AMD A8 5600k - what can it run?

[FatumFatalis]

So I recently had a new computer built (8 GB DDR3 ram, AMD A8-5600K APU) and I find that if I try to play a lot of even not really new games it struggles badly.

Witcher 2 for example even on the lowest graphical options and 1280x800 resolution is basically unplayable because of the low frame rate.

So does the A8 5600k suck that badly on it's own? Will I see significant improvement if I crossfire it? Is it worth it or should I scrap the thing and go to discrete card + new processor?

 

[clutchc]

I'm surprised it struggles at that low rez and low settings. I would have expected its iGPU to handle the low end of 720p rez with mid settings. But if you want to game, you really need a discrete card.

 

[anbello262]

I have an A10-6800k, and I can't play, for example, Metro 2033 at lowest settings (1080p). It even lags on the main menu. So, yes, APUs are sometimes worse than they might seem.
But, just to make sure, are you certain your ram sticks are working as Dual Channel?

 

[clutchc]

Metro 2033 is a killer. One of the very few games I can't max out with my R9-290X overclocked card and my i5 @ 4.2 GHz at 1080p.

 

[FatumFatalis]

I will check the ram sticks, but I am very surprised the card struggles like that as well. I am not nearly as computer savvy as I used to be, is there something I may have overlooked in setting my system up that might be contributing to the problem? I basically just put it together and turned it on, didn't mess with settings anywhere.

 

[clutchc]

I will check the ram sticks, but I am very surprised the card struggles like that as well. I am not nearly as computer savvy as I used to be, is there something I may have overlooked in setting my system up that might be contributing to the problem? I basically just put it together and turned it on, didn't mess with settings anywhere.

Well, you DO have an integrated graphics solution. It's a pretty good one as far as iGPUs go, but it is trying to play games that were designed for discrete cards. I would expect that it could run most games at low/mid settings at 720p resolutions. At least my A10-5800K could before I installed a discrete card. Do you have a lot of stuff running in the background while you try to game? A lot of stuff starting up with Win?