AMD Kaveri build

[Shrek556]

I'm putting together a build centered around an AMD Kaveri APU (A10-7850k). It's going onto an Asus A88X-Plus motherboard, booting from a 240GB SSD from PNY (MacBook Pro replacement drive). I'm looking at the G.Skill TridentX 2400Mz 2x4GB kit for RAM.

 

My questions:

 

1. The Asus site says that the MB supports RAM up to 2400(O.C.), will it naturally support the RAM, or will I have to do some overclocking configuration to make it work?

 

2. Which video card will work best with this combination? (Best bang for the buck, not latest and greatest.)

 

3. Your favorite fully modular PSU in the 550-650 range?

 

 

Thanks for your help. 

[misthosg]

I'm putting together a build centered around an AMD Kaveri APU (A10-7850k). It's going onto an Asus A88X-Plus motherboard, booting from a 240GB SSD from PNY (MacBook Pro replacement drive). I'm looking at the G.Skill TridentX 2400Mz 2x4GB kit for RAM.

 

My questions:

 

1. The Asus site says that the MB supports RAM up to 2400(O.C.), will it naturally support the RAM, or will I have to do some overclocking configuration to make it work?

 

2. Which video card will work best with this combination? (Best bang for the buck, not latest and greatest.)

 

3. Your favorite fully modular PSU in the 550-650 range?

 

 

Thanks for your help. 

What is your budget?

[Shrek556]

The video card will be a future upgrade, so I'm not figuring cost right now. I'm more interested in which card will make the most out of the Crossfire with the APU, or if should I just forget Crossfire.

 

The motherboard and APU are already locked in, so the only variables that I'm immediately interested in are the RAM and PSU.

I'm happy with price point that I can get the G.Skill RAM at as long it will "plug and play" with the MB. I'm thinking that the specs on it were posted before retail options were available above 1866Mz. Just looking for confirmation on that.

 

My front runner for the PSU is the Silencer Mk III 500W. It's good quality, quiet, and has enough headroom for an R9 270X later on.

 

Budget for RAM & PSU is around $150-175.

[ManWithBeard1990]

Normally the RAM should work. If you want to go higher you'll have to increase the. BCLK though.

But you're right, people have had problems getting 2400 to work on Kaveri. For me, a BIOS update solved the problem.

[Shrek556]

Everything I've read says that Kaveri loves 2400Mz RAM and it has a marked improvement over 1866. My only concern was the motherboard, but the more I read the more it seems like it won't be an issue. Even the 2400 limit on the MB might go up with future updates. 

[Prysin]

Just a note that the 7850k DO NOT NATIVELY SUPPORT MORE THEN 2133MHz RAM. So you may end up with an unstable system when trying to push 2400. Ive built two such systems already, one is stable, the other is not. Same ram, same mobo, same APU type (7850k), same PSU, case, cooling. Only difference is the storage drives. Some googling around showed that some APUs simply do not run 2400 MHz, which is a shame. However you can just downscale your RAM to 2133 if 2400 is buggy.

Do get yourself some decent cooling, this will allow overclocking, which the Asus mobo should handle just fine. I suggest atleast a decent air cooler, such as the Hyper 212 or Noctua NH14 or NH15, or a more hardcore solution such as the Corsair H100i GTX or NZXT Kraken X61, if your case and budget can handle that much.

As for the rest - get the 7870k. It is slightly faster, and at about the same price as the 7850k.

As for PSU, you will do fine with a Corsair CX-M 550w will do fine for your needs now, and in the near future.

As for graphis card, i would look to get a R7 370X or the R9 270X as these are splendid cards, but will not be bottlenecked by your CPU to any significant degree.

[Prysin]

EDIT:

The APU can only crossfire with the R7 240 and R7 250, both of which are terrible cards. The APU does not, in general, benefit anything from crossfire in most games. In some games you get 3-5 FPS, which is not enough to justify adding another 40-70 bucks.

The minimum you should get is the R7 260x, the sweetspot is indeed the R9 270X for the best performance to price.

[Ketcchup]

860K + R7 260x/270x/750ti is a much better option