Choosing a GPU for my A10-5800k, 530W PSU build.

[Nocturius02]

I'm looking to finally add a GPU to my budget PC I put together a couple years ago. I'd like to know the fastest card I should add that won't be bottlenecked significantly by an A10-5800K. I have no idea when I'll upgrade the CPU, will likely be a long while, so I don't want to overspend on a card I won't get full performance from.

Here's my full build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($81.00 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X OPTIMA CPU Cooler ($25.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.09 @ Amazon)
Case: Raidmax Atlas ATX-295WB ATX Mid Tower Case ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill Green 530W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.82 @ Amazon)
Total: $329.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-21 01:29 EDT-0400

I'd also like to know if I will be able to overclock the CPU to around 4.2-4.4 GHz and overclock the GPU as well. My power supply is rated at 530w and has been running reliably for two years, but hasn't really been put to task since it's just powering an APU.

A couple cards I had in mind were the XFX R9 280X or MSI Gaming R9 380 4GB, but will they be worth paying for or should I go with something cheaper because of bottlenecking?

If it matters, some specific games I would like to get better performance for are guild wars 2, planetside 2, skyrim with graphics mods, battlefield 4, metro reduxes, batman arkham series, xcom EW. Also fallout 4, star wars battlefront, and xcom 2 when they come out. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Mondozei]

One key question is what kind of gaming we're talking about down the line and what your upgrade horizon is. DX12 will mean that stronger GPUs coupled with weaker APUs will see much less of a bottleneck, which would affect recommendations.

If you intend to game primarily legacy DX11 titles, that changes the equation. It's also important to know how often you'd upgrade. If you're going to try to keep the GPU for ~4 years or if you'd be fine with upgrading about ~2 years from now is important to know as well, as it'd be easier to think about the upgrade path forward.

 

[Nocturius02]

I'd say I'll probably upgrade my GPU every two years or so. I'm going to be playing newer DX12 games as they come out (well, as they go on sale more likely), and also older games. I'd like to upgrade to an i5 at some point, but I will still be using the A10 for probably 6 months or more.

 

[Mondozei]

If you're only going to keep the A10 for a few months to a year then the choice is much easier.

Since your taste in games have a lot of massively FPS online shooters in them(BF4, Battlefront, Planetside 2 etc) and other MP games, the most important upgrade you'd make in the next 12 months is probably the CPU. I'd advise you to get an i7 if you can afford it and cheap out on the GPU for now. This would also be important for DX12 due to much better scaling with hyperthreading.

Obviously you can't afford it for now and that's fine, but I'd actually consider a CPU upgrade before your next GPU upgrade after this immediate one.

You could also do some tricks with Mantle in BF4 for instance, which gives significant benefits to users with APUs. It'll be harder in PS2, which is heavily CPU-bound, but that's life on a limited budget. PS2 is also unlikely to go DX12 in the immediate future(they'd probably go with a PS3 title from scratch instead).

But the frank message I have to you is to go for a used 280X/7970 Ghz Edition, you should find a few for ~$130 or so and save the 80 dollars or so you'd spend on a new 380 and put it away for a new mobo. Then get an i7 when you can afford both of them together next year.

The budget cards of Pascal/Artic Islands is likely to be close to 980 territory(or 390X for AMD). That's going to last you a long time. I wouldn't justify spending cash on a new GPU - even a budget GPU - when we are close to not one but two node jumps over the last 4 years. And spending ~180 dollars(after rebate) in H1 2017 is going to do much more than the budget cards of this year or these past few years have had given you. That'll be your real upgrade path, the used 280X should only be a stopgap, but it could probably last you until 2017 if you're prepared to make compromises.

The CPU will be your foundation for a lot longer, so it's better to bite the bullet there as soon as possible. Also, the next real CPU upgrade will be in 2018(count on it, due to all the delays these days with nodes) with Cannonlake. Kaby Lake is already delayed. So you'll have a lot of legroom there too. Even if CL is 5-10% faster in IPC, you could probably keep a Skylake i7 for 10 years at this rate before you'd need to upgrade. So invest sooner rather than later for that. You can always cut corners with GPUs since they are on the cusp of a major, significant improvement for both NV/AMD.

 

[RussianSensation]

Welcome to AT Nocturius02!

Here is my pick for a better build than yours.

RAM: Option 1 - Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 = $34.99

Option 2 - Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 = $36.99

Hard Drive: Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive = $52.99

PSU: Option 1: Seasonic Built --> XFX - Core Edition Power Supply - 750W, 80 Plus Bronze, 135mm Fan, Active PFC, Single +12V Rail - P1750SNLB9 = $39.99 after MIR

Option 2: XFX TS Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply = $45 after MIR

Option 3: Thermaltake TR2 Gold 450W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.31 / EPS v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Active PFC Power Supply Haswell Ready PS-TR2-0450NPCBUS-G
= $28 after 20% off (ends October 26) and MIR

Case:

* You have to be careful with PCParts ticker prices. Looking at the case you have, it costs $46.99 + $12.99 shipping at SuperBiiz => $59.98, not $42.99.

Option 1: Fractal Design Core 1000 FD-CA-CORE-1000-USB3-BL Black Steel MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case = $29 after $6 promo (ends October 22).

Option 2: Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case = $40 after MIR

Option 3: ZALMAN Z3 Plus White ATX Mid-Tower PC Case, Optimum Multi-Fan system cooling, Wide band front mesh ventilation, Acrylic side panel, multiple dust filters, VF multi-guide for VGA support, USB 3.0 = $39.50 after 10% off and MIR

Sub-total with Option 1 selection: $156.97

Your build is $329.88 (but your case actually costs more than you quoted) leaves $172.91 towards the CPU + Mobo:

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DS3H-A LGA = $42 after MIR (ends Oct 22)

We now have $130.91 towards the CPU. The motherboard I picked for you has 4 DIMM slots allowing for future RAM expansion and it also supports up to i7 4790K. At this point it's up to you if you want to spend a little bit more towards an i5 (I would) or go for an i3 stop-gap. There are many i3s that can fit the budget:

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3M Haswell Dual-Core 3.7 GHz LGA 1150 54W BX80646I34170 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4400 = $125

Sub-total to compare to your parts before GPU selection: $323.97

Videocard: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-3967-KR 4GB SSC GAMING w/ACX 2.0+, Whisper Silent Cooling w/ Free Installed Backplate Graphics Card = $160

The entire $100-200 GPU market segment right now doesn't represent good value. For $220 it's actually possible to get an R9 290 which is at least 50% faster than the GTX960/R9 380 4GB videocards. If you game with headphones or don't mind the noise level, a $220 R9 290 could be something to consider but it's out of you budget. Just giving you an idea how tight things are in the GPU market right now. If you are going with an i3 to start, do not get the 290 as 960 is a better fit.

Normally for the videocard, I would recommend the R9 280X as it's faster than the 960 but with your very limited budget, that $30 difference you could use towards either:


Wireless card/USB? $21

OR

Go from an i3 towards an i5 CPU; maybe find a used K series in the for sale section on our forum.

This platform I outlined for you is a FAR more forward looking as you can upgrade to an i5 / i7 down the line. I personally would go slightly over your budget and get an i5 since I don't see the value of spending $125 on an i3, then reselling it and picking up an i5 later as whatever $ you save now on the i3, you'll lose in resale of the i3 and buying a used i5 as they don't drop in price that much.

BTW, such threads on general builds should go into the General Hardware section.

 

[tential]

What rs gave you is far better and you can upgrade to an i7 later off of eBay used when all of the enthusiasts upgrade to cannonlake or something.

 

[Techhog]

Welcome to AT Nocturius02!

Here is my pick for a better build than yours.

RAM: Option 1 - Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 = $34.99

Option 2 - Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 = $36.99

Hard Drive: Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive = $52.99

PSU: Option 1: Seasonic Built --> XFX - Core Edition Power Supply - 750W, 80 Plus Bronze, 135mm Fan, Active PFC, Single +12V Rail - P1750SNLB9 = $39.99 after MIR

Option 2: XFX TS Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply = $45 after MIR

Option 3: Thermaltake TR2 Gold 450W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.31 / EPS v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Active PFC Power Supply Haswell Ready PS-TR2-0450NPCBUS-G
= $28 after 20% off (ends October 26) and MIR

Case:

* You have to be careful with PCParts ticker prices. Looking at the case you have, it costs $46.99 + $12.99 shipping at SuperBiiz => $59.98, not $42.99.

Option 1: Fractal Design Core 1000 FD-CA-CORE-1000-USB3-BL Black Steel MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case = $29 after $6 promo (ends October 22).

Option 2: Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 - High Air Flow Mid Tower Computer Case = $40 after MIR

Option 3: ZALMAN Z3 Plus White ATX Mid-Tower PC Case, Optimum Multi-Fan system cooling, Wide band front mesh ventilation, Acrylic side panel, multiple dust filters, VF multi-guide for VGA support, USB 3.0 = $39.50 after 10% off and MIR

Sub-total with Option 1 selection: $156.97

Your build is $329.88 (but your case actually costs more than you quoted) leaves $172.91 towards the CPU + Mobo:

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DS3H-A LGA = $42 after MIR (ends Oct 22)

We now have $130.91 towards the CPU. The motherboard I picked for you has 4 DIMM slots allowing for future RAM expansion and it also supports up to i7 4790K. At this point it's up to you if you want to spend a little bit more towards an i5 (I would) or go for an i3 stop-gap. There are many i3s that can fit the budget:

CPU: Intel Core i3-4170 3M Haswell Dual-Core 3.7 GHz LGA 1150 54W BX80646I34170 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4400 = $125

Sub-total to compare to your parts before GPU selection: $323.97

Videocard: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-3967-KR 4GB SSC GAMING w/ACX 2.0+, Whisper Silent Cooling w/ Free Installed Backplate Graphics Card = $160

The entire $100-200 GPU market segment right now doesn't represent good value. For $220 it's actually possible to get an R9 290 which is at least 50% faster than the GTX960/R9 380 4GB videocards. If you game with headphones or don't mind the noise level, a $220 R9 290 could be something to consider but it's out of you budget. Just giving you an idea how tight things are in the GPU market right now. If you are going with an i3 to start, do not get the 290 as 960 is a better fit.

Normally for the videocard, I would recommend the R9 280X as it's faster than the 960 but with your very limited budget, that $30 difference you could use towards either:


Wireless card/USB? $21

OR

Go from an i3 towards an i5 CPU; maybe find a used K series in the for sale section on our forum.

This platform I outlined for you is a FAR more forward looking as you can upgrade to an i5 / i7 down the line. I personally would go slightly over your budget and get an i5 since I don't see the value of spending $125 on an i3, then reselling it and picking up an i5 later as whatever $ you save now on the i3, you'll lose in resale of the i3 and buying a used i5 as they don't drop in price that much.

BTW, such threads on general builds should go into the General Hardware section.

First sentence, man.

I'm looking to finally add a GPU to my budget PC I put together a couple years ago.

 

[RussianSensation]

First sentence, man.

Oh I got owned. Thanks for that! Well I hope at least the budget build ideas I put together will be helpful to 1 person who might read this thread by chance.

In that case, for an A10-5800K, I would get a $130 GTX950 2GB or if using many skyrim mods, the GTX960 4GB I linked earlier. After that, it's basically impossible to 'upgrade' that system without a full CPU platform swap or finding games that are primarily GPU limited.

 

[Nocturius02]

Oh I got owned. Thanks for that! Well I hope at least the budget build ideas I put together will be helpful to 1 person who might read this thread by chance.

Yep, unfortunately I already have this system. Thanks for the welcome and the effort, Russian. I'd build differently if I were doing it today.