[promo title=”AMD System”][/promo]
When talking about high-end gaming configurations, most gamers today opt for Nvidia and Intel. However, if we’re talking about gaming on a budget, AMD comes to mind instantly. We’ve seen that a perfectly viable gaming PC can be built using Intel and Nvidia under the hood, but can the same be said about an AMD-based system? The answer to that is a definite yes, and because AMD currently thrives with cost-effective solutions, in some games you can get even better performances for a lower cost. Because we have more budget-friendly options with AMD, we built 2 systems with a different GPU and CPU, one being more costly while the other being extremely cheap. We’ve kept the other components from the initial Nvidia/Intel build because they worked just fine. Thus, case, power supply, hard drive, RAM, mouse and keyboard remain unchanged.
With the first setup, we opted for the extremely value-friendly FX 6300 CPU from AMD. This CPU simply provides the most performance in the price-range, and while it’s inferior to the more expensive Intel i5 and i7 CPUs, it smokes most Intel i3 CPUs, even some Haswell ones. It has 6 cores, and for most games, it’s more than enough to get the job done, as it’s often bottle-necked by the GPU. A decent ASRock motherboard accompanies the CPU. With the Graphics Card, we poted for a R7 260X from Radeon, a real winner in terms of price and performance. It’s no Titan Black, but it certainly provides enough of a bang for the buck. Additionally, AMD has some great deals right now, and the R7 260X comes with a silver bundle that includes two free games from a wide selection.
For a total of $563 (including the OS), we get a decent enough gaming PC. How decent? Well, 73 FPS in Battlefield 4 with High Settings at 1920x1080p. Decent enough for you? Definitely is for us, especially given the price. As with Nvidia’s GPU from the earlier tests, on Ultra and with MSAA, our configuration took a massive blow, but still managed to run at an average of 39 FPS. These performances come as a result of AMD’s recent Mantle update, and as such, at least for Battlefield 4, an entry-level AMD GPU is more than enough. In Elder Scrolls Online, the system did worse than the Intel/Nvidia one, but managed to keep a steady 43 FPS with Ultra settings at 1080p. Assassin’s Creed IV made the system sweat a bit, running at an average of 38 FPS with Ultra settings and AA activated. High settings in Titanfall resulted in a steady 62 FPS, and Ultra with 8XMSAA caused it to take a significant hit again, but still ran at 41 FPS.
- CPU: AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ – $119.99
- Mother Board: ASRock 880GM-LE FX AM3+ AMD 880G + SB710 Micro ATX – $53.99
- Graphics Card: MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GD5 OC 2GB 128-bit GDDR5 – $129.99
- Hard Drive: Western Digital WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache – $59.99
- Case & Power Supply: Cooler Master Elite 350 – Mid Tower Computer Case with 500W Power Supply – $59.99
- Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 – $69.99
- Mouse & Keyboard: GIGABYTE GK-KM3100 Black USB Wired Standard Keyboard + Mouse Combo – $13.99
For our second AMD-based PC, we went for an even cheaper CPU and GPU, trying to see just how cheap is cheap. We replaced the FX 6300 with a AMD Athlon X4 750K Trinity CPU, we swapped out the motherboard and went for an even cheaper GPU, mainly the R7 250X (aka the older HD 7770). But we didn’t stop here. We wanted to see just how low we can take things, and decided to tweak out some more components. A smaller and slightly slower hard drive, half the memory size (1 single DIMM) and a much cheaper case with a smaller PSU took over the previously used components.