AMD Desktop Trinity Update: Now With Core i3 And A8-3870K

[cangelini]

We update our first look at AMD's A6, A8, and A8 Trinity-based APUs with numbers from an A8-3870K, Core i3-2100, and Core i3-2105. The new results give us a much better idea of how the upcoming architecture will fare in productivity apps and games.

AMD Desktop Trinity Update: Now With Core i3 And A8-3870K : Read more

 

[belardo]

OOOPS!!

And it still doesn't make sense to only reserve the best graphics for the high-end chips. People who want such performance in a desktop or notebook may likely have a dedicated GPU anyway.

The i3' should have HD graphics 3500/4000.

 

[mayankleoboy1]

where are the OpenCL benchmarks ? specially in winzip ?

if Intel cant run those, then technically its a loss for intel and win for AMD, right?

 

[Onus]

This gives me real hope that Piledriver will be a worthwhile chip to put on my 990FX rather than scrapping it for Intel as software becomes more demanding.

I made myself read the entire article. I consider myself a literate person, but I still cannot find words to properly (and respectfully) express just how physically Beautiful your announcer is.

 

[Guest]

The video review girl is lovely, but being able to see her black brassier pushing her incredible breasts through that see-through shirt made me not pay attention at all to what she was talking about.

 

[ojas]

Hmmm...you think you could fix to them to the same clock rate and test one real-world productivity test? And perhaps one game with discrete graphics (maybe i've missed this particular test if you've already done it, if i have, sorry about that)...i mean with the i3 benchmarks for comparison.

Apart from that, i think Trinity is clearly a win if AMD prices it the same as Llano.

 

[JackNSally]

So cheap gaming performance, AMD. Everything else Intel?

 

[caqde]

I saw a Trinity Desktop from HP on Walmarts shelves. I just wish the processors and motherboards would show up at places like newegg so I could build them for people.

 

[Reynod]

She did a good job getting the point across with the tech jargon.

I'd like to see her doing some more short videos on various products.

She has improved with each new video too.

Good move Chris and team.

 

[de5_Roy]

trinity's igpu humiliates intel's sb igpu, like llano's did almost a year back. all three are 32 nm products, so i think the comparison's fair. if the igpu was well-scalable, intel should have built a 85/95w sb core i3 with 20-30 eus to be competitive with the apus, at least in terms of igpu performance. if intel once again slaps hd 2500 on core i3s and overprices the hd4k + core i3s, trinity will win in terms of price/performance.

 

[vmem]

[citation][nom]REYNOD[/nom]She did a good job getting the point across with the tech jargon.I'd like to see her doing some more short videos on various products.She has improved with each new video too.Good move Chris and team.[/citation]
Agreed, but she is also now completely covered up do to people "complaining". Would a low v-neck really be too much? She is overly covered compared to news anchors

 

[Marco925]

Chris Angelini, What software do you use to create the RAM Drive?

 

[amdfangirl]

At least the single threaded gap is smaller... makes Trinity very competitive.

Still amazing that a Core i3 with 1100mhz disadvantage (if you count turbo of 4.2Ghz) can beat Trinity.

What a world we live in.

Interesting to see how Ivy Bridge Core i3 performs. Will Intel ramp up the clockspeed and risk cannibalising the Core i5 series? Given this turn of events, I wouldn't be surprised if Intel decides to make HD 4000 standard, or at least a cheap upgrade from HD 2500.

For desktop Piledriver, Trinity competes well with Intel's Core i3 but I have a few concerns for Piledriver AM3+, mainly that there are unlocked Core i5s and i7s which may be able to negate the clockspeed advantage AMD has here.. Depending on how well Piledriver for AM3+ overclocks, AMD will need quite a hefty stock clock and OC ability to beat or match Intel.

More likely than not, desktop AM3+ Piledriver won't be K8 to P4, but if it's just PhII to Core i5/i7 (bloomfield, lynnfield), I'll be happy.

 

[csbeer]

I wish these sites would do a thorough review of the dual graphics/asymmetrical crossfire set up of the APU chips. From what I've read there are certain situations where they shine but are highly dependent on the drivers.

 

[goodguy713]

good review +1 for the lady she did a good job.. any way was there any particular reason you did this review without discrete cards or is it that these are all laptop parts? just wondering hybrid crossfire would of been helpful.

 

[_Pez_]

why amd memory cache and ram sucks badly ? does anyone know the technical answer?

 

[we_san]

Games : Just add both config 1 low-med discrete card and still intel cant beat amd. Hybrid cfx in action !

 

[Guest]

Poor AMD. Such innovation with capable integrated graphics, but intel cpu's are just so damn good. At my work, people demand an intel cpu so they can surf the net and email. That is what AMD is up against. Poor buggers. They have little chance.

 

[colinp]

Would love to see some stats on the power draw and temperature, given that Trinity is a 100W part and the i3s were 65W (supposedly)

 

[belardo]

Thing is... in truth, Piledriver is more than good enough for todays needs. But if I am going to spend close to $200 for a CPU... i5-3570K without blinking.

When I look at $100 CPUs for a budget user, I have to think: Is this an office/typical work or a low-cost gaming PC. If they are getting a dedicated card, the GPU part of the AMD CPU becomes useless. if its a biz PC that won't play 3D games... then the HD2000~3000 is overkill.

The Trinity platform is FM2, so any AMD lovers (snif) are going to have to buy FM2 motherboards. Things that won't be on the market soon, and doesn't matter so much as people who are building their own PCs are going intel anyways.

For AMD to compete, their A10 CPU needs to cost as much as an i3 class CPU... you get about the same performance + gaming abilities, if needed. Selling the FX at i5~i7 pricing didn't help at all.


I don't consider any of the AMD dozer/driver CPUs to be true 4/6/8 CORE CPUs... they are not complete enough to be so and their performance against TRUE dual and quad core CPUs shows it.

With that said... I think I can go with FM2 with a $100 quad core *IF* AMD had such a CPU for clients who need a good office PC. I can't go with FM1 or AM3 since those are EOL... and there are no FM2 products for us to choose from yet.

 

[-Fran-]

Nice review guys.

Can you make a quick decoding round up with the HD2k and HD3K against Trinity and Llano? Specially the HD2k, since mos of the Intel lineup in that segment has that.

Cheers!

 

[sarinaide]

Frankly if you are not buying a i5 at least, then you are wasting money on intels "budget" end. While yes i3 and Pentium perform well in gaming, thats about the end of the line. I was using a 2100 as a basic workbench and had to upgrade to a i5 due to the inherent work load issues with a dual core.


Trinity adds the dimension of being a low cost gaming rig, ultimately at a lower cost than intels i3 range and offering significantly more performance outside of pure core efficiency, this may change with discrete GPU setups but again a Trinity will have a massive trump card in the form of assymetrical crossfire.

 

[The_Trutherizer]

Yeah but these are not Intel's high-end chips. Tom's just seem to flat out refuse a comparison between the HD4000 chips and AMDs APUs. And while it is true that intel's high end chips are in a different class with processing power and high prices it does not mean that AMD can't compete with Intel in the integrated graphics department. Heaven forbid the mighty Intel chips fail in even one benchmark against a lowly AMD APU. Really sad, but if you ask me Tom's is probably in Intel's pocket on this one.

 

[sarinaide]

[citation][nom]The_Trutherizer[/nom]Yeah but these are not Intel's high-end chips. Tom's just seem to flat out refuse a comparison between the HD4000 chips and AMDs APUs. And while it is true that intel's high end chips are in a different class with processing power and high prices it does not mean that AMD can't compete with Intel in the integrated graphics department. Heaven forbid the mighty Intel chips fail in even one benchmark against a lowly AMD APU. Really sad, but if you ask me Tom's is probably in Intel's pocket on this one.[/citation]

They are comparing chips at similar price points which i3 and Llano/Trinity are similarly priced. They have already run 3D performance synthetics with HD4000 vs Llano and HD4000 doesn't compete in that realm nevertheless the i3 and APU's are well versed in the price to performance arena, it ultimately ends on user needs. For Intel i'd advise nothing less than a i5, for AMD the budget implications are a lot more flexible in what you get, but on pure performance you get less. At the end of the day the end users needs dictate what is right.

 

[DSpider]

I don't see any A8-3870K in the benchmarks. What am I missing?