CPU/APU, MB and RAM for £200 or less

Babyjeffrey · 30 Nov 2013 at 19:02

Using an old old core2duo, P5B with 6GB, couple ssd and an old 9500GT. Would like to give this system a shot in the arm for general windows and light gaming - last 18 months played dungeon defenders, Star Wars, Star trek nothing heavy but the 9500GT should be easy to improve upon.

Was thinking A8 5600K, AsRock FM2A75 PRO4 plus some RAM, apparently RAM speed matters more than it used to in the old days. There seem to be endless choices of 2X4 GB kits around 63-80, don't have budget for 2X8GB. Down the line I'd probably get an after market cooler for quiet.

I've built a number of machines before but haven't kept up with the endless march of tech, so need advice on what to get.

Have a 460W PSU which I think will be more than ample.

Danny75 · 30 Nov 2013 at 21:23

FM2+ socket motherboard will be able to handle the upcoming Kaveri APU's for future upgrade. And I think it's worth it to spend £15 more to get a good quad-core APU in:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-6600K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Quad Core Processor (AD660KWOHLBOX) £99.95
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-D3H AMD A88X Chipset (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £59.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
Total : £215.93 (includes shipping : FREE).

There's no cheaper 8GB RAM at the moment, that I can find, unless you drop to 1600MHz and the difference is only about £5.

Idleman · 1 Dec 2013 at 01:58

8GB(2x4GB) is enough for gaming.

honosuseri · 1 Dec 2013 at 09:22

You'll note there are FM2 and FM2+ sockets. There is a new APU due early next year (Jan) called Kaveri which needs the FM2+. Might be best to wait for that fella

joeyjojo · 1 Dec 2013 at 10:52

Danny75 has nailed it.

Babyjeffrey · 1 Dec 2013 at 16:07

Thanks, that memory looks like a great bargain. Waiting to Jan sounds good for the CPU, might grab some of that RAM now.

A quick google and :

'For what it's worth, leaked slides suggest that Kaveri will offer a 20% boost in CPU performance and a 30% boost in graphics performance over Richland. That's probably at least close to the mark.'

from
http://techreport.com/news/25707/all-signs-point-to-kaveri-being-an-evolutionary-upgrade

bottom of the page.