Advice on upgrade....X4 740 or APU? or...

Hardnut

Hardnut

Hardnut

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Joined
12 Apr 2004
Posts
138
Hello,

I haven't been around here since 2004! - Well I have lurked on occasion but the first time posting.:eek: I'm amzed I remembered my password!

Sorry if this is the wrong forum!


I have decided to upgrade my aged Athlon X2 4200+, 2GB Ram, X1950 Pro 512mb gpu... and i'm looking for some advice.

I'd like to spend less than £200, mainly for internet, 1080p viewing and encoding, possibly play some light games (have 360, so only some old faves maybe some rage...)

I was looking at the Radon 560a X4 740 bundle : https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-130-OE

As its seems so cheap and I could get a cheap graphics card to complete the setup. Though the motherboard in this bundle seems very crap, no more dimm slots would be free and I couldn't put in any additional cards really. would have liked a X85 chipset motherboard but hey, its really cheap!

Or should I go the APU route, maybe an A6/A8 with better motherboard and 4/8GB ram?

My current system has lasted well, though its impossible to encode anything as the graphics card cannot be used for HW acceleration etc...

I have a 24'' monitor/ old but quality wavemaster case/500w psu/many hdds etc so don't need them.

I've had my current setup for many years, just changed the cpu a while back etc...have an asus A8v which has been great for upgradability and the radon590a seems a dead end, though for the money....?
 
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dont be put off by the m/b, many don't rate and wouldn't have asrock boards until they try them, then they have different things to say about low cost budget boards, and also they do some very top end ones as well, rock stable and good drivers and support
 
 
Snip the APU doesn't fit on that mobo :(

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
Total : £202.97 (includes shipping : FREE).



or intel

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - FREE Alpenföhn Civetta Cooler!! £72.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £35.99
Total : £198.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



Click me for CPU comparison

The A10 has a great IGP which is gaming capable the IGP in the i3 isn't so great. If you play games on the xbox you are probably better off with the 1155 intel solution and look to drop in a dedicated GPU once the Xbox is "discontinued". Remember you get free P&P if you link your account :)
 
honosuseri said:
Snip the APU doesn't fit on that mobo :(

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
Total : £202.97 (includes shipping : FREE).



or intel

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - FREE Alpenföhn Civetta Cooler!! £72.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £35.99
Total : £198.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



Click me for CPU comparison

The A10 has a great IGP which is gaming capable the IGP in the i3 isn't so great. If you play games on the xbox you are probably better off with the 1155 intel solution and look to drop in a dedicated GPU once the Xbox is "discontinued". Remember you get free P&P if you link your account :)
Click to expand...

OMG!!!! :rolleyes: It's been a long day!

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x MSI A55M-E33 AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £35.99
Total : £183.77 (includes shipping : £9.00).

 
Not only did the APU not fit the mobo but the RAM is really too slow to "feed" the trinity IGP. There is a reason I spent a little more on the RAM.

The other issue for the OP to consider is his HDDs and optical drive. If they are IDE this connection has been dropped from modern mobos in favour of sata.
 
honosuseri said:
Not only did the APU not fit the mobo but the RAM is really too slow to "feed" the trinity IGP. There is a reason I spent a little more on the RAM.

The other issue for the OP to consider is his HDDs and optical drive. If they are IDE this connection has been dropped from modern mobos in favour of sata.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think I'm going to go to bed now! Sorry about that!
 
Thank you for the quick replies guys!


RE: the Hdd's. My primary drive(s) are two Raptors in raid 0 - both sata so that should be fine.

However my storage drive are all ide, an i did imagine that even the latest mobo's would keep an ide connection? If not i'll have to get some external kit for them and get a new 1tb drive as my main storage.

I do look the like of the A10, though it is going to be a present ~~(to me from family) and I didn't want to take a liberty with the cost. Still leaning toward the X4 740 bundle, as then I could alway replace the mobo/cpu myself in 6 months etc, £85 for a cpu/8gb/mobo, Its very tempting!
 
The A10-5800K sounds as if it'll probably be better suited esp if your wanting to do a bit of light gaming. The other option is that if you're willing to spend a little more later is to for an Intel based build such as an i3-3220 and used the integrated HD2500 for now then add a proper gaming card at a later date. For productivity and encoding though the A10-5800K would be a little better.


Yeah unfortunately new motherboards don't have IDE connectors any more. Re the DVD drive you'll probably just be better off buying a new DVD-RW.
 
Thank you! Forgot how friendly and helpful everyone over here are!

Will seriously consider getting the A10! Or atleast an A8 for a few months.
 
Hardnut said:
Thank you! Forgot how friendly and helpful everyone over here are!

Will seriously consider getting the A10! Or atleast an A8 for a few months.
Click to expand...

Me personally i'd go for the i3 setup I posted. If your software supports Quicksync that uses the IGP to boost the video encoding process and it does help a great deal. Whilst the trinity APUs IGP is "better" as it's gaming capable I'd rather be on the 1155 socket (z77 mobo) so you can upgrade (and overclock) to an i5 or even i7K much later on, even if it's a second hand CPU.

I think you should consider selling the Xbox off, the funds from that and the games can get you a decent dedicated GPU. Have a look at the steam website\client (they are working on their own console). There are plenty of quality free to play games and you can also buy premium titles too and the prices are cheaper than buying retail. It's very much like Xbox live but no subscription to pay.

My HTPC is far from "ninja" as it's only a AMD 555BE (Dual core @4.1Ghz) paired with a 1GB 460 (@900Mhz). However it absolutely murders current consoles, it's not even funny the difference in graphic quality. 1GB 460s and 6850s go 2nd hand for around £50ish and with the new drivers they are still very capable budget gaming GPUs.

All food for thought, I look forward to seeing what you settle on :)
 
I must admit its a tough call. The i3 certainly does at least provide the better upgrade path in the long run (although FM2 will be around for one more generation on APU's). If you're likely to progressively upgrade the system then Ivy Bridge makes more sense.
 
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