Please Check My New APU PC Build! Thanks!

[will4343]

Hi, I have an alright computer now, but I am planning on buying a new computer for various programs and games and am quite new to the pc building world. I believe all of the parts that I have picked out are compatible, but if you could please comment or give me any suggestions to improve/change my build. I have a wanted budget of under $700 but am also willing to go around $800 for something not too overkill. Thank You

My Plans:

-Cooler Master Force 500 Mid-Tower Case

-AMD A10 7850k 3.70Ghz APU

-Cooler Master Seidon 120M Liquid Cooling

-MSI A88X-G43 FM2+ AMD A88X ATX

-Corsair Vengance 8Gb (2x4Gb) DDR3/1866Mhz Dual Channel

-AMD Radeon R7 250 2Gb GDDR3

-Standard 600W 80 Plus Certified PSU-SLI/CrossFireX Ready

-1Tb WB Caviar Blue SATA-III 6.0Gb/S 7200 RPM HDD

-Windows 7 Home Premium (OEM)
_______
$726

Thanks!

 

[Cristi72]

Hello,

All components are OK, but the purpose of an APU is the use of integrated graphics. By using a discrete graphics card I reckon that you want to use hybrid crossfire, which I personally don't give any recommendation. Your pick for a discrete graphics card is also not fortunate; if you want to keep this setup, go at least for an R7 250 with DDR5.

My advice though is go for an FX-6300 (or FX8320), a motherboard with 970 or 990x series chipset and at least an R7 260. Also, you can change your choice of CPU by using an Intel i5 and a motherboard with H/Z87 or H/Z97.

Which display resolution you will use? Full HD or lower?

 

[C12Friedman]

Had me all the way up to Standard 600W PSU, you'll want to look into reviews for that PSU, I'm assuming this is an iBuyPower or CyberPowerPC build

 

[will4343]

Thanks for answering. I am comfortable at both 720p and 1080p. So you don't think that the R7 is a good option to crossfire with the APU? Do you by any chance know if it will boost the performance at all? My idea with the APU is that i could buy it now and have somewhat decent graphics without breaking the bank or buying a GPU, and then I could buy a dedicated/ crossfire GPU in the future to coincide with the APU. Would a better option for the APU be the MSI A88X-G45 Gaming? Or is this mobo not really worth the extra money if i wont be putting multiple GPUs in my system?

Also, yes C12, it is a build from CyberPowerPC. I plan to choose them because their prices come with an operating system (however the HDDs are more expensive for this reason) Yes, I was wondering about if that "standard" PSU is worth it. I could get the corsair version for an extra $20-$30

 

[Cristi72]

I second C12Friedman in choosing some other PSU; Corsair should be OK, as long is 80+ certified and has active PFC.

Take a look at thids thread, pros and cons using Hybrid Crossfire:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1979970/crossfire-a10-7850k.html

That APU can be paired apparently only with GDDR3-based video boards, which is a bummer... As the boost in performance, it will be something in the 200%-300% range compared with the APU only, but forget gaming well on 1080p on all games; in the best case, you will have some 30-ish fps on average with lowered details, no AA and with occasional dips under 15 fps and that's not good...

What I should do: I will ditch that APU, FM2+mobo and the water cooler, I will take an FX-6300, an AM3+ motherboard and a good air cooler (as an Thermalright Macho or True Spirit, etc) and I'll put the saved money towards a much better graphic card, as an AMD R7-260x or an GeForce 750Ti. Also, if you choose well your motherboard, you could add a second graphics card. For example, by using MSI 970A-G46 or ASRock 970 Extreme4 you could add a second graphic card , if the performance with the future games will not be enough anymore (these boards can use either SLI or CROSSFIRE, so be sure you are chosing the right card for your games).

 

[will4343]

Okay, does anyone have any comparison of FPS for say, BF 4 with the FX-6300/AMD R9-270 VS. A10 7850K/AMD R9-270? Id be curious to see if the APU is that great of a processor. Cristi72, is this build something I should consider?

- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1715789

(I would add a CPU fan and Windows 7 of course)

Also, like in this build setup, is there a downside to using one stick of 8Gb vs. 2x4Gb?

So, overall, my question is, is it better to get the FX with the R9 instead of the APU with the R9 because of both price and because the APU won't be able to CrossFire with the R9 anyways?

 

[lovneet]

You should go for amd FX and r9 260x or better

 

[Cristi72]

That APU is OK, but is on par with a quad core CPU, for example an Athlon x4-750K. An FX6300 is a 6-core CPU. More over, the 7850K is insanely expensive: at least here in Europe, it has the same price compared to an FX8350 (4GHz, 8-core) and an i5-4460 (3.2GHz, real quad core), so for me is a no-go. Moreover, for using the full potential of the 7850K you should use faster memory, like DDR3-2133. Put it this way: for the price of an (7850k + R7-250 + DDR3-2133) you can take an (FX-6300 + R9-270 + DDR3-1600) and you will game at completely another level. Also, if you use a much powerful graphics card, you negate exactly the benefits of an APU, that is using its on-board decent graphics.

That is a capable build, and the video card has good cooling. I have some doubts on that PSU though. I will go with that:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096 . You can't beat Seasonic 😉


By using a single DIMM you will take a hit on performance, but not much (5% tops); the future upgrade will be questioned though, because if you would want to add another 8 GB you should use the same make/model/rank for the maximum compatibility. As the mobo has 4 memory slots, you can put now one 2 x 4GB kit, and when you'll need more RAM you just add another 2 x 4GB or even 2 x 8GB kit.

 

[will4343]

Okay, that bundle I showed you sounds pretty good to me, and i think I'm going to trust the Raidmax PSU because it is 80 Plus Bronze, but i can always upgrade. Also, is that MSI mobo a good quality mobo and is the chipset okay?

 

[C12Friedman]

Raidmax uses Andyson as an OEM for their PSU's. Although Andyson is a big supplier of PSU's to different brands, they are not considered to be of highest quality - some might even argue about the use of the word quality and Andyson in the same sentence. I found no legitimate reviews for that PSU. You really should wonder about quality when a search starts making suggestions like this for you

Just a head's up

 

[Cristi72]

The 80+ Bronze is just a certification, it doesn't say anything about reliability. For 10$ more on that Seasonic (a Tier1 manufacturer all over the world) you'll have 5 years warranty, +12V/48A and 620W total power, an efficiency exceeding 87%, the newer V2.91 ATX specs and no excuse for upgrade to another one. The sole thing it lacks: the illuminated fan. If you don't plan to overclock or to run that PC 24/7, Raidmax is OK anyway.

About the motherboard: if you don't plan to overclock, any AMD 970-series chipset will do. For overclocking and multiple graphics card setup (SLI/Crossfire) you should choose an AMD 990X or 990FX chipset.

On the other hand, I observed a not-so-good reputation for that specific MSI board on Newegg. Maybe it will be wise to recommend another one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262 , though it has only 2 years guarantee.

In my country, the best reliability record is hold by Gigabyte (98%-99% of the motherboards without any problems), but the more affordable, GA-990XA-UD3, is not available on Newegg. Instead, you can have a better one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514 .