APU + Graphic card ?

Hi doc, you can indeed install a graphics card. The GTX660 is a good choice, for example http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-msi-gtx-660-oc-28nm-...(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-boost-1072mhz-cores-960-dport-dl-dvi

Since you have an apu, you might as well get a card that will allow you to crossfire with it.

The best card that you can crossfire with the a8 to get better performance is the 6670.

It's okay for a gaming pc, but you're going to have to spend more money on the cpu and gpu if you want a real gaming pc.

Also, the guy up there ^ doesn't know anything about the op's budget and such. Don't get the 660.

I'm with Ichrisk. You do have two options. One somewhat viable and less expensive, the other option being more expensive with greater performance.

1. Crossfire your A8's APU with a Radeon 6670 1gb for ~$68. This will give you a performance boost compared to just the APU.

2. Get a discrete video card and disable your A8's APU. This is the more expensive option but will boost performance significantly depending on how much you're willing to spend.

Edit: Also, if you haven't done so already, get an aftermarket HSF like the CM Hyper 212 Evo/+ and overclock your CPU.

Disable the A8s apu, get a discreet card..

what are your full system specs and budget? what is you monitors native resolution?

The point of having an apu is to not have to bother with the expense of a dedicated card. The crossfire concept with such a system doesn't always work. If you go with with crossfire remember that you will have to deal with issues as well getting some things to work. As for the GTX660 that is about as low as one can go and still get decent results when it comes to Nvidia Kepler. Your cpu will hold it back....

CPU with VC or just APU 8/10

So you're saying don't Crossfire with the APU, don't go lower than a GTX660 and choosing a GTX660 or above means the card will be constrained by the processor. Doesn't really leave a lot of options! You can't really say the GTX660 is the minimum without knowing what resolution is being used. As for bottlenecking, it means that when the time comes for a CPU/motherboard upgrade, a bit more performance will be unlocked in the card. OP states 'good gaming machine'. Without more details, we can't really assume a 1GB 6670 is really going to cut it.

I didn't see the "This is for a good gaming PC" part of the original post. Scratch the Crossfire idea, it will be good for 1280x720 but anything over that and it can't hold up to a full blown video card. If you really want a good gaming PC you need to upgrade your CPU & Motherboard. If that's not financially possible then disable your APU, overclock that A8 and get a good video card.

Edit: Also, please remove your email from your post. You REALLY don't want that information getting into the hands of spam bots.

Get a middle of the line past generation/ early current generation AMD video card. Like the 6670, since the APU and GPU would then be using similar architecture (Turk cores). This would allow for a more efficient "Hybrid CFX". This doesn't mean you will get huge performance boosts, but you will likely see better performance in most games. Make sure whatever GPU you do get, make sure to get one that uses DDR3 Vram, as the DDR5 Vram from later cards will not sync. This could hinder performance. And as earlier posts stated, and APU is by no means a way of cutting costs on a gaming pc. You will not have good performance at high resolutions. Simply enough, buy an independent GPU, and buy a Phenom II processor, you will gain a large amount of performance over Hybrid CFX. It will also be less taxing on your system.
If you need any more help, PM me.

Edit: ^+1, please delete your email, especially if it is a work address.