Thoughts on the AMD A8-5600K APU

Was looking around for a new CPU for my computer since my old CPU, a wizened Core 2 Quad was nearing the brink of destruction. Since my budget was relatively low, I went poking around forums looking for a cheap but cost-efficient CPU that would serve my purpose. Said purpose was of course gaming and navigation of the internet with a bit of flash animation. Then I saw it, the CPU that would eventually make me write this blog. The AMD A8-5600K APU.(a CPU with a built in graphics card with the A standing for Accelerated) I purchased the APU with an MSI A78M-E35 Socket FM2+/FM2 motherboard. After receiving the components in flawless condition (Kudos to the dudes at lelong), I set about to work on installing the little bastards. Installing was a hitch even for a relative beginner for me, just had to screw out the old motherboard and put the new one in. The CPU was child's play thanks to LinusTechTips elegantly described way to install a CPU. After connecting all the other components(including my dedicated graphics card, and AMD HD 7750(yes it was a stupid to buy an APU i know it now)),it was time to see if the system would boot and function lest i lose all my money on faulty components. The system booted up and successfully POST-ed.(idk what that means) Start up speed was a far cry from my old Core 2 Quad. Instead of taking 2 minutes, the system booted in 20 seconds.This was all without an SSD. No words could describe how happy I was to see windows 8.1 in its full speedy glory. Next up was gaming time. Even with the stock clock speed of 3.6 ghz the A8-5600k was still a very respectable processor. Most games I played such as Far Cry 3, Assassins Creed Black Flag and Skyrim all ran about 35-45 fps at the highest settings without anti-aliasing on. Turning down the settings to medium gave me a very smooth 60 fps and the games still looked absolutely fantastic.I know that the CPU and GPU aren't very good when compared to the really hardcore gaming enthusiasts components out there but I was still very happy with the performance that my measly system provided. The stock cooler that was provided gave me idle temps around 45 degrees celsius and when under load at 3.6 ghz,1.23 volts it rose to about 63 degrees celsius.Keeping in mind that my country is quite warm(around 30 degrees) i tried overclocking the CPU to around 4.1 ghz and rose the voltage to about 1.28 volts. To my suprise the system was stable and the temperatures were stil quite manageable never rising to 70 degrees celsius. The performance gains were not really very noticeable though as i only managed to squeeze around 3 more fps in Assassins Creed Black Flag. All in all, the CPU performs admirably well even though there are now much better processors out there such as the Athlon X4 860k and the incredible powerhouse that is the Pentium G3258. Even though this little APU doesn't have the right to contend with the silicon beasts of the world, it'll still perform very well for the price and can handle most day to day tasks without breaking a sweat.