AMD Elite A-Series A10-6800K APU (Socket FM2)

[Fourstaff]

AMD made a change to the memory controller and to the power delivery in the chip. AMD's Overdrive for APUs got updated so that the GPU and CPU each have different power supply, allowing AMD to clock one down and the other up, depending on load.

THAT change is part of what allows for the higher OCs we've been seeing with these chips. I've seen many @ over 5 GHz on air.

But yes, the CPU cores and GPU cores are the same. Everything else was changed.

I'm sorry I didn't cover this is the review, but that info was not provided to me by AMD. Through some research the past week, however, that was what I have found out.

I have been digging around the internets for a changelog between the 5xxx and the 6xxx, and almost everyone else either said "clockspeed bump + minor improvements here and there", or nothing at all. Perhaps AMD has been doing their homework without telling anyone :<

 

[TheLaughingMan]

I think they are using this chip as test platform for the memory controller and temperature controller. I think they are planning something much bigger with the next generation and I mean an actual generational change which I guess would be Steamroller. The A-Series Elite just seems to scream "We have to make sure the rest of the chip is ready for core improvement."

 

[Tatty_Two]

I have been digging around the internets for a changelog between the 5xxx and the 6xxx, and almost everyone else either said "clockspeed bump + minor improvements here and there", or nothing at all. Perhaps AMD has been doing their homework without telling anyone :<

Your right.... not a lot. The 6XXX is Richland, the 5XXX is Trinity, major differences..... as Dave said, memory controller, Trinity "officially" supports 1866mhz memory, Richland 2133mhz (6800 only) officially, upgraded APU (all) to the HD 8XXX and a few minor tweaks, but to be fair, that lot can amount to near 10% with the clockspeed hike you mentioned which is reasonably competitive in upgrade terms to recent Intel upgrades.

 

[mgrandy]

my a10 680k need help

pc stats are follows
amd a-10 680k
hd radion vtx 6670 2gb ddr3
h100 corsair cooling
8 gbs patriot ram 1600 mhz 9-9-9
mb is fm2a55m-dgs has bios rev 2.6-7
case nzxt phantom gaming tower
psu 650 watt
running window 7 64bit

right ive cross-fired the on-board graphics with the hd 6670 but its only giving me 512 mbs of ram for my graphics which when i set to ultra, max resolution gives me a nasty blue glitch across ma screen.
ive been told by the motherboard manufacture that to recognise the graphics card i need to set my bios at 512 mb ram (the auto feature ) which is causing this blue rubbish. because of this my windows experiance rating went from being 6.8 to 5.8 on the areo and even worse on 3d performance.
do you think getting the a85 chipset will let me dedicate more to the on-board graphics? as i may as well take the card out im sure there must be a way to get a better rating and performance. ive got a vid of the nasty blue line if any 1 need to see

https://www.facebook.com/andrew.oconnor.7127?ref=tn_tnmn
cinebeanck test marks http://s23.postimg.org/n424hvxbf/cinebench_results.png
grid2 temps max resolution ultra settings http://s24.postimg.org/wdicumddh/grid_2_temps_after_an_hour.png

any help would be mucho gratitude overlecking it takes the core too 5.0ghz at a cool 73'c tried adjusting to performance mode and no good
managed to get apu to 2gb took 3 times for the mb to recognise then finnialy booted with right display but its still only gave me .1 on experience increase and no help with blue line so i now have 4gbs graphic ram tested with just 6670 get 6.8 same as apu

right so im thinking this must be a cable issues (or the usual onboard rubbish glithcy poop ive seen with amd am3+ on-board graphics) as im running thorough dvi to hdmi or it could be my 32" telly just sucks or because amd don't release the new graphics drivers till 30th of july the only reason i don't get higher than a 5.0 ghz core is because ma ram speed is poop if i had 2400 would get much higher

managed to get grid 2 running at 48fps but still the blue lines o well have managed to nail it down to ma ram, driver ,or motherboard chip-set or could be the grid2 engine i know skyrim has numerous problems with jitter but ive no way to test yet sigh!

As a Review for this apu ill do a price vs power coz its about the only thing i can do bang for buck i paid £110 for cpu, £25 for the card and probs £50 for the ram £40 for the board this was £220 total. sold mas old pentium d 3.4 for almost £110 on ebay. With stock cooling this thing aint great was blue screening, shutting down fullscreen from in-games. add a cooler and its a lot of fun for just over £200. stock amd cooler was mostly 120 degrees c. fps this thing does really well its just a bit slow at getting there etc game loading times (easly cured with clock controls) when its stock but this is hardly ever in stock mode my gf could overclock this thing to 5.0 ghz its that easy so when she plays sims 3 she dont have to suffer the loading times which really helps when theres like 1 million expansions to load.

conclusion:- if you have the money gofor i7 skt 2011 if price is for you then ull not be disappointed this thing does really well considering the huge price difference fps get good rates on most games, tbh if i had then money to burn i would go straight out n get an i7 but i dont.
price 5/5
fps 3/5
overall fun with clock features 4/5
i7 would be all 5/5 but its like an extra £200 gbp = insane especially how stuff drops in price all the time. if this chip last 3 years and drops by half price then tbh ive had a good 3 years for £60 where as an i7 will drop significantly in price from £300 to £150 that £150 loss is as soon as you buy as it becomes second hand now will it hold value. who knows but for £120 who really cares. when i evidently sell i will not be at a bigger loss than if i bought an i7. power wise this uses less power than my pentium d 3.4 so my electric meter tells me so its all good

Personally i sat and watched an a10 680k go for £97 on ebay 2nd hand a few days ago loss of £17 yep 2 packets of fags lol compare to i5 or low end i7 would rather have this all day long but give me the cash to buy the top end i7 ill take it every time

if any 1 wants me to benchmark certain games give me a fb message n ill do for ya supposedly this core does really well for batman but have yet to try

UPDATEjust installed crysis 3 max settings on graphics. fps on fraps with a 512 + 2bg crossfire is 40-45 which aint that bad and o does it look sweet guess its the grid 2 engine out the window then too, as no blue crappy stuff on this game run sweet as a nut

 

[msroadkill612]

I give up!!!

What is it with AMD APU reviews? Its not just you guys, its all over.

The one thing AMD APUs are not good at is gaming, yet they are fabulous balance for almost all other respects.

To a one, reviews of APUs seem to immediately focus on gaming - 10 pages of stating the obvious.

A great shame. It puts AMD on the defensive. I think they have it pretty right for all but gamers. Conceptually its awesome. Good GPU(s) etched onto the main processor & using system memory (now 2133 - a big jump). Its the future & it may wither on the vine with all this confusing nonsense & crap AMD marketing.

you wanna game, get a discrete GPU (for now) - simple.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I give up!!!

What is it with AMD APU reviews? Its not just you guys, its all over.

The one thing AMD APUs are not good at is gaming, yet they are fabulous balance for almost all other respects.

To a one, reviews of APUs seem to immediately focus on gaming - 10 pages of stating the obvious.

A great shame. It puts AMD on the defensive. I think they have it pretty right for all but gamers. Conceptually its awesome. Good GPU(s) etched onto the main processor & using system memory (now 2133 - a big jump). Its the future & it may wither on the vine with all this confusing nonsense & crap AMD marketing.

you wanna game, get a discrete GPU (for now) - simple.

Don't give up..... elaborate please...... Your referring to a 15 month old review of a previous generation of APU from a previous generation socket that was scored 8.8/10 and a "Highly recommended" that made absolutely no mention in the conclusion under "cons" of gaming performance so what is frustrating you so?

 

[Dent1]

Don't give up..... elaborate please...... Your referring to a 15 month old review of a previous generation of APU from a previous generation socket that was scored 8.8/10 and a "Highly recommended" that made absolutely no mention in the conclusion under "cons" of gaming performance so what is frustrating you so?

My suspicion is msroadkill612 won't return to elaborate.

BTW. Lock this thread!

 

[cadaveca]

BTW. Lock this thread!

No.

It's roughly valid feedback. This poster just didn't take the review form the direction it was posed... to meet the audience here, who are mostly interested in gaming. APUs are awesome for what they are, although I do fault the power consumption a bit in today's market since an Intel 1150 CPU is just as good for daily usage, uses less power, but doesn't offer the same 3D capabilities. So if you don't need those 3D capabilities, why do you need an APU?

 

[OneMoar]

AMD needs to get on quad channel DDR4 before the APU's will have any sort of gaming relevancy

 

[Steevo]

AMD needs to get on quad channel DDR4 before the APU's will have any sort of gaming relevancy

The new variants coming out will feature the delta compression making 50% better use of memory bandwidth.


Still, I love me some APU in a laptop, still overall better than Intel for everything buy heavy lifting, and if you need that why are you using a laptop? Wish I had one instead of what they got me.

 

[OneMoar]

delta compression isn't gonna net 50% more like 20%

 

[Tatty_Two]

My suspicion is msroadkill612 won't return to elaborate.

BTW. Lock this thread!

Suspicion fail..... He has been back and thanked your post although you were right in part..... he didn't elaborate.

 

[Frick]

The one thing AMD APUs are not good at is gaming, yet they are fabulous balance for almost all other respects.

This depends on your definition of gaming. I play games a fair bit, just not the stuff that requires a fast PC, and even if I would buy a 1920x1080 monitor I would still be happy to game at a 1280x1024 monitor (because dual monitors) ... and depending on the game I'd say around 30fps is playable. For me it would make an excellent gaming machine. The only drawback is you can get more performance if buying used components.

If hybrid crossfire would work better it would be awesome though.

 

[msroadkill612]

Don't give up..... elaborate please...... Your referring to a 15 month old review of a previous generation of APU from a previous generation socket that was scored 8.8/10 and a "Highly recommended" that made absolutely no mention in the conclusion under "cons" of gaming performance so what is frustrating you so?

My suspicion is msroadkill612 won't return to elaborate.

BTW. Lock this thread!

Don't give up..... elaborate please...... Your referring to a 15 month old review of a previous generation of APU from a previous generation socket that was scored 8.8/10 and a "Highly recommended" that made absolutely no mention in the conclusion under "cons" of gaming performance so what is frustrating you so?

Thanks to the positive responders. Shame on the negative "lock thread " censor guy

Perhaps i vented my frustration on the least guilty review. In fact I know it now, sorry guys. I almost apologised pre-emptively but was too tired.

I dont pretend to be technical but from the mouths of babes ...?

I have read many apu reviews over some time & the gaming focus is certainly my impression - damning them with faint praise. Quite so IF u buy the gaming red herring..

System memory cant compete with discrete GPU ram for a long while yet

I am not a gamer, along with many others, but intel have shifted the debate confusingly to gaming - they cannot compete if an adequate cpu & an adequate igp are adequate (& they often are - compared to what many are upgrading from - awesome) unless u can scare the guy into thinking gaming is a general measure of adequacy.

For many, it isnt (few over 45 game methinks). , but we do value; multimedia, quiet, simple, cool & frugal. I love no add in cards & drivers.

I cant see where my future proofing is wrong. FM2 sockets seem with us for a while & tomorrows rubbish beats todays top end stuff easily. A year is a lot for APUs.

My hobby (am retired & have space & cash so the dog & i dont HAVE to be cheap or minimalist), has for some time been...

To source & set up my "model train set" using APUs & some day, playing with it.

It doesnt have to make sense. It has to amuse me. (I also have 10x bicycles from ebikes to racing road bikes - silly right?)

Its all been vicarious & on paper for some time so far. Am serious but each answer seems to raise 2 or more questions i find fun to research.
simply put, my order will be ~

3 x top end asus fm2+ full atx moboS - the one with with display port (which seems to be the future & i think is relevant re multi monitor) - hang the expense on the mobo - nice to know its got the lot ~$120

3 x 8gb 2400 ram, or 2133 if too dear - running it at even 1866 on a A6 seems fine, but I wish I could be positive? I hate returns. Any confirmation?

3 x apu

2 x samsung 256gb ssd - only a bit dearer & seem to have the reputation.

I forget the name but ssdS which let u use some as a drive & some as a HDD cache sound v interesting - say180gb as a boot drive & 64gb as a cache (maybe 2x also)

Mavens often cant see the forrest for the trees. Some simple fundamentals I have gleaned from seemingly reliable sources u may have missed:

a mid august 2014 Toms review of the A10 found little benefit on an overclocked a10 to 2400 ram over 2133 ram, tho it should help heaps for the IGP. Perhaps the much maligned AMD memory controller is maxed out at 2133?

Dual channel ram has little effect EXCEPT for the IGP.

The VGA Dsub is to be phased out soonish - under 2 years?

It bears re-stating, the biggest recent advance by a country mile is affordable & reliable SSDs

2 x seagate 1TB single platter HDD - i have 6x sata 2 160GB drives already

1 x compatible radeon discrete gpu to play with multi monitor - not crossfire

SO

put 1 in a case & use it

put 2 on bench & play with them - raid arrays using SSDs eg. - no waiting hours for formats etc. a chore becomes fun

1 x win 8 & recycle 2 x win 98xp copies

I may even get a6 6800kS (absurdly cheap) APUs & use them as seat warmers till better or cheaper a10S come along

maybe split an 8gb 2 x 4gb set between the two bench mobos to save $ - get more later if needed

makes sense to me - doubt i would spend $2k for my toy & working pc - a trifle compared to my recently canned drinking hobby.

can be avant guard on bench PCs w/o angst

easy redundancy if main PC fails - i hate downtime

my options are very open

I give up!!!

What is it with AMD APU reviews? Its not just you guys, its all over.

The one thing AMD APUs are not good at is gaming, yet they are fabulous balance for almost all other respects.

To a one, reviews of APUs seem to immediately focus on gaming - 10 pages of stating the obvious.

A great shame. It puts AMD on the defensive. I think they have it pretty right for all but gamers. Conceptually its awesome. Good GPU(s) etched onto the main processor & using system memory (now 2133 - a big jump). Its the future & it may wither on the vine with all this confusing nonsense & crap AMD marketing.

you wanna game, get a discrete GPU (for now) - simple.

put simply - system memory cant compete with discrete GPU memory.

I give up!!!

What is it with AMD APU reviews? Its not just you guys, its all over.

The one thing AMD APUs are not good at is gaming, yet they are fabulous balance for almost all other respects.

To a one, reviews of APUs seem to immediately focus on gaming - 10 pages of stating the obvious.

A great shame. It puts AMD on the defensive. I think they have it pretty right for all but gamers. Conceptually its awesome. Good GPU(s) etched onto the main processor & using system memory (now 2133 - a big jump). Its the future & it may wither on the vine with all this confusing nonsense & crap AMD marketing.

you wanna game, get a discrete GPU (for now) - simple.

also put simply (what is often lacking), it seems a good general rule re good APU rigs (A10, 8gb dual channel 2133 ram, ssd boot drive) & gaming is - i reiterate, I am not a gamer or technical - the numbers are a guess but u see where I am coming from

given TV is 25FPS? & we live with that - 25 FPS play rate seems pretty good.

HD TV is 1080dpi?

on a good APU rig - 720P, most games, no problem

1080 dpi - some games - not all

I cant help it. I hate to do it as would like to see amd do well.

but i cannot escape the notion of getting the best of everything - except the apu itself

the A6 is quite a chip & only $50~ if that - thats a packet of tobacco here

toss them when when an amd apu takes your fancy a bit down the track - simply swap the APU.

I like the a10, but dear given I want 3x APUs & they seem to improve by leaps and bounds

I would hate to toss a $170 apu.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I think your point is made, my keyboard needs a break now from merging your posts..... thanks!

 

[msroadkill612]

I think your point is made, my keyboard needs a break now from merging your posts..... thanks!

agree - sorry - i warmed to my theme too much. Got a bit random.

 

[Steevo]

delta compression isn't gonna net 50% more like 20%

With such a low bandwidth available any increase is huge, and both AMD/Nvidia show about 33% on modern cards.