KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
It is hard not to like the A8-3870K especially when you factor in the modest asking price of £100 inc vat in the UK today. It certainly isn't going to set the performance world alight with benchmark results, but I like the design and it is fun to overclock and capable in real world terms.
The Black Edition status means the 3870K is very easy to overclock, achieving 3.5ghz with a modest reference air cooler. I am confident that better results are possible if more money was spent on cooling. That said, I can't help but feel that using a very high end cooler on such as processor is a waste of money, as you could be basically paying 30-50% of the chip price, just to cool it. £130-140 is a little over the odds for a 3870K and cooler, because Intel's Core i5 2550k for example is only £169.99 now.
In reality it is hard to complain about the 3870K at this price, after all there are very few unlocked processors around £100, so AMD deserve a little pat on the back for breaking the mould. In regards to performance the A8-3870K is actually able to outperform the Core i3 2105 when rendering via Cinebench.
If you are in the market for a new, low cost system build, perhaps for a business environment, then the A8-3870K is worth a serious look. With a basic cooler, it is easily overclocked to 3.5ghz and has enough horsepower for general duties, and even more serious requirements such as video and photo editing.
The Sapphire HD6450 FleX is an interesting product, being the least expensive Sapphire FleX solution on the market today. For 720p gaming duties, it is adequate, although this is somewhat missing the point. The card only costs £50 inc vat in the UK, meaning for £150 you have the guts of a system (with 3870k) which can support three high definition monitors for general work and entertainment duties.
If you haven't used a three screen Eyefinity setup and have no interest in playing Direct X 11 games, then this card is an ideal solution. It is silent, requires no PCI E connectors and generates little heat while demanding only a few watts of power.
Both AMD A8-3870K and Sapphire HD6450 FleX deserve our ‘WORTH BUYING' award, as they are competitively priced and make an ideal foundation for a low cost entertainment center/three screen work system.
Kitguru says: If you need a second system/media center, or want a work oriented platform with multiple screens then both of these products deserve serious consideration.
Nice cheap system indeed. id like a passive cooler on the CPU, even to underclock and undervolt it. wonder is that possible?
2ghz would probably be more than enough for bluray playback.
I love passive video cards, dont think this one is really for gamers, but more for acceleraing video and stuff and being quiet. I like this system more than some of the high end things you review. , all about the green environm,ent too.
Nice, cheap setup and more than enough for most people. You could also replace that 6450 with something more powerful, although it would be noisier obviously