Need an FM2-socket (?) board suggestion

[SakSak]

Hi!

It's that time again: building a new desktop. Last one is getting kinda old, and replacement parts for AM3 socket (note the lack of +) are pretty nonexistent and vastly overpriced for their performance from what I've seen.

So, I've been looking for budget replacement that still would dominate over my current several years old set (focused around a 2.8GHz Phenom II quad-core). I've been looking to FM2 sockets (is AM3+ in any way current still?) and Piledriver processor architecture, but considering my CPU knowledge is kinda spotty, I can accept alternative suggestions. Mainly going AMD here, because I'm wanting to keep some kind of budget, and last time I checked (admittedly a long time ago), AMD was the cheaper option compared to Intel.

But anyway, CPUs like A10-5800K, A10-5700, and A8-6500 are looking around the performance range I desire. Does the presence of an on-chip GPU help anything, if I'm buying a separate dedicated GPU-card?

So now, I'm looking for motherboard suggestions. Outside of maybe my old hard drive, I'm starting on a clean slate here. I've been using m-ATX so far due to the nice compact size, but I might have to accept standard size in this transition. I don't see myself going above 16Gb of RAM in this build, though if future-proofing is present for affordable extra price I can dig that.

So, any ideas on what I should start looking for? Availability and price count for a lot, though I am willing to fork up to 100€ is the board is actually known to be good outside of marketing sales-pitches.

Thanks for you help!

 

[Brunostako]

My suggestion is look for a FM2+ motherboard instead of FM2.

They have newer feature, are still cheap, are backward compatible with FM2 and supports future Carrizo APUs.

For what are you gonna use your PC?

 

[SakSak]

Some gaming, but honestly mostly for videos, net-surfing, and Office-applications. Basically, I'm looking for a build that can take something modern like Watch Dogs and run it at 25+ FPS at low to medium graphics settings. At Best. With my budget I've basically decided to forgo high-end altogether. For scale, I'm not entirely willing to use more than 150€ for CPU alone. And what is currently on market, even relatively cheaply, pretty much by all logic must be better than my current 2.8 GHz quad-core Phenom II 925 + 4GB 1333 RAM + Radeon HD 5750 combo.

On the FM2+ over FM2, do I actually gain meaningful future-proofing that way? In case of, let's say if the next time I look to upgrade my CPU is in 2 years? Or is the cost differential between the two socket base chipsets so even that a decent FM2+ can be gotten for similar prices as a decent FM2 motherboard?

 

[Brunostako]

By choosing FM2+ over FM2 you do gain a bit more future proof platform and the price difference between FM2 and FM2+ MoBos is practically nonexistent.

For watch dogs you will need a discrete GPU, you will do nothing with an APU. It's a really bad optimized game.

That hardware you mentioned is equivalent to the newer FM2 Athlon X4 740 + Radeon R7 250, check its prices from where you live and see if they convince you. Where are you from? So i can give you reference prices on your currency.

 

[SakSak]

Well, I was just mostly using Watchdogs as an example of a modern, graphics and CPU intensive game. Basically, if the setup can run AAA games (with reduced settings from moderate/standard levels) about to come out next winter, I'm happy enough.

And I'm from Finland, though delivery from EU should be acceptable given how many vendors give free postal above certain purchase levels or just by me plain paying for the delivery given how packages aren't that expensive to send around. Well, expensive in comparison to a CPU, motherboard, possibly a GPU, couple of sticks of RAM, and so forth.

So if APUs will do nothing for me if I get a dedicated GPU, what kind of CPU should I be starting to look at then? I want to upgrade from my current build performance-wise, not build a similar one out of more energy-efficient technology. AM3+ socket seems like a dead end, and if APUs (which AMD seems to be working forwards on) are hardly optimal for me, do I then need to go for the cheaper Intel processors? I frankly can't afford to throw 300€ on a processor alone.

 

[Brunostako]

Budget gaming machines usually use these parts:

For CPU: These two have the same gaming performance (both 32% stronger than the X4 925):
1st option: AMD Athlon X4 760K Richland FM2 (one of the best price/performance ratio), 90USD
2nd option: Intel Core i3 4130 Haswell LGA1150, 125USD

Motherboard: if it's only for gaming, anyone with the following chipsets (these are really cheap, but good):
AMD: FM2+, A78 Chipset
Intel: LGA1150, H97 Chipset

For GPU: from lower to higher graphics capabilities and price (prices round from 110USD to 160USD, performance increase round from 117% to 166% vs HD 5750). These are not bottlenecked by the CPUs I mentioned.
- AMD Radeon R7 260X
- nVidia GTX 750
- nVidia GTX 750 Ti
- AMD Radeon R7 265

RAM: Any 2 x 4GB 1600MHz CL9 kit

 

[Brunostako]

The CPU you have is good.

For me, you don't need to build a new machine, just upgrade your GPU to a r7 260X and add 4GB of RAM more and you're good for a bit more time.

 

[SakSak]

Okay. Seems like I need to rethink some things about my computer. Anyway, big thanks for the assist!

 

[Brunostako]

You're welcome and good luck.

Saludos desde México.