A10-7850k/MB Combo at Micro Center, need help choosing RAM

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crockman

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May 15, 2005
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Hi,

My Nephew is looking into buying the A10-7850k CPU w/ Gigabyte GA-F2A88X-UP4 MB
http://www.microcenter.com/site/products/amd_bundles.aspx
Combo from Micro Center for 220$ (US). Were mainly buying from Micro Center due to here in Minneapolis Micro Center is about the only decent PC Parts Place that we can physically drive to.

This A10 CPU/MB Combo is an Upgrade from his present Intel Core2-Duo 6600 w/ 6GB Memory and an AMD 5700 Video Card. His PC is mainly used for Listening to Music, Surfing the Web and Gaming such as Minecraft (Fully modded-out), Star Wars Old Republic, Elder Scrolls Online, plus other various Online MMO's.

Were looking at buying 2x8GB of Memory to go along with this A10/Gigabyte MB Combo. The Gigabyte MB will support 64GB (16GB per slot) of PC2133 RAM. His PC is on occasion used as a Minecraft Server so the extra RAM is a plus.

So far we have come up with a few choices for the RAM. We have decided to go with 2133 Memory Speed but we can adjust to Slower Memory if any of you suggest to.

1. Corsair Vengeance Pro 2x8GB 2133, CAS 11 for 200$. Considering RAM from Micro Center due to it is within Physical Driving Distance to us in case the RAM comes DOA or craps out soon after purchase.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...1_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_8GB_Memory_Modules)

2. GSkill Ripjaws X 2x8GB, 2133, CAS-9 from Newegg for 169$ with Promo Code
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231571

Any Suggestions for RAM would be greatly appreciated.

PS. Neither of us are OC'ers so OC'ing will not likely be done.
 

Insert_Nickname

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May 6, 2012
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Simple. For APUs you want the fastest speed you can afford, with the tightest timings you can afford. Generally you will want tighter timings before increases in frequency.

Another thing you want to make certain of is that you're buying double sided DIMMs. AMDs memory controller is in love with the things... ;)

Also avoid CL11 DIMMs.

If I had to pick, I'm recommending the GSKILL kit, because of the tighter timings.
 
Aug 11, 2008
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I don't want to derail the thread, but you could do much better for gaming than paying 220 dollars for an APU/mb combo. For instance, the FX 6300 plus mb for 110.00 with a HD 7850 level dgpu will destroy it in gaming for only slightly more, or for the same budget add a HD7770 and get probably 50% faster gaming. You also won't have to spend extra for the fastest ram you can find.
 

DominionSeraph

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Jul 22, 2009
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Yeah, APU is a bad choice for gaming. It's going to be considerably slower than the video card he has now (APUs are in the 5670 range, not the 5770 range), and if that C2D is overclocked at all it's not going to be much faster in single/dual threaded tasks than his current CPU.

Here you see the 7850K being destroyed by a 6750 (rebadged 5750):
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7677/amd-kaveri-review-a8-7600-a10-7850k/12
 
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Essence_of_War

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Feb 21, 2013
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A10 for gaming in an ATX form factor, you say?

You could certainly do that, but I suspect, as DomionSeraph and frozentundra pointed out, that that is going to be sort of a side-grade rather than a significant upgrade. The igpu on the A10 is solid, but it still really doesn't throw down well with even entry-level gaming discrete gpus (ex. Radeon HD 7770 or R7 250X)

Moreover, most MMO engines only take advantage of 1-2 cores, so an i3 or even a pentium with an equivalent deal at MC combined with a discrete graphics card would probably offer your nephew the best performance for his dollar spent. If you use the discrete gpu, you also don't have to worry about high-performance RAM.

I might try something like this:
i3-4130 for $99
MSI G41 for $85 AR
(Not 100% sure, but I think the G41 still qualifies for an additional $30 savings if you buy it with the i3-4130, I would call ahead to be sure!)

You can still pick up 16 GB of RAM, but it need not be particularly fast if you're using the dgpu, MC has a reasonable kit of DDR3-1600, 1.5 V, CAS-9 for $145
but you could save $30 by picking up this identically spec'd kit from Amazon

So that's either $269 best case (discount + cheap RAM) or worst case, or $329 worse case (no discount on MSI G41, buy in-store RAM).

As far as dgpu goes, there was a really nice deal on a 7770 on newegg that appears to be sold out, MC actually has a decent R7-250X for $99 and an 7770 GHz edition for $90 AR. Both will perform nearly identically.
 

DominionSeraph

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Jul 22, 2009
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^^ If his "5700 series" is a 5770, I wouldn't bother 250X or 7770. It's not enough of an upgrade.
 

Fox5

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Jan 31, 2005
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I3 + old graphics card, or i3 plus cheap new graphics card is unfortunately still the way to go at current prices.

Also, for a low end purchase, do 8GB of ram over 16GB.
 

crockman

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May 15, 2005
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Thanks for All the replies,

As I figured you all suggest not to buy an AMD APU, I've done a bit of research on the APU's the last few days and now I would pretty much agree the APU's are too slow. Our original thought was by going the APU route we wouldn't need to spend any money on a Video Card.

So back to the Discrete Video Card upgrade which will be more expensive. I like Essence of War's Hardware choices, he suggests an i3 for the Gaming, but my Nephew does use his PC for other tasks that would benefit from a Quad Core.

Nephew's present PC Spec's:
Intel Core2 Duo 6600
ATI 5770 Vid. Card
6 GB RAM
500 Watt "Silent Engine" PSU

Proposed Upgrade:

$160 Intel i5-4570 3.2 Ghz
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413255/Intel_Core_i5-4570_32GHz_Boxed_Processor
$ 90 ASRock Z87 Pro 4
http://www.microcenter.com/product/414942/Z87_PRO4_Socket_LGA_1150_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
$145 Crucial Ballistic 2x8GB DDR3-1600
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...l_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_8GB_Memory_Modules)

Total $395. The Total for the original APU/MB/RAM Idea was $390 (links in 1st post).

That leaves what Discrete Video Card to buy as an Upgrade to his 5770 ?, A decent upgrade to a 5770 for $200 or less would be ?

Thanks
 

Insert_Nickname

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May 6, 2012
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That leaves what Discrete Video Card to buy as an Upgrade to his 5770 ?, A decent upgrade to a 5770 for $200 or less would be?

For absolute performance an R9-270(X). For best performance per watt, 750TI.

It really depends on what's most important: performance or power consumption. Either will run circles around a 5770... :)
 

crockman

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May 15, 2005
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To be honest, I'm even considering that Intel i5, ASRock Z87 and Crucial RAM as an Upgrade to my present PC (Specs in Sig.). I would reuse everything else in my PC and would reuse my HD 7850 as well.

That Intel i5/ASRock Z87/Crucial RAM a worthy Upgrade to my present CPU/MB/RAM ?

My PC is an Everyday, does a little bit of everything PC. As well I play Swtor, the new Elder Scrolls Online, other various MMO's and Minecraft (Fully Modded Out) & on occasion my PC is used as a private 5-person Minecraft Server.
 
Aug 11, 2008
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Check out Tom's Hardware best graphics cards for the money article. Looks like R9 270 from AMD is probably the best choice under 200.00. It is a rebadged older card (HD7870), but is still very competitive. In the same ballpark is the nVidia GTX 660, it has come down in price now to under 200.00 also if you shop carefully.

Cant you get a better deal on a cpu/mb with the combo deal at Microcenter? Right now the one in my area is showing a 4670K/MSI Z87 combo for 245.00, which is actually less than the combined price of the cpu/mb you have listed.
 

Essence_of_War

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Feb 21, 2013
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A decent upgrade to a 5770 for $200 or less would be ?

Any of these:
PowerColor R9 270X for $180 shipped, AR
Asus GTX 660 for $170 shipped, AR
PowerColor 7870 GHz Edition for $165 shipped, AR

That Intel i5/ASRock Z87/Crucial RAM a worthy Upgrade to my present CPU/MB/RAM ?
It would be a BIG step up in CPU performance. As DominionSeraph said, in the neighborhood of 3x faster in just about about every benchmark. Should alleviate any CPU bottlenecks for that 7850! :)
 
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crockman

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Good Ideas "Insert Nickname and frozentundra123456"

The R9 270(non-x) is not enough of an Upgrade as compared to my HD7850 so I'll keep my 7850, but for my Nephew's 5770 it is.

So for Nephew considering this:
$180 Sapphire R9 270 (non-x)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202090

I personally have been buying Sapphire for 10+ years, have always been pleased with Sapphire & EVGA build Quality. My present HD 7850 is a PowerColor, it has a noticeable shroud squeak/rattle, it's just not the quality of a Sapphire.

And yes, frozentundra123456, there is a $245 (after rebate) 4"6"70k/MSI Z87 bundle at the Minneapolis Micro Center.
http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

So that's probably a better Idea then my 4"5"70k/ASRock Idea. I've always had good luck with ASRock and Biostar MB's so my Idea is a bit of a Fanboy Idea, though that MSI MB does have some pretty good reviews, so your 4"6"70k/MSI Idea is probably a better Idea.
 

crockman

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May 15, 2005
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Thanks for the Reply mfenn.

My PC and Nephew's PC are not just Gaming-Only PC's, so a Multi-Threaded Quad-Core is a bit more useful to us then a 'Gaming' Dual-Core such as an i3.

We have no set budget$ but have ruled out the i7 has too expensive and more then we need, as well $200'ish or less on a Video Card is a shooting point. Quad-Core+ is a definite, therefore Intel i5's or AMD APU's & FX's as our choice. As you can see in this Thread the conclusion was APU's are too slow, therefore i5's or FX's are the choice.

Nobody at all in this Thread have suggested an AMD FX as an option, process of elimination i5 becomes the choice.

$245 4670k i5/MSI MB from Micro Center becomes the hands-on-favorite.

Why 16GB of RAM not just 8GB ?
1. Future Proofing. IE I ran my present PC (In Sig.) w/ 4GB for years, Swtor & Windows 7 alone gobbled up that 4GB and needed more, but DDR2 had become harder to find so had to spend more$ then the RAM was worth.
2. Dimmdrive http://dimmdrive.com/ We are both considering Dimmdrive as a Gaming Software. the RAM will definitely be a big plus for Dimmdrive.

Conclusion: 4670k i5/MSI MB, 2x8GB DDR3 1600 (Leaves 2 RAM Slots open for Future Expansion) becomes the Choice.
1. My PC Upgrade becomes complete being my Antec 500Watt PSU is sufficient and any Vid. Card under $200 is not going to be enough of an upgrade over my HD7850.
2. Nephew still needs a Video Card to upgrade his 5770 and may as well need an Upgrade to his PSU. Hi PSU is a 500Watt "Silent Engine", I do not know anything about Silent Engine PSU's so don't know if it is sufficient or not
 

bononos

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Aug 21, 2011
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Googling silent engine psu give this link which is from 2006 and only atx 2.01 compliant which may not be able to support Haswell's low power sleep state.
 

crockman

Senior member
May 15, 2005
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That Corsair CX430 is quite a steal at $20, would gladly grab one cept' 1 problem, it only has 1 PCIe connector. Some of the Video cards we are considering, such as the R9 270"x", require 2xPCIe connectors.

Neither of us plan to xfire/sli, at least not in the near future, but some Cards do have that multiple connector requirement.

Thanks for All of the Replies.

With all the Info gathered from this Thread I've come up with a proposed budget gaming build. I think I'll start a Thread with my proposed build (w/ links), that way newcomers won't have to slosh through all these posts.
 

Insert_Nickname

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May 6, 2012
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That Corsair CX430 is quite a steal at $20, would gladly grab one cept' 1 problem, it only has 1 PCIe connector. Some of the Video cards we are considering, such as the R9 270"x", require 2xPCIe connectors.

Nothing a little molex-to-6pin-PCIe adaptor won't fix... ;)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812443012

You can properly find them cheaper if you shop around a bit. The CX430 is more then capable of handling any single GPU. (Except perhaps the R9-290(X), 780TI and the various TITANS. That might be cutting it a bit close)
 

crockman

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May 15, 2005
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Nothing a little molex-to-6pin-PCIe adaptor won't fix...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812443012

You can properly find them cheaper if you shop around a bit. The CX430 is more then capable of handling any single GPU. (Except perhaps the R9-290(X), 780TI and the various TITANS. That might be cutting it a bit close)

Thanks, I did not know such an adapter existed.

Even though I do consider this PC Build/Upgrade Project 'Budget', I/we(nephew) do not want to buy too cheaply as to Gimp This Build in the long run. Yes that CX430 would run, with help of that connector, an R9 270X, but say a year down the road when say 290x's and low end i7's are cheaper, I'd be a bit sceptical of using a 430 Watt PSU.

As it stands now were looking at buying a EVGA 500Watt PSU and I'm not sure in the long run (2'ish years) if 500W is even enough.

Btw I have started a new Thread. I took all the Info from this Thread and compiled it, then came up with a condensed/proposed Build from this Thread. New Thread can be found here: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2378553
 
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