My first Enthusiast build

AMD A10-7850K at 4.4 Ghz. full load @39.C

can stable Overclock to 4.9 Ghz but thermal temps exceed my comfort at 53C idle. 

Corsair H100i in Pull configuration into case, with 2 fans expelling heat from top and back corner. 

AMD R9 series 2400mhz RAM 2x4GB 

Coolermaster 1000W (will be used for the AMD R9 295X2 in a month) 

ASROCK FM2A88X-ITX+ motherboard. 

and a Sapphire 7870 XT W/boost overclocked to 1370mhz core. 1630 mhz RAM. stock at 925 Core, 1500mhz ram. 

effectively in the ballpark of 33 percent core OC. 

 

and the GPU has never exceeded 44C at full load. 

Noice

Dont mean to spoil ya party but that cpu & 295x2. No. It'll be like a fighter jet (gpu) pulling a 747 (cpu), massive bottleneck. Your money so I dont honestly care what you get but for the price of a 295x2 you could get a nice i7, mb & r290 and still have money spare.

Hmm, I'm not too sure if your CPU can feed R9 295X2.

Nice build. But i do agree with deejeta. You might want to upgrade your cpu and motherboard before you try to put a 295x2 in there.

i'm intending myself to discover how much of a difference it makes with a CPU at 4.4 ghz. i don't feel any other Cpu should make a difference so dramatic that i will need to buy a New Cpu. and i am not interested in Intel CPU's. let alone buying a New motherboard and ram, and CPU. 

i'll get the 8350 if it really does make a huge difference. and i do not want a Single GPU anymore. i need more power in the same size case. which is another reason i intend to get it (new CPU or not) so that it will be better with Thermal dissipation. 

If i remember right he literally underclocks his CPU to stupid low and it barely affects it?

You're going to regret it. You need at least an 8 core CPU from AMD, or whatever it is the equivalent of Intel to keep up with two R9 290x.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAgpvWc4VBM

4cores, 8 threads vs 2cores, 4 threads: A scaled test. The performance drop is significant, not so much on Synthetic, but in real world application it made a more noticeable difference (BF3), and that's just with a single card. Just get an single R9 290x.

a single 290X is not going to power 4 k.

 

It's not really an enthusiast build if there's a budget CPU in there is it?

$180 dollars i wouldn't call budget... when AMD offers 70 dollar processors. 

not trying to argue. but my Motherboard also supports FX. i can upgrade if i literally need to. i don't see how i should yet (as the 295x2 has barely any coverage) 

Deduct the cost of the GPU inside that APU, it's a budget CPU.

okay then. 

it's a pile of shit. when the time comes and they say that you need a FX 9590 CPU to even turn the 295X2 on, then i will completely change my setup. 

but i don't see the damage being done in my system. APU's are not Piles of shit. they still function like any normal CPU. i can get it to hit 4.7 ghz stable. and i am sure i could push it to 5ghz. 

but maybe i need a 5 ghz stock CPU to get a 295x2 to turn on. 

 

i'm not understanding as to how much of a difference it makes. my system was built the way i intended. and maybe if i do realize that the APU is literally choking the GPU then i will consider. but that GPU has not had enough coverage for anyone to even say what it is stopping. for all i know maybe i need a PCIx32 slot. or maybe i need some other obnoxious upgrade. and then maybe i can settle fine with a 290X. 

i guess i will findout. either i buy a New CPU now, and am fine with the upgrade or i buy the 295X2 and need a CPU. either way if you guys are right i need both the CPU+GPU to get the full performance. 

1080p, I think you can get away, but 4k? I doubt it. Good luck though. Come back in a month and let us know how your rig perform.

I'm unclear how this is an enthusiast build:

  • Without at least an i7 or decent Xeon, it is not an enthusiast build. I sound like an Intel fanboy but AMD don't currently have "enthusiast CPUs" while Intel at least have extreme edition i7s and crazy Xeon workstation/server processors. Furthermore, the fact that you're using an APU means the build is not enthusiast, regardless of how high the overclock is.
  • The Corsair H100i is great, but if you're really trying to overclock your CPU by such a large degree, custom loop watercooling seems like a more logical path.
  • The ASROCK FM2A88X-ITX+ motherboard is a decent board but handling a super overclocked CPU and a dual core GPU is really stretching it. You have sufficient power no doubt but the motherboard seems to be the weak link if you're upgrading the CPU and GPU.
  • Rather than looking into the R9 295x2: an overpriced and compromised card, I would either look into a single card such as a GeForce GTX 880, or save up enough money to at least go mATX so you can SLI/Crossfire and buy two separate cards; thus reducing isolated power consumption and heat output.

Not everybody has $$$ to drop on 300$ worth of i7 ...

R9 295X2 is a watse as you say ...

Unless you really need the small case , a gtx 690 can be gotten for +/- 400$ on ebay ,

and if I where you , I would invest in a second hand 1230 V3 and 80$ motherboard ( 1231V3 and asus h97 plus can be gotten for 280€ )

 

Anyway good luck !

The entire reason i build a case like this is because i was highly dissatisfied with my micro ATX computer.

and the H100i is only to push the card beyond the normal 4.5 ghz that it would suggest. while i really never thought of it, the only enthusiast CPU AMD has is the 9590. i guess i should have said "my first attempt of enthusiast build"

and i mean... do i take that seriously, because right now, until i do have a 295X2, why the hell would i even need more than 1000w, unless i am missing something seriously wrong.. i don't see how i would need more. and my motherboard was $94 dollars on sale... i picked the one that was the best one the A88X could offer. 

so explain this to me, if i clearly went with AMD (APU/GPU/Ram) why would all of you state get a Intel/nvidia setup. 

in the computer world is AMD just not Enthusiast level. while i would almost answer that question myself. why is it that because AMD costs less is it not considered Enthusiast. 

having a Enthusiast build just means i am Highly fascinated and proud basically. yes; i could have went with a 8 core. i already own the 8350; my secondary machine is running the more powerful specs, but i could care less about that machine. it did it's job. but i also had a Matx build. not Mitx. 

 

these were genuine questions, not me being snooty or sarcastic. 

Think its more of a form factor thing. Amd doesnt have any good options in the m atx and mini itx levels. Wheres as intel does. I would love to have a good matx board to oc a 6 core on or better yet a 8 core but so far thats been nothing but a pipe dream.