Monday, June 13th 2011
AMD A-Series APU Smashes IGP Performance Records...Surprise
Armed with a Radeon HD 6550D graphics core that has 400 stream processors, 8 ROPs, and full DirectX 11 support, AMD A-Series "Llano" accelerated processing unit (APU) was tested to be the fastest integrated graphics solution to date. The tests was run by a forum-member of TweakTown community with early access to engineering samples. On the test-bed was AMD A8-3850 APU, which has four x86-64 cores clocked at 2.90 GHz, and the Radeon HD 6550D IGP with engine clock of 600 MHz. Standard dual-channel DDR3-1333 MHz memory was used, even though the APU supports faster DDR3-1866 MHz. To seat the test bed, Gigabyte A75M-UD2H was used. It's important to note here that the CPU cores were overclocked to 3.773 GHz (145.13 MHz x 26.0), with an insane core voltage of 1.52V.
The setup was put though three generations of 3DMark benchmark, covering DirectX 9.0c, DirectX 10, and DirectX 11 performance. In 3DMark 06, the setup scores 10,492 points. In 3DMark Vantage, it scored P6160 (performance preset, validation). In 3DMark 11, it scored P1591 (performance preset, validation). More details can be read in the screenshots.
Source:
TweakTown Forums
The setup was put though three generations of 3DMark benchmark, covering DirectX 9.0c, DirectX 10, and DirectX 11 performance. In 3DMark 06, the setup scores 10,492 points. In 3DMark Vantage, it scored P6160 (performance preset, validation). In 3DMark 11, it scored P1591 (performance preset, validation). More details can be read in the screenshots.
85 Comments on AMD A-Series APU Smashes IGP Performance Records...Surprise
My Phenom II 955 @3.8Ghz with a 1Gb Radeon 4850 only gets 13450 in 3dMark 2006.....
I just want to see how CPU side compares to Athlon/Phenom. I really hope that even without L3 cache, it's at least a bit of improvement over Athlon.
What do you mean by that? You get double the points
Will test 3dmark06 here and see what it brings me. Well it depends entirely on what you want from a laptop imo. If I was shopping for one I would definitely look more on build quailty, monitor and battery life over graphics performance.
Good job Battlefield 3 has given me the incentive to upgrade in september, as until now, i didnt see the point with all the crappy console port Gfx engines being used in PC games, as my rig was more than adequate..
Wouldn't stuffing both the CPU and the GPU in the same die lower the OC roof because of the extra heat generated compared to normal CPUs ?
Another question: Why would they stuff an entry level GPU in a high end CPU ? I thought anyone who buys a CPU with more than 2 cores wouldn't go for anything less than a mainstream lvl discreet graphics card. so why bother ?
I think AMD are onto a winner here.....
I'm more interested in the CPU part of the APU, if that's not competitive, it could have a gazillion SP's on the integrated GPU and still not sell. AMD always had a better integrated GPU then Intel, and still their CPU's did not sell as hot cakes.
And judging by the intensity their marketing department up-talks the GPU part, their CPU part looks like a flop. Because a "balanced" APU is not just about the GPU.
the benefits to laptop/oems is going to be lower parts counts and cheaper boards not to mention lower power requirements. this is a win/win for many market segments. AMD is planning for a bulldozer APU in 2012 and I have a feeling they are going to move to all bulldozer cores at some point. They do have some super low wattage apu's for tablets etc to. AMD is right where they need to be to make a strong comeback in the high volume OEM market, which will lead to better enthuasist market parts.
Not to mention that even if they doubled the cpu performance, it might or likly won't equal a doubling in computer performance as x86 cores aren't really good at heavy lifting. I told everybody months ago that AMD had a winner with these designs and look at the fact that they are flat out on production on these with massive orders, I think I am correct on this. Hopefully we see them really ramping production and we see the market become a bit less intel dominated. Nothing could be better for the consumer then intel being the underdog for a while and having to play catchup.
Best would be light, because of the low TDP, leading to lower capacity lighter battery...
ANd LLano laptops will be cheaper, so it's a win-win.
It seems to be more than enough for 1366x768 gaming, so I'm cool!