Best value "Entry Level" gaming PC.

[USER8000]

The OP is also considering the A4 7300 which is dual core Steamroller,and improves multi-threaded performance over the A4 6300.

One of my other systems has an E3400 with 2GB of RAM with a 9300 IGP,and its mostly fine under Windows 8 for web browsing and office work.

I would imagine that an A4 7300 is probably faster as a CPU,and the AMD IGP would be faster than the one in the Pentium G3258 too.

However,the A8 5600K can be had cheaply now,and I would try and get that if possible.

 

[MeldarthX]

7300 is interesting; I'd also look at the 6600k over 5600k; its just better over all.......question is what is the price on 7400k?

With it being unlocked and able to oc; most likely would pass 6600k; and 7600

 

[cbn]

Here are my Dirt 3 results (using the game's built-in benchmark tool) for the following set-up:

Processor: G3258 @ 3.0 GHz
Memory: 2 x 2GB @ 1333 (iGPU shared memory at 512 MB)

Multisampling: OFF
ultra low preset

800 x 600:
102.41 avg FPS
76.03 min FPS

1024 x 768:
82.41 avg FPS
63.97 min FPS

1366 x 768:
67.1 avg FPS
53.57 min FPS

1920 x 1080:
39.44 avg FPS
32.74 min FPS

I can run some more benchmarks with higher presets and/or multisampling as well.

Some more Dirt 3 results to compare using the same set-up from post #100 (ie, the post I am quoting above):

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
ultra low preset
67.1 avg FPS
53.57 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
low preset
50.69 avg FPS
40.17 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
medium preset
29.31 avg FPS
23.92 min FPS

 

[cbn]

The OP is also considering the A4 7300 which is dual core Steamroller,and improves multi-threaded performance over the A4 6300.

According to several sources I found earlier in the thread (CPU World, Newegg, and some other listings) A4-7300 is actually a Richland which is a surprise to me.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36720264&postcount=47

.......question is what is the price on 7400k?

$85 at Newegg

 

[ytsoc]

so while i'm still unsure about the cpu(7300 vs 6300 or maybe another?) i found this board (used)for 38usd

 

[Madpacket]

You must mean after escaping Helgen Right? That may works well enough for a simple comparison. Maybe travel to a certain destination a short distance away from Helgen?

That's right, maybe just walk down the path towards the river and kill a few wolves if they attack. Whiterun is another area that's pretty good to explore. Lot's of NPC's and detailed buildings and is somewhat stressful.

I'll install Dirt 3 tonight for comparisons and hope to make a few videos again time permitting.

 

[AtenRa]

so while i'm still unsure about the cpu(7300 vs 6300 or maybe another?) i found this board (used)for 38usd

Excellent board, im using this one in my reviews for the FM2+ socket. At $38
is even better go for it

 

[cbn]

Here are my Dirt 3 results (using the game's built-in benchmark tool) for the following set-up:

Processor: G3258 @ 3.0 GHz
Memory: 2 x 2GB @ 1333 (iGPU shared memory at 512 MB)

Multisampling: OFF
ultra low preset

800 x 600:
102.41 avg FPS
76.03 min FPS

1024 x 768:
82.41 avg FPS
63.97 min FPS

1366 x 768:
67.1 avg FPS
53.57 min FPS

1920 x 1080:
39.44 avg FPS
32.74 min FPS

I can run some more benchmarks with higher presets and/or multisampling as well.

Some more Dirt 3 results to compare using the same set-up from post #100 (ie, the post I am quoting above):

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
ultra low preset
67.1 avg FPS
53.57 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
low preset
50.69 avg FPS
40.17 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
medium preset
29.31 avg FPS
23.92 min FPS

Some more Dirt 3 results to add (same hardware set-up as above):

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
ultra low preset
41.28 avg FPS
29.53 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
low preset
33.86 avg FPS
22.57 min FPS

Regarding the visuals:

1.) What I noticed the most when moving from No Multi-sampling to x2 Multi-sampling is reduced jagged edges from the player car's rear spoiler.

2.) What I noticed the most when moving from ultra low preset to low preset is that snow gets kicked up on some parts of the track from the other racer's rear tires. (Moving to the medium preset from low seemed like a much smaller jump than going from ultra low to low preset)

 

[cbn]

so while i'm still unsure about the cpu(7300 vs 6300 or maybe another?) i found this board (used)for 38usd

How much would you be paying for the A4-6300 vs. the A4-7300?

At Newegg, A4-6300 is $48 compared to $50 for the A4-7300.

And Amazon has the A4-7300 for $40 free shipping (but it is out of stock at the moment).

(Since A4-7300 has 100 Mhz better Richland CPU and 50% better iGPU compared to A4-6300, I think it is obvious what FM2 is the better deal is now going by US prices.)

 

[cbn]

Whiterun is another area that's pretty good to explore. Lot's of NPC's and detailed buildings and is somewhat stressful.

Yeah, I think Whiterun would be an even better area for testing.

 

[ytsoc]

How much would you be paying for the A4-6300 vs. the A4-7300?

At Newegg, A4-6300 is $48 compared to $50 for the A4-7300.

And Amazon has the A4-7300 for $40 free shipping (but it is out of stock at the moment).

(Since A4-7300 has 100 Mhz better Richland CPU and 50% better iGPU compared to A4-6300, I think it is obvious what FM2 is the better deal is now going by US prices.)

Price difference is not that big: 44USD for the 6300 and 52USD for the 7300

But there's 2 main issues: not sure of the availability of the 7300 and i might need to write a bios on the motherboard via an external programmer. I think i need to wait a little for the 7300 to really hit the market

 

[MeldarthX]

damn 7400k is 45 more......not sure if I'll ask what 6600k is in the states; its down to 59 pounds here in the UK; double checked and I got the 7600 on sale for 59 pounds......

I can posts some numbers from 3Dmark on it and WoT ave; don't have anything else installed on it as its a work machine but it runs solidworks well It being mini itx system with only a 120W psu I am very impressed on how well it runs for little price we paid for it

SSD on it def helps hehe

Honestly if its like 6 dollars for the 7300......I'd go for that as its stronger apu; but also for about the same price you can get 6400k....

 

[Madpacket]

Some more Dirt 3 results to add (same hardware set-up as above):

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
ultra low preset
41.28 avg FPS
29.53 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
low preset
33.86 avg FPS
22.57 min FPS

Regarding the visuals:

1.) What I noticed the most when moving from No Multi-sampling to x2 Multi-sampling is reduced jagged edges from the player car's rear spoiler.

2.) What I noticed the most when moving from ultra low preset to low preset is that snow gets kicked up on some parts of the track from the other racer's rear tires. (Moving to the medium preset from low seemed like a much smaller jump than going from ultra low to low preset)

Thanks for the benches CBN.

I didn't get a lot of time last night to bench the 5350 but see my Dirt 3 numbers below for comparison. My new Intel board won't arrive until Monday at the earliest (Newegg can be pretty slow shipping in Canada) so that will give me some time to test Skyrim on the APU and perhaps some other games.


--


Ultra Low

1920x1080 = 2893 Frames, 30.15 FPS, 24.33 MIN
1366x768 = 4891 Frames, 49.67 FPS, 40.87 MIN
1024x768=6192 Frames, 61.00 FPS, 46.89 MIN
800x600 = 6917 Frames, 69.00 FPS, 50.69 MIN

Low

1920x1080 = 2224 Frames, 22.99 FPS, 18.73 MIN
1366x768 = 3782 Frames, 37.87 FPS, 28.44 MIN
1024x768 = 4519 Frames, 45.76 FPS, 34.53 MIN
800x600 = 5298 Frames, 52.90 FPS, 38.21 MIN

Medium:

1280x720 = 28,834
AVG: 29.21 FPS
Min = 24.21 FPS

 

[Madpacket]

Price difference is not that big: 44USD for the 6300 and 52USD for the 7300

Yeah even though it's Richland, the 7300 looks like the new budget FM2 king now with the extra 50% GPU speeds. Availability will get better soon but I've seen a few places available to order already.

 

[AtenRa]

Some more Dirt 3 results to add (same hardware set-up as above):

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
ultra low preset
41.28 avg FPS
29.53 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
low preset
33.86 avg FPS
22.57 min FPS

Thanks for the benches CBN.

I didn't get a lot of time last night to bench the 5350 but see my Dirt 3 numbers below for comparison.


Ultra Low

1920x1080 = 2893 Frames, 30.15 FPS, 24.33 MIN
1366x768 = 4891 Frames, 49.67 FPS, 40.87 MIN
1024x768=6192 Frames, 61.00 FPS, 46.89 MIN
800x600 = 6917 Frames, 69.00 FPS, 50.69 MIN

Low

1920x1080 = 2224 Frames, 22.99 FPS, 18.73 MIN
1366x768 = 3782 Frames, 37.87 FPS, 28.44 MIN
1024x768 = 4519 Frames, 45.76 FPS, 34.53 MIN
800x600 = 5298 Frames, 52.90 FPS, 38.21 MIN

Medium:

1280x720 = 28,834
AVG: 29.21 FPS
Min = 24.21 FPS

Are you two benching the same scene ?? for example are you both using the build in benchmark ??

 

[cbn]

Thanks for the benches CBN.

I didn't get a lot of time last night to bench the 5350 but see my Dirt 3 numbers below for comparison.


--


Ultra Low

1920x1080 = 2893 Frames, 30.15 FPS, 24.33 MIN
1366x768 = 4891 Frames, 49.67 FPS, 40.87 MIN
1024x768=6192 Frames, 61.00 FPS, 46.89 MIN
800x600 = 6917 Frames, 69.00 FPS, 50.69 MIN

Low

1920x1080 = 2224 Frames, 22.99 FPS, 18.73 MIN
1366x768 = 3782 Frames, 37.87 FPS, 28.44 MIN
1024x768 = 4519 Frames, 45.76 FPS, 34.53 MIN
800x600 = 5298 Frames, 52.90 FPS, 38.21 MIN

Medium:

1280x720 = 28,834
AVG: 29.21 FPS
Min = 24.21 FPS

Madpacket, these were with Multi-sampling off?

 

[cbn]

Are you two benching the same scene ?? for example are you both using the build in benchmark ??

Yes, we are both using the built-in benchmark.

 

[Madpacket]

No multi-sampling enabled in Dirt 3 with my settings. I can test that tonight just so we have exact comparisons.

Good news, my ITX H81 board arrived today instead of Monday! Provided the board doesn't need a BIOS update to boot with the G3258 I should be able to get some GT1 tests in soon

cbn,

In addition to Dirt 3, Skyrim is there any other games you can think of? I have a fairly extensive Steam library so I'm happy to test whatever.

And if anyone else who wants to join in please do so. I will update the OP with a comparison of results once we have more than a few games going. I'm hoping we can have someone bench a few games with the A4 FM2 series chips or Celeron G1820.

Although it's nice to bench with the G3258 its MSRP is $72 dollars and with the L2 extra cache it could be skewing some of the expected results of the Celerons.

 

[cbn]

Here are my Dirt 3 results (using the game's built-in benchmark tool) for the following set-up:

Processor: G3258 @ 3.0 GHz
Memory: 2 x 2GB @ 1333 (iGPU shared memory at 512 MB)

Multisampling: OFF
ultra low preset

800 x 600:
102.41 avg FPS
76.03 min FPS

1024 x 768:
82.41 avg FPS
63.97 min FPS

1366 x 768:
67.1 avg FPS
53.57 min FPS

1920 x 1080:
39.44 avg FPS
32.74 min FPS

I can run some more benchmarks with higher presets and/or multisampling as well.

Some more Dirt 3 results to compare using the same set-up from post #100 (ie, the post I am quoting above):

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
ultra low preset
67.1 avg FPS
53.57 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
low preset
50.69 avg FPS
40.17 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
medium preset
29.31 avg FPS
23.92 min FPS

Some more Dirt 3 results to add (same hardware set-up as above):

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
ultra low preset
41.28 avg FPS
29.53 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: x2
low preset
33.86 avg FPS
22.57 min FPS

Regarding the visuals:

1.) What I noticed the most when moving from No Multi-sampling to x2 Multi-sampling is reduced jagged edges from the player car's rear spoiler.

2.) What I noticed the most when moving from ultra low preset to low preset is that snow gets kicked up on some parts of the track from the other racer's rear tires. (Moving to the medium preset from low seemed like a much smaller jump than going from ultra low to low preset)

.....More Dirt 3 results to compare using the same set-up as above posts:

800 x 600:
Multisampling: OFF
low preset
73.03 avg FPS
55.33 min FPS

1024 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
low preset
60.04 avg FPS
48.39 min FPS

1366 x 768:
Multisampling: OFF
low preset
50.67 avg FPS (results taken from earlier post)
40.17 min FPS (results taken from earlier post)

1920 x 1020:
Multisampling: OFF
low preset
30.37 avg FPS (this was the lowest of three runs. the other two results were 30.38 & 30.54)
25.02 min FPS

1280 x 720:
Multisampling: OFF
Medium preset
31.99 avg FPS
27.19 min FPS

 

[cbn]

Although it's nice to bench with the G3258 its MSRP is closer to $70 dollars and with the L2 extra cache it could be skewing some of the expected results of the Celerons.

Yes, It would be better to have an actual Celeron.....if trying to determine the worthiness of Haswell Celeron vs. any AMD SKU (either AM1 or FM2/FM2+)

P.S. I have my G3258 downlocked to 3.0 Ghz (stock speed is 3.2 GHz) to simulate a Pentium G3220. (If I am not mistaken the only difference between G3258 and G3220 at stock is the 200 Mhz cpu clock). Whereas, with Celeron we do have a clockspeed and 1MB cache difference (+ any other differences??).

 

[cbn]

Madpacket, regarding your benches:

How much RAM did you allocate to iGPU?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Wow, in some threads we have been arguing whether the pentium is adequate for gaming overclocked with a powerful gpu, and now we are trying to game on the igp. Each to his own I guess.

 

[cbn]

I'm hoping we can have someone bench a few games with the A4 FM2 series chips or Celeron G1820.

+1.

The A6-6400K would be great to see as well (I believe the iGPU is the same as the A4-7300, but there is 100 MHz difference in cpu clockspeed.)

 

[cbn]

Wow, in some threads we have been arguing whether the pentium is adequate for gaming overclocked with a powerful gpu, and now we are trying to game on the igp. Each to his own I guess.

There is also a whole world of people gaming on ARM too:

The fact, that the hardware is not as powerful as i5 quad core coupled to R9 or GTX isn't stopping them either.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Personally I lie somewhere in the middle. I dont really see the point of going to the expense of PC gaming and then trying to run it on marginal hardware, especially when so much more performance can be had for the cost of a game or two, but I also dont think it makes sense to spend thousands of dollars to get the absolute best quality, but that is just me. Each user is certainly free to use whatever system he wants and can afford. But I also dont think it is fair to project onto me that I dont think anyone should be gaming unless they have a high end system, for that certainly is not the case. In fact my system is far less powerful than an R9.