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i3-4130 vs. APU?

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December 13, 2013 9:23:00 PM

(Sorry in advance if this doesn't quite belong in the CPU sub-forum)

I'm building a PC as an xmas gift for my Dad. It'll mostly be an office PC, but he says he'd like to try out some light gaming now and then. Size is an issue, so I'm going for mATX. Also, for simplicity's sake and the fact that I don't live near home currently, I will not be OCing this build before I head home for xmas and give it to him. If I go the Intel route, the build would probably look something like this or something similar: (I don't want to spend more than $600, and I'm always up for trimming that down. Also, just to note, some prices were changed manually below to reflect that MA residents now get the privilege of paying tax on shipments from Amazon...)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($85.34)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.19)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80+ Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($68.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $590.01
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-13 23:51 EST-0500)

I also have the ability to stop by Microcenter if I need to to pick up a bundle. Their Intel ones are more expensive than the one I've listed above, and there don't seem to be any decent mATX motherboards to pair with an AMD FX CPU. However, I was looking at some of their APUs. Microcenter Bundle Link

Factoring in tax, the A10-6800K, A8-6600K, and A6-6400K with motherboard would all be cheaper than my selected Intel CPU/mobo combo up above. (Assuming I select the Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H which I think is the preferable choice)

I would keep everything else in the listed build the same, except for the CPU/motherboard which would potentially be replaced with an APU/motherboard (The 7790 will handle the gaming). I don't know much about APUs, would any of these APUs be a worthwhile substitution for the i3-4130?

More about : 4130 apu

a c 506 à CPUs
December 13, 2013 9:30:12 PM

I have the A10-6800k and it's great. It's overall cpu performance is about equal to the i3 4130 and it's graphics is far superior.
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a b à CPUs
December 13, 2013 9:41:47 PM

APUs are meant for gaming without buying another video card. Since you're going to use a HD 7790 there's no point. The FX 6300 is the same price as the A10 6800k and is a lot better.

Here is a cheaper alternative power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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a c 506 à CPUs
December 13, 2013 9:50:39 PM

Yes if you are going to use a 7790 anyway, stay away from any apu. The 4130 would be better. The FX 6300 would be even better.
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a b à CPUs
December 13, 2013 10:31:05 PM

The FX 6300 would be the best choice in that price range IF your going with the separate GPU. An alternative would be to save money by using the APU to supply the graphics and save the cost of the video card. There is little reason to choose the intel option in that price range.
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December 14, 2013 7:13:09 AM

Thanks for the replies, guys. :) 

Yeah, I was looking at an FX CPU originally since it did seem to make more sense in this price range. However, there seem to be almost no mATX motherboards with SATA III 6 Gb/s compatible with them. Without SATA III, would the SSD speeds be gimped?

I suppose getting an APU when I have no intention of using the iGPU would be a bit of a waste of money. Would getting something like an Athlon X4 750K/760K be a viable solution? The FM2 mATX motherboards seem to have better features, but would the lack of L3 cache be a big problem?
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a c 506 à CPUs
December 14, 2013 9:30:34 AM

I agree that the fm2 motherboards have better features, and sata III is also important. If I were you, I would get a mATX fm2+ motherboard and a x4 760k. It will be great for now, and you would be set up for Kaveri next year if you wanted a significant upgrade.

sata III ssds will work on sata II ports but their performance is capped at 300mb/s read/write compared to the 550mb/s it would get on a sata III port.

Lack of L3 cache will not be an issue in anything other than extreme gaming.
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a b à CPUs
December 14, 2013 10:20:43 PM

300 mb/s it pretty darn fast. The real world difference is quite small at this time and for the foreseeable future. But obviously having SATA 3 ports would be the ideal outcome.

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a b à CPUs
December 15, 2013 12:01:51 AM

I would go with fx 6300 or wait until January 14th until new APUs are out, the Kveri looks really promising, http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20131212235520... a piece of advice don't touch the i3 alternative, since the new games are getting heavily threaded
* http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=4546&ga... Ubisoft has confrimed that this game is heavily threaded
* http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132533/sponsored_...
* Epic says the more cores the better http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/unreal-engine-4-needs...
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