XMP vs AMP

[Tyler Mann]

I am looking at getting 2400 R9 series AMD RAM 8GB for my new build which already has a Biostar Hi-Fi A88W 3D Motherboard in it

( http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=745#spec Manufacturer site here)

I need to know whether or not it supports AMP or XMP or if i have to manually set it up for my RAM to be able to run 2400 (kinda important with it being an APU system) and if possible how can i overclock to get to 2600 if possible. I know that the R9 Gamer Series 2400 DDR3 SDRAM 8GB kit i am getting supports both AMP and XMP but don't know if my motherboard supports it or if i have to configure it manually and if so how i do so. I looked in the manual for any information on it without any luck.

my current specs are looking at

Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi A88W 3D
APU: AMD A10-7850k Kaveri Quad-core (3.7 GHz if i recall correctly)
PSU: EVGA 80 PLUS CERTIFIED 500W
RAM: AMD R9 Gamer Series 2400 DDR3 SDRAM (If i can use it at 2400 at least)

 

[Brunostako]

All AMD A88X chipset motherboards support AMP and XMP RAM, so don't worry.

Now, why going with an A10-7850K + 2400MHz RAM? For gaming, it's not a good combination.

You will have much better performance with a Athlon 860K/760K + R7 250 GDDR5 + any 2x4GB RAM. Just my suggestion and it also maybe cheaper.

 

[Tyler Mann]

if i were to change my setup and go with that instead the costs of the parts id still need is : roughly 260 vs the APU setup being about 240 while it may only be a $20 difference i still have to buy an HDD which i wanna do 2 1TB drives in RAID 0. Another thing is my monitor is only capable of 720p which testing with the A10-7850k and 2400 MHz RAM ran battlefield really well at 720p without overclocking the APU

Edit: I'm also only 16 doing this on a minimum wage job and really need a system by the end of this week that will run. the computer i'm using now is an old Intel Pentium machine that cant even run anything worth noting

 

[Brunostako]

Let me help you, what's your total budget?

 

[Tyler Mann]

Let me help you, what's your total budget?

i already have bought the case, PSU, motherboard, cooling, and internet card and all of which are sitting on my floor ATM and a copy of Windows 8.1(not on the floor 😛) so at this point there's very limited i could change. Not to mention i wont be running anything higher than the 720p any time soon anyways which means the APU system will run fine as i'm not going to be able to afford a new monitor that accepts something other than analog signals and 1080p (the 7850k with 2400 RAM ran BF4 on medium everything AA off and motion blur off on about 50+ FPS as i had seen in a review which tested it in 720p). plus i still have to buy 2 1TB HDDs for RAID 0 and an SSD for OS and certain important programs (recording/editing software and such). I also get paid tonight and need to order it tomorrow (I'm slowly dying without a computer mote powerful than this 2GHz worthless Intel machine)

Side note: I can also confirm A10-7850k is a 3.7GHz APU with 8 GPU cores and 4 CPU cores

 

[Tyler Mann]

and my total budget including bought and soon to be bought parts is roughly $530

(i also am doing an APU for simplicity as i don't have to also deal with a dedicated GPU card and more money in PSU (i plan to run 2 cards in crossfire eventually as my board and psu support it (not like it matters since it probably doesn't output enough but i'd have to do the math for that which i havent bothered doing and not like im coming up with another $500 any time soon)))

 

[LIOTB]

All AMD A88X chipset motherboards support AMP and XMP RAM, so don't worry.

Now, why going with an A10-7850K + 2400MHz RAM? For gaming, it's not a good combination.

You will have much better performance with a Athlon 860K/760K + R7 250 GDDR5 + any 2x4GB RAM. Just my suggestion and it also maybe cheaper.

Hello Brunostako,

this is a very interesting suggestion and was really intrigued to know your line of thinking of why you would offer this configuration? Even though I am familiar with computer parts I am still baffled by the little unknown things behind the scenes. Often we think bigger, newer, better, but sometimes with computers it's counter intuitive. It's a really generous offering of your time to help here.

PS. feel free to pm me.

Thanks,
LIOTB