Advice on upgrading an AMD A10 6800k based system

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hyperionel

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Jan 10, 2014
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Hello guys,

I recently made a mistake and rushed into buying a new system without extensive research.I ended up with AMD's A10 6800k APU and so far i am not pleased with its performance, I should mention I play games frequently, recently tried TERA online and was disappointed.

I started researching and I found out how I can improve my APU's performance like buying higher frequency RAM's or going into dual graphics with an 6670.

I realize I should have not gone APU in the first place but the deed is done and im looking for cost effective ways to move away from the APU step by step.With money being an isue and for any regular cpu i also need to buy a new motherboard because its on the FM2+ socket I'm torn between buying a discrete medium-high end graphics card like ATI 78xx series or just improving the iGPU by buying higher frequency RAMS (my rams are pretty bad 2x4gb 1333mHz).

I am not happy in the current state because every game seems to stutter when set to very high even League of Legends which is not considered a high demanding game,the stutters are very small but they're there. Also TERA online was a nightmare, on very low setting i could pull 40 fps max when not moving, on very high 10-12.

I was hoping you guys can give me some advice on how to improve this system step by step because the money are pretty tight now and i cant afford a Motherboard&CPU&GPU.

Sorry for any grammar mistakes, english is not my first language and thanks for being an awesome community.
 
Solution
WhiteSnake91
even buying a $100 hd7770ghz edition or 7790 gpu would let you play many things on high on 1080p well if you're on a budget. If you have $200 to spare get the r9 270x. The lower clocked r9 270 is about ~$180


my bro recently paired a gtx 660ti with his a10 5800k and has been able to play any game so far fine on ultra 1080p. According to benchmarks it's probably not constant 60fps if you're super nit picky,but, I honestly couldn't tell a difference when he was playing from my higher end i5 3570k/hd7950 build.



so in short, just make it simple. For ~$100ish get a 7790gpu, for 180-200, get a r9 270x or r9 270

I actually cringed when I read of your APU being used with only 1333mhz ram:( lol.
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jaguarskx

jaguarskx

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Apr 19, 2006
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As stated above, just buy the best performing graphics card. Forget "dual graphics" all together. Stick in a nVidia GPU or install something like a Radeon HD 7850 that will definitely disable the integrated graphics core.

Technically "dual graphics" works with up to a Radeon HD 7750, but not positive if sticking a HD 7770 or 7790 will disable the integrated graphics. They should.....
 
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hyperionel

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Jan 10, 2014
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Also I feel the APU should do better even in its current state, I mean the games should be playable so I am afraid there is a bottleneck somewhere but i dont know much about this subject hence the post.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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First try to get some solid info on where your performance problem lies.

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 50%.
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.


Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
set to 50% and see how you do.


You could also experiment with removing one core in the bios. 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.

My guess is that you will want both a cpu and a gpu upgrade.

I would do the graphics upgrade first. Anything you get will be transferrable to a new cpu/motherboard.

The A10 has decent graphics somewhat equivalent to a 6670.
You could add a 6670, but I think that would be very puny compared to a $150 discrete graphics card.
 
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jaguarskx

jaguarskx

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Just to be clear the integrated Radeon HD 8650g with DDR3-2133 RAM is basically equivalent to the Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 version not the DDR5 version. That means it only has about 75% the performance of the Radeon HD DDR5 graphics card. That places the Radeon HD 8650g / HD 6670 DDR3 basically halfway between the performance of the desktop Radeon HD 5570 and HD 5670.
 
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hyperionel

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I set the maximum processor state to 50% and then ran TERA the frames only droped from like a steady 30 to a steady 26-27, from what i have read the CPU can handle some of the medium-high discrete graphics card without bottlenecking so i dont think that would be an isue, i cant afford a high end one anyways lol.
 
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CTurbo

CTurbo

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Aug 27, 2013
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What motherboard do you have? Yes 1333mhz RAM was a bad idea. You mentioned having a fm2+ motherboard. Have you considered getting Kaveri? The new A10 7850k is supposed to be a beast. Of course you would still need way faster RAM. The 6800k is already just about the fastest quad core processor AMD has ever had. It would be fine with a really good video card. It's also a really good overclocker with the right motherboard. Also depending on your motherboard, you can overclock your igpu quite a bit. I can easily get well over 1000mhz with mine. You could also overclock your wimpy RAM.
 
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jacobian

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Jan 6, 2014
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The CPU side of the A10 APU is roughly comparable to Intel's Core i3, give or take, but the GPU is quite weak at least for 1080p or most latest games. Buying A10 7850k will be a waste. For $170 you're get a meager improvement in CPU and iGPU. Take this money and just buy a good GPU.
 
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hyperionel

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This is my motherboard https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/A88XMPLUS/

Went for around 100$.
 
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hyperionel

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So i think i have an hardware isue here.Sometimes when i try to turn on the pc the monitor doesnt start so i have to force shutdown from the button then start again for like 2-3 times until it starts...is it an apu isue because im freaking out right now.
 
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mohit9206

mohit9206

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I would suggest you buy a cheap 6670 ddr3 and crossfire with your APU,it surely cant hurt to try it may just double your performance in some games AMD is not lying when they say dual graphics boosts graphics performance.
 
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con635

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You need at least dual channel 1866mhz ram, download passmark performance test, the site just gives the average scores but the soft you can look at all the scores AND the spec of the systems, ram hurts these so bad eg on sc 1866mhz I scored 541 and with dc 1866mhz I scored 927 on the 3d graphics, mine is an a8-5600k (7560d) and that score is more than the average a10-6800k, the a10s with fast ram get 1000-1200 iirc. The software is not free but gives a 30 day day trial, I think its worth the money though for the database.
 
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Lessthannil

Lessthannil

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I think you got 2 options.

Wait 3 more days and get an AMD A10-7850K and faster RAM (at least 1866) The claimed 20% IPC boost will definately make help in games along with the GCN graphics and HSA. If the integrated graphics still proves too slow, get a dedicated graphics card and ignore Dual Graphics.

Wait for the Athlon II X4 for Steamroller. The lack of L3 might slow it down a bit but the 20% IPC boost is going to make up for it and exceed the FX 4300 IMO.
 
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WhiteSnake91

WhiteSnake91

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even buying a $100 hd7770ghz edition or 7790 gpu would let you play many things on high on 1080p well if you're on a budget. If you have $200 to spare get the r9 270x. The lower clocked r9 270 is about ~$180


my bro recently paired a gtx 660ti with his a10 5800k and has been able to play any game so far fine on ultra 1080p. According to benchmarks it's probably not constant 60fps if you're super nit picky,but, I honestly couldn't tell a difference when he was playing from my higher end i5 3570k/hd7950 build.



so in short, just make it simple. For ~$100ish get a 7790gpu, for 180-200, get a r9 270x or r9 270

I actually cringed when I read of your APU being used with only 1333mhz ram:( lol.
 
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Solution
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hyperionel

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Jan 10, 2014
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the r9 270x/270 are far too expensive in my country, they go for about 300$ ,instead i could go Radeon HD 7850 which goes for around 200$.

And dont worry i know i should have higher frequency on my rams... The ones i ordered were 2x4gb 1600 Mhz but they were sent broken so i had to return them and the prices on memory are insane here i mean 2x4gb corsair 2133Mhz are like 200$.
 
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Lessthannil

Lessthannil

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I can't find stock of the GTX 650 Ti Boost or the HD 7850 ANYWHERE (US). Are they discontinued? If so, thats a shame.

It seems like both NVIDIA and AMD are trying to rip us off by creeping up the R7 260x and the GTX 650 Ti (which by the way loses out on a lot of features against the boost version) prices to where the 650TiB and the HD7850 prices were.
 
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