May the Radeon be with You
AMD sent over some hardware for us to build out a system for Star Wars Battlefront!
In celebration of the release of The Force Awakens as well as the new Star Wars Battlefront game from DICE and EA, AMD sent over some hardware for us to use in a system build, targeted at getting users up and running in Battlefront with impressive quality and performance, but still on a reasonable budget. Pairing up an AMD processor, MSI motherboard, Sapphire GPU with a low cost chassis, SSD and more, the combined system includes a FreeSync monitor for around $1,200.
Holiday breaks are MADE for Star Wars Battlefront
Though the holiday is already here and you'd be hard pressed to build this system in time for it, I have a feeling that quite a few of our readers and viewers will find themselves with some cash and gift certificates in hand, just ITCHING for a place to invest in a new gaming PC.
The video above includes a list of components, the build process (in brief) and shows us getting our gaming on with Star Wars Battlefront. Interested in building a system similar the one above on your own? Here's the hardware breakdown.
AMD Powered Star Wars Battlefront System | |
---|---|
Processor | AMD FX-8370 – $197 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO – $29 |
Motherboard | MSI 990FXA Gaming – $137 |
Memory | AMD Radeon Memory DDR3-2400 – $79 |
Graphics Card | Sapphire NITRO Radeon R9 380X – $266 |
Storage | SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SSD – $79 |
Case | Corsair Carbide 300R – $68 |
Power Supply | Seasonic 600 watt 80 Plus – $69 |
Monitor | AOC G2460PF 1920×1080 144Hz FreeSync – $259 |
Total Price | Full System (without monitor) – Amazon.com – $924 |
For under $1,000, plus another $250 or so for the AOC FreeSync capable 1080p monitor, you can have a complete gaming rig for your winter break. Let's detail some of the specific components.
AMD sent over the FX-8370 processor for our build, a 4-module / 8-core CPU that runs at 4.0 GHz, more than capable of handling any gaming work load you can toss at it. And if you need to do some transcoding, video work or, heaven forbid, school or productivity work, the FX-8370 has you covered there too.
For the motherboard AMD sent over the MSI 990FXA Gaming board, one of the newer AMD platforms that includes support for USB 3.1 so you'll have a good length of usability for future expansion. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO cooler was our selection to keep the FX-8370 running smoothly and 8GB of AMD Radeon DDR3-2133 memory is enough for the system to keep applications and the Windows 10 operating system happy.
Corsair's Carbide 300R is low cost, is big enough inside to make building simple and is solidly built for newcomers.
Though we had an overkill power supply in the office for this use, a Seasonic 80 Plus Platinum at 860 watts, Seasonic makes awesome PSUs and anything you find in the 500-600 watt range should be sufficient.
For storage we selected a low cost SSD option, the SanDisk Ultra II, available in the 240GB capacity for under $80. If you need more space, you can upgrade to a larger SSD or simply add a 3.5-in hard drive for mass storage at a slower speed.
The AMD-provided Sapphire NITRO Radeon R9 380X 4GB graphics card has more than enough horsepower to run through most any game at maximum image quality settings at 1080p. And if you want to stretch into the 2560×1440, the R9 380X gives you a high performance starting point.
Finally, to really wrap up the entire system, AMD sent over a 24-in 1920×1080 144Hz FreeSync monitor from AOC, the G2460PF. This monitor is selling for just $259 in the US and thanks to the addition of low frame rate compensation in the latest Radeon Software Crimson release, running at frame rates lower than 40Hz still gives gamers a smooth experience.
I did some quick testing on the system with Battlefront running at 1920×1080 on the Ultra image quality preset. I played a while on the single player wave mission on Tatooine and on the Hoth map for multiplayer. Clearly, the Radeon R9 380X and the FX-8370 are able to push this game perfectly well, both hitting over 70 FPS on average and only dropping down to 68 FPS minimum in our 10+ repeated 60 second benchmark runs. Even better, because we were using the AOC FreeSync monitor, that 68-76 FPS felt perfectly smooth without any horizontal tearing from vertical sync!
There you have it – a brief system build for Star Wars Battlefront using a full complement on AMD hardware. Big thanks goes out to AMD for providing the hardware for the build!
Do you have any thoughts or suggestion on how you would change the build? How much time have YOU put into the new Star Wars Battlefront? Let us know in the comments below!
No AMD SSD? :p
How rare is it
No AMD SSD? :p
How rare is it today to see an AMD build on a tech site? Even a sponsored one. Skylake everywhere. Let’s hope that Samsung’s 14nm and later 10nm, combined with AMD’s engineers work on Zen will change that in 2017.
Price. It’s under 1K without
Price. It’s under 1K without the monitor. a 120GB SSD would put it a little above 1K.
meaning the AMD SSD. you’d
meaning the AMD SSD. you’d probably pay a little more for something that’s branded.
That is also correct for the
That is also correct for the memory. There is cheaper DDR3 2400 memory than the Radeon.
Anyway, it was more like a fun comment than a real question.
i3+450w PSU will cut the
i3+450w PSU will cut the price by 10%,and gain a better performance.
It won’t actually, and the i3
It won’t actually, and the i3 is definitely not future proof for directx 12. Troll somewhere else.
Even with dx12.I3 4330 is
Even with dx12.I3 4330 is still 20% faster than fx8370,hail amd.
At 640×480 and with low
At 640×480 and with low quality settings in the games, it could be true.
How would you possibly know
How would you possibly know that? Do you have the ability to see the future?
Irrelevant anyway. For the same price you can get a Core i5-6400, which is more powerful than the most powerful available FX-series chip. AMD just doesn’t have anything competitive for gaming, particularly because some games are very dependent on single-thread performance and fall over entirely on AMD CPUs. It’s pretty depressing, but that’s the situation. The lack of competition is getting problematic.
Hm lets see
passmark CPU
Hm lets see
passmark CPU rating
i5 6400: 6511
FX 8370: 8971
cpu for value numbers, the FX also comes away the winner.
your lack of functioning
your lack of functioning brain cells is becoming problematic
FX 9590: 10261
how is that
FX 9590: 10261
how is that i5 holding up to the highest end FX ???
If I was keeping close to the
If I was keeping close to the system requirements that was posted in this article, I would opt for a few different parts and get a better gaming system for a similar price:
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VCPy6h
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VCPy6h/by_merchant/
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($165.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($32.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($96.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive ($81.61 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($303.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: AOC G2460PF 144Hz 24.0″ Monitor ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1076.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-23 22:09 EST-0500
Can we get some more in depth
Can we get some more in depth coverage on the monitor please. At that price I’m pretty tempted to pick one up, but I’d like some more details first.
Seconded, would really love
Seconded, would really love to see that monitor reviewed, especially the lfc functionality.
I’ll put it in the queue. 🙂
I'll put it in the queue. 🙂
Thanks, I appreciate it.
It’s
Thanks, I appreciate it.
It’s discounted on Overclockers UK at the moment, but what little info I’ve seen on it so far has been a mixed bag and I’m not sure how much of it is accurate. So I’ve been hesitant to buy it.
Might be worth holding off until after CES anyway, in case a better option gets shown off there.
Can you fully declare the
Can you fully declare the nature of the sponsorship. They sent you much of the kit for the system but were you limited in the games you tested and the way you tested? Obviously this article is a big departure from your usual coverage of hardware and the way you test it so I think its only reasonable you tell us why that is.
I feel its not just providing the hardware that is sponsored, the entire post and what its meant to contain is sponsored. This was an advert by the looks of things and is required (by law) to be clearly marked as such before we even click into it.
You are not the
You are not the one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z696bTiP8Ro
get the hell out of here.
get the hell out of here.
Save us from the internet
Save us from the internet psychic lawyer wanna-bes. Love the use of “I feel” used as basis for a legal argument.
Ryan please tell us this
Ryan please tell us this ‘review’ isnt actually a sponsored advertisement by AMD that is missing the disclaimer
This isn’t a review
This isn’t a review
Yeah, it’s definitely not a
Yeah, it's definitely not a review. In fact there is NO statement on playability versus any other harware, ever, in the story or video. AMD sent all the goods for this one. Even the benchmarks don't compare to other Radeon or GeForce GPUs.
I built an 8350 FX system
I built an 8350 FX system when they first came out. There’s no question that it’s been the absolutely best computer I have ever had. It’s rock solid and never crashes. All peripherals work flawlessly. USB3, Esata, wireless, video cards. Various linux (Kubuntu, Ubuntu) and Windows OSs: Xp, 7, 8, 8.1. and now 10. With a Radeon 7950 it plays all games flawlessly at high settings on my 28″ monitor. Video encoding with Handbrake is a snap.
Really, I don’t need anything more. However, I will build a Zen system as soon as it comes out, and pass this computer down to my daughter.
AMD ALL THE WAY!!!
except some i5 should have
except some i5 should have beat the pants off your new build…………..with plenty to spare.
LOL no
Wow, look at all the Intel
Wow, look at all the Intel and Nvidia fanboys climbing out of the woodworks to pillory PCPer for daring to do an AMD build.
It’s pathetic. But hilarious to watch.
Look at all the AMD fanboys
Look at all the AMD fanboys coming out of their closests to glorify the poorest excuse of computing hard wag from 2012. Pathetic and hilarious as the same time.
the 860k beats the i5 6400
the 860k beats the i5 6400 LMAO
system components are good
system components are good value for the money
of course they are…its AMD!
of course they are…its AMD!
more AMD
more AMD builds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got 103 hours in Star Wars
I got 103 hours in Star Wars Battlefield and I am loving it. Say what you want about the limited content, repetitive gameplay, etc.. but it is the first game in many years that impressed me so much visually that I invited people over just to show it to them.
It’s also got me super excited for the next generation of games yet to come.