Wednesday, April 6th 2016
AMD Outs "Bristol Ridge" APU Performance Numbers
Although AMD's upcoming socket AM4 heralds new lines of processors and APUs based on the company's next-generation "Zen" CPU micro-architecture, some of the first APUs will continue to be based the current "Excavator" architecture. The "Bristol Ridge" is one such chip. It made its mobile debut as the 7th generation A-Series and FX-Series mobile APUs, and is en route to the desktop platform, in the AM4 package. What sets the AM4 package apart from the FM2+ package, and in turn "Bristol Ridge" from "Carrizo" is that the platform integrates even the southbridge (FCH) into the APU die. This could explain the 1,331-pin count of the AM4 socket.
The "Bristol Ridge" silicon is likely built on the existing 28 nm process. That's not the only thing "current-gen" about this chip. Its CPU component consists of two "Excavator" modules that make up four CPU cores, with 4 MB total cache; and its integrated GPU will likely be based on the Graphics CoreNext 1.2 "Volcanic Islands" architecture, the same one which drives the "Tonga" and "Fiji" discrete GPUs. The integrated memory controller supports dual-channel DDR4 memory. In its performance benchmarks, an AM4 APU based on the "Bristol Ridge" silicon was pitted against older 6th generation APUs, in which it was found to be as much as 23 percent faster.
Source:
HardwareCanucks
The "Bristol Ridge" silicon is likely built on the existing 28 nm process. That's not the only thing "current-gen" about this chip. Its CPU component consists of two "Excavator" modules that make up four CPU cores, with 4 MB total cache; and its integrated GPU will likely be based on the Graphics CoreNext 1.2 "Volcanic Islands" architecture, the same one which drives the "Tonga" and "Fiji" discrete GPUs. The integrated memory controller supports dual-channel DDR4 memory. In its performance benchmarks, an AM4 APU based on the "Bristol Ridge" silicon was pitted against older 6th generation APUs, in which it was found to be as much as 23 percent faster.
68 Comments on AMD Outs "Bristol Ridge" APU Performance Numbers
Takes less PCB space, easier to control heat-wise. Near future will present built-in gigabit controllers in desktop CPUs
The IMC in such chips is just handicapped to even handle up to quad memory configurations.
I understand this is just an FX chip with DDR4 and an integrated SB, but hell AMD 23% in select benchmarks? yep bust and yet another crippled as fuck 15w TDP APU freaking great.
I need something new to play with till Zen gets here.
HP x360 with IPS screen and one of those thingies looks particularly interesting, even if you take "up to 10h on battery" with a grain of salt.
AMD claims Bristol Ridge gets 2,400 in 3DMark11 Performance, but an i5-5200U with a 940m scores 2,880. And you can get a laptop with that combo for $500.
www.microcenter.com/product/459449/Aspire_V5-591G-78R9_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Steel_Black
$649 gets you an i7 6700HQ and a gt940
www.microcenter.com/product/455897/Aspire_E5-491G-70PX_14_Laptop_Computer_-_Charcoal_Gray
Last time I saw a high end amd apu it fell into that price range and would be slaughtered by those acers.
$489($479 w/ Promo) gets you a i5-6200u and GT940m. Which would still beat Bristol Ridge.
As for quad channel, while that may be possible, it would probably be a ton of work to get working correctly, and the easier solution is them just putting like 2gbs of HBM on die, which is why I'm hoping for a Zen APU with HBM2 on die.