A8 5600k APU with Radeon HD Graphics 3.60GHz

Hey everyone. So, I just found out my processor actually has 2 cores and 4 logical processors. When I picked this thing up, they told me it had 4 cores, but turns out it’s only got 2 physical ones. Now I'm kind of wondering... is this chip actually any good? And like, how many cores does it really have???😕

It’s got 4 cores—though those i3 processors basically run on 2 physical cores and 4 logical ones. How much power you actually get out of it... I guess it really depends on what you're doing, but it sits somewhere in that lower-mid range. It does overclock pretty well, though...

I'm mostly using it for stuff like COD Ghosts or Assassin's Creed III. I guess... is this processor actually meant for gaming?

It’s probably not exactly lightning-fast for gaming, but I guess it gets the job done if you pair it with a decent GPU 😉

So, what kind of GPU would you guys actually recommend for the games I listed?

What’s the rest of your build looking like? (Specifically, which power supply are you running?)

8GB RAM

400W power supply, 120V
ASUS FM2-M LK2 plus HD6670 2

So, yeah... that's what I'm running right now. Honestly, I really need to swap out this GPU, so if you guys could maybe find me something that actually makes sense with my processor? I just want to squeeze every bit of performance I can out of this thing, I guess.

Zachary Smith2 said:8GB RAM
400W power supply, 120V
ASUS FM2-M LK2 plus HD6670 2
hd6670 2gb

That's my current setup. I really need to swap out the GPU, so find me one that actually matches my CPU. I want to squeeze every bit of performance out of this rig.

Do you know the exact brand of your power supply? (just pop the case open and check)

I'd throw an AMD Radeon R7 265 🙂 in there without thinking twice, provided you aren't using some cheap junk power supply.

Alright, fair enough then. Just wanted to ask you guys... how can I cut down on all these background processes to speed things up? Task Manager is showing me like 56 processes running at startup, which feels like way too much, I guess.

So you should probably just close out those programs in Windows 😁 Just watch the CPU usage, man; it looks like it's being eaten up by the system itself rather than individual processes

Zachary Smith2 said:Alright then. Just one question: how can I reduce the number of CPU processes to speed things up? Task Manager shows I have 56 processes running in the startup tab.

If you see a process that looks suspicious, just Google it—there are tons of explanations online. If it looks standard or you aren't entirely sure what it does, don't touch it. Honestly, it's better not to mess with anything at all. If you're worried about bugs or malware, just run a scan with your antivirus and Malwarebytes.

You can also type "msconfig" into the Windows search bar, head over to the Startup section, and disable any junk. Generally, you should leave your antivirus and your graphics driver software (like NVIDIA control panels) alone, along with hardware drivers for things like wireless dongles, printers, or high-end mouse software. Disable everything else that doesn't need to be running the moment you boot up—things like torrent clients, Daemon Tools, various Adobe update services, and other useless background apps...

Regarding the graphics card, tell me the specific model of the power supply. Saying "400W" tells us nothing; it could be absolute bottom-of-the-barrel junk or a top-tier high-quality unit...

Just checking out some old junk 😬

I mean, an NVIDIA GTX 750 doesn't really pull much more power than an HD 6670, so I guess it might work on a budget build 🙂

If you're working with a junk power supply and want to upgrade to a 750 Ti, go for it. But if your current PSU is actually decent, you'll get much better value for your money with an AMD Radeon R7 265.

I’m running Avast and Adobe Premiere along with some free antimalware stuff, and everything seems pretty chill so far. I also use CCleaner to kill off all those annoying programs that try to launch right when the computer starts up. I actually got Norton Antivirus on a DVD somewhere, but I haven't bothered installing it. My CPU usage sits around 0% to 2% when I'm just idling, but once I start gaming, it jumps straight to 60%-100%. Is that... normal, I guess? Also, whenever I fire up Skype, the screen flickers for a second before things settle down. Could that be a processor issue or something?

Well, that’s just standard CPU utilization, I guess. It can’t really go any lower than that.

Zachary Smith2 said:8GB of RAM
with a 400W, 230V power supply
ASUS FM2-M LK2 plus HD6670 2
HD6670 2GB

That’s basically my whole setup right now. Honestly, I really need to swap out that graphics card, so can you guys help me find the perfect match for my processor? I just want to squeeze every last bit of performance out of this computer, you know?

Wait, is that card running on GDDR5 or GDDR3?
I’m rocking an HD6670 1GB DDR5 myself, paired with a 6790K overclocked to 4.3GHz and 4GB of RAM, and honestly, it handles everything I throw at it. If things get slow, I’ll just pick up another card later, but for now, games run just fine.

I've got 2GB of DDR3 VRAM on this thing.

Hey guys, I could use some help... looking for a GPU recommendation. Ideally something with up to 2GB of VRAM and DDR5 memory that can actually handle some heavy-duty gaming, but without breaking the bank too much. Maybe?
-ASUS FM2-M LK2 plus HD6670 2
-AMD A8-5600k

Regarding your setup, if your power supply isn't the bottleneck, you should look into an AMD Radeon R7 265 or even an R9 270. However, if you bought a pre-built system, there's a high probability the power supply is subpar, in which case I'd recommend sticking with a 750Ti.

Zachary Smith2 said:I'm running on 2GB of DDR3 video memory.

The big reason your card is dragging is that DDR3 memory... honestly, I've got a 1GB GDDR5 setup and I am totally stoked with it,