PC Upgrades (new processor or graphics card)?

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electrospective

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Oct 29, 2014
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My pc hasn't been preforming very well with gaming which is what i use it for . I was looking for a new processor or graphics card that wouldn't be bottlenecked by the 6 core apu. Can i disable the intergraded graphics and buy a graphics card.

Here are the specs. http://austinnotduncan.com/builds/proton/
 
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I have to agree with that statement. When people purchase new systems I tend to steer them towards Intel because Intel has a winning product in every budget segment. This isn't the case when people already own an AMD system. Your system sports the best AMD has to offer in a processor. Its Kaveri cores are not too far behind Intel's own Haswell cores in terms of efficiency and performance as can be seen in the comparison bellow by CPUboss.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-4130-vs-AMD-A10-7700K

The A10 has a 30% lower single performance core performance than the i3, but it does have one major advantage. The 7770k is one of the most user friendly chips to overclock. A fairly inexpensive aftermarket cooler (linked bellow) and a few...
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Hey that's a neat little rig you got there! Considering that the given system does not have a graphics card that's the way to go! You should either get an R9 270x, R9 280 or a GTX 970 depending on your budget.

For the two R9 cards go with MSI or Sapphire depending on whichever is cheaper where you like to buy parts, and for the 970 go with MSI or Gigabyte.
 
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Absolutely agree. You need a dedicated GPU. 900 series from nVidia. Great performance, low power and heat and with non-reference cooling from any good company (ASUS, EVGA, MSI) they are fairly quiet too.
 
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And I agree with Bunny, if you can afford the 900 series it will be great and good to throw in your next machine too! However; on your current processor it won't be able to perform to its full potential (which really is not a very big deal) and will be bottle necked just slightly. So the AMD budget oriented cards are good choices too because they will be a perfect match for your machine and your performance per dollar will be very high. All in all it is just about the money you have to spend. The listed choices will all make you happy with your gaming experience.
 
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When you buy an APU, you get decent graphics, and decent cpu.
What you buy is what you will have... forever.
Unfortunately, there are no good upgrades except possibly a second card for crossfire.
The cpu is relatively weak, and more cores does not help gaming.

Some games are cpu limited, and most can use only one or two cores effectively.
Strategy, mmo and sims are in this category.
Others are more graphics limited. Fast action shooters are in this category.

To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You could also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.



 
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I'm not sure if you noticed but the original poster doesn't have a graphics card, he is running strictly off of the APU. There is no need for him to perform the elaborate testing because we already know that the APU will be the bottleneck of his system once he adds a graphics card.

We know that AMD is not nearly as efficient as Intel and most likely never will be, but what he does have going for him is that A10 sport the most efficient processing cores that AMD has to offer. So if you remove the use of the integrated graphics what we are left with is basically an AMD Athlon X4 750K. The AMD Athlon X4 750K isn't a bad chip, it's no i3 or i5 but it's not bad.

His APU will pair nicely with the R9 270x or the R9 280. As I stated above the 970 would be way overkill because it would be noticeably bottlenecked, but the other two choices would be good and still cost less than the 970 when paired with one of these coolers. With the R9 280 and a decent cooler can overclock his chip to at least 4.1Ghz and see performance that will blow his mind compared to his current setup.
 
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One certainly needs to determine if the performance is limited by the cpu or the graphics.
I would not buy any upgrade without knowing if it would fix my problem

On the current build, I see two possible upgrades
1. Add a R7-250 card which will work with the apu in crossfire.
2. Up the ram speed from 1866 to 2400. The apu uses ram and faster ram means better apu performance.
Here is a link to an early review with both options:

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/amd_kaveri_a10-7850k_a10-7700k_review/2

Yes, you could install a stronger graphics card, perhaps as good as a GTX750ti.
Anything stronger will not likely work with the current 430w psu.
 
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There is no need to stress test because we KNOW the APU is the weakest link, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't get a graphics card. Even though the technology is available APUs do not crossfire well with GPU's, its been shown time and again that even if they produce "better frame rates" they are choppy and less playable. With an R9280 his total draw comes to 390w, not enough room to overclock but within safe range of usage if he goes with the R9 270x he will be even better off. His memory is already at 1866 and when he gets a GPU the benefit of the increased memory frequency will be neutralized. We can agree to disagree but my current system is much like his and I have a lot of experience tweaking and researching with it.
 
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I am with you on not liking dual cards when a good single card will do the job.
Because of slight differences in capabilities of each graphics adapter, you are bound to have some tearing and stuttering issues.

A R9-280 needs a 6 and an 8 pin connector.
The Corsair CX430 has only one 8 pin connector. If it could support a second 6 pin lead, it would have one.
Plus, the CX line is not considered as a great quality unit.
It is a tier 3 unit on this list:
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true

Graphics upgrades are all a moot point if the games the OP plays are cpu limited.
 
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Then the R9 280 would be much for his current PSU, but the R9 270 and R9 270x will be fine. And believe me any game will benefit when stepping from an APU to an APU and GPU except for maybe titles like League of Legends and Hearthstone. Even WOW saw benefits when I went from just my APU to my APU and an R9 270 and wow is strongly CPU dependent.

Edit: I went ahead and made a build on PCpartpicker to insure his voltages would be within range and it comes out to 374watts. I know the R9 270x come with an included molex to 6pin so unless you strongly disagree geofelt I am pretty sure he can handle it. And given that I saw performance gains when I added my R9 270 (which I promptly overclocked) I am sure that the R9 270x will pair very well with his APU.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/TimTech/saved/zBWPxr
 
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@OP:
Tomorrow, look to see what the GTX960 card brings.
It will use only one 6 pin connector that your current psu can provide.
It should be a very competitive performer and has low power needs. It is probably the strongest card that your psu can run.

I would expect performance to be not far below the GTX970.
Check out the reviews and benchmarks.
 
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I have no inside info, but I think launch day will have cards available.

Possibly retailers will inflate prices if the card is good enough.
But because of a very competitive market, possibly not.

Wait a day and see.
 
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I am not sure why everyone thinks the 7700k is weak. Single thread performance is a bit slower than an i3-4160 and it performs better than the i3 at multi threaded tasks. It really depends what game you are playing.

As for the graphics card, I think the gtx 960 would be a great choice. It uses a small amount of power therefore, it wont require a psu upgrade. Your 7700k will pair well with it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487091&cm_re=gtx_960-_-14-487-091-_-Product
 
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I have to agree with that statement. When people purchase new systems I tend to steer them towards Intel because Intel has a winning product in every budget segment. This isn't the case when people already own an AMD system. Your system sports the best AMD has to offer in a processor. Its Kaveri cores are not too far behind Intel's own Haswell cores in terms of efficiency and performance as can be seen in the comparison bellow by CPUboss.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-4130-vs-AMD-A10-7700K

The A10 has a 30% lower single performance core performance than the i3, but it does have one major advantage. The 7770k is one of the most user friendly chips to overclock. A fairly inexpensive aftermarket cooler (linked bellow) and a few simple youtube and google searches will have you ready to overclock your processor to perform right next to the i3. It is hard to justify replacing your motherboard and processor when you could simply purchase a cooler and do a little research on the one you have.
Cooler Master T4 - https://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rrt418pkr1

As you have read, your PSU is a budget oriented model and has a reputation as an unreliable unit, but it will most likely do it's job reliably for a few years. Without replacing your power supply you can safely run the GTX 960 which pairs beautifully with your A10 making this machine the best it can be without purchasing a new motherbaord and processor. Don't expect all the games to play at 60+ fps at the highest settings, but expect to at least be able to play almost all games at very playable rates with settings which are still visually pleasing.

Keep in mind no matter what you do this APU nor an i3 can come anywhere near the performance to be had with an i5 series or greater processor. The most expensive option, which will deliver you the absolute best gaming performance looking towards the future. You could replace your PSU with a quality high end unit and purchase a higher end GPU such as the GTX 900 series or upcoming R9 300 series. This would be drastic overkill on your current mobo/cpu and would be done with the intent to purchase an Intel platform with at least an i5 as soon as you are able.
 
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