Your APU experience

emmanuelxian07

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Jan 22, 2011
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Hi guys. I'm planning to buy an A8-7600 APU because I like the fact I can put it in a case like Cooler Master Mini 110 and carry it over to either a friend or my mom's house when I visit. I will be gaming with it a lot but I'll live with Medium-High settings on 720p resolution. What I'd like to really ask is the experience of those who's using the same or similar APU. Are there any games that you can't play with it? If yes, what games would those be?

Also, if anyone wants to share their experience while gaming on their APU, you're more than welcome to.

Note:
** I don't want to get the A10-7800 since the performance difference vs cost isn't that big.
** I don't plan to do any overclocking since I'm using a really small case. I'm going to use Noctua NH-L9a and its TDP is only 65Watts. Another thing to consider is the fact that I'm going to be using the built in PSU - 200 Watts only. So no overclocking.

Please share your personal experience with it if you have it or any other APU. Thanks!
 

Abedsbrother

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Feb 4, 2015
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I use an A10 6800k - bought it shortly after it came out. This is obviously not Kaveri, but hopefully some of this info will still be useful, since the A8-7600 has the same number of stream processors (384) as the 6800k, and is tied to a similar CPU with lower clocks (both are Steamroller-based).

Ram - Get at least 8 GB. Needs to be dual channel, or your graphics performance will disappoint. Needs to be at least 1866 mhz (higher is better), with the lowest possible CAS latency.

Cooling - If you're not over-clocking, your cooling will probably be fine. Try tweaking ANYTHING will cause your temps to rise quickly with the stock cooler.

Games I can play - If 30 fps is acceptable (a smooth 30, not one that is all jittery), just about any game from 2012 and earlier. This includes games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mass Effect 3 (which both get 60 fps @720p). I don't recommend Thief (2014) and Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag; they will run, but not steadily. I doubt Unity is any better. The Witcher 2? Forget it. Assassin's Creed III can actually chug at a smooth steady 24 - 27 fps on Low settings @1080p, and Tomb Raider (2013) is another game that will run well on Low @ 1080p.
Other 720p games that run well (at various levels of detail): Left 4 Dead 2, Skyrim, Saints Row III, Max Payne 3, Dishonored, Batman Arkham City.

Basically, you can run most games if you're willing to turn the settings low enough, but 720p is lowest I've ever had to go.

BTW there will be a significant performance improvement if you go with the A10 7850k, which has 512 stream processors instead of the 384 that both the A8 7600 and the A10 7800 have. The TDP is higher, though - 95W - but I recommend it if you can find the PSU overhead. 200W is a little low for any system IMO, but that's just me.
 

emmanuelxian07

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Jan 22, 2011
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I appreciate you sharing your experience with me. Assasin's creed is one of the games I wanted to play, but if you've tried it and its not playable, then I guess either I'll need to scratch that off my list or maybe think of a different build. That's interesting and makes me wonder more what other games aren't playable with an APU. Have you tried any Batman game?
 

Abedsbrother

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Arkham Asylum runs @1080p, Arkham City @720p - both around a steady 30fps.
Note that it was only AC IV: Black Flag that doesn't really run well (during ship boarding, you'll see a drop to around 10 fps). The original Assassin's Creed, AC II, and Brotherhood all run well @1080p. It's only with Revelations that the graphics start getting intense, but even then, Revelations and AC III are both playable.
Happy to help.
 

emmanuelxian07

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Jan 22, 2011
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Read that thread too. Hopefully I won't encounter any issues when I finally decide and make my purchase. Thanks for sharing all those info. A couple more games I'm interested to play are Diablo 3 and Watch Dogs. Have you tried those?
 

Abedsbrother

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Don't own Diablo 3, haven't played it.
I have the original Watch Dogs (not the latest Ultimate version or what ever it is called). Recommend 720p, runs fine.