GA-A75-UD4H

Looking for expert opinion to help me upgrade either what is attached to my current MOBO or upgrade it all. I don't mind being 1 generation behind but I am anticipating some upgrades in preparation for BF4 - any suggestions?

Current setup:

O/S

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

CPU
AMD A8-3850

RAM
16.0GB DDR3 @ 800MHz (10-10-10-27)

Motherboard

Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-A75-UD4H (Socket M2)

Graphics

1024MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series

Audio

Creative X-Fi 5.1


Thx!

Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-A75-UD4H (Socket M2) = now that is what you write and I don't get it much at all. The sockets are FM1, FM2 and FM2+ but no M2 that I have heard of. From the Gigabyte website.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3927#ov
GA-A75-UD4H (rev. 1.0 AMD A75 chipset
Supports Socket FM1 of 32nm AMD A-series/E2-series processors

So for any real upgrade only an FM2 board and Richland APU would do a lot in terms of really upgrading. And I understand that in a few months the next series of AMD APU will be out using FM2+ socket and is supposed to be a percentage again more powerful. Upgrading now and then having something perhaps much better come (if it is better) maybe a waste. I usually suggest against waiting to upgrade but if you are going with an APU, I might rather suggest waiting until the successor to the Richland APU actually hits the market.

Ahhh...my first post and now I understand being thorough is better for everyone.

APU, also known as the accelerated processing unit. I'll do a bit more research about APU's and specifically how waiting for the FM2+ might be advantageous. The GA-A75 has been a good board so far and if I can save a hundred or two by keeping it all the better.

Thanks RGone!

What do you use the system mainly for and what is it specifically that you need more power to do? Gaming? Number crunching? Audio-video rendering?

If you just want a snappier computer for general gaming then move up to a faster A8 or A10 Trinity (Richland core) CPU.

This one looks like a smart buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113281 and it's unlocked so you can overclock it if you add in a good afrtermarket cooler. The "k" series are unlocked.

The problem is he has the first APU motherboard. Socket FM1 is for AMD's 1st generation APUs (CPU core + GPU core) known as Llano. Socket FM2 is for AMD's 2nd generation APUs called Trinity. It will also be used by the Richland APU. So he cannot put a trinity or richland cpu in his socket FM1 mobo.

The AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU was about the most powerful FM1 APU they had and I am not sure if any are still around at reasonable prices.

This whole APU thing is a little less than I liked once I began do a real read last night. HTPCs maybe but for other things without an L3 cache the processor side is a little lacking and from what I can read there are driver issues that to this date they say are not fixed if you want to do Hybrid Crossfire. Just sort of gives me a bad taste in the mouth. That is why I said maybe FM2+ might have more real promise.
RGone...

^+1^ Ya what he said. They never have appealed to me yet. My wife is using one at work and it seem to be a cheap alternative for something like that as well.

RGone,

Missed that. I thought his board was FM2. Yeah, he needs a board and an APU upgrade if he wants to continue in the APU vein. This suggest looking in a different direction entirely like AM3+. Just depends on what he needs to do with the system. We don't have an answer to that yet.

Hey guys thanks for the feedback. As to trents question about system requirements I do a little bit of everything with the computer - graphic design, heavy Photoshop + Illustrator, light 3D with Sketchup and gaming the likes of Shadow Warrior, BF3, mostly FP shooters. I'm not against upgrading everything except my dual monitors, HDD's and /or RAM so please share your ideas!

The other day I came across a really neat case and thought all this could be a new beginning for me

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...=UTF8&colid=4TJWWEIUNWKM&coliid=IKOE9E60OUGCT

It sounds like to me that your system use pattern exceeds what the APUs are made for. IMO you need to go for a top end AM3+ board and 8 core FX CPU (if you want to stay with AMD) or a higher end Ivy B. or Haswell CPU if you are going with Intel. You need something with plenty of L3 cache and the AMD APUs have no L3 cache. If you're doing Photoshop you want lots of ram and fast, big hard drives or a combo of SD drives and large conventional hard disks.

Here is what I compiled sans the keyboard, mouse, speakers and monitors, which I have from the old system.

CPU COOLER
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

CPU
AMD FX-8120

GPU
EVGA GeForce GTX760

MOBO
ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0

RAM
Corsair Vengeance ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz PC3 12800

AUDIO
Creative Sound Blaster Z SBX

CASE
Cooler Master HAF XB

How did I do?

Definitely go second-generation with an FX chip, much better performance.

I would go 6300 over 8120. Of course, 8320 and 8350 will be better as well.

ATM thanks. I swapped out the 8120 for 8320 for $20 more.

1 more thing - I'm looking keeping one HDD as secondary and replacing the other HDD with SSD; I'm looking at this one - http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Elect...2023670&sr=1-4&keywords=solid+state+drive+250

I've never done an SSD - will it fit in the HAF XB with no additional hardware?

That's a very good choice of SSD. If the HAF XB has some 2.5" drive bays, you won't need any extra hardware.

If it only has 3.5" drive bays, you'll need a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter (They're typically ~$5)

Just found this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cooler-master-haf-xb-review,3559-7.html

Almost there - THANKS!!!

Awww crap I forgot about PSU! I'm thinking I don't need to go over 600 watt though. Any suggestions?

Like ATMINSIDE says the later piledriver FX processors have an increase in performance of roughly 12-15% depending on the type of 'work' being done.

I would also concur with ATMINSIDE that an FX-6300 would likely be a better choice of cpu. The FX-6300 is of the later FX type and the 6 core FX on that Asus M5A99X EVO and air cooling would be a better match up. Because that particular motherboard is better suited to supply power to a 6 core FX processor when overclocked. Any FX processor consumes a lot of power and when overclocked to "better" compete with Intel the power needed to be supplied to the cpu goes up dramatically and the mid range motherboards can have problems supplying the power needed reliably with stability. IF you do NO overclocking then the board should do well. But then you allow the gap between AMD FX and Intel processors to remain rather large.

In referring to the ram there is a sweet spot for ram and the seems at the DDR3-1866 level or close thereto. I would not suggest any of my friends use less than DDR3-1866 memory in an FX processor build.

Not sure if that "cube" style case has enough real air=flow to remove the heat generated by an overclocked FX type processor. Seems just fans at either end for heat removal from the case. May be an awesome idea and maybe not. I have seen none using a cube type case for the FX builds. So no clue. I would certainly see if there are any other rigs around the net that might have some mention of actual ability to remove FX type heat. FX heat is pretty enormous. You don't know this yet but you will know it and more so if you do not prepare for it.
RGone...ster.

For that board and cooler I would suggest an FX-63xx processor. You;ll have a lot less heta to deal with and it would be a lot easier on the board itself. That board only has a 6 phase power delivery which is pushing it for an 8 core processor.

I have a FX-6350 on the M5A99FX Pro which is like a brother to the board you're considering. It runs 4.6 with a Cooler Master V-8 H/S. I feel the Hyper is a better cooler if you double up the fans. A decent 600W PSU would be plenty there's a good list of tested PSU's here on OCF in the PSU section.

Man you got me again Bobert. I better take some typing classes or something. Ha ha ha

The neat part is we are of about the same opinion based on actual experience.
Bobert...ster.

Johan45 said:

For that board and cooler I would suggest an FX-63xx processor. You;ll have a lot less heta to deal with and it would be a lot easier on the board itself. That board only has a 6 phase power delivery which is pushing it for an 8 core processor.

I have a FX-6350 on the M5A99FX Pro which is like a brother to the board you're considering. It runs 4.6 with a Cooler Master V-8 H/S. I feel the Hyper is a better cooler if you double up the fans. A decent 600W PSU would be plenty there's a good list of tested PSU's here on OCF in the PSU section.

Man you got me again Bobert. I better take some typing classes or something. Ha ha ha

Click to expand...

RGone said:

The neat part is we are of about the same opinion based on actual experience.
Bobert...ster.

Click to expand...

Ya and I have reservations about that box as well. I can't find enough info to see if that CM Hyper will even fit inside it.

Johan45 said:

Ya and I have reservations about that box as well. I can't find enough info to see if that CM Hyper will even fit inside it.

Click to expand...

http://www.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/lan-box/haf-xb.html
Supports tower CPU coolers with a height of up to 180mm and up to 334mm long high end graphics cards.