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Critique my ultra budget AMD build

B

bimbs

Member
Hi Folks! So I asked for help for my work comp (office, internet, and photoshop/premiere) a while ago and found a super deal on an AMD cpu/mb bundle when I went to my local MICRO CENTER. Would love to hear what people think before I buy everything tomorrow:


CPU: AMD A10 7850K 4.0 GHz Black Edition (chose this because then I don't need a dedicated GPU, right?).
MB: Gigabyte GA-F2A58M-HD2 FM2 mATX AMD
BUNDLE PRICE: $120

GPU: NONE
HDD : 128 GB Samsung 840 - $75
RAM: 4GB single stick 1600 DDR3- $40 @ microcenter
Case: Fractal 1300 - $50 (is this the smallest case I can get for that motherboard in the bundle?).
PSU: Does this part matter?
OS: Should I go Windows 7 since it's 20 bucks cheaper than windows 8?

Current price: $285 and don't want to exceed 350 - 400.

Thanks guys!
 
Well, the PSU matters in that it's needed and you don't want to go too cheap. I would go with a Corsair CX430M it should suit that build just fine. I presume you have another hard drive (external or otherwise) to use with this system? Otherwise you'll likely run out of space quickly.
 
I do have 2 extra 7200 hard drives but don't foresee needing more than 128 GB as I use the cloud and gmail for most work things. I'm nervous about AMD because I live my intel at home but the deal seems too good;
 
For your use it'll be just fine. Insofar as Windows 7 vs Windows 8 it's mainly a personal preference type of thing. I would say go with Windows 8 unless you're really attached to 7.
 
To me the question would be how often the Photoshop software would be taking advantage of OpenCL to accelerate tasks. With gaming not in the picture, this is the only reason to use an APU over something like a G3250 in an office machine of that budget.
 
You'll get a free upgrade for win10 later this year, so unless you have some special reason to choose win8 you could save $20 using win7 until win10 is released.
 
bimbs said:
HDD : 128 GB Samsung 840 - $75
Click to expand...
Get an 840 Evo, MX100, X110, Ultra Plus, Ultra II, or other newer faster drive.
RAM: 4GB single stick 1600 DDR3- $40 @ microcenter
Click to expand...
That might work, but go with 2x4GB minimum.
PSU: Does this part matter?
Click to expand...
Yes. There are plenty of options for not much money, though. That 380D sale (Delta design) is killer. Do it.

crashtech said:
To me the question would be how often the Photoshop software would be taking advantage of OpenCL to accelerate tasks. With gaming not in the picture, this is the only reason to use an APU over something like a G3250 in an office machine of that budget.
Click to expand...
If the OP is using CC, there are 2 answers: 1) often enough, and 2) OpenGL will just as useful.

An i3 would be a nice step up (faster ST, better MT, and capable GPU), but the Pentium is kind of meh (similar ST, worse MT, and weak GPU).

escrow4 said:
for $100 and whatever is left get a decent H97 mobo or H81 if you want to save (H81 is heavily cut back though). You don't need the iGPU of the APU and the CPU performance is woeful:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-a10-7850k_9.html
Click to expand...
Wrong link. Here's the relevant one:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-a10-7850k_10.html
I'd spend the money for an i3 or i5, personally but the A10 isn't shabby, for such a low budget, with the bundle. The A10-7700K would be worth looking at, too (slightly cheaper bundles).
 
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Cerb said:
If the OP is using CC, there are 2 answers: 1) often enough, and 2) OpenGL will just as useful.

An i3 would be a nice step up (faster ST, better MT, and capable GPU), but the Pentium is kind of meh (similar ST, worse MT, and weak GPU).
Click to expand...
After looking about, I see that you are right. The mistake I made was trying to equate Microcenter price points with Newegg price points. The 7850K is well into top i3 territory price-wise on Newegg. Therefore, I can only imagine what a good i3 + H81 combo would go for at Microcenter, and whether or not it would be competitive with the OP's build under the usage conditions described.
 
ATM, Microcenter's website only shows combos for the i3-4370, starting at $250, and only with Z97 boards. I agree, w/ Newegg and Amazon pricing, the AMDs aren't too compelling, ATM.
 
Cerb said:
ATM, Microcenter's website only shows combos for the i3-4370, starting at $250, and only with Z97 boards. I agree, w/ Newegg and Amazon pricing, the AMDs aren't too compelling, ATM.
Click to expand...


Wait, you mean the AMDs ARE compelling? The combo for the AMD A10 is $100 WITH mobo. It doesn't seem like i could get an i3 anywhere near that?
 
bimbs said:
Wait, you mean the AMDs ARE compelling? The combo for the AMD A10 is $100 WITH mobo. It doesn't seem like i could get an i3 anywhere near that?
Click to expand...

You can't. The cheapest combo i3-4370 is with an ASRock H81. Total comes out to around $150.-

FYI to all, it does not usually matter what the combo deals show. Any processor on the combo deal list can be added to your cart and you can choose any same socket motherboard for the discount.

Hard to beat the combo in your origional post. It has a $10.- rebate to boot.
 
I am not impressed at all with the Microcenter i3 bundles. They have some nice AMD bundles, and the i5 bundles are impressive, but the i3 ones not so much. The only concern I have with the super cheap AMD bundles is with the quality of the motherboards, but for basic use I suppose they are adequate.
 
I didn't know if all the in-store bundles were advertised online or not. Someday I hope my nearest Microcenter will be closer than 700 miles away...

But anyway, the 7850K bundle looks pretty unbeatable, and even though a G3250 has better single-thread performance (better enough not to be called similar, imo) it is worse in every other respect, making the A10 a pretty clear winner at this rather unique price point.
 
frozentundra123456 said:
Especially with an AMD apu i would go with 2 x 4 gb of ram, although i suppose if you dont want to game on it, 4gb single channel will get by.
Click to expand...

The APU's video is 100% tied to RAM. Dual-channel is a MUST!

You'll thank yourself for getting a pair of 4GB sticks. Check speeds, sometimes RAM faster than 1600 speed is only a couple bucks more.

Worst case, maybe you can snag a used pair of 2gb modules for almost nothing and upgrade to 2x4gb speedy ram later?


Later on, you can get a Radeon R7-250 to hybrid-crossfire with it for more performance.
 
Man u need more memory man, dat way u gonna be able to rememba mo thangs. mo memery =less alzheimas, dat dat way it work

I'm sorry, but this post does not meet the minimum standard of comprehensibility that we expect in this forum.

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator
 
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frozentundra123456 said:
I am not impressed at all with the Microcenter i3 bundles. They have some nice AMD bundles, and the i5 bundles are impressive, but the i3 ones not so much. The only concern I have with the super cheap AMD bundles is with the quality of the motherboards, but for basic use I suppose they are adequate.
Click to expand...

The Microcenter Intel CPU + motherboard bundles are not tied to any given motherboard. When you buy one of a given set of CPUs (i3 4370, i5 4690K, i7 4790K, i7 5820K), you get $40 off any compatible motherboard. So the i3 and i5 give you the same discount, usable on the same set of motherboards.
 
bimbs said:
Thanks, Mfenn! Yes, figured that out and ended up going with a different mobo with built in wifi!
Click to expand...

Handy. Plus, the Intel platform isn't nearly as affected by single-vs-dual channel RAM. A single 4 or 8gb stick, leaves the second slot for more later with very little performance hit -- even on the integrated graphics.

(BTW, the 41xx i3's have slower graphics than the 43xx chips. If you're going to do light gaming on IGP for now, consider the extra $20... or save it and put that $20 towards a used video card a little sooner.)
 
Hmm, I knew that AMD FM2/+ APU rigs benefited from faster RAM and dual-channel to feed the iGPU, but I thought that was only an issue if one was using the APU for low-end gaming.

Does it affect the desktop experience (twitch.tv decoding, etc.), if you only run it on single-channel?

The reason that I ask is, I thought that my friend's A6-5400K rig was slightly laggy at the desktop. I only put a single 4GB of DDR3-1600 (maybe 1333?) in there.

He wasn't going to be using it for gaming at all so I thought just putting a single DIMM would be adequate for desktop usage.
 
mfenn said:
The Microcenter Intel CPU + motherboard bundles are not tied to any given motherboard. When you buy one of a given set of CPUs (i3 4370, i5 4690K, i7 4790K, i7 5820K), you get $40 off any compatible motherboard. So the i3 and i5 give you the same discount, usable on the same set of motherboards.
Click to expand...

OK, I did not understand that. Still though, the discount on the i3 4370 is only 30.00, while the discounts on the i5 cpus run from 60.00 and up. For instance the i5 4590 is 160.00, while the i3 4370 is 140.00. For a difference of 20.00 I would take the i5 every time.
 
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