Question 1

why doesn't it come with a board? which one do i buy?

Accepted Answer

Hi, Stephen.
I opted to wait until the A10-7890k came out, representing the most advanced of the Socket FM2+ APU chips AMD would release before transitioning the line to the forthcoming socket FM3 configuration.
That being said, it might be worth considering buying the FM2+ motherboard here on Newegg with the mosteam advanced chupset (A88 I believe, and the most memory slots, PCI-Ex16 slots, USB 3.0, etc... as there will likely be very few -if any- further upgrades to motherboards with the FM2+ socket of which your A10-7890k may take advantage. I did some research, and the below mb and memory combo was my final solution.

Motherboard:
1 x MSI MSI Gaming A88XM GAMING FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Memory:
(Note that while the below memory does not have the low latency specs you might expect to find, AMD produces it specifically to be used to maximize the potential of the APU sees of chip. They really are excellent together. Guaranteed compatibility, and really excellent performance.)

1 x AMD Radeon R9 Gamer 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model R9316G2401U2K

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

Best,
Erik

Question 2

Would this work on my f2a88xn-wifi?  I think it will, im just not sure. I have my CPU and the build done, i just wanna switch the CPU's out, is there anything else ill need?

Accepted Answer

I own the board and purchased the 7890 as an upgrade for it.  Works great with latest bios, no problem.  I did however have an issue with the wraith cooler over-hanging the ram slots low enough and far enough that I opted to get a different cooler for it.  The issue is that I could find some lower profile ram but it was also lower performance without head spreaders so it was a no go.  Dropped in a pre-configured water kit for the mini-itx case I had it all in and all is well.

Question 3

Does this processor down clock while gpu is in use? For example, running a new title game. If so, how much? 3.4mhz?

Accepted Answer

No, It doesn't down clock at all. Baseline performance is 4.0ghz constant with spikes around 4.3ghz - 4.7ghz if you run it in an "OC" type setup. The only time the processor does down clock is when your PC is sitting "idle" on the desktop not doing anything at all to save power consumption.

Question 4

does this processor support direct x 12 ?

Accepted Answer

This processors a beast. It supports just about everything windows, and Linux. That includes directx. You won't be disappointed by it but beware, the wraith coolers is a lot bigger than most cpu fans.

Question 5

Is this APU compatible with a Asus A88XX-PRO  motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes it is compatible I have one myself works like a dandy

Question 6

Looking to build a virtual pinball table.  Need triple monitors.  Secondary and tertiary monitors will be 1080p.  Primary can be 1080p but would prefer 4k.  Will this handle that when paired to a GIGABYTE GA-F2A88XN-WIFI mobo?

Accepted Answer

I do believe it will. I am not a pro.

Question 7

What is the clearance of the cpu with the wraith cooler? Specifically will it fit inside a Fractal node 202?

Accepted Answer

I have never personally used the node 202 but based on what I have seen of the node 202, I highly doubt it. However if you aren't going to be pushing this cpu too hard, it's a good choice for small form factor builds and the wraith cooler does a good job cooling so any after market cooler should do fine.

Question 8

Okay guys, this question might be related to this CPU, but I'm not sure. Ever since I upgraded to this processor, my computer has been frequently crashing with blue screens like crazy. I suspect it might be that the motherboard I have does not support this CPU, but I'm not sure. Can someone confirm this for me please? My motherboard is the MSI A55M-E33.

Accepted Answer

You're correct, your motherboard does not officially support the APU.

From what I'm seeing on MSI's Support Site, the MSI A55M-E33 only supports up Kaveri-based APUs. The A10-7890K is a Godvari-based APU.

The A10-7890K was released long after the latest firmware update for the A55-E33 (MSI released the last firmware update for the A55-E33 in Dec 2014).

FWIW, I can highly recommend the ASRock A88M-ITX/ac board with an FM2+ APU. I currently have two rock-solid, heavily used FM2+ builds using the board (one build is a media server and the other an HTPC).

Good luck, sorry that your board does not totally support the APU.

Question 9

Does anybody know how tall (milimeters) the cooler and heatsink are together? Thanks!

Accepted Answer

About 10.1cm or 101.6mm.  (Please note I couldn't open my case to actually measure it when I did this)
It should fit in any tower that will accept a normal sized graphics card.

Questions & Answers