AMD A8 APU vs AMD Phenom II builds

[lazyboy947]

I'm helping a friend build a new pc, hes plays games, but not often or isnt really graphic intense. He might play skyrim, and maybe bf3 at some point. But really wants something that will do what he does now, which as i said is older pc games, and web browsing, with the possibility to play new games.

The first build has a AMD A8 3870k apu, and was going to throw in a 2gb xfx 6670 since the apu will mix with the discrete card. Will be using prob 4gb of ddr3 1333 ram and an MSI motherboard.

My main question is how will the mixed gpus will preform in newer games, dont think settings matter, and resolution is lower than 1080p, but not sure wat he uses just know the monitor isnt 1080p. (i run a 6770 at 1080p on bf3 on high with 35 to 45 fps so comparing to my 6770 or similar will help me lol)

Will the 2gb preform better than the 1gb card on a single monitor?

This is the built: Total is about $260 after rebates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1028813 - MSI motherboard/APU combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150587 - XFX 2Gb 6670

Second build is a Phenom II X4 which will preform better and this i know lol - Total is about $300 after rebates.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637 - MSI motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 - Phenom II X4 965 BE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127687 - MSI 7770 1Gb

Other parts would be decided later, but major components first, and I have 4Gb of DDR3 1333 Patriot G series RAM.

So unless the apu mixed with a 6670 is better than a 7770, the money difference would prob lean towards the Phenom II X4 build.
Last question is difference from the 2gb 6670 and 1gb 7770. is the memory on the card make a difference?

Any change in parts i wouldnt mind, im open to opinions. Price range around 300 ish
No go Intel!!! lol

 

[aqualipt]

Both build suck.... although the second one performs a bit better, you could replace the 7770 with a 6850 and the Phenom II with a i3 to get more performance for roughly the same price.

 

[aqualipt]

I would be inclined toward the Phenom build.
I dont know much about the AMD APU's I'l admit, but from what Iv gathered their mainly chosen for their integrated graphics, which would be overruled by the GPU.

The 6670 can work with the integrated GPU in the APU to form a hybrid crossfire setup

 

[manofchalk]

I would be inclined toward the Phenom build.
I dont know much about the AMD APU's I'l admit, but from what Iv gathered their mainly chosen for their integrated graphics, which would be overruled by the GPU.

The memory on the card doesn't affect performance if there's enough of it, once you run out the FPS will tank. You use more memory the higher a resolution it has to support, so if you are gaming across three monitors the memory will become a factor. But 1GB should be enough for a single 1080P monitor.

 

[lazyboy947]

yeah my main question is the hybrid crossfire of the integrated gpu and the 6670. and as i said no intel i could care less of an i3. not saying i hate intel, would rather have a phenom ii quad core. the psu will be a lower end one and i know a 6850 will preform better but not really an option, no reason to buy a expensive psu with no OC'ing and not a major need for a higher end video card.

So really would like the difference from the two builds graphics wise, and the performance of the apu, discrete gpu mix.

Also for those who know about AMD APUs, how are the new A10s that are out, and is there a discrete gpu that runs along with its integrated graphics?

 

[lazyboy947]

also hows the power use between the 6850 and 7770? i know the preformace would be alot, but when money is a slight issue $40 is still enough to choose the cheaper one.

 

[aqualipt]

yeah my main question is the hybrid crossfire of the integrated gpu and the 6670. and as i said no intel i could care less of an i3. not saying i hate intel, would rather have a phenom ii quad core. the psu will be a lower end one and i know a 6850 will preform better but not really an option, no reason to buy a expensive psu with no OC'ing and not a major need for a higher end video card.

So really would like the difference from the two builds graphics wise, and the performance of the apu, discrete gpu mix.

Also for those who know about AMD APUs, how are the new A10s that are out, and is there a discrete gpu that runs along with its integrated graphics?

Not that i care but... can you give a logical reason of why you dont want the i3?? if i recommended you the i3 is because I KNOW FOR SURE that it will outperform the Phenom II X4 in EVERY GAME... you dont belive me?? fine...here you go: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=88

 

[lazyboy947]

Basically personal preference, I've played games on an i7 2600k and a phenom ii x6 1090t, they both run great, but for cost the 1090t wins for me, and even tho the i3 and x4 r basically the same price, and from what i read they both run similar to each other, and yes i do like amd more, but if i had the money I'd prob go intel, so for me on a budget build i usually put intel out of the picture. I will bring the i3 up with my friend but basically prob still towards the amd sides of cpus. way i see it get an am3+ motherboard gives the option to get a piledriver cpu which if good would be less than going from a i3 1155 socket to a i5/i7 IB. I see ur concern why wouldnt i was the better cpu performance, but as the first post said no "go intel" lol

 

[Smeg45]

AMD phenom II 965. Despite what you read AMD's APU's are fantastic day to day desktops, not gaming systems. Great for multitasking and browsing and hardware accelerated video, but not gaming.

 

[mousseng]

way i see it get an am3+ motherboard gives the option to get a piledriver cpu which if good would be less than going from a i3 1155 socket to a i5/i7 IB.

Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge share the same socket (LGA1155). Besides, at that point you'll be better off upgrading to Haswell/Broadwell/Skylake/whatever AMD puts out, so you'd need to change mobos anyway. Frankly, though, you'd be better off getting a new motherboard even for Piledriver, because the $90 mobo you've got there likely won't overclock very well (and if overclocking is out of the picture, you're probably better off going with Intel).

also hows the power use between the 6850 and 7770? i know the preformace would be alot, but when money is a slight issue $40 is still enough to choose the cheaper one.

7770 has roughly 2/3 the power draw of a 6850, and performs roughly on par with it.

But to answer your original question, the PhII build will be a much better choice over the 3870k.

 

[azeem40]

You forgot Skymont!

 

[Evan20x]

With 1333 MHz RAM your APU IGP will be held back as they are bandwidth hungry.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Personally, I would not buy an i3. For one is cost, I can go to a local Microcenter and have a comparable FX 4100 and board for about the cost of just the i3 chip. Not that I'm going to do that. My current system is an Athlon II x4, overclocked to 3.3 ghz, 6gb ddr2, and an AM2 Gigabyte board. Honestly, I got to work on an i3 system. I was not impressed. I mean according to everyone, benchmarks say that the i3 can compete with an AMD Phenom II x6. Maybe, but for me, the i3 at close to the same clock speed as my slightly overclocked Athlon quad core did not have as high of a Windows 7 Exerperience score. I think my processor is is 7.2 and the i3 showed up as 7.1. So Windows saw an older Athlon quad as better than the i3 everyone thinks is great. Also, for me personally, I know i3 is supposed to be better than my processor, but I have a quad core, the i3 is simply a dual core with hyperthreading to me. I feel if I changed to an i3 from the current chip, I would be downgrading.

So some say the i5, but again, why bother there? At Microcenter again, I could have an unlocked FX 8120 8 core and Gigabyte board for around the 200 I would spend on an i5. Everyone says Intel chips are so great, but I wonder if some of the benchmarks aren't a bit biased toward intel. I personally for me don't see why I should pay more for marginally less performance. Because real world, Intel is probably faster, but AMD is a great budget friendly option, and in real world, when will you notice the .02 seconds difference for something to load?

Look online, I found one i3 processor for 89.99. No way man. For 100 bucks you can have the FX4100 and motherboard at Microcenter. Or for 120 you can have a 6 core. To me, the i3 is not a solution I'd go for.

 

[lazyboy947]

I understand that the Phenom II build will prob be better for gaming but the apu, 6670 hybrid is cheaper and i wanna know how the hybrid compares to other single gpus.

Also if anyone knows anything about A10s and there hybrid gpus?

So please stop letting know the difference from the two processor wise

 

[mousseng]

1) There are no desktop A10s on the market, and there won't be any until around October (I believe).

2) The dual-graphics solution of A8-3870k + 6670 is known as the 6690D2.

3) The 6690D2 is within the margin of error of being on par with a 6770 (source).

4) The 7770 is quite a bit faster than the 6770 (source). I've no exact numbers here, but I'd put it at around 20% faster at least, as well as drawing less power.

5) Not to mention, the PhII and 7770 have much more overclocking headroom than a 6790D2 and 3870k.

 

[lazyboy947]

U can get prebuilt pcs on newegg with an A10 5700

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100019096%20600337482&IsNodeId=1&name=A10-Series%20APU

Thanks for the info that was wat i was looking for.

 

[lazyboy947]

Best answer selected by Lazyboy947.