[Micro ATX] Will overclocking this be ok?

[daviand]

I am looking into buying a budget computer as a HTPC, for school stuff, and some basic/medium gaming. I have almost no experience in overclocking or building computers in general, and I am not sure if it is a great idea on a Micro ATX motherboard. I have seen that its is possible from some other treads, but am still skeptical.

Here is the build that I am looking at:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($101.78 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $470.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-23 21:02 EST-0500)

I chose to go with the A10 because it has very good graphics on board, and don't want a discrete graphics card. I have seen that you can get a huge boost in graphics power from faster RAM with the A10, so I chose to go with the fastest reasonably priced RAM possible. I went with the ASRock motherboard because I have heard they are a good brand, and it seemed to have all of the features I need. The SSD is to keep stuff fast, power supply because newegg had a deal to get it for $40, and the case because it is decent and cheap.

So to get to the point... is the motherboard a good choice for overclocking? Would the RAM run too hot if overclocked, and if not, is its included cooling fan necessary? If the RAM is a bad choice in general, would it be good to drop down to something at 2133Hz?

I am willing (and planning to) wait it out a bit to buy everything in order to get the best deals possible.

Edit: I just looked on the G.Skill website and it looks like the ram may only be able to run at 2133Hz on this motherboard (There was a problem mentioned in a Newegg review with a manufacturer reply). Can anyone recommend some other ram that will (hopefully) work?

 

[stickmansam]

At that price point of ram you are better off getting a discrete graphics card and runing the 6670 with the APU in hybrid crossfire
you're better off getting cl11 2133 ram and lowering the timings yourself
extra 2% perf of 2400mhz ram is not worth the cost

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $413.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-23 21:04 EST-0500)

hybrid crossfire version

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($50.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $464.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-23 21:09 EST-0500)

 

[daviand]

Stickmansam,
I was kind of thinking along those lines too because of the marginal payoff of the ram faster than 2133. The reason why the ram I selected was so expensive was the included fan, but without it, the 2400 is on sale for $60.

I have seen from some people that it can be a pain to run a discrete card in parallel so that's why I avoided that. Could cooling become an issue if a discrete card were added into the case?

 

[stickmansam]

It should not become an issue as the 6670 is a pretty cool card and your case can be decently ventilated.

I would say stick with the 2133mhz ram anyways and grab the 6670 as a extra if you feel like you need more performance once you try out your build for a while

 

[daviand]

Best answer selected by daviand.

 

[stickmansam]

Have fun building 😀

 

[daviand]

Thanks! I'll be buying over the next few weeks, and will probably be posting on PPP when done.
Thanks for the help!

 

[daviand]

Just a quick update: After looking a little bit longer, I had not realized that the 6800K would be coming out in just a couple of months ( http://www.cpu-world.com/Releases/Desktop_CPU_releases_(2013).html ). I had assumed that it would be coming out in October, as the 5800K had this past year. Because of this, I am going to hold out a bit longer on the cpu, as it looks like the 6800K will have a decent boost in performance. If AMD hits the 40% graphics improvement like they're saying, that would be awesome.

If there is a good deal on the Pro4-M or a REALLY good deal on the Extreme4-M, I will probably jump on it still because the sockets will be the same. I should have just about everything else that I need when it comes out, so I can just buy the cpu and run with it.

 

[stickmansam]

if you wait until the end of the year there should be 7xxx parts which are based on new cpu arch (steamroller) and new gpu (gcn)

The 6800k is a tweak with clock speeds mainly and optimizations

 

[daviand]

if you wait until the end of the year there should be 7xxx parts which are based on new cpu arch (steamroller) and new gpu (gcn)

The 6800k is a tweak with clock speeds mainly and optimizations

The main reason why I think waiting for the 6800K would be best is that if it takes me a bit more than a month to get everything at good deals, I will be just a couple of months away from being able to basically upgrade the cpu by waiting. I know that the difference will not be huge, but it would be better than nothing.

If I were going to wait for the 7xxx's, I would put the haswell i3's into contention, as they promise 100% improvement with the 5000 graphics.

If you were building this, what option would you go with (5800, 6800 or 7xxx)?

 

[stickmansam]

Waiting for 6800 is worth it as they are already shipping if only to just grab a good deal on the 6800

By the time 6800 arrives, Haswell should be almost out and you can consider them and the 7xxx rumors/specs should be revealed soon too

I expect 7xxx to increase CPU by 30%, putting it on par with sandy bridge and GPu increase of 30%+ due to GCN+more shaders?

I seriously doubt Haswell will double graphics perf, maybe increase by 50% relative to the 5800. The one that might match 7xxx will be the GT3+64mb cache but that will likely not be in the cheaper cpu models

 

[daviand]

Waiting for 6800 is worth it as they are already shipping if only to just grab a good deal on the 6800

By the time 6800 arrives, Haswell should be almost out and you can consider them and the 7xxx rumors/specs should be revealed soon too

I expect 7xxx to increase CPU by 30%, putting it on par with sandy bridge and GPu increase of 30%+ due to GCN+more shaders?

I seriously doubt Haswell will double graphics perf, maybe increase by 50% relative to the 5800. The one that might match 7xxx will be the GT3+64mb cache but that will likely not be in the cheaper cpu models

That sounds good to me. I think I will wait for the 6800K *unless there is a very good deal on the 5800K (I sound like a broken record 😉 )

Thanks again for all the help! It's really a lot of help to have someone who knows what they're doing to bounce ideas off of.

Don't be too surprised if I update again before purchasing

 

[stickmansam]

The forum will be sure to notify me 😛

Have fun bargain hunting