Desktop variants of AMD “Richland” APUs in the socket FM2 package, will arrive this June. Three of the first models to be released to the market, the A10-6800K, the A10-6700, and the A4-4400, could already be in stock with certain retailers, and were pictured. The A10-6800K (AD680KWOA44HL) features four x86-64 cores based on the “Piledriver” micro-architecture, 4.10 GHz core clock speed, 4.40 GHz maximum Turbo Core frequency, and Radeon HD 8670D graphics, clocked at 844 MHz. It features an unlocked base-clock multiplier.
The A10-6700 (AD6700OKA44HL) features the same graphics core as the A10-6800K, but features 3.70 GHz CPU clock speed, 4.30 GHz maximum Turbo Core frequency, and an upwards locked base-clock multiplier. The A4-4400 (AD4400OKA23HL), on the other hand, is an entry-level dual-core chip with 3.70 GHz core, 3.90 GHz Turbo Core, and Radeon HD 8370D graphics.
*** Please see the table below for more details about AMD Fusion S-Series “Richland” CPU line up:
With the new FM2 boards available, we took the chance to compare the A10-5800K (3.8GHz) and compare it to the Intel core i5-3570K processor in terms of it’s performance, overclockability etc.
Tbe Trinity FM2 A10-5800K has a built in graphics core of Radeon 6670D which runs at 800MHz which seems to outrun the Socket FM1 and Core i5 3570K in graphics component test.
The AMD A10-5800K is catching up with it’s Intel counterpart especially in the data crunching and data transcoding department but it will probably need to improve it’s design to match the speed. It has improved from it’s FM1 design but still require more time to evolve.
Generally the AMD A10-5800K is a good alternative if you have little budget for a PC with on board graphics.
Read our review of the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi A85X motherboard review with more detail numbers.
AMD has unveiled it’s Trinity APUs and hope that this would create competition and cause Intel to slash it’s price to compete with them.
In the past AMD has been the alternative to Intel. In fact it has a strong following until recent years with it’s Socket FM1.
We spoke to a number of distributors and they are hesistant to bring in AMD FM2 boards and CPUs as there is not much of a demand in this region. Users who have high spending power naturally goes for Intel.
Adopting the new FM2 socket, AMD has released several Trinity APUs including quad-core A10-5800K, featuring integrated Radeon HD 7660D GPU, A10-5700, A8-5600K, A8-5500 and dual-core A4-5300.
Currently, Intel Core i3 series processor prices range from US$117-138, while AMD’s new Trinity APUs are priced at US$69-129.
The processors are pretty affordable and with motherboards at 70% of the price of Intel motherboards. It might also spur the sales of Intel processors and motherboards as vendors might start slashing prices, probably in a matter of time.
Pricing source : Digitimes
AMD new desktop Trinity APU prices, Sep 2012 (US$)
September 2012 is drawing to a close and October would be an interesting month for AMD as they will launch their new Socket FM2 processors. Although processors are not available as yet, boards have surfaced on manufacturers website. Information about the processors have also been posted almost on every site. We managed to get a glimspe of the almost ready FM2 processor A10-5800K. Here is how it looks like.
The unlocked chip A10-5800K has 4MB Cache rated 100W and has a max. clock speed turbo at 4.2GHz. The internal graphics clock is rated at 800MHz and has 384 cores. AMD did not reveal actual pricing but it should be in the range of USD 120 in units of 1000. The processor will be available from Oct 2 2012.
Intel users who buys the Core i5 series usually go for the faster encoding speed and support of new technologies on new boards e.g based on Intel Z77 chipset.
In fact, something that most intend to forget is the raw power of the processors. In fact, when the Socket FM1 processors were introduced, it was not well received.
Picture courtesy of TomsHardware showing the difference of Socket FM1 vs FM2.
Today, we took a look at our old records and did a comparison and found that our Socket FM1 A8-3850 actually outperform our Core i5-3570K processor in terms of graphics capabilities. This is especially in games frame rates and openGL tests. Although it is fast, graphics encoding is behind Intel’s.
So, will the Socket FM2 processors going to change that or will there be any breakthrough ? Discuss.
Last weekend, ASUS began selling it’s latest Fusion APU board the E45M1-M Pro in Japan. This new board is paired with the AMD E-450 APU.
E-450 seems to be an upgraded variant of the AMD E-350 that we reviewed a couple of months ago.
The difference is that the E-450 has a slightly higher clock spee of 1.65GHz. It has a built in Radeon HD 6320 graphics (E-350 uses Radeon HD 6310). The graphics default clock is 508MHz instead of 492MHz. It supports DDR3-1333 whiel the older supports DDR3-1066. The TDP is 18W.
The board is a microATX board with A50M (M1 FCH). It has a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot (running in x4 mode), PCIe 2.0 x1, PCI x 2, DDR3-1333/1600(OC) slots (up to 8GB in total).
There is on board 8 Ch audio using realtek ALC887, GbE by Realtek 8111E, 5 SATA 3.0, 1 eSATA 3.0, 2 USB 3.0 (ASmedia). Output ports are HDMI/DVI-D and D-SUB.
ASRock A75 Extreme6 Motherboard Review with AMD LIano APU A8-3850
Bluetooth 25 Jul 2011
Not everyone makes the same boards. The features, overclocking, design differs from manufacturer to manufacturer. In fact, to us, innovation is more than anything else.
Say Hello to ASRock A75 Extreme6 where you meet the amazing feature set.
The ASRock A75 Extreme6 is a board based on the AMD A75 Hudson D3 chipset and support for Socket FM1 100W processors. It supporst native 6 x SATA3, 4 x USB 3.0 Ports. For memory, it can achieve up to dual Channel DDR3 2400+(OC).
Although the processor has an integrated video, users who wants to use external graphics cards can do AMD Quad CrossFireX™ , 3-Way CrossFireX™ , CrossFireX™ and Dual Graphics. There is also multi VGA Output : D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI.
For users who doesn’t want to spend a fortune on graphics cards, the graphics within the APU supports AMD Steady Video™ : New video post processing capability for automatic jutter reduction on home/online video. The board also also has 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), Supports THX TruStudio™.
Important features only available on ASRock board are XFast USB Technology, Graphical UEFI BIOS, Supports On/Off Play Technology, Instant Boot, Instant Flash, APP Charger, SmartView.
The APU we are going to use is the A8-3850. This APU is 32nm DX11 3D graphics capable. It also supports OpenGL 4.1 and OpenCL 1.1 standards. It has 4 Core 4 threads and the embedded video is a Radeon HD6550D class video capable of doing 4000 marks in 3DMark Vantage Performance test.
On page 2, we will take a look at the motherboard layout.
Although most A75 boards support multiple output ports, D-SUB will not work once you increase your CPU CLK to 133MHz when overclocking the system.
So, if you are thinking of overclocking your brand new A75 board with a APU, you must get ready to pair the system up with a monitor with DVI-D connector.
AMD Inc. (NYSE:AMD), a global semiconductor innovator and Point Grey, a world leader in advanced digital camera products, have together established uncompressed streaming HD video across USB 3.0 during AMD’s A-Series APU official launch event held on 14 June in Seattle.
The AMD Inc. (NYSE:AMD) A-Series APU-based platforms are the first to utilize the A75 and A70M FCH chipsets in desktop and in mobile and are the first certified chipsets to put together SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) into their core logic.
The live demonstration showcased the performance benefits of USB 3.0 by streaming uncompressed high definition (HD) 1080p60 video from Point Grey’s Flea3 digital video camera to an AMD Fusion A-Series-based laptop computer.
AMD Inc. (NYSE:AMD) shares were at 7 at the end of the last day’s trading. There’s been a -12.0% movement in the stock price over the past 3 months.
While browsing through the web, I came across a Chinese website that posted CPU-Z screen shot of A8-3850 at a whopping speed of 5.6GHz (100×56) on AIR.
Unfortunately, the editor has been fooled. With the new APUs, at least from our own internal test, it shows that the APU can be multiplier overclocked beyond the default of 29x but there won’t be any performance difference at all from 29x.
Try it out if you have an A8-3850 on hand and see if you do a 6 GHz on AIR
Gigabyte A75-UD4H AMD A75 Motherboard with AMD A8-3850 Review – Intro
Bluetooth 2 Jul 2011
The wait is over as AMD launches it’s APU – the accelerated processor unit which integrates graphics into the traditional processor just like Intel’s Core i5-2500K. With this new APU, a new generation of motherboards are making it inroads to various market segments.
Today, we are going to take a look at the Gigabyte A75-UD4H, one of the higher end board available for the new Socket FM1 supporting the A75 Hudson chipset for the 32nm DX11 capable APU like A8-3850.
The APU we are going to use is the A8-3850. This APU is 32nm DX11 3D graphics capable. It also supports OpenGL 4.1 and OpenCL 1.1 standards. It has 4 Core 4 threads and the embedded video is a Radeon HD6550D class video capable of doing 4000 marks in 3DMark Vantage Performance test.
In addition, the chipset supports Dual Graphics, allowing you to pair up another Radeon HD 6000 series graphics card to boost up the 3D graphics performance.
Unboxing the A75-UD4H
If you look at the box of the motherboard, you would have noticed the SUPER 4. Basically, Gigabyte’s proposition is
Super Safe
．DualBIOS™ 3TB+ HDD Support (Hybrid EFI Technology)
．One Fuse per USB Port
．50,000 hr. Solid Capacitors
to ensure durability of the board.
Super Speed
．Ultra Durable™ design
．3 x USB Power Boost + On/Off Charge
GIGABYTE Super Speed ensures that you’re always on the cusp of PC performance, data transfer and device charging speeds. GIGABYTE 3x USB power means better device compatibility and faster charging on USB connected devices like portable storage devices without needing to use two USB ports. The additional power provided by 3 x USB Power allows iPad, iPhone and iPod devices to charge up to 40% faster compared to standard USB implementations, while On/Off charge allows fast device charging even when your PC is on standby or turned off.
Super Savings
．Lower RDS(on) MOSFETs
．Lower CPU Zone Temperature
．High Power-Efficiency
All GIGABYTE Super4™ motherboards are equipped with the very best quality components that ensure that you PC is running at maximum power efficiency. Lower RDS(on) MOSFETs reduce energy wastage through unnecessary residual heat dissipation. This amounts to tangible energy savings which are beneficial for both end-users and the environment without impacting system performance.
Super Sound
．High-end 108dB HD Audio (3.5x better audio quality than standard PC audio solutions) offer excellent 7.1 surround sound audio backed by a proprietary converter that is able to achieve 108dB noise ratio (SNR) playback quality. This means that users will enjoy a better audio experience with lower levels of noise and hiss when enjoying the latest HD content.
In the next few pages, we take a detail look at the motherboard, it’s chipsets and BIOS followed by benchmarks.
Digitimes reports that AMD has announced it will start selling its new A8-3850 and A6-3650 APUs on July 3, challenging Intel’s Core i3-2120 and Core i3-2100 with quad-core A8-3800 and A6-3600 CPUs set to launch at a later time. There will be about 20 new A, FX and E series CPUs to be launched in the second half of 2011.
The A8-3850 and A6-3650 APUs both feature quad-core designs and discrete graphics-level integrated GPUs, and support AMD’s exclusive software such as Catalyst driver, OpenCL as well as Vision Engine Control Center to allow upgrades and improvements in performance and stability.
Motherboard makers also revealed that AMD will release eight more APUs including A8-3870, A6-3500 and E2-3200 in the fourth quarter with four high-end APUs including FX-8150 set for September, and another four high-end APUs including FX-8170 for the first quarter of 2012.
Following the launch of its Llano APUs in 2011, AMD plans to release 32nm Trinity-series APUs in 2012, which will support DirectX 11 graphics technology and target mainstream and high-performance desktop and notebook segments.
Embedded graphics is the way to go for both Intel and AMD. Intel has a lead way with it’s processors powered by Intel H67 or Z68 chipset. This will change as AMD will introduce their A75 chipset this month.
The A75 chipset boards will be paired with the Socket FM1 AMD LIano processors. Similarly, the graphics is embedded within the processor thus, CPU gets renamed as APU.
On our hand is an AMD A3850 clocked at 2.9GHz with 4 core 4 threads. It has an embedded graphics “Radeon 6550D”. We benchmark it against a system running Core i5 2500K at 3.3GHz.
In the game “The Last Remnant” tested at 1024×768 full screen, the AMD A75 platform leads the Intel Z68 by 54%.
Although it excels in graphics performance, the crunching speed is slower compared to the Intel Core i5-2500K.
WHile we are waiting for AMD to officially announce the sales of this processor, we already got one in our hands. Here is a short video of us unboxing it. Stay tuned to our review at OCWORKBENCH in the coming month of July 2011.
Integrated graphics board has always been ignored as a low end platform. With the introduction of the APU, this is going to change the mindset of many.
The upcoming AMD A8 and A6 processors paired with the new A75 series boards blow away the competitor with impressive DX11 graphics performance.
With a typical AMD LIano A8-3850 processor running at 2.4GHz, DDR3-1866 (2x2G), it is able to achieve a 3DMark Vantage score of P5600+. If the APU is overclocked, 3DMark Vantage score can scale up to 5650 marks.
With a HD 6670 GPU added on board, AMD Radeon DUal Graphics kicks in and can boost the performance up to 10000 marks giving it a 1.5x improvement over the standard APU.
AMD Desktop APUs A6 and A8 series specs have been leaked on the net prior to Computex. Boards were also on display at Computex Taipei 2011. To date, there seems to be a lack of processors to satisfy the market.
To our surprise, our HK correspondent told us that he came across the retail box of the processors on a Hong Kong site. Apparently, the boxes are at one of the retail shops. It means stocks are ready for sale awaiting for an early July launch. Pricing is not provided.
AMD APU A6-3650 and A8-3850 The speeds are rated at 2.6GHZ (A6-3650) and 2.9GHZ (A8-3850).
AMD APU A8, A6, A4 series processor details; A6-3500 (3 core) might have hidden core disabled and can be turned into A6-3600
It’s confirmed that there will be 7 different models of APUs that will be released in early July 2011.
First the A8 series. There are two models in A8 series, namely the A8-3850 rated 100W 2.9GHz Quad Core. The other model is A8-3000 rated 65W, 2.7/2.4GHz (turbo Core). Both has 4MB L2 cache, 400 Radeon Cores with GPU at 600MHz. Graphics class is HD 6550D.
There are three in A6 Series, the first is A6-3650. It is a 100W, 4core at 2.6GHz. THe A6-3600 is 65W 4Core, 2.4/2.1GHz (Turbo Core). The A6-3500 is 65W 3 core 2.4/2.1 (turbo Core). All has 4MB L2 cache except A6-3500 which has 3MB. All three models have 320 Radeon Cores at 443MHz. Graphics class is HD 6530D
Lastly the A4 series A4-3400 is 65W 2 cores 2.7GHz and A4-3300 65W 2C at 2.5GHz. All A4 models have 160 Radeon Cores of HD 6410D. L2 cache is 1MB and the graphics GPU clock is 600MHz for A4-3400 and 443MHz for A4-3300.
The most interesting processor I would say is the A6-3500. As it is a tri core, it seems that this processor is exactly the same as A6-3600 with one core “turned off”. Will there be any BIOS hack that can turn on the hidden core if the hidden core exists ?
Insyde® Software Delivers InsydeH2O™ UEFI BIOS for High Performance AMD A-Series APUs
AMD APUs Combined with Customizable InsydeH2O UEFI Firmware Gives Mainstream Notebook and Desktop Makers Increased Design Flexibility
TAIPEI, Taiwan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Insyde Software, a leading provider of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware, today announced the availability of InsydeH2O™ UEFI BIOS support for the newly launched AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs).
InsydeH2O, the industry’s most trusted UEFI BIOS, is expected to ship on dozens of AMD A-Series APU-based personal computing platforms this year. PC OEMs and ODMs worldwide rely on InsydeH2O for its easily customizable architecture, fast boot performance, power management configurations, support for UEFI, ACPI, USB, PCI and other industry specifications, and a consistent development environment for platforms of all types and architectures.
The AMD A-Series APU is a high-performance APU for mainstream notebooks and desktops, enabling performance-minded and mainstream PC users unique features including:
•Brilliant HD – Enabled by discrete-class DirectX® 11-capable graphics including an AMD Dual Graphics option for performance PCs.
•Personal Supercomputing – Parallel processing like that in supercomputers, but for consumer computing platforms and up to four x86 CPU cores.
•AMD AllDay™ Power – A user-centric approach to long battery life.
“Working closely with AMD, Insyde will continue to deliver the most advanced UEFI firmware for our customers leveraging the high-performance AMD A-Series APUs,” said Aven Chuang, Senior Vice President and GM, Personal Computer Group at Insyde Software. “InsydeH2O’s fast-boot technology and host of other unique firmware features are strong complements to AMD A-Series APU’s computing performance, brilliant HD graphics and innovative battery-saving technology,” added Chuang.
“The latest AMD A-Series APUs raise the bar for personal computing platforms in terms of brilliant HD graphics, supercomputer-like processing power and battery management,” said John Taylor, director of client and software product marketing for AMD (NYSE: AMD). “UEFI BIOS support from Insyde Software for the AMD Fusion Family of APUs gives PC manufacturers the advantage of platform innovation.”
In a surprise announcement at Computex in Taiwan, AMD unveiled its plans to produce a Bulldozer-based APU, codenamed Trinity. The company also launched its Z series chips, aimed at Windows tablets, and announced the official branding for its Llano APUs. (“APU” is AMD-speak for a processor that combines CPU and GPU cores on a single die.)
Not much was revealed about the 32nm Trinity chip apart from the codename, the fact that it combines Bulldozer cores with a GPU, and the fact that the GPU supports DX11. This would definitely pose a big challenge to the Intel Sandy bridge which has a weaker GPU.
AMD also launched it’s Z series APUs targeting tablets. The Bobcat-based Z series parts will have a 6W TDP, which is much higher than Intel’s Moorestown (which is in the 1W range, depending on what you’re doing), and certainly not even close to being in the same league as the sub-1W ARM competition. With the higher power draw, the Z series would most likely see itself on netbooks rather than on a tablet.
AMD announced the official VISION branding for Llano today, dubbing it the A series of APUs. The three tiers in the Llano family are A4, A6, and A8, which means that the recently leaked slides showing these codenames were legit. As was shown in the leaked presentation, AMD will be aiming Llano squarely at Intel’s current Sandy Bridge lineup.
