AMD A10 Laptop transformed into AMD FX?

[appabend]

I have a laptop called ASUS X550ZE-XX033D and I bought it for around $481. The specs when bought are as follows:

AMD A10-7400P APU (Base 2,5 GHz/Turbo 3,4 GHz)
10 Compute Cores 4CPU+6GPU
4GB @1600 MHz (Dual Channel)
Windows 8.1 Pro x64
Radeon R7 M265DX
15.6 inch Display
1TB Hard Drive @5400RPM

I checked on the system files and it's all correct AMD A10-7400P APU and everything from day one of buying it. I went on to install the latest AMD graphics driver (15.11 Crimson back then). I installed the R7-M200 series and everything is just fine. The graphics looks beautiful and the screen is sharp and big. No big deal.

Then I went out to upgrade the RAM for another extra 4GB. Initially, the RAM is 4GB, but only 3.45GB usable obviously because the IGP memory consumes 512MB of RAM. Then I upgraded the RAM to another 4GB. So that's 8GB of RAM. All the sudden, my AMD A10-7400P APU is now transformed into an AMD FX-7600 APU, a stronger variant. The system specs showed that out of 8GB ram used, only 6.95GB are usable. So the IGP has consumed 1GB of the RAM. And now that it is said I have 12 Compute Cores 4GPU+8GPU.

For the record, there is an AMD FX version of this particular laptop, but that costed another $110. The one part that I am truly afraid of is that this is just bad drivers which is unlikely because I went into the BIOS and it's AMD-FX. Just want to clarify my laptop has no problem. It's just that I find this a bit amusing and I'm going to need some explanations.

Any inputs are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Are you sure? Can you post a picture. The FX-7600P is the top specification Kaveri APU for lower voltage use, at about 35W. It is the same silicon as the A10-7400P and the A8-7200P. If true, you have managed to enable another 128 shader cores and increase your base clock by 200Mhz, which I find hard to believe.

What are you using to tell you things have changed?
What does your BOIS, and CPU-Z say?

It is much more likely that your system is reporting incorrectly.

Do you have any benchmarks form when your computer was new to compare with its current state.

 

[appabend]

Are you sure? Can you post a picture. The FX-7600P is the top specification Kaveri APU for lower voltage use, at about 35W. It is the same silicon as the A10-7400P and the A8-7200P. If true, you have managed to enable another 128 shader cores and increase your base clock by 200Mhz, which I find hard to believe.

What are you using to tell you things have changed?
What does your BOIS, and CPU-Z say?

It is much more likely that your system is reporting incorrectly.

Do you have any benchmarks form when your computer was new to compare with its current state.

Unfortunately at this moment I can't provide pictures. I can only do it tomorrow because I'm packing out. It's coming. Don't worry.

But for now, I can definitely say s few things. The BIOS reported as AMD-FX as stated above. Computer Properties reported AMD-FX. CPU-Z, which is exactly the tool that I use because I don't trust the Properties, also reported AMD-FX.

And unfortunately no benchmark data between the two because I immediately upgraded the RAM as soon as I bought it so no time for benchmarking. I can say that even though both RAM is on different brands, they're identical in the specs (checked with Speccy and CPU-Z).

Again, pictures coming soon. That's all I can say for now.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I'll be interested to see what CPU and iGPU frequency it reports (and how many shaders)

I hope you got the important information, that for a laptop the FX 7600P and the A10-7400P are very similar APUs that use 35W of power, so some sort of reporting error could occur.

 

[appabend]

I'll be interested to see what CPU and iGPU frequency it reports (and how many shaders)

I hope you got the important information, that for a laptop the FX 7600P and the A10-7400P are very similar APUs that use 35W of power, so some sort of reporting error could occur.

Here are the pictures.
BIOS:

Spoiler

Windows 8.1 System Information:

Spoiler

CPU-Z:

Spoiler

dxdiag:

Spoiler

Speccy:

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The Laptop Label and CPU-Z:

Spoiler

 

[DonkeyOatie]

All the frequency and cache information is for your old CPU, the number of graphics 'cores' is for your 'new' CPU, as if the extra 128 shaders have been activated, which I still doubt. Running benchmarks before and after will tell, but it probably doesn't matter.

An AMD 8320 running at 4.0Ghz is indistinguishable form a FX 8350.

 

[appabend]

I brought this model in one of the ASUS service center where the guys there installed the RAM because I can't do it myself. This is the DIY video, and it's freakishly complicating. And that's for the FX model of that laptop. It's unlike my old ASUS K45DR which I can just take a bunch of screwdrivers, open the back, and pop in the RAM (warranty already used so no worries).

Now once you disassembled into the state as shown in the video, that means that it's open to a lot of changes. Does this include changing the CPU? Can the AMD A10 CPU be replaced by the AMD FX CPU? Is it possible that there's an error in the reassembly process so much that my laptop reads the A10 CPU as an FX? If so, at what time?

And yeah. If the margin was 200MHz between the A10 and the FX, it's almost indistinguishable, but the iGPU for the FX is so much better. I don't have any benchmarks, but I can definitely say that in terms of graphics processing, Fallout 4 at A10 is almost no different at FX.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I doubt that the CPU was changed. Without before/after information it is impossible to tell if there is any performance change beyond what you would get with more memory. I didn't look at the video. On many laptops, the CPU is soldered to the motherboard in a BGA or similar socket and cannot be removed or replaced.

 

[madmatt30]

I think the added ram + latest crimson drivers are automatically setting that discrete 265 & the igpu up in a crossfire configuration.
This could cause that reporting error (& it definitely is an error)
Its not something I'd worry about personally if it's all working fine.

 

[appabend]

I think the added ram + latest crimson drivers are automatically setting that discrete 265 & the igpu up in a crossfire configuration.
This could cause that reporting error (& it definitely is an error)
Its not something I'd worry about personally if it's all working fine.

Yeah I'm using the latest driver (15.12) Crimson Drivers and I turned on Dual Graphics Mode. I'm playing Fallout 4 and State of Decay and did some video editing at Vegas Pro 12 and they're all incredibly fine and smooth. If this is just a reporting error, then you're right. It's nothing to worry about especially knowing that the FX-7600P and A10-7400P have only a slight margin on the performance (although the iGPU on the FX was better).