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teletone
join:2010-06-07
Toronto, On

teletone

Member

[Parts Check] need fast RAM for asrock FM2A75 Pro4-M & AMD A10-5

hello, i'm building a gaming system for my nephew, it's going to be my first AMD build.

i've decided on the asrock FM2A75 Pro4-M motherboard...

»www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM ··· 0Pro4-M/

and AMD A10-5800K CPU (win 7 pro 64bit OS) but i'm not decided on what RAM to use.

i was going to get kingston valueram KVR16N11K2/16

»www.kingston.com/datashe ··· 2_16.pdf

....but i am having second thoughts because i've done some research and found out the AMD A10-5800K APU really shines when it runs faster ram and apparently the valueram doesn't overclock well. apparently there is a significant increase in graphics performance with 1866 vs 1600 DDR3.

i'd like to get some RAM (8GB or 16 GB) that can go at least 1866. my budget is around $150 for RAM.

1) can anyone suggest a compatible good quality part for that price point or less?

2) should i use 8GB or 16GB? i'd like to run the system without virtual memory and i don't want "out of memory" errors but i don't know what is enough for that purpose. this is my first 64bit build.

3) the motherboard supports Dual Channel DDR3 2600+(OC) but does the CPU limit the RAM speed to 1866? »www.amd.com/us/products/ ··· son.aspx

thanks.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

Re: [Parts Check] need fast RAM for asrock FM2A75 Pro4-M & AMD A

Why did you choose to go for an APU anyways for a gaming rig? You will see better performance with an Intel i3 or i5. If you must go for AMD, pretty much the only AMD chip recognized for coming close to competing against Intel is at the $130 CPU pricepoint, and that is with the AMD FX-4170.

But that uses an AM3+ socket, not FM2. You're doing a giant disservice to your nephew by using an APU for a gaming rig.

Please post your price-point and intended uses and we can get started.

teletone
join:2010-06-07
Toronto, On

1 edit

teletone

Member

said by Krisnatharok:

Why did you choose to go for an APU anyways for a gaming rig? You will see better performance with an Intel i3 or i5. If you must go for AMD, pretty much the only AMD chip recognized for coming close to competing against Intel is at the $130 CPU pricepoint, and that is with the AMD FX-4170.

But that uses an AM3+ socket, not FM2. You're doing a giant disservice to your nephew by using an APU for a gaming rig.

Please post your price-point and intended uses and we can get started.

around $350 total for CPU, MOBO & RAM. no graphics card.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

CPU options:
Intel Core i3-3225 (dual core) - »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19116774 - $145
Intel Core i5-3470 (quad core) - »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19115234 - $185 (w/ discount code EMCXSXS36, ends 4/10)

Mobo Options:
MSI - »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13130651 - $75
ASrock - »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13157314 - $83
ASUS - »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13131835 - $90

Ram options:
Too many to mention. Go for any 9GB kit (2x 4GB) of 1.5v 1600mhz DDR3 ram, such as any of these results.

Mix and match to your heart's content. That i5 will blow away anything AMD has to offer.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to teletone

Premium Member

to teletone
Another thing to note also, is that you're going to pay probably a 20% price premium for 1866 RAM over 1600. That's just that much more money to put towards an i3/i5 setup.

teletone
join:2010-06-07
Toronto, On

teletone to Krisnatharok

Member

to Krisnatharok
said by Krisnatharok:

Mix and match to your heart's content. That i5 will blow away anything AMD has to offer.

but graphics wise, won't it be lacking compared to the A10-5800K? that is after all AMD's top FM2 processor.

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok

Premium Member

The APU will be better than Intel's iGPU, but both are insufficient solutions for gaming.

You are better off with an i3-3220 with an AMD Radeon 7770 / Nvidia GTX 650.

The other option is to Crossfire the APU with a 6670 as per suggested via AMD. The GPU is cheaper is slightly cheaper, but there is a premium for 1866 ram...

Either way, the costs end up about the same. The i3/7770 solution is not going to have any issues normally associated with running dual GPUs (some games don't support it, you get frame clipping or weird frame latency issues), and will cost you less hassle overall, so I would suggest going that route.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to teletone

Premium Member

to teletone
For gaming, I wouldn't consider going with anything less then a setup with a discreet GPU.

Get a decent processor, and OPT for a 7770 or 650. You'll be glad you did so.

teletone
join:2010-06-07
Toronto, On

teletone to Krisnatharok

Member

to Krisnatharok
for the graphics card, how much ram should it have?

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone

Premium Member

said by teletone:

for the graphics card, how much ram should it have?

There's a lot of things that can factor into how much VRAM you need on a GPU.

What resolution are you going to be running, and on what size screen and how many monitors? The higher the resolution, the more VRAM that will get eaten up.

What type of games you play, also factor in. If you're running high res texture mods, tesselation, etc. these will eat into your VRAM also.

Most lower end GPUs now, have 1gb of RAM. Which will probably be plenty fine for you.

teletone
join:2010-06-07
Toronto, On

teletone

Member

said by Ghastlyone:

said by teletone:

for the graphics card, how much ram should it have?

There's a lot of things that can factor into how much VRAM you need on a GPU.

What resolution are you going to be running, and on what size screen and how many monitors? The higher the resolution, the more VRAM that will get eaten up.

What type of games you play, also factor in. If you're running high res texture mods, tesselation, etc. these will eat into your VRAM also.

Most lower end GPUs now, have 1gb of RAM. Which will probably be plenty fine for you.

monitor: 22", 1920X1080, 60hz.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone

Premium Member

I'm running a 23" 1080P monitor, and 1.25gb of VRAM on my GPU. There's very few games I cannot play.

There's a couple games where I get a little stuttering, Hitman Absolution for example, which might be due to lack of VRAM (not 100% certain though) that game has got some beautiful high rez textures. Battlefield 3 I cannot max out either.

I've heard of some people running texture packs on Skyrim and maxing VRAM, even at 1080P.


Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to teletone

Premium Member

to teletone
said by teletone:

for the graphics card, how much ram should it have?

2GB if you can afford it, otherwise 1GB is fine.