A6-5400K w/ HD 7770 1GHz Dual Graphics?

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thefrobel

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Sep 1, 2013
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I just ordered a New setup:
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
AMD A6-5400K
Sapphire HD 7770 1GHz
KVR 16g DDR 1600

Everything runs fine, but I cannot get (do not know if) the Dual Graphics architecture (is) working.

From what I've read, apparently the A Series CPUs don't support any discrete Radeon HD above 6xxx. Is that True? Workaround?

If that's the case, if I just run this GPU as a stand alone discrete GPU, does that mean my CPU is ultimately a single core CPU (since the APU side isn't doing anything)?

Would love some input from someone has dealt w/ this set up already, or links to documentation on the subject.
 
Solution
MEC-777
The A6-5400k is a dual core APU. The CPU portion uses two cores and has a GPU integrated on the die as well.

I know for a fact that no current APU (even the A10's) cannot utilize dual graphics mode with a HD 7770. It has been done with the A10-5800/6800k's and HD 7750's, but nothing higher.

So, sorry to say, but you won't be able to run dual graphics mode with that APU and GPU combo.

However, you most certainly can run the HD 7770 as a single discreet GPU and will yield much better performance anyways as the integrated GPU on the A6 would significantly hold back the HD 7770.

When running the 7770 as a discreet card, your APU will simply function as a normal dual-core CPU. It just will simply not use the integrated GPU as there...
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megamanx00

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Sep 3, 2008
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No. The 7770 is so much faster than the GPU on the 5400k that it wouldn't make sense if it did work as more often than not it would offer lower performance than just the 7770. Obviously in AF mode the 7770 would just be waiting for the 5400k to finish its frame, and in tile mode it may be stuck waiting on tiles more often than not.
 
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MEC-777

MEC-777

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The A6-5400k is a dual core APU. The CPU portion uses two cores and has a GPU integrated on the die as well.

I know for a fact that no current APU (even the A10's) cannot utilize dual graphics mode with a HD 7770. It has been done with the A10-5800/6800k's and HD 7750's, but nothing higher.

So, sorry to say, but you won't be able to run dual graphics mode with that APU and GPU combo.

However, you most certainly can run the HD 7770 as a single discreet GPU and will yield much better performance anyways as the integrated GPU on the A6 would significantly hold back the HD 7770.

When running the 7770 as a discreet card, your APU will simply function as a normal dual-core CPU. It just will simply not use the integrated GPU as there will be no need for it.
 
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thefrobel

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Thanks guys.

Is this a hardware thing, or is it possible they come out w/ some sort of driver update/ firmware update (idk how that would happen) to get the integrated APUs to work w/ higher level discrete GPUs?

I was under the impression that regardless if the additional processor is slower, adding another processor of any type to a system would increase the overall performance. As long as they interact correctly...
 
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MEC-777

MEC-777

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The simplest way to explain it is that the slowest component will determine the fastest performance. The integrated GPU can only process data at a maximum rate. Adding another more powerful GPU to the combination cannot make the integrated GPU process any faster and thus, the faster component(s) will always be waiting on the slower component(s).

By running the 7770 as a discreet card, you'll be by-passing the much slower integrated GPU, allowing the GPU on the 7770 to run much faster on it's own.

The other issue is with GPU architecture and clock speeds. This is a little over my head, but from what I understand, the architectures must be the same and operate at the same clock speeds (for running two GPU's together). So part of the reason the 7770 might not work is because of the different GPU architectures.

But the main reason is the APU's GPU is so much slower than the 7770's GPU that it would completely defeat the purpose.

Running two cards with the same GPU's (two 7770's for example) will yield significant performance improvements. The integrated GPU on the A6 is most similar to (architecturally and performance-wise) to that of an HD 6670 series card and thus, running the two together would yield significant improvement. But when you run two cards of different performances (for example a 7750 and a 7790), the faster card will be under-clocked and restricted to match that of the slower card and will not yield very good performance improvements.
 
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MEC-777

MEC-777

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From your spec list on that link I see a few things that could be holding back your system.

First, the A6 CPU itself is not very strong to begin with. The lower physics scores shows this but in terms of gaming at 720p, you shouldn't be running into too much trouble except for maybe some of the newer games like Crysis 3 and Metro 2033.

Second, I see your ram is 800MHz. This is VERY slow. Most modern systems run 1600MHz ram which is twice as fast. You also have WAY more ram than you need. In addition, the A6 supports 1866MHz ram. So even if you ran 4GB of 1866 ram, you'd probably see a very nice increase in overall system performance. Just like I said earlier, a system will only be as fast as the slowest component allows. Same principle applies here. ;)

For your system, 4GB of dual channel 1866 ram will be just fine.
 
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MEC-777

MEC-777

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OK I see. LOL. Yeah you need to change your settings in the bios to run that ram at 1600. You're only running it at half speed right now.

Nothing wrong with a mountain of ram. The only thing is the system doesn't need/use much more than 4GB, so the rest is kind of redundant. You've already got it in your system and it is the proper speed, so might as well just leave it then. ;)
 
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thefrobel

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So I went into the BIOS and manually set the DRAM ferq to 1600, restarted, and ran 3DMark11 again, and got same result (roughly same score and still says the freq is 800 MHz). Any way to easily test to see if the RAM is actually running at the correct speed?

I think it's showing 800 because DDR3-1600's memory clock is 200 MHz and it's I/O clock is 800 MHz = 1600m DT/s
 
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MEC-777

MEC-777

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This is now beyond my level of expertise. I just saw the ram speed listed as 800 and thought that was odd. It's possible your ram is in fact set to 1600.

Perhaps someone else with more knowledge could step in and answer this?

What I do know is that if your ram is operating properly, your CPU is most likely the weakest link in terms of performance.


 
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Mupples

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A10-6800k can
 
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MEC-777

MEC-777

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Even if it can, it will restrict the 7770.

Can you provide a link to show it's been done?
 
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