How does an AMD APU work and whats its advantage and disadvantage?

glitchmaster0001 · Nov 8, 2015

Hi,him building a very low budget pc for my client and i was wondering what is the difference between an AMD APU and a Normal Intel or AMD CPU? i dont know if i shoudl go with an AMD CPU or AMD APU. Also what are the advantages and disadvantages of a APU vs a CPU. Thanks

jaguarskx · Nov 8, 2015

AMD APUs are processors with both a CPU and GPU cores. AMD processors with no GPU cores are simply called CPUs..

All Intel processors whether they have integrated graphic cores or not are simply called CPUs. Only the Xeon server CPUs have no integrated graphic cores. But I am pretty sure this is an obscure Core i5 CPU with no graphics core in it.

Advantages between an AMD APU (Intel CPU too) and AMD CPU is that you do not need to install a dedicated GPU with an APU. But with a CPU you must install a dedicated GPU. AMD's FX CPUs (Piledriver generation / socket AM3+) tends to have better processing performance than AMD's APUs (Kaveri generation / socket FM2+). There are some Kaveri generation APUs with the integrated graphics core disabled (because they are not working properly) and are referred to as Athlon X4 CPUs. The FX CPUs have better processing performance than APUs / CPUs based on the Kaveri architecture.

Intel processors have more powerful CPU cores compared to any AMD processor. Intel integrated graphics can compete very well against AMD's integrated graphics. Depending on which models you compare, there are Intel graphics cores that are more powerful than AMD graphics cores. The most powerful integrated graphics core at this moment in time is the Intel Iris Pro 6200 which is about equal to a mobile nvidia 940m GPU. However, that graphics core is only comes with certain expensive Core i7 CPUs.

The most powerful AMD graphics core is the Radeon R7 (Kaveri). It is a little more powerful than a mobile nVidia 920m GPU. The new Intel HD 530 with DDR4 RAM is more or less equal to the nVidia 920m.

spentshells · Nov 8, 2015

The APU is an AMD cpu with the gpu attached directly to it in the same package. a 4 core apu is going to perform approximately the same as a 4 core cpu only having the graphics performance of a low-midrange cpu and gpu The APU also heavily relies on the memory speed where it is not quite as apparent with the cpu as the apu uses the system memory to power the graphics. Low end Machines are ideal for these apu's

The 400 dollar machine I built for you in your last thread will absolutely have no issues with mine craft or running it and acting as a server. Seriously go back to that thread and build what I provided I assure you there will be no complaints. It can also be overclocked both the cpu and gpu on the apu are overclockable.

Also please note the APU I provided is the fastest available and can use 2400 ddr3 ram, I only provided 2133Mhz ram so upgrade that if you like my build was under 400 dollars

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226545

glitchmaster0001 · Nov 9, 2015

spentshells :

Thanks for the last build there but would it preform well with DDR3 1333MHz RAM (8GB) because thats the only ram that i have lying around i my spare parts box and im trying to keep this as cheap as possible so would it run what he needs with 1333MHz ram? Thanks

spentshells · Nov 9, 2015

actually no, the ram speed is pivotal in graphics performance where apu's are involved, if you insist on that ram, as you already have it in stock I get that, sell what you have. maybe look to an i3 or pentium processor both should be fine for his uses.

ram speed effects the amd chips in general but more so the APU, admittedly AMD tech is quite a bit slower than Intel and the ram speed does in fact affect the cpu performance when under 1866Mhz not so bad @1600 but 1333 is bad for amd, it causes them to choke a bit.

So pentium or i3 it is with a h81 motherboard and a small gpu. State the parts you have and we can work around them.

Do not use and APU with 1333 ram, bad move performance wise.

Karadjgne · Nov 9, 2015

The integrated graphics on an AMD APU tie in directly with the system ram. The slower the ram, the worse the performance. 2133MHz ram gets almost 2x the performance of 1600MHz and is the best value to performance. After 2133MHz, the performance ratio drops drastically. Under 2133MHz performance sucks. The 1333MHz ram will get lousy performance for games. If you do this, upgrade the ram soon as possible.

spentshells · Nov 9, 2015

Try these or ditch the ssd and add a proper gaming card, which he clearly doesn't need. The gt 740 I linked isnt ideal but it keeps the ssd

CASE - Fractal Design Core1100 (FD-CA-CORE-1100-BL)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352039

GPU - GIGABYTE GeForce GT 740 GV-N740D5OC-2GI
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125774

PSU - CORSAIR CX series CX430
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

MB - MSI H81M-P33 LGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

CPU - Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell Dual-Core 3.4 GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116946

SSD - ADATA Premier SP550 2.5" 240GB SATA III
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211984

$393.94

Ditch the SSD for a reasonable gaming pc

CPU - Intel Core i3-4170 3M Haswell Dual-Core 3.7 GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117543

GPU - ZOTAC GeForce GTX 950 OC ZT-90602-10M 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500386&ignorebbr=1

Way overkill for minecraft plus server, I remember you have the ram and the hdd windows, that cpu and gpu will handle almost anything at reasonable frame rates at 1080p without being hampered by the 1333 ram.

If you want to make more profit use this gpu instead and go with my original cpu suggestion above and this gpu.

SAPPHIRE NITRO Radeon R7 360
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202163&ignorebbr=1
$109.99
$94.99 after $15.00

Both are massively overkill for what is being requested for the build but the i3 4170 and gtx 950 combo..... its an absolute gaming machine capable of just about everything staying within the budget.

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How does an AMD APU work and whats its advantage and disadvantage?

glitchmaster0001

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jaguarskx

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spentshells

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glitchmaster0001

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spentshells

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Karadjgne

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spentshells

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