Best GPU for AMD A6-3500

[neliel123]

Hi,

I am thinking of assembling a budget PC for decent gaming purpose. Not to be used on the latest games now.

I am no PC expert but I see this processor from ASUS as cheap.

AMD A6-3500 (2.1G) 3mb


Question:
1. Do I still need to add external GPU for this processor. From the specs, they say it has built in video card.
2. If I ever I buy, what brand of Video card would be better to add more performance?

-MSI HD5450 1gb ddr3
-Inno3d
-Palit
-Asus

These are the available GPU on the store.

Thanks.

neliel123

 

[FinneousPJ]

You try it without a GPU first to see if the APU gives adequate performance in your games. If not, add a GPU that can crossfire with the APU like the 6670.

 

[neliel123]

You try it without a GPU first to see if the APU gives adequate performance in your games. If not, add a GPU that can crossfire with the APU like the 6670.

Thanks for the answer.

But currently in the store no Radeon GPU is available and only the list above.

Will the other GPU have impact? I am leaning towards buying the MSI but will it boost the performance of my APU?

 

[FinneousPJ]

No, I think it only works with HD6000-series. You need to find a better store.

 

[de5_Roy]

Thanks for the answer.

But currently in the store no Radeon GPU is available and only the list above.

Will the other GPU have impact? I am leaning towards buying the MSI but will it boost the performance of my APU?

here's a list of gpus that can crossfire (amd calls them 'amd dual graphics') with amd desktop apus:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/dual-graphics/Pages/dual-graphics.aspx
read the faq section too.
imo 5450 is weaker than the integrated gpu in the amd apus. a radeon 6670 will bring in the best performance in games that can use 'amd dual graphics'. there is a catch though. the 'amd dual graphics' mode does not work in directx 9.0 games. so if you play dx9 games, make sure you have the 6670 selected as your primary gpu. 6670 will be adequate for older games by itself. if you have no other radeon cards avilable (seems kinda unlikely..) you should stick with the integrated gpu for the time being and get a 6670 after saving some money. make sure you get ddr3 1600 ram as the integrated gpu performs better with faster ram.
as for your earlier quastions,
1. the gpu is okay for playing games at lower settings and for older games. if you think you need more performance, you can add one of the crossfirable gfx cards to your system (see above).
2. see above. it'll depend on your budget and willingness to spend extra.

 

[joeythellama]

Hi

We use A6 3500's it the IT department as test machines and with a little tweaking you can get some decent performance from them. RAM is critical with APU's you need 1600Mhz and a light OC (inc bus to 110) should see 2.7Ghz on the stock cooler with no problem. We used very cheap Gigabyte A55 boards.

Plays most stuff at 720p, with medium settings, higher for older stuff. I personally have played Dirt 2 and GTA4 with no problems, getting 30ish FPS.

Just as an aside, we have just installed Win 8 on a couple of these and it works really well.

 

[jaguarskx]

Hybrid Crossfire will only work with the Radeon HD 6xxx series and only up the the HD 6670; anything faster and the integrated graphic core will disable itself because it will actually slow down a faster card.

Sticking in a Radeon HD 5450 is a waste of money since it cannot be crossfired and it is slower than the integrated graphic core.

 

[neliel123]

Sorry everyone, I am a CPU newbie and I just inquire about this Radeon gpu at the store...
There is a much cheaper version though as I look at the price list

Powercolor HD5670 1GB DDR3

The Powercolor HD6770 is beyond my budget and I am just checking if the HD5670
would also be a good fit for this processor.

My proposed specs would be like this.

F1A55-M LX PLUS - MOBO
AMD A6 3500 2.1 GHz - CPU
2 GIG RAM

Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[de5_Roy]

5670 1gb ddr3 is slightly better than the integrated gpu in the a6 3500 apu. it has slower ddr3ram which holds the 5670 gpu back. it will not crossfire with the integrated gpu of a6 3500. if you want to get a graphics card that crossfire with apu, then get a 6670 for best performance. if you want a seperate powerful graphics card that won't crossfire with the apu, go for the 6770 after you save up some more money. imo save up some money and either get a radeon hd 6670 1gb ddr3 or gddr5 version or get a radeon hd 6770 1gb gddr5 later. 5670 is more powerful than the igpu, but in this case it isn't worth it.