December 26th Ultimate AMD Value APU PC Build Guide

[tezza192]

These videos are so good for people getting into PC building for the first time, I wish they were around back in the days when I first got into it lol.

[virus464]

the zooming flashed me so hard^^ awsome job edsel

merry christmas

 

can someone type that letters to search with the hardware id? seems to be a nice trick

[DDT2005]

An A10-6790K installed in a A55 chipset motherboard?  Isn't that like putting a Cadillac engine into an Impala?  Should have at least considered a A75 chipset (has USB 3.0 and SATA 6 GB/s ports).  Also a non-APU part should have been considered (such as an Athlon II X4 760K) if you had planned on a discrete graphics card in the first place.

 

And here we go again with the anti-static bag controversy.  Give it a rest.  Even the guy who used to do that doesn't use them anymore when building on top of the motherboard box, and he said that they were all non-conductive.

[Hoppa]

No thermal paste?  :lol:

 

EDIT: hmm I think there may be paste already on the heatsink, it's hard to tell.

[morritse]

This... really isn't the way to go. Here are the barebones of this PC

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qioL     $540.

 

You really can save a lot of money and achieve the same performance.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qiCX

 

arguably BETTER performance at $425

 

This CPU is basically an APU without the integrated graphics capability. Now, expensive RAM is not needed. These two things allow us to save a lot of money. A 260x is essentially a rebranded 7790ghz, so a 7850 is actually a pretty significant step up. This is also a more capable motherboard

 

Thougs linus? Y U NO USE ATHLON X4?

[morritse]

 

This ultimate build guide is a little different from previous ones. Normally we feature a lot of hardware that's beyond the financial reach of most viewers, and also beyond their needs. Today is more of a "back to basics" build guide, and the first one we've ever done with AMD as a title sponsor, so we want to give a big shout-out to them for making it possible.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlCqYyAQE_w

 

Below is a list out the components included as well as a source or two for where you can get them 

 

 

I can't tell you where to buy this stuff, but I do lean towards NCIX for the Canadians (and International viewers if their pricing and shipping costs work out for you) because they're my bros, and for Americans the Amazon links below are affiliate links, so of course every little bit helps 

 

CORE COMPONENTS

 

CPU: AMD A10 6790K

NCIX: http://bit.ly/19qrPK7

Amazon: http://georiot.co/13EG

 

Hard Drive: WD 1TB Blue

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1cT46xf

Amazon: http://georiot.co/3MPE

 

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-DGS R2.0

NCIX: N/A

Amazon: http://georiot.co/2AKW

 

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000

NCIX: http://bit.ly/19jfIvM

Amazon: http://georiot.co/3xxp

 

(Optional) Video Card: AMD R7 260X

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1c76t1W

Amazon: http://georiot.co/1rpq

 

RAM: AMD Entertainment 8GB

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1ecLKJG

Amazon: http://georiot.co/2DEI

 

Power Supply: Seasonic 400W OEM

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1iiEG3q

Amazon: http://georiot.co/1hc2

 

Mouse: Corsair Raptor M40

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1gYxBVi

Amazon: http://georiot.co/1jwq

 

Keyboard: Corsair Raptor K30

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1c70wBV

Amazon: http://georiot.co/1qOZ

 

Monitor: Acer H236HL BID

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1kHUI6w

Amazon: http://georiot.co/2uYe

 

Operating System: Windows 8

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1a9UIo5

Amazon: http://georiot.co/JmN

 

any thoughts on the alternate build suggestions?

[LOST TALE]

This... really isn't the way to go. Here are the barebones of this PC

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qioL     $540.

 

You really can save a lot of money and achieve the same performance.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qiCX

 

arguably BETTER performance at $425

 

This CPU is basically an APU without the integrated graphics capability. Now, expensive RAM is not needed. These two things allow us to save a lot of money. A 260x is essentially a rebranded 7790ghz, so a 7850 is actually a pretty significant step up. This is also a more capable motherboard

 

Thougs linus? Y U NO USE ATHLON X4?

AMD sponsored LinusTips conspiracy

[iamwn]

The new sponsor is gonna be AMD, linus mentioned it in one of the WAN(k) shows

[JayD]

In the video it looked like you didn't apply thermal paste on the APU and you made no mention of it. Do AMD heatsinks have it preapplied? Didn't seem like it...

[DKM1129]

Ok so first of all very good guide enjoyed watching every minute of it now i know this was a budget build guide and guys please correct me if im wrong but when it comes to intel boards you get your H81 that cant overclock or make use of the turbo clock speed and as you go higher up to your B-H-Z motherboards you have access to the turbo clock speed and optoins to also overclock now i noticed that Linus was talking about how you'd be able to overclock with a better Mobo now im wondering is it an option to overclock on the mobo that was used for this build or is it like how youd get a H81 mobo ? 

[Heisenbleurgh]

They are an incredible amount of work. They take about 2-3 weeks worth of man-hours to produce (the water cooled one was closer to 4), so they're very expensive. Not many manufacturers can afford the sponsorship that pays for us to make them, especially because part of the terms from our side is that aside from including one of their components they don't get any say in the process...

 

They don't even get to pick which of their components we use unless we agree on it...  This ensure that we end up with GOOD, unbiased build guides, which improves the value of them for the viewers now and in the future, but not all companies are that... open minded. We aren't willing to be flexible about this, however, so only Intel and AMD have engaged with us on these so far.

 

Next year you might see a new sponsor though... It'll be someone very unexpected

 

Woah! I knew these were hard work but I wasn't sure just how much. Thanks a lot to you and the sponsors, these videos are actually how I learned the basics and I watched along them during my first build recently.

[EricX2]

Did linus forgot the thermal paste or am i blind?

He used the stock heatsink which has it applied from the factory, so no need to add any.

[linusforsell]

Perfect timing! Just got a request to build a fast but cheap computer for an old relative, and I figured I could try going with an APU build for once. With some slight modifications to this list, I think I managed to put together something that'd run real smooth for years to come (granted that the stuff doesn't die on 'em). Thanks for the list!

 

Modifications I made to the list for those interested:

AMD A10 6790K > AMD A10 6800K (Reason: Better availability, and thus also cheaper)

Seasonic 400W OEM > Corsair CX500M 500W (Reason: Seasonic is not easy to find here, Corsair will do fine at a great price. Couldn't find any good value PSUs at around 400~450W though.. )

AMD Entertainment 8GB > G.Skill Ares DDR3 2133MHz 2x4GB (Reason: Could find these at a great price, so why not?)

 

Added:

Samsung 840 Evo 120GB (Reason: Could fit an SSD into the budget, and I love the 840EVOs. It'll be interesting seeing an older person react to how fast a computer CAN be.)

Generic Optical drive (Reason: Even in this day and age, there are some people who actually use DVDs, my relative would be one of them)

 

Cheers!

[deadaccount69]

i have a feeling the new sponsor is corsair...

[Evil_Cronos]

I built a system very similar to this one for my friend's business. WE used the A10 6800K and no graphics card. However, we have been having issues with the system shutting off. I belive that it is because of CPU temperatures going over 80 degrees C (HWMonitor) with the stock cooler while playing Binding of Issac on high settings.

 

I just realized that this is turning into more of a troubleshooting post. I'm going to go find the proper thread to post my full specs and see if someone knows a good fix.

 

As for this thread, It was nice to see an AMD based system build. They seem to be much less common than Intel build guides.

[TechFan@ic]

i have a feeling the new sponsor is corsair...

Noctua ! a system that's brown as "insert poo pun here" but whisper quiet.

[David89]

This... really isn't the way to go. Here are the barebones of this PC

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qioL $540.

You really can save a lot of money and achieve the same performance.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qiCX

arguably BETTER performance at $425

This CPU is basically an APU without the integrated graphics capability. Now, expensive RAM is not needed. These two things allow us to save a lot of money. A 260x is essentially a rebranded 7790ghz, so a 7850 is actually a pretty significant step up. This is also a more capable motherboard

Thougs linus? Y U NO USE ATHLON X4?

 

I'm with you with that one. If it is really value oriented, you should not go for the newest APU. The 5800K is more then enough for having a basic PC, that is able to play some games. And if you want to Add an extra GPU, then just go straight away for the 760K. Because, TBH, with Kaveri around the corner it just doesn't make any sense in buying the expensive ones.

 

I've build a 760K System with a very good Motherboard (that Asrock one Linus showed is crap - i had 4 RMA's in about 6 Weeks) and a R7 270X. With that System you are able to Play BF4 even in a 64 MP map with more then 45 FPS and if you turn everything to max, you still get 30 FPS in Single-Player. Crysis 3 runs with about 45-50 FPS. GPU is completely maxed out, while the 760K @ 4,6 GHz has about 75-85 % Load. Also the A55 Chipset and that kind of APU is like having a F1 Car with a 15 HP Engine.

 

AMD sponsored LinusTips conspiracy

 

What? Because AMD want's to sell the expensive APUs more, and does not want to Sell the Athlons?^^

 

 

No thermal paste?  :lol:

 

EDIT: hmm I think there may be paste already on the heatsink, it's hard to tell.

 

There is. But the Standard APU-Coolers are crap. They don't even have a copper core. And the thermal pad (it's not really a paste) isn't that high quality like it was with the FX-50 CPU's a few years back.

[delet my acc pls]

They are an incredible amount of work. They take about 2-3 weeks worth of man-hours to produce (the water cooled one was closer to 4), so they're very expensive. Not many manufacturers can afford the sponsorship that pays for us to make them, especially because part of the terms from our side is that aside from including one of their components they don't get any say in the process...

 

They don't even get to pick which of their components we use unless we agree on it...  This ensure that we end up with GOOD, unbiased build guides, which improves the value of them for the viewers now and in the future, but not all companies are that... open minded. We aren't willing to be flexible about this, however, so only Intel and AMD have engaged with us on these so far.

 

Next year you might see a new sponsor though... It'll be someone very unexpected

Is it chris roberts?

[LOST TALE]

What? Because AMD want's to sell the expensive APUs more, and does not want to Sell the Athlons?^^

 

 

''http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qiCX

 

arguably BETTER performance at $425''

My conspiracy is Linus was payed to showcase an APU build, because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

[Grave]

LOST TALE, on 26 Dec 2013 - 7:28 PM, said:

 

What? Because AMD want's to sell the expensive APUs more, and does not want to Sell the Athlons?^^

 

 

''http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qiCX

 

arguably BETTER performance at $425''

My conspiracy is Linus was payed to showcase an APU build, because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

 

4gb ram..? No OS? 1gb vram?

You can also crossfire APU and discrete GPUs for extra performance in certain cases.

No, your build will not perform the same as an APU build like that.

[David89]

 

What? Because AMD want's to sell the expensive APUs more, and does not want to Sell the Athlons?^^

 

 

''http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2qiCX

 

arguably BETTER performance at $425''

My conspiracy is Linus was payed to showcase an APU build, because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

 

 

Nope, it's definately not better Perfomance, then the 6790K. And that has a lot of reasons:

 

1. The 750K is Trinity-Based. The 6790K is Piledriver-Based and that alone is a 10% Increase of IPC. Piledriver is also more efficient then Trinity. Also, most of the 750Ks have some sort of "Limit" at 4,5 GHz. Piledriver are very easy to get to 4,8 GHz. So you have to pick the 760K. Oh, and the 750K doesn't support PCIe 3.0. Also the 6790K has a baseclock of 4,0 GHz, while the 750K has only 3,4. TurboClock on the 6790K is 4,3 GHz and on the 750K only 4,0 GHz.
2. OpenCL Performance is A LOT higher on the 6790K, then on the 750K.
3. 4 GB is not enough.
4. The 7850 isn't really that much faster then the 260X.
5. You have choosen a FM2 Board, wich will not support the upcoming Kaveri and Carizzo APUs/Athlon CPUs, so no chances for upgrading that machine without a new Board.

So, no, no better Performance.

[LOST TALE]

Nope, it's definately not better Perfomance, then the 6790K. And that has a lot of reasons:

 

1. The 750K is Trinity-Based. The 6790K is Piledriver-Based and that alone is a 10% Increase of IPC. Piledriver is also more efficient then Trinity. Also, most of the 750Ks have some sort of "Limit" at 4,5 GHz. Piledriver are very easy to get to 4,8 GHz. So you have to pick the 760K. Oh, and the 750K doesn't support PCIe 3.0. Also the 6790K has a baseclock of 4,0 GHz, while the 750K has only 3,4. TurboClock on the 6790K is 4,3 GHz and on the 750K only 4,0 GHz.
2. OpenCL Performance is A LOT higher on the 6790K, then on the 750K.
3. 4 GB is not enough.
4. The 7850 isn't really that much faster then the 260X.
5. You have choosen a FM2 Board, wich will not support the upcoming Kaveri and Carizzo APUs/Athlon CPUs, so no chances for upgrading that machine without a new Board.

So, no, no better Performance.

Good info. So I will get an FX 6300 instead of the APU. what about that now?

[David89]

Good info. So I will get an FX 6300 instead of the APU. what about that now?

 

I wouldn't. I would get the 760K, overclock it to 4,4 - 4,6 GHz (depending on the cooler) and wait what Kaveri/Carizzo is going to bring. AM3+ is pretty much dead IMHO. Not because of the FX-CPUs, but because of the AM3+ Chipset. It's old, uses a lot of Power (i'm totally convinced, with newer and better Chipsets the Power Consumption would be much better), needs extra chips for USB 3.0, S-ATA 6 GB/s and PCIe 3.0...FM2+ is such a good platform - i never had any problems with it and i probably build about 20 FM2/FM2+ Systems, including my own^^ And who knows, maybe AMD is answering our prayers and gives us a 3 Module Kaveri Athlon and maybe even a 4 Module Carizzo FX-APU^^

 

And you need to show me an AM3+ or Intel System with that much Power, that drops down to 36 Watt @ Idle - even overclocked. Granted, under full load even the Piledriver Cores need a bit more power then the Intel - but what do you expect from a 10nm difference on the litography. That's about 2-3 Years in research...and it's not even AMD's fault...

[LOST TALE]

Granted, under full load even the Piledriver Cores need a bit more power then the Intel - but what do you expect from a 10nm difference on the litography. That's about 2-3 Years in research...and it's not even AMD's fault...

 

Tell me more, what'S up with it not ebign AMD's fault..thye do the research.

 

 

[calebp123]

My only complaint is BRING THE OLD MUSIC BACK!!!!