Basic Older System, Have Questions

[rune2h]

I want to build an incredibly basic PC that will play some very old games. I don't need much power but I just have a couple of questions. I have a lot of old parts lying around that I want to use. PC PartPicker does not really report information on this "old" hardware as far as compatibility.

Question 1: Can I use an old HD 7770 paired with an A-series APU? I don't need much power and I am looking at an A6-7400K dual-core APU. I don't want to run into issues with an APU + dedicated GPU. The Motherboard I will be using is the Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H.

Question 2: This system will not use close to the 500-watt PSU, but this build is all about not purchasing what I already have. Is it going to be okay to use a higher watt PSU on a system that does not really need it?

Case: Thermaltake VERSA H15
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H (Socket FM2+)
CPU: AMD A6-7400K 3.5 GHz Dual-Core APU (Radeon R5 Series Graphics)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB GDDR5
Storage: ADATA SU800 128GB
PSU: Corsair CX500 80+ Bronze (Non-Modular)

 

[henryjamesguest]

Question 1: Try putting all of your parts in PC Part Picker. It will let you know it they are compatible or not.

Question 2: Using an overpowered PSU isn't that big a deal. For future proofing it's a good idea, but I wouldn't exceed 750W depending on what you are planning to do in the future. Even a moderate 2-card system wouldn't draw close to 750W, so something around there would be a good start. Make sure to get a semi/modular one, as the amount of cables is ridiculous with non-modular PSU's (regrets for me!).

 

[henryjamesguest]

Here's a link to your system of PC Part Picker. Says there's no issues, so you're all good! https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7zTQ6s

 

[Rogue Leader]

Q1 definitely no issues there, the graphics part of your APU will be disabled, and you just use the GOU
Q2 you will not hurt anything. Better to have some headroom than not.

 

[richardvday]

The only compatibility issue would be the ram working on that motherboard and it should be fine its not exotic high speed ram just normal jdec spec ram. Should be fine.
One other possibility would be if you expected to crossfire the apu and the dedicated gpu, I do not believe that is possible they are different gen parts.
your apu will disable the gpu portion and everything should just WORK.

As far as your power supply goes the only issue with a larger psu is efficiency, the larger the psu the higher the draw needs to be in order to meet those efficiency ratings so drawing less power means it will not be as efficient as it could be.
Again it will just WORK.

 

[rune2h]

Thank you to everyone for the replies. I should clarify that I do not mean to run the GPUs together, I just want the system to recognize the 7770 properly and disregard the APU's graphics. I haven't used a desktop in a long time, and mostly have all of my knowledge from laptops, and laptops usually don't use AMD hardware.

The last time I used AMD on a desktop, Catalyst Control Center was their software, and by the looks of it, it is still that way. It's suppose to be more simplistic now-a-days with auto-detect and that but a lot of my main desktop usage was many years ago when you needed to retrieve manual drivers. It seems like even if you go to search for manual drivers for a specific card it all just leads to installing the Control Center, at least that's what I remember from quite a few years ago.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Catalyst is long gone, since replaced by Crimson and now Adrenalin.

 

[rune2h]

Catalyst is long gone, since replaced by Crimson and now Adrenalin.

Yeah, like I said, been a while.

It will auto-detect the 7770, or do I have to manually install drivers by doing a card series search? Back in the day of Catalyst, it seemed like there was no point in searching for a specific card, because it would just forward you to installing Catalyst anyway. Is Adrenalin literally all I need?

 

[Rogue Leader]

Catalyst is long gone, since replaced by Crimson and now Adrenalin.

Yeah, like I said, been a while.

It will auto-detect the 7770, or do I have to manually install drivers by doing a card series search? Back in the day of Catalyst, it seemed like there was no point in searching for a specific card, because it would just forward you to installing Catalyst anyway. Is Adrenalin literally all I need?

There are different versions depending on which version of Windows, but they are all Adrenalin and they do support the HD 7770. It takes 2 seconds to select Desktop graphics, HD series, 7770 and your Windows version, just in case.

 

[rune2h]

Thanks very much for all of the help!

 

[richardvday]

Pick a worthy answer to close the thread out then. Whoever you think was most helpful typically.