AMD APU's

[Guest]

So my dad and sister both need a new computer, and since they don't really play games or do very heavy computing I was considering pushing them on the APU train. So I started looking up information about them but I couldn't find much so I was wondering how much of a difference is there between the A6-6400K, A8-6600K and A10-6800K. And if it would make a difference when just browsing the web, watching HD movies and stuff. Anyone have an APU based rig? please do tell me of your experience with these APU's

[MikeTz]

Go for the A8 it is a lot better than A6,also dont get A10 if not ocing and gaming.

[Lockinout]

personally don't have experience but you can look at some different benchmarks between the a8-6600k and the a10-6800k.

 

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/AMD-A8-6600K-vs-AMD-A10-6800K

 

A10 just squeaks ahead with better clock speeds. Performance per dollar wise A8-6600K wins but only by $10-20 depending on where you get it.

[Mentalguy]

just get the cheapest one, if they are not gaming

[Vitalius]

just get the cheapest one, if they are not gaming

The cheapest one is a Dual Core. And it can lag behind in some general browsing style applications.

Just remember, APU's reserve some of the RAM for VRAM. If you do not manually set the APU to reserve a certain amount of RAM in the BIOS, it can reserve a lot of RAM.

Example: I have 4GB of RAM. My APU reserved 3GB once and my computer crawled trying to run Windows 7 Professional, Chrome, and a stock trading program all at the same time. It was irritating. So I set the amount of RAM reserved to 1GB in the BIOS which mostly fixed it.

I say mostly because, sometimes, it randomly reserves 2.5GB anyway. Not sure, but ... yeah.

[SkilledRebuilds]

APU + SSD + HDD Storage

Super speedy usable system for non-power users.

[Dravic]

APU + SSD + HDD Storage

Super speedy usable system for non-power users.

 

So my dad and sister both need a new computer, and since they don't really play games or do very heavy computing I was considering pushing them on the APU train. So I started looking up information about them but I couldn't find much so I was wondering how much of a difference is there between the A6-6400K, A8-6600K and A10-6800K. And if it would make a difference when just browsing the web, watching HD movies and stuff. Anyone have an APU based rig? please do tell me of your experience with these APU's

 

APUs have terrible processors inside so I'd just take a pentium dual core or i3 instead of APU (you could take pentium/i3 Haswell generation + cheap mobo), they both have good enough GPUs inside to run video playback etc., and you dont need a powerful integrated GPU for that. if they aren't gaming since they wont be power users anyway so speedy two or four threads will serve them better for web browsing etc.

[A10-FTW]

any A8 (or A10) will make your dreams come true  :wub:

[DrainDoc]

So my dad and sister both need a new computer, and since they don't really play games or do very heavy computing I was considering pushing them on the APU train. So I started looking up information about them but I couldn't find much so I was wondering how much of a difference is there between the A6-6400K, A8-6600K and A10-6800K. And if it would make a difference when just browsing the web, watching HD movies and stuff. Anyone have an APU based rig? please do tell me of your experience with these APU's

A6-6400K is plenty for what you are describing. 

[Mentalguy]

APUs have terrible processors inside so I'd just take a pentium dual core or i3 instead of APU (you could take pentium/i3 Haswell generation + cheap mobo), they both have good enough GPUs inside to run video playback etc., and you dont need a powerful integrated GPU for that. if they aren't gaming since they wont be power users anyway so speedy two or four threads will serve them better for web browsing etc.

apu's are a cheaper platform than haswell. they arent  doing anything but Internet or videos, the apu will do fine

[Guest]

Go for the A8 it is a lot better than A6,also dont get A10 if not ocing and gaming.

Yeah seems like I'm gonna be going for an A8, seems like the balance between it lasting awhile and cost.

 

personally don't have experience but you can look at some different benchmarks between the a8-6600k and the a10-6800k.

 

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/AMD-A8-6600K-vs-AMD-A10-6800K

 

A10 just squeaks  ahead with better clock speeds. Performance per dollar wise A8-6600K wins but only by $10-20 depending on where you get it.

Cheers

 

The cheapest one is a Dual Core. And it can lag behind in some general browsing style applications.

Just remember, APU's reserve some of the RAM for VRAM. If you do not manually set the APU to reserve a certain amount of RAM in the BIOS, it can reserve a lot of RAM.

Example: I have 4GB of RAM. My APU reserved 3GB once and my computer crawled trying to run Windows 7 Professional, Chrome, and a stock trading program all at the same time. It was irritating. So I set the amount of RAM reserved to 1GB in the BIOS which mostly fixed it.

I say mostly because, sometimes, it randomly reserves 2.5GB anyway. Not sure, but ... yeah.

 How much RAM do i need for an APU build, and does the clock speed matter all that much since the APU is using it I guess it does matter somewhat but perhaps not for these usage scenarios? recon 4GB would do just fine, but just to be sure

 

APU + SSD + HDD Storage

Super speedy usable system for non-power users.

Yeah that was what I was thinking.

[A10-FTW]

Yeah seems like I'm gonna be going for an A8, seems like the balance between it lasting awhile and cost.

 

Cheers

 

 How much RAM do i need for an APU build, and does the clock speed matter all that much since the APU is using it I guess it does matter somewhat but perhaps not for these usage scenarios? recon 4GB would do just fine, but just to be sure

 

Yeah that was what I was thinking.

APUs win good performance with 1866mhz rams, so... a "single" 4GB dimm of this will be perfect

[Guest]

APUs win good performance with 1866mhz rams, so... a "single" 4GB dimm of this will be perfect

Currently I have a MOBO/CPU/RAM bundle with 2x4GB 1600Mhz ram, will probably just go with this as 1866MHz dimm's are quite rare and expensive over here in Norway

[Stephie_Girl]

APUs have terrible processors inside so I'd just take a pentium dual core or i3 instead of APU (you could take pentium/i3 Haswell generation + cheap mobo), they both have good enough GPUs inside to run video playback etc., and you dont need a powerful integrated GPU for that. if they aren't gaming since they wont be power users anyway so speedy two or four threads will serve them better for web browsing etc.

You get better multitasking with an A10-5800K than a G2120+GT 630 and better and smoother video streaming.  

[Dravic]

You get better multitasking with an A10-5800K than a G2120+GT 630 and better and smoother video streaming.  

 

Who ever thought about GT 630? it's terrible card, forget about it.

 

You dont need any dedicated gpu for video playback... the integrated iGPU in Haswell Pentium G3220 is enough to drive some videos (and OP ain't playing games).

 

In fact for video playback and nothing more gpu intensive you can get away with some older pentium ivy/sandy bridge.

[Dravic]

So my dad and sister both need a new computer, and since they don't really play games or do very heavy computing I was considering pushing them on the APU train. So I started looking up information about them but I couldn't find much so I was wondering how much of a difference is there between the A6-6400K, A8-6600K and A10-6800K. And if it would make a difference when just browsing the web, watching HD movies and stuff. Anyone have an APU based rig? please do tell me of your experience with these APU's

 

If you're getting APU, this week FM2+ mobos came out so get that for future APUs compatibility (new platform).

[Stephie_Girl]

Who ever thought about GT 630? it's terrible card, forget about it.

 

You dont need any dedicated gpu for video playback... the integrated iGPU in Haswell Pentium G3220 is enough to drive some videos (and OP ain't playing games).

 

In fact for video playback and nothing more gpu intensive you can get away with some older pentium ivy/sandy bridge.

I3-3220 I build for someone got really bogged down in heavy taking.  A few dozen chrome tabs open playing a flash game and netflix streaming.  The G3220 doesn't have the ability to task really hard while stressing the IGP somewhat.  

[Stephie_Girl]

If you're getting APU, this week FM2+ mobos came out so get that for future APUs compatibility (new platform).

^^^

[Dravic]

I3-3220 I build for someone got really bogged down in heavy taking.  A few dozen chrome tabs open playing a flash game and netflix streaming.  The G3220 doesn't have the ability to task really hard while stressing the IGP somewhat.  

 

Where i3 fails, APU would fail as well since it has no l3 cache and only 2x FPU with 4x ALUs. i3 is the same speed multithreaded performance as APUs but has faster single core.

[DeViLzzz]

On the subject of AMD apus the pc my mom bought did not come with a stand alone card and has the A10 5800k and only a 300 watt psu. It is a Gateway pc with a normal pc tower case that will be easier to work in than in the Dell she had before.  Anyway what I want to know is with such a horrid psu can I add a video card to her system to work with the AMD apu and not kill the thing ?  There are only two other internal devices in it - hard drive 7200 rpm 1 TB and a media drive of some sort.

[Vitalius]

On the subject of AMD apus the pc my mom bought did not come with a stand alone card and has the A10 5800k and only a 300 watt psu. It is a Gateway pc with a normal pc tower case that will be easier to work in than in the Dell she had before.  Anyway what I want to know is with such a horrid psu can I add a video card to her system to work with the AMD apu and not kill the thing ?  There are only two other internal devices in it - hard drive 7200 rpm 1 TB and a media drive of some sort.

If you go with a 7870 or less and the PSU does not seem like it will die, sure. 

I would get a PSU tester and use it on the PSU. It will pull 100% load and that will let you know if it will burst into flames or not. Something like this. You might say "I do not want to spend an extra $24.", but you are finding out if this PSU will burn down your house. Also, you can use it later to test PSU's if you need to, so it is a tool you will use more than once. 

I think a $24 investment to protect your house is a good one personally.