keep it or scrap it?

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giantbucket

giantbucket

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so i have this machine:

GA-A75M-UD2H (mATX mobo)
A6-3650 processor
2x2G DDR3-1333 RAM
Win7x64Pro (OEM so tied to this mobo/cpu)

that's the important parts. question is: should i hang onto it and use it to build a gaming PC in the coming 3-6 months (just add a great GPU and maybe up the RAM), or should i give it to my dad's workplace to use as an engineering machine (2D CAD)? there's $0 involved in giving it away since it's family. and i'd rather give it to him for $0 than try to sell it just to get $200 for it.

i do have an XBox 360 to play some games on, which i don't do very often, but when i do the games i prefer are not really FPS (if i want to shoot stuff, i grab my real stuff and go to the range).

so... thoughts? would keeping it and adding a great GPU make it good enough for most modern games? the ONLY thing i hate about it is the mATX form factor, i wish it was ITX to stuff into a smaller case...
 
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L
I agree with Rolli59. Heres an article that might help http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/327085-28-intel-2100-3650

A quick skim of the article summarised this for me.
The A6 is a quad core but it's a little weak on the CPU front side, the i3 is a better chip for gaming. The i3 is also better for CPU tasks. For gaming on the CPU alone you're absolutely fine apart from AAA titles like BF4 for example (obviously ;)

Try and see if you could buy a better CPU for the same socket? Maybe an A8? That's good for gaming or an A10 if you want loads of power :)

Hope this helps!
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lilpopjim

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I agree with Rolli59. Heres an article that might help http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/327085-28-intel-2100-3650

A quick skim of the article summarised this for me.
The A6 is a quad core but it's a little weak on the CPU front side, the i3 is a better chip for gaming. The i3 is also better for CPU tasks. For gaming on the CPU alone you're absolutely fine apart from AAA titles like BF4 for example (obviously ;)

Try and see if you could buy a better CPU for the same socket? Maybe an A8? That's good for gaming or an A10 if you want loads of power :)

Hope this helps!
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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I think I might differ.

Gaming performance is largely determined by the graphics card.
The amd apu is very good in graphics, but not really gaming quality.
For that, you need a discrete graphics card.
I suggest buying a great graphics card and see how you do.
No doubt that the weak amd cpu might limit you.

In time, when the cpu limitation becomes bothersome, it will be time to change out the cpu/mobo, but the graphics card will still be good.

I also wonder about the utility of reusing the pc for anything cpu intensive which I imagine CAD might be.
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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i did think about just picking up a mid/high end graphics card and seeing how things would fly. but these things get out-of-date and obsolete so fast that i'm thinking i'd be chasing my own tail. as in, by the time i notice just how limiting the CPU is, when i replace it the GPU is going to be a total dog. and nothing is cheap or free. for example, if i drop in a GTX660, how unmatched will the system be, and how long before the 660 is just passable?

as for the office alternative - well, we're getting by reasonably well with WinXP still on most machines (yeah, but it's civil eng, so bridges and concrete stuff, no wild 3D or complex machinery design), but there is one machine that's so bloody old it doesn't even have one PCIe or SATA port, and it's kinda noisy too. so, a prime candidate for getting refreshed.


--- edit
if i do scrap this, i'd rebuild with an ITX board, no doubt about it. this mATX form factor is seriously sucky when it comes to a nice compact chassis.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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From a graphics card price performance perspective, you mostly get what you pay for. Excepting the very highest level cards. There, you get rapidly diminishing returns.
If your gaming is on a single monitor, then a GTX660 class card will be good, certainly leaps above your current capability.

I happen to like small cases and the ITX format.
Look at the lian li PC-Q08 case which will hold a long graphics card.
 
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4745454b

4745454b

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Keep in mind most ITX cases don't handle big gaming cards. If gaming is what you want (m)ATX is where you want to stay. I vote CPU to weak for anything good. A8 is minimum, A10 is really what you want at least. Even the 4xxx CPUs can have issues sometimes so don't expect the A6 to work great.

I recently got rid of an old i5-750 system. Good P55 board, 4850 and a 1TB hdd. Couldn't find anyone willing to pay me anywhere near what I thought the parts were worth. (Its worth more then $125 folks.) Mailed it to my sister and her five kids. At least someone I care about will be able to use it.
 
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