APU Mid-level Gaming

kyledeco

Honorable
Nov 17, 2012
29
0
10,530
Case-----------------------Antec Twelve Hundred V3---------------180
Motherboard-------------ASUS F2A85-V PRO FM ---------------140
CPU------------------------A10-5800k-------------------------------------130
CPU Heatsink-----------Phanteks PH-TC14PE---------------------80
Memory-------------------G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB----------95
GPU-----------------------ASUS EAH6670-------------------------------95
Sound Card--------------ASUS Xonar DX 7.1------------------------80
HDD-----------------------Seagate Barracuda 2TB------------------110
SSD----------------------- Plextor M5S Series-------------------------50
Power Supply----------Rosewill FORTRESS Series 550W--100
DVD Drive---------------LG 24X DVD Burner-------------------------18
Operating System-----Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit--------------99
Total Cost----------------------------------------------------------------- 1177

Hi All, I wanted to put together an APU machine, a very good apu machine. I think what I have here is pretty balanced and will preform well under Game stresses, This is my first APU machine and I just wanted to see if what I'm doing is right and I will explain my choices.

Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3
Has three 120mm fans in front to provide better cooling then for instance the GT level 10 case, I don't really care about looks with the case I care about how much cold air can be pushed through it.

Motherboard: ASUS F2A85-V PRO FM2 it was a toss up between the ASUS F2A85-V PRO FM2 and the GIGABYTE GA-F2A85X-UP4 and I didn't know which one to choose, and I know both are of high quality Any advice would be really nice here.

CPU: A10-5800k is the best APU to date, self explanatory.

CPU Heatsink: Phanteks PH-TC14PE once again another toss up between two. The Noctua NH-D14 and Phanteks PH-TC14PE, the reason why I chose the Phanteks is because, I've seen it perform better under heavy heat then the Noctua.

GPU: ASUS EAH6670 Another Asus product, there were more favourable reviews of this GPU then any other of the same type (6670) and best paired with the A10-5800k.

Sound Card: ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 a decent sound card, reason why I included one of these is because it can decrease CPU overhead anywhere from 5-15%.

Memory: G.SKILL Trident X Series 2400Mhz 8GB, APU machines get a significant performance increase with faster RAM and 8 Gigs is pretty standard.

The rest is pretty self explanatory, Anyone have any suggestions of anything they'd change please let me know, cheers
 

johnsonjohnson

Honorable
Dec 15, 2012
779
0
11,160
Hi. This is a very unbalanced gaming build or an APU build for that matter and one of the most expensive APU build out there when it should only cost half as much. I seriously hope you won't go through with it. Why spend almost $1200 for a mid-level APU build when you can get a high-level gaming build for the same price that is much more balanced and will perform much better? I don't think anyone who is seriously considering an APU build would spend $180 for a case, $140 for a motherboard, $80 for a high-end air cooler, $95 for faster memory just to get a few extra frame rate increase, $95 for a mid-range graphics card to CrossFire, $80 for a sound card just to reduce a negligible CPU overhead, and $100 for a 550W PSU on a system that doesn't need it? A potential APU buyer would be looking for something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($60.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $526.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-08 18:57 EST-0500)

When you should be looking for a system like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($133.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1179.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-08 18:57 EST-0500)

If you're willing to buy from other sites, I'm sure you could spend less for the same build or a better one with the same budget.