Was this a good buy?

Pwkid1996

Estimable
May 31, 2014
5
0
4,510
AMD Quad-Core A8-5545M Accelerated Processor 1.7 GHz(2.7Ghz with AMD Turbo Core Technology) 4MB L2 Cache, Windows 8.1, 1 month trial for new Office 365 customers, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM (4096MBx1), 500GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial ATA), 15.6" HD TruBrite® LED Backlit Flatscreen Display (1366x768), DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive, Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n) (150Mbps), Norton™ Internet Security 2013 (30-day trial subscription), everything listed above is what I purchased, did my research on all the parts, but would like the input from others.
 
Solution


400 for an A8 laptop is good imo, better than the equivalent i3 with HD graphics for sure!

Just be aware you might need to turn graphics settings down a bit to get things really smooth.

Also, maddogfargo is correct, faster ram improves performance of APUs... you would boost the speed of you're laptop in games just by adding a second memory stick (as it should run in dual channel mode). Even better would be to get a pair of faster DDR3 1600 sticks (I think that's the max you can go on a mobile A8). It's a fairly easy upgrade and will boost frame rates a fair bit.

cdrkf

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
37
0
10,610
A difficult question to answer. it depends on:

How much you paid for it and importantly what you're intending on doing with it.

The AMD A serises APU's do make sense if you want to do gaming or graphics work on a tight budget, so provided it wasn't overly expensive it probably was a sensible choice as a balanced option at the low end.
 

cdrkf

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
37
0
10,610


The performance of the iGPU on that chip is similar to my discreet GT 420m (quite old now).

To give you an idea, my GT 420m can run Tomb Raider (2013) at medium settings smoothly. It can also play the online space 'mmo' Star Conflict fine on high settings. I don't play league of legends but I would image it should be fine.
 

cdrkf

Honorable
Mar 18, 2013
37
0
10,610


400 for an A8 laptop is good imo, better than the equivalent i3 with HD graphics for sure!

Just be aware you might need to turn graphics settings down a bit to get things really smooth.

Also, maddogfargo is correct, faster ram improves performance of APUs... you would boost the speed of you're laptop in games just by adding a second memory stick (as it should run in dual channel mode). Even better would be to get a pair of faster DDR3 1600 sticks (I think that's the max you can go on a mobile A8). It's a fairly easy upgrade and will boost frame rates a fair bit.
 
Solution