Input wanted for budget gaming PC.

[cardason]

Hi fellow RPSers

I am building a system for my dad and am looking for input on it.

The budget I have to work with is 550$ and he does not expect a top of the line system for this price, he just wants to be able to run games like TW2 and Skyrim (on low or medium settings he does not care as long as it runs smoothly).

I have picked out the following (all prices are in Australian dollars)

-AMD A8-3850 Quad Core Fusion *HD6550D* CPU *@2.9ghz*- 179$
-Gigabyte GA-A75-D3H MB, Socket FM1, AMD A75 Chipset, 4x DDR3 Slot, D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI, 7.1 CH, GbLAN - 148$
-HIS ATI HD 6870 IceQ X PCI-E 2.1 1GB - 215$
-Corsair 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz - 40$

This comes to a total of 512$ AUD. I intend to use the APU/GPU in crossfire mode for added performance. He does not require a new hard disc as his current one is compatible with the MB.

What I want to know is, will this setup achieve my aims or if any of you have suggestions that would improve the rig while staying within the budget.

Thanks for your time,
Des

Edit : I have added the inbuilt graphics card designation and cpu clock speed to the list under cpu marked by *. Also updated the list of components.

[Bishop149]

I intend to use the APU/GPU in crossfire mode for added performance.

All seems reasonable, but I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.

Are you intending to crossfire the gfx card with the onboard graphics (term APU is new to me!). . . only just found out you could do that, it's rather unusual.
I'd check that you're not just introducing a host of potential issues for a relatively small performance boost, can't imagine the onboard will add a whole lot.

[cardason]

All seems reasonable, but I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.

Are you intending to crossfire the gfx card with the onboard graphics (term APU is new to me!). . . only just found out you could do that, it's rather unusual.
I'd check that you're not just introducing a host of potential issues for a relatively small performance boost, can't imagine the onboard will add a whole lot.

This is what AMD calls an APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) along with more info about it :
http://www.amd.com/us/products/techn...es/fusion.aspx

If that is not enough to explain it there is what AMD calls a short "course" about them too. You can find that here:
http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/TECHN...ng-course.aspx

The fusion cpu has onboard graphics cores etc with quite reasonable performance if the reviews are to be beleived. So basically I would be putting two mid range graphics cards into crossfire mode.

I hope that didnt confuse you further :p

[cardason]

Yeah I just realalised that :) Also the 5000 series does not work in crossfire with the fusion, it needs to be a 6000 series.

The videocard I plan on getting now is a HIS ATI HD 6870 IceQ X PCI-E 2.1 1GB .

Thanks for your input!

[sabrage]

Without really looking into the specifics of APU, might I ask why you're going with the 5770? I got a 6850 for around that price 2 months ago. Because you can get a better, more recent card for roughly the same price, I would recommend that you do. Crossfire 6850s is one of the most economic high-performance options around right now, so there's similar room for upgrading too.

[sabrage]

Happy to help. Don't forget to buy a decent power supply and a CD drive if you need them. I'm not sure where you specced out the price on that HIS card, but amazon has it for $35 cheaper. And I'm assuming you aren't forgetting something as elementary as a case ;)

[cardason]

Nah lol, he already has a dvd drive, and we are also buying a case and PSU but I just didnt list those as they are well not as important (as long as the PSU can handle the load the PC draws).

Oh and we are buying everything from a local shop, as we can get a discount that way and god forbid should any of the parts be faulty they are much easier to return also :)

[Kamikaze-X]

(as long as the PSU can handle the load the PC draws).

to draw on your avatar:

*facepalm*

the PSU is probably the most important if not boring element of a new PC. make sure you get a good brand PSU from a company like Corsair, Enermax, PC Power and Cooling or Tagan/Silverstone.

If you go for a cheap, no brand PSU then you will end up at some point down the line having to replace it and any number of your components as a result of a power failure or short.

[Bishop149]

Well I just learnt something, an APU is a name for an AMD CPU that claims it can act as a GPU as well.

That course was spectacularly patronising and left me none the wiser, good old wikipedia explained it seconds! Sounds suspiciously like a pointless gimmick but it might help a bit I suppose.

Agreeing on the PSU, do not skimp on cost here . . . doing so can be a very expensive mistake. Get the absolute best one you can afford.

[cardason]

Well my father is paying for the PSU seperately so I don't have a lot of choice there. That said I have never had problems with any PSU in over 16 years of building/using PC's brand name or not as long as the PSU is rated for the load the system will be drawing. If any of you have had different experiences I would love to hear about them though!

I will however try to convince him to take your advice on that :)

[cardason]

Well bought the parts today and ended up getting an Antec 620 watt PSU, which should be decent quality.