AMD a10 5800k for midrange gaming?

Erm, you're paying $200 for a CPU that's $110 brand new?

Also, the trouble is that it will play games at low settings, it's going to hold back an actual graphics card. It's a WEAK processor, and shouldn't be considered if you're looking to pair it with a higher end discrete GPU.

Ahh, that makes a little more sense.

For $200 that's not a horrible deal. But yes, I mean it when I say the processor is going to hold you back. APUs sacrifice processor power in trade for their graphics solution - it's simply not a good idea to pair them with dedicated graphics.

Now, that's not to say you shouldn't do it at all - you could still upgrade later. The question is if the power supply is reliable, or an off-brand POS.

If he's only had it for 4 months and looking to sell it for that cheap of a price, then there is something wrong with it somewhere, I'm sure.

However, as far as the processor goes, let me fill you in a bit on things DarkSable doesn't understand. When you go to buy a CPU, you have to get the best performance you can afford. If this is it, then that's great. No big deal.

If this is just for gaming only, then you might get by cheaper with a gaming console. I'm sure by now there are last gen XBox and PS3's on the market cheap from people upgrading to the new.

This is not a weak processor. It will work just fine. I have used it, and it worked quite well when paired with a Radeon HD 7770, and kept up just fine.

You should be able to play Far Cry 3, however, I'm not sure how playable it will be at 1080p. I haven't played Far Cry 3, so can't attest to that. I did play Tomb Raider 2013 with the A10-5800K. How well you will be able to play it depends on the RAM speed. You didn't say what the speed of the RAM that is installed. You may want that info before you purchase. If it is 1333MHz, then it's going to be too slow to do much good in gaming. You need 1866MHz RAM for gaming with the 5800K. 1600 will let you get by, but with lower settings. APUs love fast RAM.

I went that same route. Bought a 5800K until I could afford something else. Old computer went south, so I had to do a budget build in a hurry, and I was really impressed with the processing power you get for the price. Yes, there are faster processors. Many, many faster ones. However, you will pay many, many more dollars for those many, many faster processors.

Just ask the guy WHY he has decided to get rid of it. 4 months, and selling a computer that has no problems? I don't get that one. He had to have purchased it because he was on a budget. APUs are budget build. If he could afford to replace it so fast, he would have bought higher end to start with. Ask about blue screens or random reboots.

There's no need to be insulting there, man. I understand those things quite well, and I agree with you - it'll match a 7770 just fine. However, when paired with a mid/high end card like a 760, it's going to start holding the graphics card back. That's all I was saying.

Yes, you should get something that makes sense for your price range - I'm just not a fan of using the APUs as dedicated processors.

(You do, however, have a very valid point about why the guy is selling it for such a dirt cheap price, though.)

My apologies DarkSable, I wasn't trying to be insulting. That's the problem with forums, it's hard to understand the tone.

I only wanted to add additional info, and let you know that people who purchase an APU in order to save up later for a GPU generally will never be getting a high end GPU, because even in the future, there is only so much budget for people that have to buy on a budget. I have held several jobs over the years, at the same time, because I have multiple degrees. While a computer programmer, network administrator, and doing computer repair, I have also been an accountant and financial consultant, licensed marriage counselor, high school science teacher, law enforcement, and insurance. Most of my life I worked 3 full time jobs at a time, and why tend to look at things from a financial perspective, especially technology.

That's my main area of expertise, is to get the best bang for your buck on technology. That's why I thought of the "something's not quite right with that price."

While I am not a fan of using an APU as a dedicated processor, per se, it's what I do now. It is actually quite capable for my needs.

For someone who does professional video editing for on-air programming, which is something I am currently doing part-time on a contract basis, the APU is actually better than many of the Intel processors, if you're using high grade professional editing software that takes advantage of OpenCL. OpenCL can take advantage of all GPUs on a system. They don't have to be in SLI or Crossfire to do it. Since I don't disable my iGPU, the software is able to take advantage of the 5 compute cores along with my 4 cores on the CPU, and goes from rendering 287 FPS DVD quality video to 464 FPS DVD quality video. That's a good jump. Getting the highest quality Intel CPU possible for the same price will not give the same results on this software, and will actually be about 30% slower because of the iGPU. Add to that the software can also use my Dedicated Radeon HD 7770, which has 10 cores, GDDR5 RAM, and higher clock speed, I get a combined throughput of 1296 FPS with the GPU, iGPU, and CPU. Using just the dedicated card I get around 810.

It all depends on what you're going to do with an APU. If I were scrypt mining, I'd take a higher-end APU (higher-end being relative to other APUs of course) over a higher-end Intel CPU any day, not because of raw processing power, but because of the better OpenCL work you can do with it. With these types of applications, you don't have to worry about the CPU being a bottleneck, as all the work is done on graphics cores, and the more the better. So get 3 each R9 290X paired with a A10-6800K and it will kick it pretty good on scrypt mining. Not much of a gaming machine though.

It's not about AMD vs. Intel vs. gaming consoles, but what will best suit the needs of the buyer. If the buyer is only into playing games, and wants to spend less than $300, I'd say go for getting a used game console, as it's going to be better than any PC you can build on that budget for a long time to come. If you need to do computer work as well, then an APU for a budget gaming computer to run low end games will work just fine.

If you need a power user's computer, then you need to get an extra job and save, save, save, until you can afford what you want. If you've got a way to put money aside each month, and can have the patience to wait a while because let's face it, no one NEEDS a gaming computer right away, they just really, really want it, then that patience can pay off in the long run by having a much superior system.

I went with an AMD A10-6800K because of a disaster with my old computer, which I won't go into here, but I needed a new computer fast, and only had so much money. I couldn't wait. I didn't play games, I made my living with it. So I bought a budget machine, with the intention that someday, in the future, I'd have what I really want. And I will, though it make take an extra couple of years to get there. Still saving for 2 more monitors, dedicated graphics, one more 2TB HDD, etc., and when I have everything in place, I'll upgrade the MB and CPU to something better, and I'll already have all the other components I need. Yes, my APU might hold me back on gaming when I add the 2nd HD 7770, but only until I get the new MB and CPU. Little at a time.

Ehh, I get where you're coming from, and that is a fair point... but the trouble is that I've seen a LOT of people on these forums pairing up A10 and A8's with higher end graphics cards - even in brand new builds.

That's a very good point about open CL, though - I hadn't thought about that point, and that does make a good difference.

I agree with you as for the budget gaming option, though, but that depends on why the user's budget is limited. For example, if they're still young and doing odd jobs to save up money, it's possible that they would be able to upgrade slowly in the future. Like you say, it all depends on the exact scenario we're talking about here.

My advice on someone who is young and doing odd jobs to save up money... learn patience and wait until you can afford something good to start with. I promise you that your world will not collapse if you don't get a computer today. It will be worth the wait. If you have steady money coming in and can keep it coming, wait and get a high end CPU to pair with the graphics card, as you won't regret it later. Doesn't matter if your "friends" already have something. Patience will let you tell your friends later, "My computer is better than yours, because I waited and got it right!"

If I could have waited, I would have continued to save. I was only about 1/3 money-wise where I wanted to be, but had to purchase it right away to keep making money, since the old machine was dead. If I could have waited, I'd already a monster machine. Since I spent money on MB and APU, now I have to wait until that money is recouped before I can spend it again. See where I'm going here? No, I'm not talking to DarkSable, I'm talking to the person who decided to read this thread, because they are trying to make a CPU decision, and they are young and have odd jobs to save the money with. Save it, spend it later when it amounts to enough.

Congrats, and good luck!

Here's a suggestion for you, that I used when I was a kid:

Explain to your parents that you're saving up for this computer, and it means a lot to you. It'll be a learning experience, and it's a huge thing. Then explain to them that you're trying to be responsible with your money and save it up and do it right the first time...

Then ask them if they'll match you with how much money you earn and put into savings towards buying this computer.

Ahh well, parents can be like that. Mine didn't even let my have any video games, not even a gameboy, until I learned how to build a computer myself and started getting into the pc gaming scene.

Yes, parents can be like that. However, there are always grandparents!

Seriously, work hard at it. Maybe you can explain to them, like DarkSable said, that you're really serious about wanting to be responsible and save for this yourself. They may be willing to put your $10/month into a savings account for you to keep you from spending it on the wrong stuff. It can help you in case you have a bad day and decide to blow it on a candy bar or milkshake or something else stupid like that.

Then, for birthday and any gift giving holidays your family celebrates that usually equals a gift for you, tell them you'd like to request either money into that savings account for your future computer or a NewEgg.com gift card, or something like that. You'd be surprised how people will respond sometimes. I got $100 last Christmas from my Mother-in-law on a NewEgg gift card! Bought my current graphics card with it. If my grandparents were still alive, I could have really racked up.

Also, when you make money mowing lawns or other odd chores (I cleared trees with a chainsaw when I was 15, and at 16 did roofing work after a hurricane and made $40/hour), be sure to give the money to your parents to deposit into that special savings account.

When you have a reasonable sum of money saved, come back here and get advice on how to make the purchases, and we'll help you get the system built right.

I'm proud of the decision you made. It will be tough, but it will really be worth it in the long run. Build a good enough system now, and you'll still have a system good enough to get you through college. It may not play the games that are current during your college years, but it will handle all your coursework and other stuff you'll need, and will save your parents that expense so they can help pay for the actual courses. You'll need everything you can get then.

Good luck!

Even if you try explaining that it's not just spending money, it's working towards buying a computer?

Like rhapdog said, newegg gift cards also help. If you explain that it's to go towards a specific goal that's too expensive to ask for as a present type thing, they might see things a little differently.

Yeah, my Mother-in-law didn't believe in cash gifts, but did agree to do special gift cards to specific stores for birthdays, so it doesn't hurt to ask. Just don't ask repeatedly!

You'll still need to mow a lot of lawns, though. Back when I mowed lawns for extra cash, I only made $5 per lawn. I still managed to earn just over $1000 dollars one summer, at $5 per lawn. Big lawns, too. But $5 meant more back then, and there was no such thing as a personal computer to save for. We're talking 1970's era here. I bought a car with it. It was nice to have my own ride.

Of course, I was doing just over 20 yards per week for 16 weeks. You shouldn't have to do nearly as many to earn $2000 for an awesome machine. Work hard enough, make $2500, spend half on a computer, save the rest, and work the few summers more until you're old enough to drive, and you'll be able to buy your own car. Now that's a good plan for a teenager. You have to think about these things early if you're going to get things in life. If you save your money for a computer and a car, I'll bet your parents will be really impressed. Just keep those grades up so you can get into a good college, else they may not let you drive the car.

Aw, shucks. Give the best answer to DarkSable. I'm not in this to get points, just to help when I can. Besides, I'm really getting to like the dude. Won't hurt my feelings none. That way, others will know the topic has already been solved and won't waste time checking it.