should go for; Intel or AMD.

 

[obsama1]

It's pretty good for your purposes. The i3 is more expensive, and I'm pretty sure the A6 could compete with the Pentiums and Celerons. Plus, it's overclockable, so it's a really good CPU for its price range.

 

[jaguarskx]

Since you will be using a GTX 560, you get no benefits from the integrated graphic core.
Not sure how it competes against the Intel Pentium G645 which is selling for $80 as well, but at least you can overclock the A6-5400k.

 

[tierehl]

I was wondering how you guys thought the computer would handle rendering videos, with these specs:

A6-5400K on a ASRock FM2A55M-DGS
Kingston Technology Hyper X 4GB 1600MHz DDR3
Zotac GTX 560 SE

How well would you guess I would be able to run games like BF3 and Planetside 2 at 1360x768.

Slightly Off-Topic too, Is the CM Storm Trooper a good case?

 

[obsama1]

For rendering, get 8GB of RAM. BF3 and PS2 will run fine.

 

[sarinaide]

Having finally seen a 5800K perform, I don't really think the CPU element of it in gaming is as weak as most make it out to be, it is capable of handelling lower mainstream cards, though its rather pointless at this juncture. Dual graphics mode delivered well above expected performance at 1080 resolutions. I believe the new A Series Athlons will be a hit, more CPU power but on the FM socket, designed to run mainstream level GPU's without detracting from purpose.

Knowing that SR A-series will run on FM2 socket, a Athlon based A-Series running CFX 7770's could deliver unrivaled low cost gaming performance at lower cost that a mainstream i3 rig.

 

[tierehl]

So would anyone else recommend any other CPU around the $80 range for gaming because I was considering the Intel Pentium G860 and the AMD Athlon II X3 455 as possible alternatives but I'm not sure which one of the three to go for, seeing as with an Nvidia Card I won't be getting the benefit of an APU in Hybrid CrossfireX.

 

[rds1220]

I would take a Pentium over the APU. The only good thing about the APU is the better integated graphics which you aren't going to even be using since you have a discrete video card. Intel CPU's Intel do more work per clock on a single threaded app (such as gaming) making it faster and more effcient than the APU's.

 

[tierehl]

I would take a Pentium over the APU. The only good thing about the APU is the better integated graphics which you aren't going to even be using since you have a discrete video card. Intel CPU's Intel do more work per clock on a single threaded app (such as gaming) making it faster and more effcient than the APU's.

With the Pentium in mind are there any Motherboards you recommend to pair with it, I'm probably looking for a Micro ATX setup.

 

[rds1220]

I would go with a Z77 (or Z68) socket 1155 motherboard from Gigabyte, Asrock, ASUS or MSI.

 

[tierehl]

Best answer selected by tierehl.

 

[Chloe_May]

just get 8-8-8-24 ddr3 1600 as the apu needs fast ram, and you're better off with the a6-5400. even if yer not using the integrated gpu, low latency 1600 will still help yer overall system performance by a lot.