Wednesday, September 26th 2012
AMD Announces Second-Generation A-Series Desktop APUs
AMD announced the second-generation A-Series desktop APU lineup, based on the "Trinity" silicon. The silicon combines four x86-64 cores spread across two "Piledriver" micro-architecture modules, with a Radeon HD 7000 series graphics core with 384 VLIW4 stream processors, an integrated northbridge, and a dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz integrated memory controller. Various models are carved out in the series by handling the numbers of CPU cores and stream processors.
The company kicked off the lineup with two A10-5000 series quad-core models, which are fully-loaded with all components enabled. These are followed by two A8-5000 series models, which have four x86-64 cores, but just 256 stream processors for the GPU component. Just behind is the A6-5000 series dual-core APUs with 192 stream processors. Trailing the pack is the A4-5000 series dual-core APUs with 128 stream processors. Model numbers and specifications are tabled below. Prices range between $70 - $140.
The company kicked off the lineup with two A10-5000 series quad-core models, which are fully-loaded with all components enabled. These are followed by two A8-5000 series models, which have four x86-64 cores, but just 256 stream processors for the GPU component. Just behind is the A6-5000 series dual-core APUs with 192 stream processors. Trailing the pack is the A4-5000 series dual-core APUs with 128 stream processors. Model numbers and specifications are tabled below. Prices range between $70 - $140.
31 Comments on AMD Announces Second-Generation A-Series Desktop APUs
A10-5700 i like.
The aim is starcraft 2 at high settings.
2 module, 4 threaded Trinity consuming more than a 4 core Llano. Though, increased graphics muscle equals to part of the increase...
Piledriver will likely follow this pattern. And that's just sad for AMD.
these reviews should give a fair idea on performance (until W1zz posts his') :
www.legitreviews.com/article/2043/1/
www.anandtech.com/print/6332
www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/print/amd-trinity-graphics.html
www.tomshardware.com/review_print.php?p1=3304
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EDIT: Thanks to Dave, here is the preview from TPU : www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/FM2_APU_Preview/
Core i3 2130+ HD 7770= $240
...and at least you've got some kind of shot at gaming at 1080p as well watching video at that res.
For people whom don't want a dedicated video card it seems there is no competition against the desktop Trinity.
Like you can get the A6-5400K Trinity and dedicated 7770 for $201, which is a better deal than the i3 solution you mention above.
interesting when they roll out just 4 cores, not like they used to be
maybe AMD had a special recipe to show their 4 cores that has more power
pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Small-Form-Factor-Intel-NUC-PCs-coming-October-under-400
Realistically people may use 2400mhz memory on these systems, and that will have a huge tangible benefit for 384sp models at stock, but if these things really can reach 1ghz plus on the gpu, and also you factor in needing a little more bandwidth if you clock the cpu up to 20-25 faster...yeah. I think a sound bet for a setup with these is a 5600k, a cheap mobo, and cheap-but-decent memory rated for 2133mhz. That or accept what you get with bandwidth constraints with 384sp and 2400mhz+ memory, which granted probably wouldn't cost much more given memory prices, and may perform quite a bit better.
Either way, not too bad if someone takes the time to mess with it, especially if crossfired with a 6670. If the 8000 series brings a comparable tiny cheap gpu with similar core counts, it could potentially be even be a little better. Truthfully not that terrible at all when you consider what they'll end up being capable of vs. the prices both at entry and with expandability. I'm impressed. This is a little bit of resurgence of the old AMD and old ATi combined into one...literally and figuratively.
This is where AMD and most Micro Processor company's make their income! Look at the average family for instance, They are only going to be using Microsoft word, Internet, flash based games, Watching movies, listening to music... I mean the list goes on but these applications aren't that demanding.. So to have just the right mixture of gpu and cpu performance is the perfect balance for most people.. Honestly this is a bit much for even the average person. I believe most moms, dads, older people and children would be fine with a dual core atom or bobcat cpu. For the average consensus the AMD APU is more than enough to handle everyday tasks! We are not all gamers! That's where AMD fills in the loop, Providing a more affordable and more powerful everyday PC.