AMD A8-6500 As Physics Processor?

[TheJWaggz]

The "Build"

 

I purchased one of those "fancy" off the shelf computers at a Best Buy not long ago and it came with an AMD A8 6500 APU.  The graphic part of the APU was fairly decent but not for what I wanted to do (Gaming).  So the 1 stick of Ram (8GB) was ok but I replaced the PSU with a 750W Corsair and Bought a R9 270X (which was a little big for the case so I had to remove a little metal from the structure of the case) and rolled the computer back from Win 8 to Win 7.  

 

The Question

 

I've herd it's possible to take the graphics part of an APU and turn it into a physics processor to do dirty work and make your dedicated graphics card more efficient.  Is this true?  How can I do this?

[Lord_Kitty]

While theoretically possible, there is no software to do that, currently. Your CPU also don't support HSA, which is needed to distribute tasks between the CPU and GPU.

 

And using a graphics chip to do physics processing is an Nvidia thing.

[TheJWaggz]

There has to be something I can do with the GPU on the A8.. its just sitting there going to waste now that I have my R9 270X.  I mean I'll run my second monitor off It sometimes when I need it but other than that idk what to do.  I also know with some AMD APUs and Dedicated Graphics you can crossfire them but I'm fairly sure you cant do that with this setup.

[dragoon20005]

sadly the A8-6500 is just an ok APU

 

dual graphics will only work with the older HD6670 series GPU but since you have a 270X, x-fire the APU and GPU is pointless

 

I think it better just upgrade the RAM to dual channel with another 8GB stick and add a SSD

 

why did you buy such a high wattage PSU?

[flibberdipper]

I don't think you can. You might just have to live with it.

[dragoon20005]

may i ask what is the full system spec of the PC?

 

i may want to take a look at the desktop's upgrade options if there is any

[TheJWaggz]

sadly the A8-6500 is just an ok APU

 

dual graphics will only work with the older HD6670 series GPU but since you have a 270X, x-fire the APU and GPU is pointless

 

I think it better just upgrade the RAM to dual channel with another 8GB stick and add a SSD

 

why did you buy such a high wattage PSU?

 

I bought the high wattage PSU bc its all Best Buy had at the time and the little bitty one they had in there wouldn't run my R9 nor did it have the to rails for it.

 

Here is a link to the original specs of my computer:

 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c04100368&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=6529629

 

I was deff thinking of upping the ram at some point and getting 2 SSDs.  One for Windows and one for Ubuntu. (Kinda like this is my Rifle and this is my Gun, This is for Gaming and this is for Fun) lol

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

it's an nVidia feature as far as i know, it makes a change with low end Graphics cards, where you have two of em, and have one doing the graphics processing and the other doing the PhysX, with a high end GPU like a GTX 660 and up, it doesn't, because it just got the balls to handle both, with AMD, it's using the integrated Graphics in the APU in CrossFire with th dedicated Graphics card, but both working on the graphics Processing, because AMD GPUs can't do physX, can they ?

[dragoon20005]

yes the only decent APU you can get is the A10-6800K

 

but that is useless cost

 

stick to my original upgrade paths

 

SSD and more RAM

[TheJWaggz]

Thanks guys and will do dragoon.  

[Lord_Kitty]

yes the only decent APU you can get is the A10-6800K

 

but that is useless cost

 

stick to my original upgrade paths

 

SSD and more RAM

 

 

There's not much upgrade paths for your CPU and none that's worth it in terms of performance difference. Well, you are trying to build up from a prebuilt.

 

With the RAM upgrade, you're going to have a very unbalanced system. Also, with that case and a 270X, I can already feel that you are going to have overheating problems.

 

EDIT:

 

Thanks guys and will do dragoon.  

 

I don't quite agree with the RAM increase. I've heard that dual channel RAM does not offer a big performance benefit over single channel. Maybe it does with AMD CPUs, I can't confirm this, but another 8GB RAM will cost you around $100. Not sure if its a good idea.

[TheJWaggz]

There's not much upgrade paths for your CPU and none that's worth it in terms of performance difference. Well, you are trying to build up from a prebuilt.

 

With the RAM upgrade, you're going to have a very unbalanced system. Also, with that case and a 270X, I can already feel that you are going to have overheating problems.

 

EDIT:

 

 

I don't quite agree with the RAM increase. I've heard that dual channel RAM does not offer a big performance benefit over single channel. Maybe it does with AMD CPUs, I can't confirm this, but another 8GB RAM will cost you around $100. Not sure if its a good idea.

 

Eh.. it's been running pretty smooth for about 3 months now.  Runs what I play with everything on high settings but never gets hot.  I've actually been debating just buying a new case, a second R9 270x, new motherboard, new ram and all that jazz.. pretty much just keeping the PSU and R9.  I'll put all the origial parts back in the computer and use it as my Ubuntu computer.

[dragoon20005]

This system is more of a multimedia pc to be exact, not exactly made for gaming. Upgrades may be limited but once he got enough budget he count get a proper gaming rig and then he could swap out the ssd, RAM,psu and gpu out. So he only need a new cpu,mobo and a bigger casing.

[Watrevir]

Hi The JWaggz, I know this is a bit late and off topic, but you seem to be the only other person on the internet who's done what I need to do.  I have a Pavilion 500 (different model but exactly the same case) and I've just got myself an R9 270x.  I'm still waiting for it in the post so I'm guessing I'm going to have to modify my case in some way to make it fit.  How did you do this?  With a hacksaw or just by unscrewing things and moving them around?  I'd just rather not have to buy a whole new case, s'all.

 

Thanks for any help!

[TheJWaggz]

Hi The JWaggz, I know this is a bit late and off topic, but you seem to be the only other person on the internet who's done what I need to do.  I have a Pavilion 500 (different model but exactly the same case) and I've just got myself an R9 270x.  I'm still waiting for it in the post so I'm guessing I'm going to have to modify my case in some way to make it fit.  How did you do this?  With a hacksaw or just by unscrewing things and moving them around?  I'd just rather not have to buy a whole new case, s'all.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

 

OI!!  Sooo I've been not here for a long while.. Sorry if this is no longer any help.. I literally took re-bar and heavy duty screw drivers and threaded it through the openings in the metal of the case and pried it to make a hump in the metal so I could plug the rails in. I can no longer put the side door back on but I have a different method for cooling so I don't case thermodynamics. 

 

If you could.. I would recommend some really good metal snips and cutting the metal out where the rails would go. This will decrease case rigidity but hey.. at least you can put the door back on after.

[wiryo990]

or if you want just get amd athlon x4 860k