Dilemma with Dual Cores xD

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1

Hi 

This is my first ever post on Tek Syndicate :D  Huge thanks to anyone who helps me and reads this semi large post.

All the rigs below were assembled online with these reviews in mind.



- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-7850k-a8-7600-k...

- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/piledriver-k10-cpu-...

- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-wolfdale...

- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r7-240-and-2...

- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-processor-fr...


I've been spending these past couple of weeks trying to assemble a budget gaming rig and I've come up with around 3 rigs to choose from. Here's what I've come up with. All the amounts below are in Canadian. Y'know, that place where everyone lives in igloos xD


Rig 1) 


- A4-6300/Athlon x2-370k $50

- R7 250 GDDR5 GPU $90

- 4GB RAM $45

- Apex DM-387 Case w/PSU $50

- An FM2+ Asus mobo for $55

- 1TB Hard Drive $60 

- $15 Shipping 

- 12% Sales Tax w/shipping included in subtotal

Total = $410 


Now here's my dilemma. The problem with this build is that the CPU is garbage and I'm fully aware of that. I immediately thought of replacing it with an Intel Celeron like the G1610 but the problem with this is that it's on a dead platform, whereas the Athlon is not. Another benefit to the Celeron aside from it being waay faster is that there is a MB that is cheaper then the FM2+ Asus one available, around $15 cheaper bringing the total to around $390. The 2nd rig is basically changing the athlon to a Celeron.



If I choose to go with the Athlon I'll have the option of maybe upgrading in a year and a half or so to a cheap Excavator Dual/Quad core. It's basically just gambling on AMD's success. I also don't think I'll be playing very CPU intensive games like Elder Scrolls Online or Arma or Even Planetside 2 for that matter because of how horrible the Athlon is. MAAAAAYBE BF4 but when toms benchmarked BF4 they didn't test dual cores -_- making this difficult. 


Rig 3)


- A8-7600 $120 (Hopefully) , maybe $135 or $130 to adjust for the weak Canadian dollar -_-

- Apex DM-387 Case w/PSU $50

- 8GB 1600MHz RAM $80

- 1TB Hard Drive $60

- FM2+ Asus MB $55

- $15 Shipping

- 12% sales tax w/shipping included in subtotal

Total = $426


Now the great benefit to this rig is that the CPU is a quad core, making this still a very future proof CPU if Excavator ends up sucking hard. Not only that, but also the technologies like Mantle and True Audio. HSA is irrelevant seeing that it won't be widely adopted until at least 2 years and by then the final architectural improvement to Bulldozer will have been released. 


The Obvious disadvantage to this build is that it'll perform less better than the rig above at first, which is quite hilarious since it actually costs more. Mantle is also in itself a bit of a gamble seeing the news of DX12 being close to the metal. 


As you guys can see I'm in a real stupid situation and I don't know what to do. Please refrain from recommending builds any higher then $440 and include my sh**** Canadian taxes for me will ya. 


Right now I'm rocking an A6-5400K build that cost me $375 and while it doesn't do 1080p for s*** it at least plays casual games decently. LOL for example runs at everything maxed except for Shadows at High, with a 1680x1050 resolution . FC3 runs at 720p at medium to low settings at DX9 , around 20-25 FPS. Not bad IMO. I used to have an HD 7770 with an A8-5600k but I had to sell it. 


Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need to figure out where this stupid Athlon stands with the Celeron. Rig recommendations are also welcome. The APU does seem like a no brainer but I also want to be able to sell it quickly in the future and the whole REASON my last rig got sold so quickly is cuz of how I marketed it. Saying that it runs 720p "alright" is not what people want to hear. The A10 Kaveri would have been taken into serious consideration but when I saw that price I laughed my head off. I get that you guys are including major technologies and that there was a major architectural shift but $200 ???!!! That's just bogussssss. Well at least now with the technologies released and the architectural shift out of the way we can start to see some real improvements. Help me out guys. 


Thanks ! 

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http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/3gvTy

Go with something like this so you can be on an active platform and have a better graphics card because spending just a little more goes a long ways with low end hardware.  With this build you can play almost any game at 1080p with no problem.  If you are going to spend more then this get a better graphics card and more ram are the things to upgrade on this build.

3

ragingh4vok build with a 750gtx.

4

thanks for the reply and for reading all that !


I took your advice and built together online a build with that haswell pentium and so far it looks good.

 

I mean the difference between an i7 haswell and ivy bridge is only around 7% lmfao so the only basic difference between the sandy bridge celeron and this one is that this pentium is on a newer platform and thats what Im paying that extra $15 for. Theres basically no difference. That recommendation does indeed make sense.

 

However that case and PSU combo is not only less stylish then the one I have my eyes on (the one with the integrated PSU) , it also costs more so I think it would be best to stick with the one I found. I just hope it doesnt explode xD

 

and since im choosing to go with the case with the crummy PSU it WOULD be better to go maxwell however they are to expensive at the moment for my budget -_- I'll just go with something like an r7 250 which doesnt seem too bad imo. The fact that it can play 1080p even at low is not bad. 


I didnt even know haswell pentiums were out lol. 

 

 

5

I would take a case + seperate quality power supply over a case that comes with a power supply any day of the week.

Unless the PSU is 80+ Gold rated like EVGA's Hadron.

I personally think you should save up more money and grab a Athlon X4 760k(it's an a10-6800k with graphics disabled) and a R9 270.  It's a pretty good bang-for-the-buck gaming rig.  For more intensive games, an FX-8350 or Intel i5 would be a lot better as well.

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the celeron is actually about the same, if not worse. there are better athlons, they're pretty much apus w/o the the graphics

7

I would also do the same. However there are just no decent small cases around $30-$50, and this case also has support for a m-atx mb. I value form factor and portability quite a lot. If I could , I would go with a m-itx fm2+ motherboard in a heart beat but the problem is that they are waaaay overpriced compared to the Intel m-itx ones available. The reason for that is simply because the motherboard makers have to use more heat resistant material and that adds to the cost. Until AMD decreases their overall TDP across their products that price is gonna stay -_-


Yeaa thats a much better combo obvs but ...


Its like $800 where I am xD , It'll take forever lol.  

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That is the consensus. The only athlons that beat the haswell Pentium G1830 is the 750k/760k. All the other dual core athlons are just binned higher end 750ks. I've been spending today trying to get hard data and benchmarks on these things but it seems no online review site seems to care about these poor little CPU's. Since there was no benchmark data on these Athlons and newer A4's I went to anandtech and compared an Athlon 255 to a G620 and judging from the gaming benchmark data the Athlon seems to be around 30-35% less powerful than a G62O so I guess I can assume that a piledriver dual core would be around 25% less powerful than a G620. 

I just wish these review sites would focus at least a little to get some data on these lower end chips -_- , not everyone is made of money. 

9

but Maxwell is too expensive :( 

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^^^ this guy makes a pc with one and shows what it can do -->

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f6INgYBmGo

11

I watched that video but for me it costs an average of around $60-$100 extra because im in BC canada, a place with some of the highest taxes in the world. Its not good for the consumer but it does help with people and their hospital treatments. I cant even begin to imagine going to a hospital and being forced to pay to get treated. Its a nice perk for Canadians. 

It is a really good video tho.