Looking to build an APU gaming PC

[sepheronx]

Hello ladies and gents of TPU

I am looking to build an APU setup. Gaming is primary but the type of gaming will most likely be retro gaming (up to at least PS3). Anyway, I am looking to build something that is best in terms of price and performance. I am unsure what the budget is currently but so far I have an Inwin case:

Amazon.ca

So what do you peeps suggest?

 

[Flanker]

Can it wait? I feel like RDNA2 iGPU and DDR5 will be so much better than what we can get right now.

 

[sepheronx]

Can it wait? I feel like RDNA2 iGPU and DDR5 will be so much better than what we can get right now.

of course. Depends on how long though. I mean if its within months, I would say I can.

 

[tabascosauz]

If it's retro or indie gaming, a 5600G will be more than enough. Hopefully the APUs are also starting to ride the Ryzen price cut wave triggered by Alder Lake where you are. I see the 5600G at $309 at ME rn, it's okay but I'm curious if it could drop further.

5600G and 5700G offer strong iGPU performance for casual gaming as long as you know what you're doing. So, 2x8GB 4000+ kit of B-die/DJR/Rev.B - the Viper Steel 4000 or 4400 kits are dirt cheap for what is a strong kit that you can just run at XMP. Set XMP and forget as Cezanne has strong IF.

If it's AAA games, then you may want to see what the future has in store. But I wouldn't be so optimistic though - bandwidth on APUs is good but it's not a magic bullet. If you can hit that 4000 mark on RAM you're doing yourself a big favour and you won't gain too much more past it, there's no escaping that weird iGPU core config no matter the RAM bandwidth. RDNA2 will be better, but unless AMD starts making the core bigger and giving them 16 ROPs, don't count on a big iGPU revolution.

As for CPU cores, 5600G is strong and runs pretty cool on crappy coolers.

Just stay away from the B550I Aorus AX for APUs. I have one with 4650G/5700G, just go with any other board.

 

[Mitohondri]

Hello ladies and gents of TPU

I am looking to build an APU setup. Gaming is primary but the type of gaming will most likely be retro gaming (up to at least PS3). Anyway, I am looking to build something that is best in terms of price and performance. I am unsure what the budget is currently but so far I have an Inwin case:

Amazon.ca

So what do you peeps suggest?

I have APU system, just for that kind of stuff, to take it with me to vacation, or some LAN party, where we play DOTA, Unreal, Quake, Starcraft, even World of Warcraft and similar games that are not demanding on GPU power. My kid uses it for Minecraft, Roblox and CS:GO

The system is: In Win B1 case, that is extra small and comes with 200W PSU, Ryzen 4750G APU, 16GB RAM, and 500GB NVMe, with Noctua NH-N9a cooler.

Its good, its silent, its small and portable, and it can play a lot of games on 1080p low or medium setting, depending on the game ofc.

The case is this one

Depending on the games you plan to play I think you can go with any AMD APU that is available to you from 3000 to 4000 or 5000 series, since they have basically the same on board GPU, and the difference is in CPU power, so depending on your budget pick APU

 

[silentbogo]

If I were you, I'd sell that case and got a DeskMini x300 or one of those minisforum PCs. It'll be 4 times smaller and just as good, if you aren't planning on using dGPU or other big peripherals in the future.
Heck, on DeskMini you can even install a pair of laptop HDDs in RAID for multimedia storage, along with NVME drive.
The rest is kind of redundant: 5600G and a bare minimum of DDR4-3200 SODIMM (DDR4-4000 would be much better, and even a puny x300 supports it).

Interestingly I had a similar project in mind for a few months, but I want to make it silientbogo-style: find a broken Ryzen 4000-series laptop and fix up the motherboard for the purpose of building an emulation "arcade" machine out of spare trash that's occupying space in my workshop ))) All I need now, is to wait for some AMD laptops to break

 

[ThaiTaffy]

As far a an Apu not only is alder lake here now but 5000x series chips are only a few months away but the only thing I would worry about is the market, who knows where we will be in a few months so your best bet is to just keep an eye out during the sales.
Also I would second the comments about the case personally I would go down smaller the better but apart from my server rack everything I currently own is sff though the smaller you go the less material and strangely that increases cost significantly.

 

[sepheronx]

If I were you, I'd sell that case and got a DeskMini x300 or one of those minisforum PCs. It'll be 4 times smaller and just as good, if you aren't planning on using dGPU or other big peripherals in the future.
Heck, on DeskMini you can even install a pair of laptop HDDs in RAID for multimedia storage, along with NVME drive.
The rest is kind of redundant: 5600G and a bare minimum of DDR4-3200 SODIMM (DDR4-4000 would be much better, and even a puny x300 supports it).

Interestingly I had a similar project in mind for a few months, but I want to make it silientbogo-style: find a broken Ryzen 4000-series laptop and fix up the motherboard for the purpose of building an emulation "arcade" machine out of spare trash that's occupying space in my workshop ))) All I need now, is to wait for some AMD laptops to break

I was contemplating using a used laptop and ripping it apart. Mind you, I am not that good at metal work or well, woodwork to make something half decent of a case for it. And I lack a 3d printer.

As far a an Apu not only is alder lake here now but 5000x series chips are only a few months away but the only thing I would worry about is the market, who knows where we will be in a few months so your best bet is to just keep an eye out during the sales.
Also I would second the comments about the case personally I would go down smaller the better but apart from my server rack everything I currently own is sff though the smaller you go the less material and strangely that increases cost significantly.

Reason why I chose the case is actually because I got a RTX A2000 coming in and after seeing how well it does in games, I figured why not buy another one specifically for my setup. I was thinking APU as it would work in the meantime till I get the A2000. That was really only reason why. Plus additional add ons in the future.

I want to pick at the brains of people here to give me ideas. Was thinking broken laptop or something. Was thinking lots of ideas. But you guys have great ideas too.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

I'm not hijacking this thread or anything but would a 5600G be able to run Dolphin (Wii and Gamecube emulator) without a hitch? I only ask because outside of a couple of PC-specific games, the majority of my gaming comes from retro classics and my Ryzen 5 3600 lacks graphics, which is where my 1660 SUPER comes in. But if something were to happen with it? Yeah...I'd be screwed. So I'm just considering plopping in a 5600G in order to have a "plan B" when it comes to my gaming. I'm not so much wondering about the really old stuff, like from the NES to SNES/Genesis era, just the more recent stuff.

Thanks y'all. Carry on

 

[QuietBob]

If you're going to play console games (fifth generation and newer), keep in mind that emulators hinge on high IPC (single thread performance). Since Intel HD Graphics is still slower than current offerings from AMD, I'd strongly recommend the Ryzen 7 5700G for the best combination of GPU and CPU power. Couple that with DDR4-4000 running 1:1 with IF, tweak RAM timings and you're golden.

The 5700G being an 8c/16t Zen 3 CPU is a potent chip in its own right. It'll have no problem driving a powerful dedicated card down the line.

 

[sepheronx]

So this is what I am seeing from some comments:
- Wait till RDNA 2 integrated GPU's. This I kinda agree with since the jump between Vega and RDNA2 is pretty good. Only thing is, I got a A2000 coming in that is low profile and would work and probably be significantly better than the integrated GPU in the APU. But this is an assumption as we do not know the new APU's performance yet.
- Get a 5600G or 5700G and DDR4 4000 ram.

Kinda hard to determine what I should get honestly. I would wager that the RTX A2000 and whatever I get now would be best bet. One thing is DDR5 is stupid expensive. I am not sure what the next line of AMD motherboards will cost but if its anything what newer Intel mobo's are like, I am scared to know.

So here is a build idea:

DDR4 - 4000 Mem - $120

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB DDR4 4000MHz CL18 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 8GB), Black - PC4-32000 DDR4 4000 - Memory Express Inc.

www.memoryexpress.com

AMD 5600G (5700G is $130 more expensive) - $310

AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600G Processor, 3.9GHz w/ Radeon™ Vega 7 Graphics, 6 Cores / 12 Threads - AMD AM4 CPUs - Memory Express Inc.

www.memoryexpress.com

Gigabyte A520I AC Mobo - $125

Gigabyte A520I AC w/ DDR4-3200, 7.1 Audio, M.2, Gigabit LAN, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth - AMD AM4 Boards - Memory Express Inc.

www.memoryexpress.com

Total price:
$588.30 after tax. Then there is of course recycling fee and other stuff the government uses to syphon more from us.

in fairness, this is stupid expensive. I may just look for a used machine, wait for my a2000 to come in and just use that.

 

[tabascosauz]

Total price:
$588.30 after tax. Then there is of course recycling fee and other stuff the government uses to syphon more from us.

in fairness, this is stupid expensive. I may just look for a used machine, wait for my a2000 to come in and just use that.

tbf if you're waiting on A2000, you might be waiting a while. It's all the rage in the SFF space right now on account of its ridiculous form factor. Lots of preorders waiting to be filled. It's on a whole other level of performance compared to present and future APUs though.

5700G is really hard to justify unless you're just dying for 8 cores. Yes you get a bit more headroom with clocks, but CPU and GPU perf are about the same (ballpark 3600-3700X ish for both). You get quite a bit more heat with it, and that ridiculous price tag too. I'd trust 5600G with the bundled cooler under any circumstances, 5700G not so much.

Good choice of parts, doubt there's much room for cutting that budget down further unless the 5600G drops in price. Could be worse though, we pay 7% more in PST here

 

[eidairaman1]

Ryzen APU 3000, 4000, 5000 will suit your needs, Just get the latest motherboard chipset.

 

[QuietBob]

would a 5600G be able to run Dolphin (Wii and Gamecube emulator) without a hitch?

The 5600G shows about 18% improvement over stock Ryzen 5 3600 in the Dolphin benchmark. Will this be enough to completely eliminate stutter? Different games have different requirements, so it largely depends on the emulation settings.

- Wait till RDNA 2 integrated GPU's. This I kinda agree with since the jump between Vega and RDNA2 is pretty good. Only thing is, I got a A2000 coming in that is low profile and would work and probably be significantly better than the integrated GPU in the APU. But this is an assumption as we do not know the new APU's performance yet.

The RTX A2000 has 8.0 TFLOPS of processing power. Currently the fastest iGPU is the 8CU RX Vega 8 found in Ryzen 7 and 9 Zen 3 APUs, topping out at 2.2 TFLOPS.

IMO AMD will never bring out an APU that could approach the A2000, even with RDNA2. That would encroach on current gen console territory - the Xbox series S has a 4.0 TFLOPS APU, and the Playstation 5 is at 10.3 TFLOPS.

If you find 5600G/5700G prices too expensive, perhaps you should wait until the new generation of APUs comes out. But you definitely shouldn't expect it to be priced lower than the current one.

 

[sepheronx]

tbf if you're waiting on A2000, you might be waiting a while. It's all the rage in the SFF space right now on account of its ridiculous form factor. Lots of preorders waiting to be filled. It's on a whole other level of performance compared to present and future APUs though.

5700G is really hard to justify unless you're just dying for 8 cores. Yes you get a bit more headroom with clocks, but CPU and GPU perf are about the same (ballpark 3600-3700X ish for both). You get quite a bit more heat with it, and that ridiculous price tag too. I'd trust 5600G with the bundled cooler under any circumstances, 5700G not so much.

Good choice of parts, doubt there's much room for cutting that budget down further unless the 5600G drops in price. Could be worse though, we pay 7% more in PST here

I ordered it a couple weeks ago. I know a few others around me also ordered one.

I may be waiting a while. I have a RX 6600 I may throw into it and connect it to the tv but I'll have to get a new case, something like the node 202...

 

[Gmr_Chick]

The 5600G shows about 18% improvement over stock Ryzen 5 3600 in the Dolphin benchmark. Will this be enough to completely eliminate stutter? Different games have different requirements, so it largely depends on the emulation settings.


The RTX A2000 has 8.0 TFLOPS of processing power. Currently the fastest iGPU is the 8CU RX Vega 8 found in Ryzen 7 and 9 Zen 3 APUs, topping out at 2.2 TFLOPS.

IMO AMD will never bring out an APU that could approach the A2000, even with RDNA2. That would encroach on current gen console territory - the Xbox series S has a 4.0 TFLOPS APU, and the Playstation 5 is at 10.3 TFLOPS.

If you find 5600G/5700G prices too expensive, perhaps you should wait until the new generation of APUs comes out. But you definitely shouldn't expect it to be priced lower than the current one.

As I have it configured, graphics settings in Dolphin are:

Internal Resolution: 2x Native (1280x1056) for 720p
Anti-Aliasing: 4x SSAA
Anisotropic Filtering: 2x
V-Sync: On
Post-Processing Effect: FXAA

I've yet to encounter any noticeable stuttering, but that might be because of the 1660 Super putting in most of the muscle.

 

[QuietBob]

As I have it configured, graphics settings in Dolphin are:

Internal Resolution: 2x Native (1280x1056) for 720p
Anti-Aliasing: 4x SSAA
Anisotropic Filtering: 2x
V-Sync: On
Post-Processing Effect: FXAA

I've yet to encounter any noticeable stuttering, but that might be because of the 1660 Super putting in most of the muscle.

Glad you're enjoying your current experience. If you'd like to improve it still, there are a couple of settings in Dolphin that aim to limit hitching. The right combination can even eliminate it altogether in virtually every game.

First, make sure you're using the latest driver for your GPU. Second, Nvidia cards work faster with D3D12 in Dolphin, so select that as your Backend. Keep V-sync on, consider limiting the refresh rate of your monitor to 60 Hz. This will free up the GPU resources necessary for the next step. Select Exclusive Ubershaders and Compile Shaders Before Starting as I've indicatd below. Ubershaders are GPU intensive, but your 1660S will handle them without a problem. You may notice longer loading times with Ubershaders, but the gameplay itself should be completely stutter free.

You will need to experiment with Internal Resolution and Anti-Aliasing until you achieve the right combination of performance and eye candy. A higher resolution with no anti-aliasing will look better than high AA at lower res. You can safely boost Anisotropic filtering to 16x, at no performance cost. Also, you don't really need FXAA with SSAA enabled. In fact, it will degrade visual quality under these circumstances.