(AMD A8 3870K) Vs (Intel G620 + HD4670 512mb DDR3) Perf and power

[alterecho]

I'm trying to decide between the A8 3870K and the Pentium G620. The thing is, i have an ATI HD4670 and was wondering how the performance would be between an A8 and G620 + 4670. If i go with the A8, i don't plan to use the 4670.

I also want to know about the power consumption of an A8 vs G620 + 4670. The power consumption is important in my case since i plan to leave the computer downloading off steam.

Any one with their views?

 

[randomkid]

The A8 3870 is better than the G620 performance wise. Powerwise, it is a 100W package vs 65W for the G620. But of course adding the 4670 power (59w) results to a combined power rating of 124W so the APU wins again.

One side note is that the A8 3870 is on a socket where the A8 3870 is the max. future upgrade on the motherboard is practically nil. Meaning, its the A8 3870 for life. While the G620 being on the socket 1155 leaves your motherboard open to better processors if you find the need.

 

[alterecho]

The A8 3870 is better than the G620 performance wise. Powerwise, it is a 100W package vs 65W for the G620. But of course adding the 4670 power (59w) results to a combined power rating of 124W so the APU wins again.

One side note is that the A8 3870 is on a socket where the A8 3870 is the max. future upgrade on the motherboard is practically nil. Meaning, its the A8 3870 for life. While the G620 being on the socket 1155 leaves your motherboard open to better processors if you find the need.

Thanks for the reply. I read in reviews that the A8's power consumption is low comparatively in idle but consumes over 100w while stressed:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g620-amd-a8-3870k-radeon-hd-6670,3140-11.html .

The G620 + 6670 seems seems to consume lower than the A8 under load. How much will a G620 + 4670 consume during full load and light load such as downloads?
Also how will a G620 + 4670 perform versus the 6550D of the A8?

 

[randomkid]

Thanks for the reply. I read in reviews that the A8's power consumption is low comparatively in idle but consumes over 100w while stressed:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-g620-amd-a8-3870k-radeon-hd-6670,3140-11.html .

The G620 + 6670 seems seems to consume lower than the A8 under load. How much will a G620 + 4670 consume during full load and light load such as downloads?
Also how will a G620 + 4670 perform versus the 6550D of the A8?

Here is the graphics card hierarchy. The 6550 is 5 levels lower than the 4670.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

The Tom's hardware article shows the performance of the 6670 vs the 6550. The 4670 performance will be in the middle of that.

 

[alterecho]

Here is the graphics card hierarchy. The 6550 is 5 levels lower than the 4670.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

The Tom's hardware article shows the performance of the 6670 vs the 6550. The 4670 performance will be in the middle of that.

Fine. But what about the power consumption of an A8 vs G620 + 4670 for downloads? How much PSU wattage would suffice for each of these configurations?

 

[randomkid]

It does not give the exact answer but I think this will help.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2616/9

 

[alterecho]

It does not give the exact answer but I think this will help.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2616/9

Man this is hard.. nothing very conclusive.

 

[naama]

Hello, or wait a couple of months for the upcoming A-10 (trinity). I know I'll do that

 

[alterecho]

Hello, or wait a couple of months for the upcoming A-10 (trinity). I know I'll do that

I have considered that. Trinity is on my must buy list, when it releases, whether i buy a computer now or not. The thing is i don't have a working desktop right now. I've not really used a desktop for around 4 years. I have been using my laptop for long and i don't want to overwork my laptop by playing and downloading on it.

Guess i'll have to try and scrounge for some working parts till trinity releases, since i'm really not able to decide between the A8 and the Pentium.

 

[melikepie]

I have considered that. Trinity is on my must buy list, when it releases, whether i buy a computer now or not. The thing is i don't have a working desktop right now. I've not really used a desktop for around 4 years. I have been using my laptop for long and i don't want to overwork my laptop by playing and downloading on it.

Guess i'll have to try and scrounge for some working parts till trinity releases, since i'm really not able to decide between the A8 and the Pentium.

Get the APU then and overclock it unless you can wait!

 

[Soul_keeper]

My A8-3870 system idles below 60W even with a discreet vid card added.
Very good power usage, but I would not recommend anything socket FM1 right now.
It's a dead end platform and should be avoided with trinity around the corner and intel alternatives with an upgrade path available now.

 

[alterecho]

Just saw trinity's benches on the main page. Piledriver seems to perform nicely. Beating the 4 module Bulldozer in iTunes and 3DSMax. That too with out an L3 cache! I felt the GPU improvement was not that great since there were predictions for a 50% increase for the GPU.

I found my old athlonX2 4200+ and an AM2 mb. I managed to put a temporary system up and running with the 4670 handling the graphics. Its impressive how this combo managed to handle a lot of recent games on high in 1366x768 res. I tried Arkham Asylum with all on and still managing playable fps.

@melikepie
Well, I decided to wait for trinity.

@soul_keeper
True. I got the idea of getting a system at the wrong time.