FM2 and FM2+

[Tkennedy1993]

I am curious if there is any performance decrease for having a FM2 CPU in a FM2+ motherboard? Or any incompatibility issues. At random times my computer freezes for around 10 or 15 sec.

 

[cdrkf]

I am curious if there is any performance decrease for having a FM2 CPU in a FM2+ motherboard? Or any incompatibility issues. At random times my computer freezes for around 10 or 15 sec.

An FM2 CPU should be fully compatible with an FM2+ motherboard (not the other way around of course).

Performance as a rule of thumb should be the same for a CPU in a compatible board.

Random freezes sounds like a different issue. If you'd like help diagnosing it we'll need to know more about:
Your computer specifications, what motherboard, processor, power supply and ram are you using for a start.

Also what are you doing with the machine when you get the 'freezes', what are the specific symptoms (e.g. can you move the mouse, do sounds still play etc).

That kind of problem could be a number of things, faulty memory, dodgy power supply, a software conflict... It could even be GPU related if it occurs in game or possibly overheating (I had a strange issue where my machine would periodically crawl in games then recover- turned out my CPU was hitting it's max safe temp and was dropping from 3.5ghz to 1.4 to cool down, which obviously has a bad effect on frame rates lol).

 

[IamTimTech]

Random freezes sounds like a hard drive problem. Start with that avenue. Download and run Western Digital Diagnostics and/or Crystalmark Disk Info

 

[dextermat]

The socket doesn't matter, it's the chipset you have to consider

 

[boosted1g]

Should be no issues in regards to socket compatibility.

What is the rest of your specs as that could have far more to do with your freezes, and are your freezes when just doing something mild or when doing resource intensive tasks. You have to realize that your FM2 computer is still low end, the best fm2 cpu available is still less then a previous generation core i3.

 

[Tkennedy1993]

I believe it is the program being used to over clock. I am using the AMD over drive. It doesnt do it everyday it seems like its random. I am going to remove my over clock and see if it does it and will let you all know. Thanks for the reply. My specs are :
ASUS a88xm-a motherboard
AMD A6-5400k cpu
8gb of 1333mhz ddr3
I am using the integrated graphics.

 

[IamTimTech]

I believe it is the program being used to over clock. I am using the AMD over drive. It doesnt do it everyday it seems like its random. I am going to remove my over clock and see if it does it and will let you all know. Thanks for the reply. My specs are :
ASUS a88xm-a motherboard
AMD A6-5400k cpu
8gb of 1333mhz ddr3
I am using the integrated graphics.

Your specs are part of the problem. The APU's strongly favor and need faster RAM speeds to function to their full potential. Combine this with a software overclock (All CPU overclocking should be done manually and through the bios) and you have your problem.

 

[Tkennedy1993]

It seems to only happen within the first 5-10min from boot up. Once this time has passed it runs perfect. Would up grading to and AMD A10-5800k (since im going to be upgrading soon) help this on will the problem still occur? I didn't think the speed of my ram made much of a difference.

 

[IamTimTech]

It seems to only happen within the first 5-10min from boot up. Once this time has passed it runs perfect. Would up grading to and AMD A10-5800k (since im going to be upgrading soon) help this on will the problem still occur? I didn't think the speed of my ram made much of a difference.

You are mistaken my friend. The APU's are the only processor that show exponential performance increases by more and faster RAM. This is because the APU is using system memory for all of it's graphic computations. It needs a lot of fast RAM to do so. Yes an A10 is going to be a good improvement over your A6 but the RAM is still going to hold it back as long as you are using integrated graphics.

 

[Tkennedy1993]

Ok well thank you for all your help. I am thinking of buying the AMD x4 860k and buying a r7 250 for right now until I save up for a better graphics card. Do you think that this would be faster than upgrading to an AMD a10 and buying faster ram? I don't do any heavy gaming just mostly counter strike global offensive and a few other low end games.

 

[IamTimTech]

That is a not a bad idea. I recently had a system on the FM2+ platform and I was very pleased with it's performance for the price. I received an A10 and motherboard on trade and ended up with this:

CPU: AMD A10-6790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($50.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($142.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $358.95

I was very happy with the performance on low end games and a few higher end titles. I felt like I had spent my money well. I didn't need to buy the 760K or 860K because those are just A10's without the integrated graphics turned on. Starting with your components I would move towards something like this:

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($142.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $276.97

For $277 you will have a very nice lower/mid end gaming PC. The quad cores are going to really help you out and the R9 270 is an excellent budget card. I suggest you buy the memory first. It is inexpensive and no matter where you go from here it is going to be necessary. I bet you will even see noticeable performance gains when you move from 1333Mhz to 1866Mhz. Second I would save up for the R9 270, or if funds are really tight the GTX 750ti. If you buy the R7 250 you are going to be disappointed as the A6 performs near to that card. I would replace the A6 with a 860K last. Since you are low end gaming you won't exactly need 4 cores, but when you have them you will be glad you did and perhaps when you're ready to buy it the 860k will be a few bucks cheaper.

 

[cdrkf]

Faster memory is important when using an apu for gaming, correct. However it will make no difference to cpu performance and also if upgrading to a dGPU then it has no benefit as the discreet card has its own memory.

I would keep your current memory imo. I agree you should look to get a faster card than the 250 though if you can mange it. The 250x for example is roughly double the performance of the 250 (640 stream processors vs 380 I think). The 260 and 260x cards are a good step up again, as is the 270, although we're now talking a lot more cash.

As for cpu, the 860k is about the best your going to get on your platform if using with a discreet card. The more expensive apus offer progressively more graphics powe. However the cpu is essentially the same.

 

[IamTimTech]

Faster memory is important when using an apu for gaming, correct. However it will make no difference to cpu performance and also if upgrading to a dGPU then it has no benefit as the discreet card has its own memory.

If he was using 1600Mhz Ram I would agree, no need to increase his memory speeds. However; he only has 1333Mhz (and I bet the cas latency is high). He should get a new kit of ram even if he was going move to intel. I linked 1866Mhz with a Cas L of 9 because it is the best bang for the buck. The extra $5 over the 1600Mhz kits actually equates to better performance even when using a dedicated GPU. Keep in mind he still is going to be using his A6 for the time being as well and he will most certainly see improvements from my recommended RAM kit in that time.

You should look to get a faster card than the 250 if you can mange it. The 250x for example is roughly double the performance of the 250. The 260 and 260x cards are a good step up again, as is the 270, although we're now talking a lot more cash.

As for cpu, the 860k is about the best your going to get on your platform if using with a discreet card. The more expensive apus offer progressively more graphics powe. However the cpu is essentially the same.

Exactly. Just follow this GPU hierarchy list and get the best you can afford up to the R9 270. At that point you should start to consider if your power supply is meant to handle a GPU with significant power draw.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html