![[Part 1] Build an Effective LAN Gaming System - Introduction and Choice of Parts](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NQBLj6ycLmo/UTG5zLv8NyI/AAAAAAAAFeY/2TGVwirE3xg/s320/IMG_8958.JPG)
Introduction
With the holidays just around the corner, there have also been an increase in the number of custom desktop computers orders for us. The increase in demand is possibly due to the launch of new games such as Crysis 3 , Assassin's Creed 3 and DmC. Many people actually want to build their own computers, but do not have the knowledge of PC hardware or simply do not know how to fix up one. Today, we are going to solve one of the problems by recommending an affordable setup that is friendly to the wallet and yet not compromising quality and performance as a gaming system.
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| AMD A10 5800K APU |
Requirements
Finding the right components
Often people are under the misconception that one needs an extremely fast processor to play the performance hungry games on the market. However, that is not the case most of the time. Gamers know that the most important part of a gaming system is the graphics card. Even if a system consist of the fastest Core i7 Processor from Intel on the market, it will not work well in games without a dedicated graphics card. On the other hand, a system with a moderately slower dual core processor with a good dedicated graphics card will be able to run games much smoother compared to one without any. As a prerequisite to an effective LAN Gaming System, a dedicated graphics card is a MUST.However, dedicated graphics cards do not come cheap. A considerably good graphics card costs at least 200SGD, which can be quite straining for someone who is looking out for a budget gaming system. Luckily, AMD came out with their innovation product - APUs to target the gamers who are on a tight budget and yet want superior performance with a dedicated graphics card.
So what is an APU? APU stands for Accelerated Processing Unit. An APU fuses a CPU core and a Dedicated Graphics Core into a single chip. In layman terms, it simply means you have a graphics processing unit within your actual computer processor, essentially removing the need to buy a considerably expensive dedicated Graphics Card. This is the only solution possible on the market for now in order to have the best of both worlds at a affordable price.
Other than selecting the APU with our build, the next important hardware to consider is the motherboard where the APU sits on. The motherboard provides additional features for the whole computer system. For example, if a motherboard has a HDMI output port, you can use a HDMI cable to connect to your monitor instead of a standard VGA cable. Any ports available on the computer is determined by the motherboard. If you are specifically looking for a certain port, make sure that the motherboard has it. Other unique features like automatic overclocking to improve performance and energy saving reduce electricity usage are also available on specific motherboards.
Our Recommendations
Type
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Part Name
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Justification
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Processor
(CPU)
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AMD A10 5800K APU
|
A10 5800K is the top of the line APU from AMD. It is
a quad core processor running at a maximum of 4.2GHz which ensures that the
games which we will be testing on will not be bottlenecked by the CPU. It
also has a gaming friendly Radeon HD7660D Graphics Built in which makes sure
that all our games will hardware accelerated.
|
Motherboard
|
ASUS F2A85-M PRO
|
ASUS is the leading manufacturer for motherboards. We chose the
F2A85-M PRO because it is feature packed and comes with a 3 Year Warranty. It
allows automatic overclocking so that we can push the APU to its limits and
play at an even higher frame rate. Aesthetically, it will also look nice in our
selected case.
|
Case/Chassis
|
Cooler Master K380
|
The K380 is a budget oriented case which offers a USB3.0 port at the front panel. This can be connected to our motherboard so that we can have external access to the USB3.0 port on the
case.
|
Hard Drive
|
1TB 7200RPM Seagate
|
A Seagate 7200RPM 1TB drive was chosen due to personal trusts and
preferences as Seagate drives are known to be more reliable as compared
to competitors. (Note: It’s a personal preference. Other drives of the same
class should perform similarly). Besides that, 1TB of space should be more
than enough to store all the games and data.
|
RAM
|
Kingston KVR 2x4GB
|
Kingston Value RAMs are chosen as good performing
RAMs are not worth the money as the difference in performance is
insignificant. We prefer more capacity to speed, and therefore chose the
cheap and widely available KVRs.
|
Power
Supply
|
Silverstone SST-ST50F-P
|
As the APU system will be a very simple setup with minimal hardware
parts, we want to make sure that the system runs stable and cool without many
additional cables lying around. Therefore, a modular Silverstone SST-ST50F-P
will be just enough for the APU usage. Extra cables can be simply removed as
the PSU is modular, making our system neater and cooler due to better
airflow.
|
First look at the components
AMD A10 5800K APU
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| Chip is shown at the side of the box |
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| A10 5800K uses Socket FM2 and runs at 3.8GHz Base Clock , 4.2GHz Turbo |
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| Includes chip, Authenticity Cert, Case Badge and a Fan |
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| A10-5800K Chip - Diffused in Germany, Made in Malaysia |
ASUS F2A85-M PRO
The ASUS F2A85-M PRO Motherboard comes in a Micro-ATX form factor. It is a Windows 8 certified motherboard, meaning that almost no additional drivers are needed to be installed if this system was to run on Windows 8 Operating System. There are various unique motherboard features available and will be covered in part two of this recommendation article.
The motherboard comes with 2 SATA 6Gbps cables, a padded IO Shield, a user guide and a quick start guide. Usually, padded IO Shields are found only on higher end motherboards. Since there is no Republic of Gamers series for AMD Trinity chips, this motherboard is actually considered top of the line Micro-ATX from ASUS.
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| A macro look at the whole motherboard |
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| Here we have the USB3.0 Front Panel Port |
One of the reasons for choosing this motherboard is because of the availability of a front panel USB 3.0 Port which can be connected to our new case - Cooler Master K380.
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| 4 DDR3 DIMM Slots available |
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| CrossFireX support |
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| Back IO Ports |
ASUS F2A85-M PRO comes with 2 standard USB 2.0 ports and a PS2 Mouse/Keyboard port. Either of them works. A definite plus point of this motherboard is the abundance of USB3.0 ports it has. ASUS F2A85-M PRO has actually 4 USB 3.0 ports, ensuring that new USB 3.0 devices are not bottlenecked by the 2.0 interface. Besides that, every single graphics port is already available on the motherboard. We've got HDMI, Display Port, VGA(DSUB) and DVI. This ensures that the motherboard works out of the box. Additionally, there is also an e-SATA port and a Gigabit LAN port. The motherboard also has built in 8 channel audio powered by ALC892 Audio Chip, one of the better audio chips from Realtek.
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| 7 SATA 6Gbps ports |
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| A10-5800K fits perfectly in the FM2 socket |
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| Fan installed, ready to go |
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| ASUS logo on ASUS F2A85-M PRO |
Cooler Master K380
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| Cooler Master K380 is an affordable Mid Tower ATX case |
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| Left - Windowed side panel that allows installation of a fan |
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| Right - Convex side panel for additional cables to be hidden |
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| Back of K380 |
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| Internal of K380 |
The big hole at the CPU area on the motherboard tray on the K380 allows easy installation of 3rd party CPU coolers. Besides that, with the availability of cable management holes, cables can be tucked at the back of the case easily, making smooth airflow throughout the case and efficiently cooling the system components.
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| Front Intake Fan |
