New system advice

[tetradite]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking at getting a new rig, on a pretty modest budget (£600 max - UK). Most of my hardware choices are basically determined by what I can afford, I just wondered if anyone has any advice about the following two CPU/GPU combinations, both of which would cost me about the same (1 would be slightly cheaper), is there going to be a massive difference either way? I am MOSTLY getting this system for games but it will get used for everything.

 

1-

AMD A8-3870K Quad Core, 3.0GHz, with AMD Radeon HD 6550D GPU

paired with a 1GB AMD HD 7750 card

 

OR, 2-

AMD FX-4100 Quad Core, 3.6GHz

also with a 1GB AMD HD 7750 card

 

My gut feeling is that option 1 has got to be better, surely the processor's GPU doubling up with a regular GPU will give me a lot more noticeable extra performance than a 0.6Ghz faster processor?

 

I could maybe squeak the budget up on option 2 a little to get the FX-6100 Hex Core 3.3Ghz version, or the HD 7770 card if this would make much difference.

 

I'm upgrading from a 2.1Ghz dual core laptop with an AMD Radeon Mobility HD 4500/5100 card, as long as I see a significant improvement from my current setup I'll be happy. Prepared to consider other options too, but they'd have to be basically identical in price.

 

Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[FMod]

Neither.

Get Socket FM1 Athlon X4. The cheapest model, 631, will do if you overclock it. 641 and 651 are fine too.

 

Bulldozer (FX) is just slow unless you have the very top model. Llano (A8) only joins up with 6000 series, not 7000 series. They are completely different CPU, BTW.

 

FM1 Athlons are cheap and unrivaled bang for the buck. This will at least get you 7770, which will make a difference.

Edited May 5, 2012 by FMod

[tetradite]

Neither.

Get Socket FM1 Athlon X4. The cheapest model, 631, will do if you overclock it. 641 and 651 are fine too.

 

Bulldozer (FX) is just slow unless you have the very top model. Llano (A8) only joins up with 6000 series, not 7000 series. They are completely different CPU, BTW.

 

FM1 Athlons are cheap and unrivaled bang for the buck. This will at least get you 7770, which will make a difference.

 

Cheers dude.

 

I'd read seemingly conflicting advice about what GPU I could put with the A8, thanks for clearing up. I'm not actually building this myself (looking at 3 or 4 custom build sites) and the X4 isn't an option with any of them, will have a look round and see who else I can find... these two CPUs seem to be about all the custom builders are offering (in the price range, so excluding intel).

 

If I can't find anywhere else, I guess it's probably the A8 (paired with a 6570), and spend the last of the budget on a better sound card.

[FMod]

Being on a budget, you should really consider building it yourself. It will always be better bang for the buck, you can pick the right components, don't have to pay for labor, profit and taxes on both.

 

The whole point of PC architecture, when they designed it, was so that every home user could assemble or reconfigure it on their own. The only change since then is that you have to put a heatsink on the CPU, the rest is still the same, placing chips into sockets and pushing cards into slots. With AMD you don't even have finicky LGA sockets, so it's very straightforward. If you can put together a LEGO kit for age 9-14, you can put together a PC.

[tetradite]

I know I ought to, to be honest I'm concerned more about being the one with ultimate responsibility for fixing it when it breaks rather than the initial build. I'm moving to being self-employed soon and it will also be my main machine for work - it feels too risky to do this one as a self build, even if logically it isn't risky at all. If that makes sense...

 

(The last PC component I changed myself was a 133Mhz processor, it's been a WHILE!)

[FMod]

I know I ought to, to be honest I'm concerned more about being the one with ultimate responsibility for fixing it when it breaks rather than the initial build. I'm moving to being self-employed soon and it will also be my main machine for work - it feels too risky to do this one as a self build, even if logically it isn't risky at all. If that makes sense...

Well, think of it this way.

Your builder will probably give you a year's warranty. Components inside can have 3 to 7 years if you pick them right.

After a year, you're on your own anyway, and if you bought the components retail, you'll have an easier time with warranty claims.

 

Your builder will take your system in for testing, then it will spend a week waiting in line, and all in all you'll get it back in 2 weeks if lucky, 4 if not. There are no "courtesy cars" in this business.

At home you can always repair it in less than a day if you just buy the replacement part and return the broken one for refund.

 

And now comes the kicker, when you send your system in for repairs, it's very likely that you'll get it back clean. No data on it, just a fresh OS with that default theme. Clean formatting everything is considered a regular step in PC diagnostics and repair, to weed out software problems.

With a DIY build you only lose the data if your hard drive breaks down (of course you still should back it up regularly).

 

So if your PC is instrumental in providing you means for a living, you definitely want to build it yourself. Pick the most reliable components (system builders pick for price), be ready to repair it in a day if need be. There are companies working with business clients that provide one business day repairs and preserve your data, but you won't like their prices.

[tetradite]

You sir, are a salesman in need of a product, you'll never make any money convincing me to spend less of mine ;)

 

I do know what you mean, and I do accept most of your points on a rational level, I am mostly stopped from doing a self build by an inertia that I acknowledge is not entirely rational. That said you have halfway made me consider it again.

 

There are still some very real practical concerns though - it may be that the PC gets a common fault that could be fixed in a day where a builder with have it back for a month, but, that's assuming I can even diagnose the fault (having very very little hardware experience) without spending days on internet forums seeking advice (without coming here I would have likely bought the 'wrong' graphics card for the A8). My point about needing it for work is more that if it does go haywire I'm not going to have the time available to do the diagnosis and repair. I'll want/need to get back on the backup laptop and get on with actual work. It wouldn't kill me losing the main machine for a few weeks, it would hurt more having to spend a day or more personally fixing it...

 

I guess the issue is right now I have time and little money, but in future I will have money but little time. So, actually, maybe it's a self build now, then just pay someone for repairs if it does break... hmmm.

 

EDIT: Thanks for the input btw

Edited May 6, 2012 by tetradite

[tetradite]

Oooh, just read some benchmarks on those bulldozers - they really are SHOCKING aren't they?

 

Drawing board, back to... ;)