Help with building gaming pc using AMD A-10 7850k apu

[sid234]

Hi guys,

so I had posted earlier asking about the AMD A-10 7850k processor for my budget gaming PC..

I decided to go ahead and buy the A-10 processor, and found this bundle deal:
A10 7850K Black Edition Boxed Processor + Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2 Socket FM2 A55 mATX motherboard for $139.00.
My friend is giving me an extra pair of Crucial 16gb x 2 1066Mhz DDR3 ram that he has and I was planning on buying the Thermaltake V3 Black Edition ATX Mid Tower Computer Case too.

I was hoping to take advantage of the A-10's ability to crossfire with a 2gb R7-250 gddr5 gpu (is an Asus gpu better option than gigabyte, even if the mobo is gigabyte?) I came across R7-250x GPU's but couldn't find any information on whether they are crossfire compatible with the A10-7850k.

I was hoping you guys could tell me if
1) the 250x GPU's would crossfire with the A-10 apu? or should I look to get a R7 250 gpu instead?
2) Should I buy gpu from Asus or gigabyte, and should the brand of the mobo effect my choice?
3) Could you recommend a cheap yet decent power unit for the system (needs to be 450W I think)
4) Is the case I picked alright? or could I get something better and cheaper?
5) Do you think this system will be able to run Witcher 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition in Medium graphics?
6) Is the mobo in the bundle any good enough? and is the price point a good deal?

Thanks in advance guys! Really appreciate the help.

 

[Karsten75]

Are you sure the memory is 1066MHz? That's really slow and will hugely and badly affect the performance of the IGPU on the a10-series.

 

[palladin9479]

Your MB and memory are going to severely limit your experience. With the newer APU's you want at least 8GB (4x2) of DDR3-2133. That seems to be the sweet spot for getting the most out of their iGPU's. For MB's the A55 sucks, I don't think it can even work with the new generation of FM2+ APU's. You want to use an A88X with that APU.

That all being said, the A10-7850K is kinda overpriced for what it delivers. Often a 750K with a GDDR5 7750 or 7770 equivalent card is about the same price but offers better value. If you can get the 7850K for really cheap then fine, possibly look into a A10-7800 or A8-7600 though I haven't seen those become available for purchase yet.

 

[RobCrezz]

Its going to suck with 1066mhz ram! APUs rely heavily on ram speed (as they dont have dedicated GDDR5 like modern graphics cards)

 

[sid234]

Well the processor is coming with that MB in a bundle so I assumed they were compatible.. would it be possible to get any other processor and MB for that price? I'm not too keen on a fx series processor because its 2 years old and I dont know how well I can upgrade it

 

[RobCrezz]

If you are wanting upgradability then go for a Intel H97 board with an i3 (which you can upgrade to an i5 or i7 later)

 

[ludastar]

If you gunna get a APU partical effects like smoke ect need fast memory speed so i would recommend DDR4 ramif you know where to get your hands on it 😀

 

[sid234]

what if I was looking to build a system that would be viable for the next 2-3 years, I might be able to afford a much better computer and build one from scratch in the 2-3 years time.. So if I was to build something that can play games such as Witcher 3 well then I'd be fine too.. I'm can afford a maximum of about $150 on CPU+MB..

 

[sid234]

after looking around a bit, I've come across 2 options:
A10-7850k + ASRock FM2A88M-HD+ Socket FM2+/FM2 mATX for $165
or
FX 8320 + ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 Socket AM3+ ATX for $ 170

If I was to go with the 1st combo, my plan is to buy a 2gb gddr5 R7 250x/250 to crossfire with the APU. That would cost me about $100-110.

Would I be able to get better performance if I were to go with the 2nd combo of CPU and Mb and a cheaper gpu?

I'm not too keen on Intel because the MB's that offer decent upgradability paths are too expensive for me at the moment

 

[RobCrezz]

after looking around a bit, I've come across 2 options:
A10-7850k + ASRock FM2A88M-HD+ Socket FM2+/FM2 mATX for $165
or
FX 8320 + ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 Socket AM3+ ATX for $ 170

If I was to go with the 1st combo, my plan is to buy a 2gb gddr5 R7 250x/250 to crossfire with the APU. That would cost me about $100-110.

Would I be able to get better performance if I were to go with the 2nd combo of CPU and Mb and a cheaper gpu?

I'm not too keen on Intel because the MB's that offer decent upgradability paths are too expensive for me at the moment

Even cheaper than the r7 250? thats already a low end GPU. I would suggest saving more money and going better for a gaming pc.

 

[sid234]

after looking around a bit, I've come across 2 options:
A10-7850k + ASRock FM2A88M-HD+ Socket FM2+/FM2 mATX for $165
or
FX 8320 + ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 Socket AM3+ ATX for $ 170

If I was to go with the 1st combo, my plan is to buy a 2gb gddr5 R7 250x/250 to crossfire with the APU. That would cost me about $100-110.

Would I be able to get better performance if I were to go with the 2nd combo of CPU and Mb and a cheaper gpu?

I'm not too keen on Intel because the MB's that offer decent upgradability paths are too expensive for me at the moment

Even cheaper than the r7 250? thats already a low end GPU. I would suggest saving more money and going better for a gaming pc.

Do you mean buying an Intel processor?

 

[sid234]

If you are wanting upgradability then go for a Intel H97 board with an i3 (which you can upgrade to an i5 or i7 later)

an i3 costs about $120-130, an upgradeable MB for that would cost about $90 wouldn't it?

 

[RobCrezz]

The CPU is less of an issue with the ones you are looking at, the GPU is more important.

bear in mind, an i3 with a R9 280X will be much better in games than a i7 with a R7 250!

 

[sid234]

The CPU is less of an issue with the ones you are looking at, the GPU is more important.

bear in mind, an i3 with a R9 280X will be much better in games than a i7 with a R7 250!

So would a fx-8320 +r7 260x be better than an a10-7850k+R7 250x on crossfire for gaming?

 

[RobCrezz]

The CPU is less of an issue with the ones you are looking at, the GPU is more important.

bear in mind, an i3 with a R9 280X will be much better in games than a i7 with a R7 250!

So would a fx-8320 +r7 260x be better than an a10-7850k+R7 250x on crossfire for gaming?

It would indeed, by a lot.

Look at this. The 250 is in crossfire with the APU, the 260x is standalone.

 

[sid234]

The CPU is less of an issue with the ones you are looking at, the GPU is more important.

bear in mind, an i3 with a R9 280X will be much better in games than a i7 with a R7 250!

So would a fx-8320 +r7 260x be better than an a10-7850k+R7 250x on crossfire for gaming?

It would indeed, by a lot.

Look at this. The 250 is in crossfire with the APU, the 260x is standalone.

oh wow! didn't realize the difference is so much.. So in that case buying an fx-8320 makes more sense to go with that gpu..

 

[RobCrezz]

The CPU is less of an issue with the ones you are looking at, the GPU is more important.

bear in mind, an i3 with a R9 280X will be much better in games than a i7 with a R7 250!

So would a fx-8320 +r7 260x be better than an a10-7850k+R7 250x on crossfire for gaming?

It would indeed, by a lot.

Look at this. The 250 is in crossfire with the APU, the 260x is standalone.

oh wow! didn't realize the difference is so much.. So in that case buying an fx-8320 makes more sense to go with that gpu..

Yeah if anything I would go for the 270x if possible with the 8320.

 

[sid234]

Last time I trouble you guys, I promise!

Just noticed that Microcenter has an offer running where they are selling the
MSI Z97 PC Mate Socket LGA 1150 ATX Intel Motherboard + Intel G3258 3.2 GHz LGA1150 Boxed Processor combo for $99.

In terms of upgradability, how good is that motherboard? Would it be good enough, were to think of buying an i5 processor in 6-7 months time? and how good do you think that CPU is for gaming once OC'd?

Also are there any good alternative GPU's to the R7 260x?

 

[RobCrezz]

Very good, can be upgraded to an i5 or i7.

 

[sid234]

ThanksD