Whats the verdict on the APU/CPU chipsets?

[Tac]

I'm helping a friend upgrade his *really* old system.

I've been looking at: AMD A8-5600K Trinity 3.6GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7560D

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113281&name=Processors-Desktops

as a possible chipset for him.

But I honestly have no idea how these new things perform or even how they work.

Does this integrated 7560D Radeon use the system ram as video ram or does it come with its own...? (If it uses video ram then I assume he'd have to buy at least 16gb of ram no?)

Is this built in video card good enough for him to run game like lord of the rings online, Xcom (new one), battlefield 3 in at least medium video settings?

What's the cons of these chipsets/mobos?

Any wisdom appreciated

[Krusty]

Don't waste money on an integrated graphics chip if you have a dedicated GPU. Then get a dedicated GPU.

You're losing processing power, period. Get the same chip with standard multiple cores and process more.

[cattb]

There is quite a few reviews out about the AMD APU. The AMD APU will benefit from faster RAM and the APU does use the system RAM. DO some reading, the fm1 and fm2 are different sockets and the 85x fm2 is the board that a person is able to run video card  with the APU graphics ( crossfire). I am not sure about the Lano FM1 boards.

From what I have read the APU will play games at more or less at medium settings. Don't expect anything more then that out of the graphics.

Also just from what I have read 8 gig of sys RAM I think would be enough.

Possible downfall of FM boards. The sockets are differet from FM1 and FM2. When AMD comes out with its next APU, will they chnage the socket again? If they do then that makes the FM2 pretty much EOL ( end of line). WIth a Intel 1155, if a person started at a dual core there is the option to upgrade in the future.

I personally am looking to build a new HPTC and have been researching the APU and my options. Hope any of this may help and please do your own research.

[Reschke]

cattb lets start comparing notes because I am beginning my quest to build a decent little HTPC as well but want to keep the costs down pretty low since games aren't going to be the key thing done on that system.

[guncrasher]

cattb lets start comparing notes because I am beginning my quest to build a decent little HTPC as well but want to keep the costs down pretty low since games aren't going to be the key thing done on that system.

if that is the case, you cant beat a 400 system from best buy.


semp

[cattb]

if that is the case, you cant beat a 400 system from best buy.


semp

with the exception of building it yourself and know what parts are going in the system

[Krusty]

For that budget and that use, does it matter? You're building the most basic of systems. Even if you want to upgrade later, it would be just as cheap to replace it. I can understand his point. If you're building a 1-time disposable system, does it matter if you choose the parts yourself?

[guncrasher]

it's always been if you want a low end budget system then buy the ones at best buy.  you cant beat a computer, keyboard, mouse and monitor for less than 500 bucks.  wont be the best but if you arent going to play games then it wont matter.

the problem with budget build it yourself computers is when you are ready to build a good set you are gonna find out that those budget parts you already have will not be good enough to upgrade.  not even the case.  perhaps the only thing you can salvage is the hd and cd rom.  which you can also salvage from the best buy computer (most of the time), along with a genuine copies of windows that you can transfer to your new system.

semp

[Krusty]

If you are building with the intent of being to upgrade later you don't get budget bare bones. You get the case that allows future upgrades. You get the pricey motherboard that allows better CPUs. It allows you to insert PCIe video cards.

Then you've blown your entire budget on a mobo, case, and power supply.

So if you're going for bare budget NON-gaming HTPC, there's no need to worry about future upgrading. Just accept you won't. That's liberating in and of itself. You just save up for a 1-time expense and never fiddle with it again.

[cattb]

it's always been if you want a low end budget system then buy the ones at best buy.  you cant beat a computer, keyboard, mouse and monitor for less than 500 bucks.  wont be the best but if you arent going to play games then it wont matter.

the problem with budget build it yourself computers is when you are ready to build a good set you are gonna find out that those budget parts you already have will not be good enough to upgrade.  not even the case.  perhaps the only thing you can salvage is the hd and cd rom.  which you can also salvage from the best buy computer (most of the time), along with a genuine copies of windows that you can transfer to your new system.

semp

so if build a intel I3 system its not upgradeable, hummm thanks i'll keep that in mind.

[Krusty]

so if build a intel I3 system its not upgradeable, hummm thanks i'll keep that in mind.

If you want a system that you can upgrade later, you have to plan on that from the ground-up. Just looking at the CPU socket type doesn't help. Budget means low-end. You get the low-end CPU and the low-end motherboard with the low-end ram and the low-end everything....

So it doesn't matter if you have an i3 LGA1155. When you upgrade the CPU it's out anyways. If you upgrade the motherboard, there's no performance improvement without also upgrading the ram, CPU, GPU, so you end up doing a full upgrade anyways.

And when you do a full upgrade you don't have to stick to the same socket type.

[cattb]

I can agree to apoint with you krusty, but I can't.

First of all a person should ask
 What am I going to use my puter for?
 How much do I want to spend?
 How long do I want to keep puter for and do I want to possibly upgrade?
 Would I possibly be using puter  for other projects, games etc in the future?

You just built a computer using all low end parts in your example, but we are not all the same with the same ideas. Every person may have a different situation which could change the variables.

Have a good day!

[Krusty]

True. I was going off on the HTPC tangent, I suppose. Something where the other thread was influencing my thinking in this one.

[cattb]

Yah, both these threads kinda ran together ( sortof). It did it to me to.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Unfortunately Intel is eating up sockets like cookies. There's no garantee that by the time your current purchase gets dated a new cpu will still be available for the same socket.

AMD has an excellent upgrade path with their socket - but that doesn't matter since they can't compete in performance outside lower midprice cpu's.