Help with a budget APU Build

Hardware Hub Build a PC
1

I am currently building a budget gaming PC. My goal with this computer is to play most new and future games (Battlefield 4/Hardline, Crysis 3/4, ect.)  at 1080p with medium-high setting with a playable FPS (40+). I am going with an APU build so that I can play games at lower settings now, and add a dedicated graphics card in the future. So my question is; what graphics card would you add on to the build I have now to be able to achieve these settings? Also, is there anything in my build you would change? ( All I have bought so far is the apu itself)

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/The_reDMR/saved/69prxr

Thanks!

2

My build is basically yours when I started out. I purchased an MSI R9 270. Wish I would have waited a little longer since there was an MSI R9 280 just a few days ago. For a great increase in performance you could probably be okay with an R9 280/280X or GTX 770/660TI. I get good performance when gaming but I never took the fps draw. You might have to overclock a wee bit but even at stock it should be fine.

3

It's a bit more expensive, but this would give you a lot more performance for the money:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JRWJmG

But since you've bought the APU, let's see what we can do with it.

Cheaper case, more efficient power supply, cheaper OS(you don't need 32-bit), faster RAM.

With the savings, I picked up a better cooler.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MsGhmG

4

Thanks for the advice... Now will I be able to overclock once I get the CM hyper 212 plus?

 

5

Yep

6

Thank you for all the help!

7

The R9-270 would get you to your goal, however the R9-280's are priced so well right now, it would be better to try and grab one of those if you can. The 280 will let you play anything at 1080p on high/ultra at 60fps+. 

8

What do you think of PowerColor? Is this a brand I should avoid?

 

9

I've had no experience with them. I'd look at customer reviews on newegg and amazon to get an idea of what people think of them. Just because it's not a popular brand doesn't necessarily mean it isn't a good product. ;) 

Edit:

Just taking a closer look at it, it looks like a pretty good quality card. It can overclock and uses a nice backing plate to reinforce the PCB from flex. The cooler looks to be more than sufficient as well. If it's the card that best fits your budget, I can't see anything wrong with it. But looking and performing are two different things, lol. try to find some benchmarks and reviews if you can. I would assume it performs just as well as any other R9-280. Most companies making GPUs these days are all making pretty good quality products.

10

powercolor is hit and miss... Look at newegg and amazon for customer reviews of the product. Some are very well made, but some... not so much. It really depends on the model.

11

If you are looking for less than $500 and you want to overclock, then I would look at something like this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4ZzGnQ

  • fast processor without wasting money
  • 2400mhz ram to increase graphics performance
  • 256gb SSD as os and games drive
  • Good quality case
  • 500 watt power supply for future upgrade

This build is $60 over, but will give you more CPU and graphics power without the need of overclocking.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/w3gK23

  • i3-4130 - more powerful CPU without overclocking
  • AMD r9-270 graphics
  • 256gb SSD for OS and Games

Con: 4gb of ram... this will still outperform an APU, and you can upgrade ram later.