$600 Budget,first build. FX/GPU combo or Kaveri A10??

James Meekma · Apr 13, 2014

Hey guys i'm looking to build my first rig. Budget is around $600 give or take. Not sure if i should go for the FX/GPU combo or get the new Kaveri A10. The only games i play are some MMOs and MOBAs. Any input would be much appreciated!

Ahmadjon · Apr 13, 2014

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($89.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($189.00 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($37.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $598.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-13 04:26 EDT-0400)

James Meekma · Apr 13, 2014

i would also need to purchase windows 7,that's why i was thinking about getting an A10 instead to cut the cost, but i do like the 6core because in the long run i know that would preform better. But comparing the two in general use/light gaming would there be much of a difference ?

Seeking Solace · Apr 13, 2014

James Meekma :

Kaveri is still very young into the market, and for gaming uses still gets thrashed by AMDs FX processors and Intel chips with discrete cards. I like the idea of APUs, and I am still reading into them, but you should consider them carefully. Think about what games you wish to play, and look for benchmarks noting the playability of those games. For the more demanding games, on either processing or graphics power, the APU struggles because it is still a single chip sharing both and the software doesn't fully utilize those benefits.
I don't want to scare you off, I myself am fascinated by the Kaveri chips, but I'm not buying them, not this year at least. I'm only suggesting you do the legwork before jumping in and possibly being disappointed by them.

Ahmadjon · Apr 13, 2014

James Meekma :

Honestly I wouldn't recommend people to get PC with Windows for price lower than 700$, If you get APU you might not be happy with it because I saw many people who have had issues with an APU's, "FX" build is more future proof because later you can change 6300 to 8320, I would recommend you to save up 100$ and get build that mention above

James Meekma · Apr 13, 2014

Thank you guys for the help/info. I really do need to consider what i want to do in the future as well,so starting off i think i'll be better going for the above posted build. Thank you guys again.

noob222 · Apr 13, 2014

I like the A10 route for your situation. The games you play will not utilize a lot of GPU performance. So a Richland build would be ideal. I believe that the APU route is more future proof because AMD does not have any FX CPUs in their 2014 roadmap. They do have however plans to continue their APU line on the FM2+ socket in 2015.

Ahmadjon · Apr 13, 2014

noob222 :

I think none of the new APU's will beat FX-8320+GTX-770~780 in gaming.

Seeking Solace · Apr 13, 2014

What games were you thinking of playing? Looking at a benchmark for WoW you'd probably be better off with an A8-7600(assuming you went for an APU), whenever that comes out

I wasn't too sure what games you had in mind...otherwise . This is all I could work up for a Kaveri system, not sure it's the best build, especially since it relies on a micro center offer. Which if you can't take advantage of, you will have to go for the 7700K
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $511.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-13 05:15 EDT-0400)

But, eh, I'm probably wrong though...

Seeking Solace · Apr 13, 2014

Ahmadjon :

Not even in the same league from what I've been reading. Not yet. AMD are still gambling on the software supporting the APUs.

noob222 · Apr 13, 2014

Ahmadjon :

Nope they will not, however getting a 6300 and a r9 270 to play MMOs with is like performing surgery with a chainsaw

Ahmadjon · Apr 13, 2014

noob222 :

Ahmadjon :

Nope they will not, however getting a 6300 and a r9 270 to play MMOs with is like performing surgery with a chainsaw

FX-6300 and R9 270X is good for mid to high graphics gaming.

James Meekma · Apr 13, 2014

yeah all i want to use it for is games like WoW and a few mobas like Smite or Dota2. so the most reliable way to go about playing those for my price range i think would be to get the A10 but the 6cores on the 6300 paired with the 270 card seem a little more reliable.

noob222 · Apr 13, 2014

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3qU8j
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3qU8j/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3qU8j/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD A10-7700K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($61.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 250 1GB Video Card ($89.24 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $595.14
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-13 05:56 EDT-0400)

michaelwebb · Aug 30, 2014

hiya people just thought i would let you no that iv got the a10 gpu i find it fantastic iv been playing bf4 and a few other games great not a single problem everything is on ultra nice and smooth, like what noob222 said they are new but i think its the way forward, im well happy with mine, yes maybe you could get a better gpu or cpu do you really need it, enjoy, my spec and yes im getting a ssd drive sometime this week that will help even more. ;-)
my first gaming rig iv just built. spec

3GB Sapphire Radeon R9 280X TOXIC, 28nm, 6400MHz GDDR5, GPU 1100MHz, Boost 1150MHz, 2048 Streams, DVI/HDMI/mDPort

Processor
AD785KXBJABOX - AMD A10 7850K Black Edition, S FM2+, Kaveri Core, Quad Core, 4.0GHz, AMD Radeon R7, 95W, Retail

Power Supply
850W Corsair RM Series RM Series, Full Modular, 80 PLUS Gold, 1x135mm Fan, ATX v2.4, PSU

Motherboard
A88X-G45 GAMING Assassin?s Creed Liberation HD MSI A88X-G45 GAMING Assassin?s Creed Lib HD, AMD A88X, FM2+, DDR3, SATA III 6Gb/s, RAID, PCIe 3.0, DSub/DVI/HDMI, ATX

Memory/R.A.M
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Pro Series Red, PC3-17066 (2133), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-11-11-31, XMP, 1.65V

Case
Cooler Master CM Storm Trooper XL-ATX Case with Window, USB 3.0, Black with corsair h55 watercooling unit and 4 corsair fans.

Hard Drive
1TB WD WD10EFRX RED 24x7, SATA 6Gb/sec, 64MB Cache, IntelliPower, 8ms NAS/Enterprise and another 1TB barracuda

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64Bit DVD English International OEM -

DVD Writer
LiteOn IHAS124-14 24x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM

Seeking Solace · Sep 4, 2014

michaelwebb :

You listed a considerably powerful graphics card in your build which would override the gpu unit in your APU, as far as I'm aware. It means the the R7 on die graphics isn't being used for games (which is like 47% of the chip I think).
IIRC correctly BF4 is intensive on the CPU (especially during online multiplayer) which is good to hear you are having a smooth time playing.

Also, I don't think an SSD is going to help with games, it is mostly for booting your OS faster for (what I experience as) an almost instantaneous startup. Saving games, or even letting itunes take residence, will fill up your expensive solid state drive far too soon.

I like your build though, and it is nice to see someone go with an A10, I just hope you didn't pay through the nose for it. The release price made the APU ridiculously noncompetitive against cheap AMD builds or even Intel. I do like where the APU's are going though, and I hope one day to experiment with a cheap APU build, myself, but AMD need to catch up to make them more competitive.

michaelwebb · Sep 9, 2014

Seeking Solace :

thanks for the cool reply, yes im very happy with it to be honest apart from my laptop being intel i5 iv allways ad AMD never really ad a problem to be honest im new to all this gaming stuff tho and didnt really no to be honest just went with the best one i could, And the cost of it all this was the thing i new a person you built it ad it for a week but just past his driving test so really wanted a car so he said i could have the lot for £520 this is it if you want to check it out pal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58r3esuw92w&list=UUhREf9V_FTX1tK17KsBmLyA

Seeking Solace · Sep 9, 2014

That is a pretty build, I like it and very good for what you spent on it.

$600 Budget,first build. FX/GPU combo or Kaveri A10??

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