AMD A10-7850K And A8-7600: Kaveri Gives Us A Taste Of HSA

[beerdette]

If you want to build a steam machine in MINI-ITX, this is the processor to use. Keep in mind Mini ITX is NOT Micro-ATX. My power supply is external and it's smaller than a Wii and runs HEAVEN (the most taxing) unigine bechmark in the 25fps+ range. second GPU, no ugly 400W power supply, no big space. Just a unit smaller than the Wii and has the between XBOX 360 / PS3 and XBONER / PS4. Not to mention, anything even remotely compariable on intel's side is 4x's the price.

I would be interested to hear the details on your Mini-ITX build as I am looking at doing one also. I'm also interested in your PSU that you are going to use.

 

[DButcha]

Amd, i advise that you improve dual graphics drivers. If your future solution in computing is the apu then don't you realize how much dual graphics is needed? You're already so close to perfecting dual graphics that extra push would really gain my trust as a consumer. Also, i'm still hoping my laptop will get to actually use its two gpus simultaneously in its lifetime. I believe in you amd, keep up the good work

 

[ingtar33]

Amd, i advise that you improve dual graphics drivers. If your future solution in computing is the apu then don't you realize how much dual graphics is needed? You're already so close to perfecting dual graphics that extra push would really gain my trust as a consumer. Also, i'm still hoping my laptop will get to actually use its two gpus simultaneously in its lifetime. I believe in you amd, keep up the good work

you do realize dual graphics is fixed for Kaveri right?

 

[sittinonmybumm]

Two things:Not everyone needs to play every game at "HD" resolution to enjoy their games, nor do they have to have all the settings turned up. My Two-Generation Old A6-3400M plays GW2 just fine.Secondly, http://www.extremetech.com/computing/174632-amd-kaveri-a10-7850k-and-a8-7600-review-was-it-worth-the-wait-for-the-first-true-heterogeneous-chip/5Those benchmarks show one app that uses hsa where the A10 is way faster than an Intel Chip.No Offense to Tom's Hardware but even though this article doesn't bash AMD, their obvious bias towards Intel Chips is tiring.

 

[logainofhades]

Amd, i advise that you improve dual graphics drivers. If your future solution in computing is the apu then don't you realize how much dual graphics is needed? You're already so close to perfecting dual graphics that extra push would really gain my trust as a consumer. Also, i'm still hoping my laptop will get to actually use its two gpus simultaneously in its lifetime. I believe in you amd, keep up the good work

With the cost to buy Kaveri and another GPU, you are better off just getting an FX 6300 or i3 and a better card from the start, as not all games support dual GPU very well.

Kaveri with a R7 250
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.17 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($75.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 250 1GB Video Card ($89.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $424.39
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:42 EST-0500)

An i3 with an R9 270
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($77.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $429.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:43 EST-0500)

FX 6300 with an R9 270
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ TigerDirect)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $427.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:44 EST-0500)

 

[Onus]

Although I'd definitely choose a 900-series chipset mobo (probably a Biostar TA-970 on a budget) and a cooler like a Gaia, I agree with logain's assessment. I don't think Tom's Hardware readers are the market for which these APUs are intended.

 

[logainofhades]

Not sure on that Biostar board. I don't particularly care for boards with only 4 pin power.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Nothing wrong with a four-pin CPU power plug - you should still be able to pull quite a ridiculous amount of power over it. Molex says they're rated for 9A, and there's two in parallel, so 18x12=216W. You'd have t obe OCing it pretty hard to top that.

I'd object to it for different reasons, like bad reliability reputation and warranty uncertainty.

 

[shodanx]

Why didn't you test this against a AMD FX-8320 ? I just want to know if this cpu is at least as good as my current cpu so that I can finally switch to a Mini-ITX form factor !

 

[Onus]

Biostar is not my first choice, but based on https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgN1D79Joo7tdE9xMUFlMEVWeFhuckJEVF9aMmtpUFE&gid=7 the TA970 series is not known for VRM problems, and they use all-solid caps.

 

[DButcha]

Amd, i advise that you improve dual graphics drivers. If your future solution in computing is the apu then don't you realize how much dual graphics is needed? You're already so close to perfecting dual graphics that extra push would really gain my trust as a consumer. Also, i'm still hoping my laptop will get to actually use its two gpus simultaneously in its lifetime. I believe in you amd, keep up the good work

you do realize dual graphics is fixed for Kaveri right?

Fixed? What do you define as fixed? i don't think it's fixed until frame time variance is on par with single gpu setups. I mean page 8 of this article shows the variation

 

[logainofhades]

I am not crazy about the M-ATX board I chose either, but mine has been good so far. I had little choice in the matter, as it was all I could afford and I had to have a board. I wasn't about to wait till I could get a better board when the FX 8320 was going for $100. :lol:

 

[blueflippyflop]

The gigabyte F2A88XN rev 3.0 was shipped to me advertised as fm2/fm2+ compatible..My CPU is fm2+Motherboard bios f1 is not compatible with fm2+, f2 IS.To upgrade bios I need to boot. To boot I need to upgrade bios.See my problem?

 

[vertexx]

Dice just released Mantle for BF4 as well as some stats on performance gains vs. direct X. Of note, only 14% faster on the 7850K at 720p.

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/news/view/bf4-mantle-live/

Higher end cards achieve much better results, with 25% improvement for a 7970 and 58% faster for 2x R9 290x in Crossfire.

Overall, it looks promising for mid to high end gaming, especially as the push for 4K is on. However, this is quite disappointing for Kaveri.

Looking forward to a more thorough write-up from Tom's.

 

[de5_Roy]

Spoiler

Dice just released Mantle for BF4 as well as some stats on performance gains vs. direct X. Of note, only 14% faster on the 7850K at 720p.

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/news/view/bf4-mantle-live/

Higher end cards achieve much better results, with 25% improvement for a 7970 and 58% faster for 2x R9 290x in Crossfire.

Overall, it looks promising for mid to high end gaming, especially as the push for 4K is on. However, this is quite disappointing for Kaveri.

that's much better than none. the best part is that kaveri got the support so soon after launch. amd treated llano-richland far, far worse.

 

[vertexx]

that's much better than none. the best part is that kaveri got the support so soon after launch. amd treated llano-richland far, far worse.

True. And looking at the results, they tested a different scenario for each sample. The scenario tested with the 7850k was the only one not CPU bound. Will be interested in more thorough analysis that I'm sure will come over the next few days.

 

[smeezekitty]

Dice just released Mantle for BF4 as well as some stats on performance gains vs. direct X. Of note, only 14% faster on the 7850K at 720p.

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/news/view/bf4-mantle-live/

Higher end cards achieve much better results, with 25% improvement for a 7970 and 58% faster for 2x R9 290x in Crossfire.

Overall, it looks promising for mid to high end gaming, especially as the push for 4K is on. However, this is quite disappointing for Kaveri.

Looking forward to a more thorough write-up from Tom's.

Wow that is better gains then I thought. I still don't care for proprietary tech but it is mildly amusing to read the the NV fanboys having a fit.

 

[jasonz001]

To me, judging from the videos, A10-7600 + R7 240 looks much better than them individually. It's a TON smoother.

 

[Trachu]

With the cost to buy Kaveri and another GPU, you are better off just getting an FX 6300 or i3 and a better card from the start, as not all games support dual GPU very well.


An i3 with an R9 270Kaveri with a R7 250
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.17 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($75.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 250 1GB Video Card ($89.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $424.39
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:42 EST-0500)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($77.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $429.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:43 EST-0500)

FX 6300 with an R9 270
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ TigerDirect)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $427.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:44 EST-0500)

I would not be so sure, because you are selecting the wrong overpriced items, which costs a lot more but offers very little. How about something like this

Low Power Kaveri with a R7 240

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($112 not available yet)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($75.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $302.97

Also I would seriously consider buying 2400 memory, which would make the final price below 320$

Yes I know a8-7600 is not available yet, but considering its price/performance/energy ratio its superb proposal.

 

[lpedraja2002]

I would appreciate if all apu reviews would include benchmarks using a 720p resolution. Its great to see them perform nicely on 1080p but I want to see how much performance and visual quality one could squeeze from an apu at a lower resolution. Maybe its good enough to replace a low end discreet graphics card?

 

[Someone Somewhere]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($53.03 @ NCIX US)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($209.81 @ NCIX US)
Total: $422.81
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-03 21:10 EST-0500)

Change to a Kaveri-based Athlon and FM2+ board when they become available.

Also, at your ~$300 price point:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 740 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $312.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-03 21:15 EST-0500)

You can't be seriously considering an R7 240 for anything more than BluRays. It's probably actually slower than the 7600's iGPU (384@720MHz vs 320@780MHz).

 

[logainofhades]

With the cost to buy Kaveri and another GPU, you are better off just getting an FX 6300 or i3 and a better card from the start, as not all games support dual GPU very well.


An i3 with an R9 270Kaveri with a R7 250
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.17 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($75.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 250 1GB Video Card ($89.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $424.39
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:42 EST-0500)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($77.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $429.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:43 EST-0500)

FX 6300 with an R9 270
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($114.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($59.99 @ TigerDirect)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $427.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-25 12:44 EST-0500)

I would not be so sure, because you are selecting the wrong overpriced items, which costs a lot more but offers very little. How about something like this

Low Power Kaveri with a R7 240

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($112 not available yet)
Motherboard: MSI A88XM-E45 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($75.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $302.97

Also I would seriously consider buying 2400 memory, which would make the final price below 320$

Yes I know a8-7600 is not available yet, but considering its price/performance/energy ratio its superb proposal.

The R7 240 is a horrible card and hybrid crossfire still has issues with microstuttering.

Even this would game better.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3420 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($70.69 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($105.38 @ Newegg)
Total: $306.05
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-04 10:00 EST-0500)

 

[Trachu]

it seems you just shuffled R7 240 in slow cathegory and thats truth for SOLO, but i had in mind Crossfire configuration. Yes Tomshardware has already tested it and Cf worked sometimes quite nice, but they will retest it soon using the driver version 14 which were designed for frame pacing.
As far as theory tells Kaveri GPU can use Crossfire with every R7 radeon out there, but the questions remains which one will work the best in practice. I hope Toms will answer this question soon...
As far as i see properly working CF configuration would make Kaveri a better choice than any of alone CPU you proposed so far. Lets hope AMD will stand up to those facts.