A8-5600K Upgrade ??

ItzLimitLess · Feb 24, 2015

This is my gaming rig
A8-5600K 3.6 Ghz (Stock)
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
Kingston HyperX 8GB 1600
XFX HD 6670 1GB DDR5 (Dual Graphics)
Crucial M500 120GB SSD
WD Caviar Blue 500GB
XFX Pro Series 450W PSU

I want to upgrade my setup, but i dont know what to do, i want to be able to play newer games, like BF4 at Medium-High settings.
My budget is ~300 USD.
Im stocked cause my MOBO doesn't take the newer Kaveri's APU.
With my budget can i afford a decent CPU/MOBO/GPU ?
Or what else can i do ?

bicycle_repair_man · Feb 24, 2015

You could do with a CPU and GPU upgrade, which is entirely possible for $300. Changing the motherboard will put you over budget, so consider keeping it and swapping the 5600K for an Athlon X4 760k or 860k. If you paired that with a GTX 960, you'd have a decent gaming PC.

Don't worry about upgrading to the AM3+ socket, chances are it will be replaced when AMD release their next batch of CPUs.

kccp · Feb 24, 2015

bicycle_repair_man :

You could not upgrase to a athlon x4 without changing the motherboard. Apu processors use the fm2 socket. So if you do not plan to change the motherboard, you will have to stick to another apu processor. like a a10.

bicycle_repair_man · Feb 24, 2015

An Athlon X4 760k would work just fine in an FM2 socket, but an 860k wouldn't; my mistake.

An FM2 CPU works in both FM2 and FM2+ motherboards, but an FM2+ CPU, like the 860k, must be paired with an FM2+ motherboard.

kccp · Feb 24, 2015

bicycle_repair_man :

My mistake.

ItzLimitLess · Feb 24, 2015

bicycle_repair_man :

If i increase my budget to ~400 USD, what can u suggest ??

bicycle_repair_man · Feb 25, 2015

This is a little over budget but will make a good gaming build; http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zgmPLk.

If the price is too high, consider swapping the i5 4430 for an i3 4330. I wouldn't consider AMD at this moment in time as they'll probably introduce a new socket with their new line of processors.

con635 · Feb 25, 2015

Why on gods earth should he 'upgrade' from an a8 5600k to an a8 5600k with the igp fused off? He could disable it himself in the bios lol
The question is op what res do you play at? There's a risk here of spending money for no gain in gaming, my a8 and hd7770 with a small oc played bf4 64mp at 45-90fps at 1280x1024, it was smooth 99% of the time, for now I would go with a psu upgrade and a new gpu, clock the a8 cpu to 4+ghz.

LucoTF · Feb 25, 2015

con635 :

Exactly this, the 750k is basically an A8 without the IGP. That's effectively a downgrade

LucoTF · Feb 25, 2015

ItzLimitLess :

Quick and dirty solution would simply be a GPU upgrade

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Black Edition Double Dissipation Video Card ($190.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $249.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-25 05:36 EST-0500

madmatt30 · Feb 25, 2015

With con635 absolutely,that apu isn't a bad chip.
Installing a dedicated GPU cuts off the igp & allows bigger overclocks.
You'll do 4ghz on stock volts easily with no messing.just grab a decent aftermarket cooler - I'd recommend one if you let us know what PC case you're using?

If you went with a gtx 960 you can keep your current PSU & that's a big big performance increase over that old 6670.

LucoTF · Feb 25, 2015

madmatt30 :

Another victim of the 'dual graphics' APU marketing...

ItzLimitLess · Feb 25, 2015

madmatt30 :

My case is a ZM-T2 (no plus)
And wich version of the GTX 960 should i buy ??

LucoTF · Feb 25, 2015

ItzLimitLess :

140mm clearance, it will take a TX3 evo

http://www.cclonline.com/product/76741/RR-TX3E-22PK-R1/CPU-Coolers/Cooler-Master-Hyper-TX3-EVO-CPU-Cooler/CLR0413/?gclid=CIDC9s7F_cMCFYjLtAod_w4AjQ

madmatt30 · Feb 25, 2015

^ the tx3 is a good cooler but the vertical mount only on amd sockets drives me nuts- the amd mounting mechanism has been around 6 years now & this issue should have been sorted ages ago.
Its thoroughly outdone by the raijintek adios nowadays anyway
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/raijintek-cpu-cooler-0r100009

BTW - even I fell for the dual graphics on the original fm1 chipset - great on paper then you realise that the GPU vram isn't even used & you still lose 2gb of your much slower system ram .
A good idea done very very badly.

LucoTF · Feb 25, 2015

madmatt30 :

Vertical only? I've owned one and it mounts with fans horizontal or vertical on AMD, there's grooves in the baseplate for it:

madmatt30 · Feb 25, 2015

Well f**k me

I only used one once & how it came out of the box is how I fitted it,90% of 92mm coolers only stack vertically on amd mounts & I just assumed it was the same !! Should read the instructions!!
I've been using the zalman cnps5x in small builds for the last year because I thought it was pretty much the only one that mounted horizontally!!
Saying that the zalman is a damn fine cooler for £12 - had a 6300@4.2ghz on one of those at well under 60c.
The raijintek's ,the adios & themis are proving to be really really good budget coolers though - for a new firm they're making a great name for themselves.

LucoTF · Feb 25, 2015

I can't find too much info on that adios but it does seem to have the tx3 beat from what I've seen so thanks for introducing me to raijinteks, we both learned something here

A8-5600K Upgrade ??

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