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Graphics card for brother's computer

wpirobotbuilder
By wpirobotbuilder
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have you thought about just upgrading the apu to something like an 6800k? that would be the most viable as the A4 Chips are dual cores with a weak GPU, the 6800k is a quad core with a decent GPU, 

 

to give the best advice we really need to know what resolution he is gaming at (1080p, 900p 720p etc)

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I came into some money recently and am looking to spend some of it on my little brother, who plays some games.

 

I haven't seen his computer in a while, but I remember he has a low-mid range APU (I think it's an A4), and I was wondering what GPU would go best with it, since I'm not going to change out a bunch of parts from his computer.

 

I  might have to upgrade his PSU as well since his computer was retail-bought and probably has a cheapo 300W PSU.

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use, and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. - Galileo Galilei
Build Logs: Tophat (in progress), DNAF | Useful Links: How To: Choosing Your Storage Devices and Configuration, Case Study: RAID Tolerance to Failure, Reducing Single Points of Failure in Redundant Storage , Why Choose an SSD?, ZFS From A to Z (Eric1024), Advanced RAID: Survival Rates, Flashing LSI RAID Cards (alpenwasser), SAN and Storage Networking

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have you thought about just upgrading the apu to something like an 6800k? that would be the most viable as the A4 Chips are dual cores with a weak GPU, the 6800k is a quad core with a decent GPU, 

 

to give the best advice we really need to know what resolution he is gaming at (1080p, 900p 720p etc)

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Go For a Hd 7790 or 7770 with a CX450W PSU or something along those lines

My Current Rig: CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.8Ghz CPU Cooler: H100i MOBO: Gigabyte Z97X SOC GPU: XFX Radeon HD 7950 Tahiti pro (Died 6/07/2014 RIP) & PowerColour HD7950  GPU Cooler: NZXT G10 W/ Corsair H55 HDD&SSD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB + Corsair GS 128GB + Samsung 840 EVO 250GB PSU: Corsair RM 750 Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2.  


 

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have you thought about just upgrading the apu to something like an 6800k? that would be the most viable as the A4 Chips are dual cores with a weak GPU, the 6800k is a quad core with a decent GPU, 

 

to give the best advice we really need to know what resolution he is gaming at (1080p, 900p 720p etc)

Pretty sure he's got a 1600x900 monitor.

 

The problem with getting a new APU is it would cause his Windows installation to become invalid, and I'd rather not mess around with his software configurations.

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use, and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. - Galileo Galilei
Build Logs: Tophat (in progress), DNAF | Useful Links: How To: Choosing Your Storage Devices and Configuration, Case Study: RAID Tolerance to Failure, Reducing Single Points of Failure in Redundant Storage , Why Choose an SSD?, ZFS From A to Z (Eric1024), Advanced RAID: Survival Rates, Flashing LSI RAID Cards (alpenwasser), SAN and Storage Networking

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I kinda agree with the whole upgrading his APU to a 6800k and maybe invest in some 2400Mhz ram?

Console optimisations and how they will effect you | The difference between AMD cores and Intel cores | Memory Bus size and how it effects your VRAM usage |
How much vram do you actually need? | APUs and the future of processing | Projects: SO - here

Intel i7 5820l @ with Corsair H110 | 32GB DDR4 RAM @ 1600Mhz | XFX Radeon R9 290 @ 1.2Ghz | Corsair 600Q | Corsair TX650 | Probably too much corsair but meh should have had a Corsair SSD and RAM | 1.3TB HDD Space | Sennheiser HD598 | Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro | Blue Snowball

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Pretty sure he's got a 1600x900 monitor.

 

The problem with getting a new APU is it would cause his Windows installation to become invalid, and I'd rather not mess around with his software configurations.

Not if you use the same motherboad/ chipset

Simple Stryker (Now Finished  ;) )


The Terrible HP


 

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Not if you use the same motherboad/ chipset

Windows won't ask you to re-active it if it's just a CPU change?

 

EDIT:

 

 

Spot on, Windows installs are tied to the motherboard 

Gotcha.

 

 

I guess the next question is would he get better performance going with a better APU or with a 7700 series GPU (7770 costs less than a high-end APU)?

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use, and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. - Galileo Galilei
Build Logs: Tophat (in progress), DNAF | Useful Links: How To: Choosing Your Storage Devices and Configuration, Case Study: RAID Tolerance to Failure, Reducing Single Points of Failure in Redundant Storage , Why Choose an SSD?, ZFS From A to Z (Eric1024), Advanced RAID: Survival Rates, Flashing LSI RAID Cards (alpenwasser), SAN and Storage Networking

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GTX660 + 450-550W PSU, preferably modular, cause he probably doesn't have a big case.

My rig: CPU: Intel core i5 4670K MoBo: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming RAM: Kingston HyperX Beast 2x4GB 1600mhz CL9 GPU: EVGA GTX780 SC ACX SSD: ADATA Premier Pro SP900 256GBHDD: Western Digital RED 2TB PSU: FSP Aurum CM 750W Case: Cooler Master HAF XM OS: Windows 8 Pro

My Build log, the Snowbird (heavy WIP): http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/188011-snowbird-by-lachy/?hl=snowbird

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Windows won't ask you to re-active it if it's just a CPU change?

 

EDIT:

 

 

Gotcha.

 

 

I guess the next question is would he get better performance going with a better APU or with a 7700 series GPU (7770 costs less than a high-end APU)?

Tbh he'd probably get better performance in games with the 7770 but overall performance upgrading his APU would be better plus it leaves him open for any graphics upgrade in the future without getting rid of anything ^_^ you could always put his a4 into a HTPC or build a nice little home server?

Console optimisations and how they will effect you | The difference between AMD cores and Intel cores | Memory Bus size and how it effects your VRAM usage |
How much vram do you actually need? | APUs and the future of processing | Projects: SO - here

Intel i7 5820l @ with Corsair H110 | 32GB DDR4 RAM @ 1600Mhz | XFX Radeon R9 290 @ 1.2Ghz | Corsair 600Q | Corsair TX650 | Probably too much corsair but meh should have had a Corsair SSD and RAM | 1.3TB HDD Space | Sennheiser HD598 | Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro | Blue Snowball

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Tbh he'd probably get better performance in games with the 7770 but overall performance upgrading his APU would be better plus it leaves him open for any graphics upgrade in the future without getting rid of anything ^_^ you could always put his a4 into a HTPC or build a nice little home server?

I actually already have a home server, (IB Pentium ftw)  :) My parents could also use a new computer, so I might put his A4 into it.

 

I'll ask him if he needs better CPU performance, but I'm leaning towards the higher-end APU. Thanks guys!

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use, and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. - Galileo Galilei
Build Logs: Tophat (in progress), DNAF | Useful Links: How To: Choosing Your Storage Devices and Configuration, Case Study: RAID Tolerance to Failure, Reducing Single Points of Failure in Redundant Storage , Why Choose an SSD?, ZFS From A to Z (Eric1024), Advanced RAID: Survival Rates, Flashing LSI RAID Cards (alpenwasser), SAN and Storage Networking

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^^ exacly what i was about to come in with

 

take a look here:-

 

6800k resident evil 5 dx10 - http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/amd_a10-6800k_richland_overclocked_review/18

7770  resident evil 5 dx10 - http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/amd_hd7770_review/15

 

the 7770 has about 20-30fps advantage over the 6800k.

 

however, the test rig was a

 

"AMD HD7770
Catalyst HD7970 Drivers 12.1
Intel Core i7-3960X @ 4.6GHz
ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
Corsair AX1200W
Corsair GTX8
Corsair H100

Windows 7 Ultimate x64"

 

Your brother wont see the same FPS because the A4 APU will run out of steam rather early on

 

my advice would be:-

 

Upgrade the APU now and put in some 2400mhz ram that will give him a capable system for the time being. then further down the line upgrade the GPU and PSU.

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-snip

I'll ask him if he needs better CPU performance, but I'm leaning towards the higher-end APU. Thanks guys!

Tbh the 7770 wouldn't perform to it's full potential due to an a4 :P

Console optimisations and how they will effect you | The difference between AMD cores and Intel cores | Memory Bus size and how it effects your VRAM usage |
How much vram do you actually need? | APUs and the future of processing | Projects: SO - here

Intel i7 5820l @ with Corsair H110 | 32GB DDR4 RAM @ 1600Mhz | XFX Radeon R9 290 @ 1.2Ghz | Corsair 600Q | Corsair TX650 | Probably too much corsair but meh should have had a Corsair SSD and RAM | 1.3TB HDD Space | Sennheiser HD598 | Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro | Blue Snowball

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