A budget APU powerhouse

[Skarnold]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly gaming (Steam, emulators and maybe BF4) watching movies, internet gaming.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'd like to keep it around $500 before shipping.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
New york
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Cpu, Ram, MOBO, HDD, operating system
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Case (Fractal Design Core 1000), PSU (corsair CX430M 430w)
6) Will you be overclocking?
Possibly in the future.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1680 x 1050 22"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In parts over the next month
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Auto overclocking would be nice
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
no will need to be purchased.
i would like to do this combo. http://promotions.newegg.com/Combo/13-1762/index.html
and run with an a10 and 120gb ssd.

 

[tiraides]

The only thing we'd recommend buying piecemeal is the OS, and only if you can grab it on sale. Do you prefer Windows 7 or do you want to try out Windows 8?

Otherwise, when will you have all $500 available to spend at once?

Which games do you play via Steam? What level of visual quality do you prefer?

How much storage capacity do you really need? SSDs are like HDDs in that they slow down performance-wise the closer they get to full capacity.

 

[Skarnold]

The only thing we'd recommend buying piecemeal is the OS, and only if you can grab it on sale. Do you prefer Windows 7 or do you want to try out Windows 8?

Otherwise, when will you have all $500 available to spend at once?

Which games do you play via Steam? What level of visual quality do you prefer?

How much storage capacity do you really need? SSDs are like HDDs in that they slow down performance-wise the closer they get to full capacity.

For the OS im probably going to go with windows 8 but i have no preference. I won't have the full amount to spend until june 3rd. Mostly valve games L4D, L4D2, TF2, CS, but also some MMO and other FPS games. Visual quality isn't the most important thing in the world to me obviously better is great, but playing at mid settings would be fine.
Storage and visuals can be upgraded in the future. I want to start of with 120GB on the SSD for windows and some other games then eventually put in a 500gb+ for future data storage. And as long as the mother board has a pcie slot i should be fine with graphics and eventually throw in a 7770 or 7750.

 

[Dangman]

For the OS im probably going to go with windows 8 but i have no preference. I won't have the full amount to spend until june 3rd.

Wait until then before buying parts. $20 isn't going to kill you and there may be even better deals later on.

And as long as the mother board has a pcie slot i should be fine with graphics and eventually throw in a 7770 or 7750.

That effectively negates the whole reason for an APU setup: fast onboard GPU performance. In terms of CPU power, the Intel CPUs actually outperform most AMD APUs in gaming. It's only with integrated GPUs where AMD APUs have the lead. Once you add a separate video card, you might as well go with Intel in the first place since that would give you faster CPU gaming performance.

 

[sakerfalcon]

With a budget of $500, I'll recommend an AM3+ build over a FM2 build. FM2 is pretty awful.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.96 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB Video Card ($173.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $587.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-21 17:31 EDT-0400)

With a shoestring budget of $500, I'd really, really recommend you possibly obtain an OS via other means. SSD is not feasible within this budget, but the 650ti is an amazing card can can definitely max out everything at your resolution, and pretty good framerates at 1080 at reduced settings.

 

[Skarnold]

Wait until then before buying parts. $20 isn't going to kill you and there may be even better deals later on.


That effectively negates the whole reason for an APU setup: fast onboard GPU performance. In terms of CPU power, the Intel CPUs actually outperform most AMD APUs in gaming. It's only with integrated GPUs where AMD APUs have the lead. Once you add a separate video card, you might as well go with Intel in the first place since that would give you faster CPU gaming performance.

Well if the apu will effectively run the games i want then an additional gpu would be unnecessary. i would like the apu to keep cost down and be able to make something that could perform well for another 2-3 years without upgrade so what would be the best route for that?
I was thinking this.
CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $419.94

 

[Dangman]

Well if the apu will effectively run the games i want then an additional gpu would be unnecessary.

You mentioned BF4. The APU won't run that game that effectively even if you are only aiming for medium settings with that game. BF3 was pretty CPU heavy so BF4 will more than likely be the same. If you were only sticking with Valve games, then the APU might last but I can't vouch for Valve games coming out three years from now.

i would like the apu to keep cost down and be able to make something that could perform well for another 2-3 years without upgrade so what would be the best route for that?

In that case, then your goal of keeping costs down is basically unattainable. You're definitely looking at $500 minimum. In addition, considering your budget, you should avoid doing any monitor upgrade for awhile.

I was thinking this.
CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $419.94

Not a good setup: The RAM is ridiculously overpriced. The CPU is only available in-store at that price. Wait until June 3rd before you start planning a build. We don't know for sure if the parts we recommend today will be the best parts in June. Though you definitely want to look at an Intel Core i3 plus HD 7750 at a minimum.

 

[sakerfalcon]

A10 can barely handle games as-is, so not upgrading for the next 2-3 years is not realistic with your goal of sub $500. Whatever you save on the APU you pay with the more expensive ram - APUs benefit more from faster ram, so 1866+ is recommended.