Help! Noob needs advice on PC configuration, especially Graphics!

[Jellicoe2210]

Hello folks!
This is my first ever post on a forum so apologies if I at times use the wrong technical terms!
Anyway down to business.
I have recently bought a Desktop PC.
Researched it pretty thoroughly, and given my rather limited budget (£500-600) decided on the Kaveri Evolution from a UK based firm called Palicomp. This PC has had great reviews from Computer Shopper, Expert Reveiws etc.
So this is what I am buying:

Processor: AMD KAVERI FM2+ A10 7850K 3.7Ghz - 12 Cores (4xCPU+8xGPU)
Overclocked To 4Ghz Per Core
(this was an upgrade from the 7700K)
Processor cooling: ThermalTake Contac29 BP High Performance Ultra Silent Cooler
(I was advised to buy this since chip was overclocked)
Motherboard: ASUS A88XM-PLUS Featuring AMD A88X (FM2+) Chipset
RAM: CRUCIAL Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz
SSHD: 1TB SEAGATE SATA3, 7200 RPM 6Gb/s + 64MB Cache
Master Optical Drive: SAMSUNG 24X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer & Dual Format
Graphics: AMD Radeon R7 Integrated Graphics
PSU: ThermalTake TR2 550 PP (550W)
Case: ZALMAN Z3 PLUS Black Case
OS: Windows 8.1 (64bit)
Monitor: 24'' Iiyama ProLite E2483HS HDMI, HD 1920x1080, 2MS - LED

I do a fair amount of gaming, and have had to put up with low settings and frame rates for quite a while. I'd like to have 30-40 fps on High with 1080p.
The rest of the time it's pretty standard web browsing, writing letters, sending e-mails, preparing spreadsheets etc.

This is not the last PC I will ever buy. I would have like an Intel i5 chip but £550 for the above including a 24” monitor was the best I could afford.

So the questions are these:
1. Do I need a dedicated graphics card?
2. Would an AMD Radeon R7 250X be sufficient?
3. How does a new graphics card work with the integrated graphics? I've heard about these working together? Crossfire or something?
4. Anything else you think I need?

I don't really want to spend more than £60-£70 so the R9 270x is a bit pricey (and may be overkill?)

Anyway, I'd appreciate your advice folks.

Regards
Jellicoe

 

[PP Mguire]

1. It wouldn't hurt.
2. The 250x is pretty terrible.
3. Don't worry about doing Crossfire with the IGP. You can't make decent performance out of terrible cards. If anything it would hold back a better card.
4. A better CPU.

We've had APU convos on these boards quite a bit and finally people are realizing just how terrible APUs are for gaming. The CPU cores are slower than the FX line and any card better than say that 250x you mentioned would be bottlenecked by the CPU. Another member here had I think the exact chip with a 260x or 260 (can't remember) and it indeed held the card back.

Bottom line, my advice is this. If you already bought the machine then I suggest just dealing with the IGP until you can afford a good card. Something like a 280, 285, 280x, or whatever. When you play Mantle titles you can enable Mantle to alleviate most of the CPU overhead causing only a slight bottleneck on your graphics card. Just know that titles that don't support Mantle will be heavily bottlenecked besides low end games.

The other option is if you didn't buy this machine already then grab yourself an i3 equipped machine. The i3 will be faster for gaming, should be cheaper (high end APUs are more expensive over here), and won't bottleneck any card you toss in there. Not to mention, it's a quick upgrade away later when you can afford an i5.

 

[-RockMan-]

Hello folks!
This is my first ever post on a forum so apologies if I at times use the wrong technical terms!
Anyway down to business.
I have recently bought a Desktop PC.
Researched it pretty thoroughly, and given my rather limited budget (£500-600) decided on the Kaveri Evolution from a UK based firm called Palicomp. This PC has had great reviews from Computer Shopper, Expert Reveiws etc.
So this is what I am buying:

Processor: AMD KAVERI FM2+ A10 7850K 3.7Ghz - 12 Cores (4xCPU+8xGPU)
Overclocked To 4Ghz Per Core
(this was an upgrade from the 7700K)
Processor cooling: ThermalTake Contac29 BP High Performance Ultra Silent Cooler
(I was advised to buy this since chip was overclocked)
Motherboard: ASUS A88XM-PLUS Featuring AMD A88X (FM2+) Chipset
RAM: CRUCIAL Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz
SSHD: 1TB SEAGATE SATA3, 7200 RPM 6Gb/s + 64MB Cache
Master Optical Drive: SAMSUNG 24X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer & Dual Format
Graphics: AMD Radeon R7 Integrated Graphics
PSU: ThermalTake TR2 550 PP (550W)
Case: ZALMAN Z3 PLUS Black Case
OS: Windows 8.1 (64bit)
Monitor: 24'' Iiyama ProLite E2483HS HDMI, HD 1920x1080, 2MS - LED

I do a fair amount of gaming, and have had to put up with low settings and frame rates for quite a while. I'd like to have 30-40 fps on High with 1080p.
The rest of the time it's pretty standard web browsing, writing letters, sending e-mails, preparing spreadsheets etc.

This is not the last PC I will ever buy. I would have like an Intel i5 chip but £550 for the above including a 24” monitor was the best I could afford.

So the questions are these:
1. Do I need a dedicated graphics card?
2. Would an AMD Radeon R7 250X be sufficient?
3. How does a new graphics card work with the integrated graphics? I've heard about these working together? Crossfire or something?
4. Anything else you think I need?

I don't really want to spend more than £60-£70 so the R9 270x is a bit pricey (and may be overkill?)

Anyway, I'd appreciate your advice folks.

Regards
Jellicoe

Here you go it will do much more better than that current pc build your looking at.
Only thing it doesn't have is the optical drive and windows 7 oem or windows 8 oem.

Intel Core i5-3450, Club 3D Radeon R9 270, Zalman Z3 Plus - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom
For those parts it'll be 503.00 pounds if you still want to spend 600 to get mostly everything for your pc.
You have a little room to get more if needed.