Question CPU vs APU ANSWERED

[willeatpants]

I have a gerneal question about AMD Apu's in relation to AMD Cpu's.

I know the basic thing is that Apu's are for small machines becuase they have ingergrated graphics in the chip.

What I am wondering is, is there any point of buying/installing a APU over CPU on a desktop with a dedicated GPU?

If one can explain, that would be great.

I assume that CPU are better than APU if you got a dedicated GPU, but how less effiecent would installing a current gen APU vs 5700x CPU

 

[Colif]

https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-7-5700g

https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-7-5700x

they both have same core count and max speed.
5700g only supports PCIe 3, 5700X supports PCIe4
5700x has more L3 cache, and faster single/multi core speeds.

In various benchmark tests comparing the two CPUs, the Ryzen 7 5700X consistently outperforms its counterpart in terms of raw processing power and efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X vs 5700G: Performance Comparison

We compare the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X vs 5700G. We have compared their performance, TDP, graphics capabilities and more.

computertechnicians.com.au

AMD are planning for the day their APU are more useful. They not making RX 7500 cards as they see their new APU as being able to fill that gap.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, there absolutely is, especially if you don't have an extra graphics card and that reason is at least twofold.

One, it gives you a way to use the system while waiting for an RMA or replacement graphics card if something ever happens to your discreet graphics card. Two, it gives you the ability to use the iGPU as a troubleshooting tool if you have display related problems that you are not sure is related to the graphics card, monitor or whatever.

Three, it gives you some additional ability to run multiple monitors especially if you have a monitor that does not have an input that will work with whatever outputs are left on your primary graphics card if you have a model with only one of each type output or if you are already, for example, running two HDMI displays off your graphics card but your third monitor doesn't have (Again, for example) a displayport input and displayport is the only unused output left on your graphics card.

Four, while the load for standard usage is very low compared to gaming loads, if you are needing to use multiple monitors but you don't want the one you are not gaming on to add any additional load to your graphics card while gaming but you want to be able to use that other display for menial tasks like your browser or whatever, it will give you that option of not imposing even a minimal additional load on the GPU while gaming, which could have a mild beneficial result on gaming performance.

And depending on what model of APU you get, the idea that it is less capable is entirely inaccurate. They are generally the same as the rest of the CPUs from that generation, but with graphics as well. For example, the difference in performance from a 5600G to a 5600x is extremely minimal, but the 5600x is moderately more expensive for very little gain.

With the Zen 4 CPUs, they ALL have integrated graphics, so it's a moot point, although, at some point if they haven't already I'd expect there to be 7000 series APUs with significantly better graphics capability than what the standard CPUs have.

The difference in performance between the 5600G at like 124 dollars is a FAR better deal than the 5700x at currently 172 dollars, but there IS about a 20% difference in performance, in SOME metrics, between the two. So if that extra 50 bucks or so is worth it to you, then great. Currently the 5700G is actually more expensive than the 5700x, so unless you DO see some benefit from the iGPU that the 5700G comes with then that example might not make sense. If however we were comparing, say, the 5600G to the 5600x, it would be a different story because they have nearly the same performance but the 5600x is about 40 bucks more.

 

[Colif]

The advantages of having a spare igpu outweigh the cost differences really.

I never contemplated a APU when upgrading from a 3600xt. The new 7000 series all having an igpu is a smart move for some of the reasons you mentioned. But they aren't as powerful as the igpu in the APU will be:

it does not consider the regular Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael" processors as APUs. AMD considers APUs to be processors with overpowered iGPUs that are fit for entry-mainstream PC gaming.

The star attraction here is the iGPU, which is based on the RDNA3 graphics architecture, meets the DirectX 12 Ultimate feature requirements, and is powered by 12 compute units worth 768 stream processors.
Unlike "Raphael," the "Phoenix" silicon is known to feature an older PCI-Express Gen 4 root complex, with 24 lanes, so you get a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 PEG slot, one CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slot limited to Gen 4 x4, and a 4-lane chipset bus. "Phoenix" features a dual-channel (4 sub-channel) DDR5 memory controller, with native support for DDR5-5600.

Latest AMD AGESA Hints at Ryzen 7000G "Phoenix" Desktop APUs

AMD is preparing to launch its first APUs on the Socket AM5 desktop platform, with the Ryzen 7000G series. While the company has standardized integrated graphics with the Ryzen 7000 series, it does not consider the regular Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael" processors as APUs. AMD considers APUs to be...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[willeatpants]

Interesting read.
Reason I was asking about this was becuase I have a lounge pc. Has a 5700amd cpu and gtx 1080.
Since the odds that someone would play games it is super low (I've played random JRPGs on it only) was curious if it would be better to remove the old cpu and gpu and get a APU. Since majority of the time I use it to stream videos from my main PC in another room.
Given me alot of food for thought.
Cheers 😊

 

[Darkbreeze]

I typed a long reply and then the site did something fracking stupid and caused the whole post to be lost. I'll try it again tomorrow but between my post and Colif's, you can pretty well get a good idea. There are some finer details that might be relevant but it really depends on you reasoning and what you actually DO, specifically, on each of these systems. Or at least, intent.

 

[Avro Arrow]

If you have a dedicated video card, then no, I can't see the sense in getting an APU. In order to accommodate the GPU, an APU's CPU side tends to get nerfed so you'd be giving up performance for no reason.