APU vs CPU (GPU excluded)

[Yok]

Hello,

 

I have a friend who currently uses a prebuilt computer with an A10-5800K and a R7-250. 

 

He's already going to upgrade the graphics card to something better, would there be any reason to upgrade the CPU as well? From what I read on AMD's website, that's a quad-core CPU at 3.8GHz (4.2GHz "Turbo"), would there be any reason to upgrade that? Is it any weaker than a "non-APU" AMD quad core CPU with the same specs?

 

I've always wondered if the "CPU side" of an APU was weaker than only the CPU unit.

[ZetZet]

CPU is fine up to something like 960 or r9 380, wouldn't go much past that.

Not much point in upgrading, pretty much all A10 and Athlon K chips perform the same. 

[manikyath]

its not that the apu is weaker than a regular amd quad core processor, its that both are shyte by now.

 

i'm not giving any clear cut answers on bottlenecking, because i dont have a glass orb to predict it.

the next upgrade is most likely gonna be cpu/mobo/ram tho.

[Yok]

its not that the apu is weaker than a regular amd quad core processor, its that both are shyte by now.

 

Fair enough, although since he has it now I think he can wait before he upgrades it, he's not going to get a super high-end GPU either. It will definitely be the next thing on the upgrade list along with the motherboard of course.

 

Thanks for the help !

[ManWithBeard1990]

The CPU part on an APU will actually throttle when both CPU and iGPU are under heavy load, to maintain a reasonable TDP. When you have a discrete graphics card though the CPU side is identical to an Athlon.

The difference with FX is that FX has L3 cache which helps performance, and an APU or an Athlon does not.

Note that desktop FX is a generation behind desktop APUs though, so I wouldn't recommend them.

[Yok]

The CPU part on an APU will actually throttle when both CPU and iGPU are under heavy load, to maintain a reasonable TDP.

 

Thanks for clarifying that, if he gets a better dedicated GPU I assume that the iGPU won't be under heavy load at any point, and that the CPU part won't throttle?

[ManWithBeard1990]

Thanks for clarifying that, if he gets a better dedicated GPU I assume that the iGPU won't be under heavy load at any point, and that the CPU part won't throttle?

If he has a dedicated GPU already it wouldn't change anything for the CPU side because the iGPU isn't used, at all.

[Nena Trinity]

You can safely use it with a GTX 960 or a R9 380 but that is sorta pushing it!

[Dabombinable]

You can safely use it with a GTX 960 or a R9 380 but that is sorta pushing it!

TBH I would go past a GTX 950 or R9 280.

[Nena Trinity]

TBH I would go past a GTX 950 or R9 280.

Yeah but I just wrote down the maximum also just some games will be stuck at 30-45ish

[Yok]

TBH I would go past a GTX 950 or R9 280.

 

He was thinking of getting a 950, he's not playing very demanding games and it would still be a step up from his 250.

 

A last question regarding APUs, does faster memory make a difference if you're not using the iGPU anymore? Will the CPU benefit from faster RAM?

[Dabombinable]

He was thinking of getting a 950, he's not playing very demanding games and it would still be a step up from his 250.

 

A last question regarding APUs, does faster memory make a difference if you're not using the iGPU anymore? Will the CPU benefit from faster RAM?

Not sure. Considering how bad the memory controller is probably not.