[Homebuilt] A10 based Budget Gaming PC

[NecTheGreat]

Hello, long time lurker, first time poster so i hope i do this right(by that i mean follow the forum rules)

Ok i plan to build a Budget Gaming PC for myself to last me a few months after which ill spring for a more higher end rig and give this to my little nephew for his first gaming rig. I would love some insight from you fine ladies and gentlemen.

What will this PC be used for: Gaming(WoW, SWTOR, PCSX2[PS2 Emulator]), Watching HD Movies, Browsing Web

What Monitor Resolution do you plan to use: 1600x900 most likely

Parts I do not need: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, OS, HDD/SSD, DVD-RW Drive

What parts would i prefer: AMD Over Intel/nVidia, GSkill, Mushkin, Corsair, Rosewill

Where will you be buying the parts: USA

CPU/APU- A10-5800k- $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113280

GPU- Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR5 - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127586

MoBo- FM2 AMD A85X Micro ATX - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138369

RAM- G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 @ 1866 MHZ - $58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

Case- Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147060

PSU- Rosewill Stallion 500W ATX12V Power Supply - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182044

Total $460


I tried to do my due diligence, ill be using a 1TB 7200 RPM Mech HDD drive to begin with and in time getting 2 extra SSD's(One for OS, One for Games, while using the Mechanical Drive for Programs, Files, Music and Movies), ill also be getting a DVD-RW for it from local store for $18, so ill need mobo with atleast 4 Sata connections(3 for HDD/SSD, 1 for Disk Drive). I have been told the APU's IGP component runs well with memory clocked at 1600 or higher(1866 being the recommended minimum), i know theres 2 free fan slots for case ill be getting 2 nice little 120mm's along with a molex(i think its molex) powered 4 fan controller(Top, Front, and Sides, ill leave the rear fan running at top speed mostly). I think for this setup with 5 fans(usually running at fast speeds, 3 Memory drives, a DVD-RW, might do a slight 5%(4.0 GHZ)-10%(4.2GHZ) OC on the cpu and maybe IGP as well as Discreet Card(5 fans might come in handy along with an aftermarket heatsink in time) a 500W PSU should be find since i've heard A10's with a 6670 and the bare min of everything else are barely touching 400W consumption.

If you could tell me if i made some good choices and/or give me some hints on maybe improvements i can make.

 

[jay2tall]

APU's are a bad idea for gaming. You don't have a really good upgrade path and the CPU portion is just generally not that powerful. You would be better off getting an AMD 970 motherboard and an FX-6300 and a low dedicated card. Even if you got an AMD 7770 or GTX650 you would be FAR better off. I would also not get a Rosewill PSU. more suggestions to follow.

 

[NecTheGreat]

thank for the advice but it really wont be upgraded(but the FM2 socket will be used by future APU's atleast one more generation if not 2 more AMD has already stated). Once it gets its components it will mostly be used for lightweight gaming and will be a hand me down system going from me, to nephew, to his little brother. Im mostly posting this thread with the idea in mind it will be a lightweight gaming pc/media center for children. The oldest nephew is turning 10 in a few months and will be a b-day gift for him since over last year hes became infatuated with World of Warcraft(mostly) and Star Wars: The Old Republic(not as much as with WoW). As long as the rig can handle 25-35 fps on Medium-Low(2 on a scale of 1-5) at 1600x900 or 1366x768 settings thats all that really matters, after a couple years it will most likely be going to his younger brother who is 2 years younger than he is.

 

[jay2tall]

Motherboard + CPU combo FX-6300 ASRock 970 mobo $204.98: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1199280

RAM Corsair Vengence $52.99 - 10% code = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144

CASE: SAME

PSU XFX 550w $70-$15 code - $15MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

Video card EVGA 650TI $140 - $15MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130839

$517.96 - $30 MIR - $487.96

This system has a few things going for it. Better CPU, better GPU, better PSU. It will perform far better than an APU with the hybrid Crossfire setup. It also allows you to upgrade your graphics card to something pretty substantial if you like. The XFX PSU is made by Seasonic and is very good and at a good deal right now. The 8 core FX-6300 is a really good chip, performing around an i3 for some apps and between an i3 and i5 for more multithreaded apps. The GPU will just run far better as well.

 

[drunkducki]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($63.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $454.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-20 16:22 EST-0500)


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 PRO3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($75.06 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $443.51
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-20 16:28 EST-0500)

 

[computernewb]

the APUs are nice if you dont plan on getting a discrete graphics card because it has good integrated graphics. I see you allocated $290 on your cpu/mobo/graphics card. For gaming you want to squeeze out the best graphics card you can get. I would spend it like this

amd phenom ii x4 965 - $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

gigabyte am3+ mobo - $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128565

radeon HD 7850 - $165
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161426

total = $315

its a little higher than your $290 but its MUCH stronger.

 

[NecTheGreat]

Thank you jay2tall, drunkducki, computernewb. i will run this over with my brother-in-law since we are both going in on this(im springing 2/3 the cost and hes springing 1/3 plus hes going 100% on the SSD's and getting the OS(Win7 Ultimate or Professional 64-bit) free from his work). Im truely grateful for all the suggestions If anyone else has opinions i'd love to see them as im not planning on buying the parts for a couple weeks.

Oh and computernewb, the games im talking about are more cpu intensive than gpu intensive(well WoW is more cpu and SWTOR is sort of a mix between both). and the apu's IGP and the Discreet GPU are intended to work together in hybrid crossfire, i have no need for a gpu that good.

 

[jay2tall]

. and the apu's IGP and the Discreet GPU are intended to work together in hybrid crossfire, i have no need for a gpu that good.

The hybrid setup doesn't give you all that much more than the dedicated card. The 6670 is a bit overpriced in my opinion and a 7750 for the same price would perform better than the hybrid setup. And there is no such thing as not needing a card THAT good in the gaming world.... well unless you are talking about the $1000 cards.

 

[NecTheGreat]

Very true Jay2tall, ill keep that in mind

 

[Wisecracker]

How long can you wait? Richland APUs will roll out in less than a month. Better efficiency and higher clocks on the graphics

If you are going for dual-graphics, an HD6570 DDR3 would likely give you your best performance.

This is on the mobile side, so desktop will bump things up.

Also - I've got a 65w Trinity A10-5700 with the graphics engine cranked. It's great!

 

[NecTheGreat]

Despite the topics subject, i have been seeking alternatives to the APU/GPU combo so ill update my proposed list

What will this PC be used for: Gaming(WoW, SWTOR, PCSX2[PS2 Emulator]), Watching HD Movies, Browsing Web

What Monitor Resolution do you plan to use: 1600x900 most likely

Parts I do not need: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, OS, HDD/SSD, DVD-RW Drive

What parts would i prefer: AMD Over Intel, GSkill, Mushkin, Corsair, Rosewill

Where will you be buying the parts: USA

CPU- Phenom II X4 965- $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB GDDR5- $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127710

MoBo- ASRock FX AM3+ AMD USB 3.0 Micro ATX- $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157323

RAM- G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 @ 1866 MHZ - $58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

Case- Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147060
(might say screw the front panel USB 3.0 version nd save 10 bucks and get the from USB 2.0 case)

PSU- CORSAIR Builder Series 500W ATX12V, 80+ Bronze- $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Total $460


oddly without trying this slightly modified proposed build also comes up to 460 . Basically i don't care if i use AMD or nVidia, and on budget builds i try and stick away from Intel because while they got good performance the price is just too high for what you get performance wise. So i chose a AMD CPU/nVidia GPU. By reading what reviews i could find i've been lead to believe the GTX650TI and the X4 965 neither will bottleneck the other. I want to try and stick away from the FX series(mostly Dozer i could likely deal with a Driver) but i have had and used others Phenom II x4's in the past and have always been impressed.

Would love some constructive feedback

PS: If i do end up doing any sort of CPU over clocking ill most likely just do a small 300mhz one upping the 965 from 3.4 to 3.7 ghz so it can roughly be on par with the 980's since 980's are pretty hard to find these days, but the OC if it does happen most likely wont happen for a couple months.

 

[jay2tall]

BTW your links are all broken.

You list a GTX650TI, but then in the paragraph above you say 560Ti. I wanted to make sure you meant 650Ti. The Phenom should do you fine, I see there is a $10 off code, make sure you use it. $85 for that CPU is pretty good. I'd take it over an APU any day. You can save a few bucks by getting DDR3-1600 RAM rather than 1866. The performance isn't really much different.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Memory+%28Desktop+Memory%29-_-Corsair-_-20233144

 

[NecTheGreat]

oh yea sorry, i did mean 650ti, i sometimes mix up stuff, i think im slightly keyboard dyslexic :-(, lol ill edit post to reflect what i mean

yea i might shave a few bucks off from ram and maybe get the next step down on the case, might put the saved money towards an aftermarket heatsink

 

[jay2tall]

CoolerMaster Evo 212+ if you are looking for a heatsink. It's cheap and really really good.

 

[NecTheGreat]

very nice, decent price, good looking reviews looks to be a solid investment, thx once again Jay2tall

 

[jay2tall]

very nice, decent price, good looking reviews looks to be a solid investment, thx once again Jay2tall

I had a friend install this simply for a quieter cooler. The stock intel i5 cooler can crank up a bit on load. It's very quiet.

 

[NecTheGreat]

Ok guys thank for all your help, i think im just about ready to build this pc( just need to wait till payday ;-) ). New eggs PSU Calc is just too basic i cant trust it so i used http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine with full CPU and GPU load, the phenom and the 650 ti, 2 sticks of ram, a 7200rpm HDD, dvd burner, 4(includes HSF) 120mm fans, 2(1 led, 1 no led) 140mm. It has me at 370W min power wattage, and 420W recommended power wattage. Following the general rule of.. (power you need) divided by .75(3/4) = PSU wattage. I dont think 500W will be enough. Do you guys recommend me bumping my psu to 550 or 600 since 420 div ded by .75 is 560? I know corsair is a fairly reliable company but i have doubts if 500 would be truly enough.

 

[jay2tall]

A good 500W PSU will handle that system just fine. The Corsair CX500 will be just fine. There was a crazy deal on an XFX PRO550W but I see it is all sold out on newegg. It ended up being $40 after code and MIR. 38A on the 12V rail is pretty good and will hold that system well. If you forsee a video card upgrade in your future to something more powerful, you may want to look at a good 550 or 600W, but a 650TI doesn't need anything over a 500W. You would probably be fine the a good 450W.