Building a friend's PC soon and I am not familiar with AMD builds since I have been building Intel systems as long as I can remember. In fact, this will be my FIRST AMD build evaar!
Can you guys check the specs?
CPU: AMD Piledriver FX 8350 4ghz Black Edition
MB: ASRock 990FX Extreme 3 or Asus M5A88-V EVO (which ever is available at the time of purchase LOL)
RAM: G. Skill Ares 2x4gb 1600mhz
PSU: Corsair GS 600w
CHASSIS: Bitfenix Ghost
HDD: Seagate 1tb 64mb
GPU: HD 7870 2gb/256mb
Roughly $1000 to spend, and there might be enough change to get a Crucial or Intel SSD.
Both the ASRock and Asus boards would probably need a BIOS update to run the FX CPU but I'll just let the guys at the shop I am purchasing do that dirty work so I wouldn't be to blame hahaha
You think this is good for a fellow medical student who simply browses the web, makes reports, and games from time to time (likes RTS, FPS, and RPGs)
Oh yeah, I purposely chose the 8 core AMD; may be overkill but it's price, I was compelled to put it as CPU. I could always dumb it down to a 6 core or 4 core and improve on other parts for this build if ever.
Me, Personally, would go with the AMD A10 - 5800K and upgrade the RAM abit, I've seen alot of videos where the A10 can get Ultra on Bf3 @ 32-45 Fps @ 720p. So, me, I would ditch the 7870 and get the A10, yes it may not be as powerful as the 8350, but it can run games much better.
If you do go with the A10, then go all out on the RAM to make the most on the Integrated Graphics, the money saved on not buying a dedicated GPU can be used to go all out on other parts, or even an SSD or just random peripherals.
I have a friend who has the 7870, he does play BF3. He got 15FP/s on High..Sorry, but compared with what I seen the a10 do, It's nothing special. I based my reply on what I had seen, sorry if you seen differantly, but hey, multiple opinions on something may help him. Who knows.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zGFi This is only 900 so if you need an OS you can fit it in there. Also, do you plan to oc? Because then a better cooler and larger psu are needed.
nope he doesnt want to overclock lol and no he has an OS.
if we could squeeze a 7950 here (prices are somewhat dfferent in asia).
so far, he doesnt an overkill of a system, so the 8350 is as far as the overkill he wants lol
doesnt plan to crossfire at all either, so we decided on that PSU otherwise we can always get something higher if changes his mind during the purchase.
if we scamp out on the 7950 for a 7870, we might be able to squeeze in an SSD too lol
But yeah, thanks guys for the feedback! for now I am still leaning towards the 8350 as his CPU
Ignore this as well please, 8320 is not that much cheaper and does not overclock as well. It runs much hotter at the 8350's clock and requires far more power to do so. 8350 is a far more stable option, and allows you to push OCs much further in the future if you decide that's necessary.
But these aren't really "opinions", they're facts. An 8350 with a 7870 will always outperform a A-10. I'm not trying to flame here, this is just to prevent the OP from being misinformed. A 7870 performs at roughly the same level as a stock 580, which can run BF3 on Ultra settings @ 1080p, sans AA.
Are you sure your friend has a 7870, and not perhaps a 7770 or 6870?