AMD FM2 based Media conversion rig.

[Eric_Cartman]

My friend is looking to have me build a new computer for him.

This will be his only computer.

The main uses will be video storage, encoding, converting(from DVD to Xvid/AVI), serving(for watching on his PS3).

He will also be doing the normal computer stuff on it, browsing the internet and school work.

He will be doing very light gaming, he mainly does gaming on his PS3 so he doesn't mind turning down settings and playing at 720p.

Though having the games look better than they do on his PS3 would be a plus since I argue with him a lot that PC is better because the games look nicer.

Budget is right at $450, so tight.

Here is what I have put together.

CPU: A10-5800K
MOBO: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4
MEM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1866
HDD: 1TB WD Blue 7200RPM(He hopes to add a 3TB in a few months for more storage space)
CASE: NZXT Source 210
PSU: Corsair CX500M
ODD: Samsun 24X DVD-RW

All of this comes right out to $450.

But is the AMD APU capable of doing what he needs?

How will it do encoding video, like about how long will it take to convert a standard length movie to Xvid?

How will it compare to an Intel rig in the same price range?

Is an Intel rig even feasible in this price range?

Also, I'll be overclocking the CPU for him.

Is there any room for overclocking with the stock cooler?

 

[drdeathx]

Best you can do for the $. If your overclocking, don't even think intel cause the 3220 core i3 isn't overclockable. Overclocked, the A10-5800K beats Intel in just about everything. plus the 2500 graphic package blows donkey gnuts compared to AMD's 7660D.

It will do everything what you posted. There is a little headroom for overclocking at stock cooler but get a Hyper 212 for $30. You will overclock at least 4.2 to 4.5 Ghz with the Hyper 212+

 

[de.das.dude]

this combo is perfect. just made a very similar build for one of my friends.

 

[Aquinus]

I would say just give it some more ram. Video editing uses a lot of memory and it doesn't help with your iGPU is eating a portion of main memory. Try to go with 8Gb if you can squeeze it in. Don't give up the 1866Mhz memory to do it though.

Also, I'll be overclocking the CPU for him.

Make sure it is stable and not living in a dusty environment or you'll be playing tech support on a regular basis.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

And as far as gaming, that depends on what you are playing. AAA titles that came out this year or last like Borderlands 2, Metro First Light, Tomb Raider, etc. are going to give you issues. Games like Portal 2, Trine 2, Mass Effect 3, Fallout New Vegas, etc. you can play maxed out with no issue. All at 1080p. Some of your more intense single player games like Skyrim or Bioshock Infinity you will have to tweak the settings.

In short, gaming will be much much better than you think.

 

[de.das.dude]

i think it will work maxxed in most games since he will be playing it at 720p.
skyrim and other games that use a lot of VRAM may hit a bottleneck.

 

[Eric_Cartman]

I would say just give it some more ram. Video editing uses a lot of memory and it doesn't help with your iGPU is eating a portion of main memory. Try to go with 8Gb if you can squeeze it in. Don't give up the 1866Mhz memory to do it though.

Make sure it is stable and not living in a dusty environment or you'll be playing tech support on a regular basis.

I'm not to worried about the RAM.

He isn't really editing just converting.

And I'll be making sure it is stable with at least 12 hours of Prime95.

I think on the stock cooler I'll just overclock it so it runs the boost clock constantly.

If he wants to get a better cooler and go further later he can.

i think it will work maxxed in most games since he will be playing it at 720p.
skyrim and other games that use a lot of VRAM may hit a bottleneck.

Maxing our games isn't too big of a concern, as long as they look better than they do on the PS3.

He won't definitely be playing on 720p, he has a 1080p monitor, but it won't be a problem to drop down to 720p if he has to get to good framerates since that is what the PS3 runs at.

Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite are actually the two titles he wants to start with on the PC because he wants to directly compare them to how they look on his PS3.

I'm hoping the iGPU is capable of making them look at least better than the PS3 versions.

Not that that is a requirement of him, it is actually more for me to settle the long standing argument between him and I.

 

[de.das.dude]

Bioshock Infinite should be fine at medium settings.

 

[Mathragh]

Seems solid, apart from the RAM; I think it would be reaally beneficial to get 8GB instead of 4, but indeed as Aquinus also said, dont give up on the 1866, unless you can overclock the 1600MHz. 3d performance almost scales linearly with memory speed

 

[Hood]

As noted above, this is the one price point where AMD really shines - the ultra-low-budget media systems - and the Intel's in this range only excel in one area - raw computing power - and then only when compared at stock speeds (the AMD part can be easily overclocked, the Intel not much at all).
The system should work great, even with 4 GB of RAM, but 8 GB would be better since the on-die GPU uses system memory. Have fun!

 

[Eric_Cartman]

I assembled the system for him yesterday.

Him and I are very pleased with the performance.

We stuck with 4GB of RAM for now because the budget was so tight.

But he plans to upgrade to 8GB in a month or two a the same time he adds the 3TB hard drive for storage.

Bioshock and Skyrim both definitely look better on the new PC than on his PS3.

I finally got him to shut up about how PC gaming costs too much money!

Thanks all!

 

[droopyRO]

but indeed as Aquinus also said, dont give up on the 1866, unless you can overclock the 1600MHz. 3d performance almost scales linearly with memory speed

In general or just with iGPU ? 10x

 

[Eric_Cartman]

From what I read it is just with iGPUs because the iGPUs use the system memory directly.

That is why we opted to go with 4GB of 1866 instead of 8GB of 1600.

Also, we manually set the dedicated amount of RAM to the iGPU to 512MB.

By default it wanted to take 1GB, but I though that was a bit much for 720p.

 

[Mathragh]

Sound like you did a great job! Nice!

 

[Aquinus]

In general or just with iGPU ? 10x

The iGPU likes it, the CPU won't benefit a whole lot from it.