Cheap APU Budget build viable?

Hey guys, I've got a bit of a problem on my hands and I've just been seeking another opinion on the matter.

My girlfriend has been playing games on her Sony laptop here and there but lately its just not cutting it. Its equipped with an i3-330M @ 2.13ghz with a 310M GPU and for what shes trying to play its very underwhelming. I know a budget gaming build can be made, and it doesn't have to be anything particularly amazing aslong as she can play stuff medium graphics.

We're going to be very tight on money and all I can really do is spend $300 - $400 on a somewhat decent machine.

I've been thinking looking into APU's and how well they handle gaming for the price you pay. It would be preferable to get this machine as cheap as possible without compromising quality too much but I'm not very sure how viable an APU machine is. So its come down to this, is an APU machine pretty well worth the budget range? Here are the two CPU's I'm toying around with.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103942

OR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

If I go the Zambezi route the dedicated GPU I would put in would be a 6670, but the cost would be up a bit.

I've got an DVD Drive, HDD and OS, so case,psu,cpu,mobo,ram, and possible GPU is what I would need. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001 (cpu)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130619 mother board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220555 ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371029 psu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233069 case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102952 gpu

subtotal 357.94

thats what i got.

How is the APU performance on its own would you say?Blicen

Roughly like a 50$ dedicated gfx card. So, nothing spectacular.

i would say that apu performance is decent. you can easily game at 1280x720 on med settings.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/50952-amd-a8-3870k-unlocked-llano-apu-review-16.html some benchmarks

just dont play really demanding games like BF3 and metro.

Ok, how's this:

960T or X3 455

Asrock 770 ATX motherboard

Gigabyte HD 7750

2x2GB DDR3 1333MHz

Rosewill Blackbone

Rosewill 450W PSU

With 960T it's a little over 400$, but I think it's worth it. You could also get a cheaper gfx card like 6570/6670. And you might also want to consider an aftermarket cooler, since AMD's 95W coolers are a joke.

Ok, how's this:

960T or X3 455

Asrock 770 ATX motherboard

Gigabyte HD 7750

2x2GB DDR3 1333MHz

Rosewill Blackbone

Rosewill 450W PSU

With 960T it's a little over 400$, but I think it's worth it. You could also get a cheaper gfx card like 6570/6670. And you might also want to consider an aftermarket cooler, since AMD's 95W coolers are a joke.

PfizersaurusRex

FX CPUs are not that bad, but they are more expensive, and so are AM3+ motherboards. Plus with 960T you might get an extra core or 2 for free.;)

Does every 960T have locked cores or what? Blicen

Yes, but not every sample has functional cores. Think of it as a lottery. And even if it doesn't unlock it's still a good deal.

[QUOTE="Blicen"]Does every 960T have locked cores or what? PfizersaurusRex

Yes, but not every sample has functional cores. Think of it as a lottery. And even if it doesn't unlock it's still a good deal.

at the end of the year after trinity comes out, i'd like to make an APU build inside an original XBOX case. i have seen some of the on the web and they look so retro and sweet. i was going to install my HD DVD rom in there that is currently in another desktop. my laptop lives on my coffee table for playing back media files. i would love to do some gaming in there to on my PC without having to keep my big PC in there (the xbox will fit nicely on the shelf). In preperations for this i bought an old "not working" xbox for $10AU (turns out it does work so i have been enjoying that).