Hybrid CrossFire Testing and Results

[smulvenon]

I am creating this thread so that I can post some personal results with a recent Hybrid CrossFire experiment that I ran myself.

Please post with your results, similar or not, and we can compare/contrast. If you Have any other testing requests, please let me know on this thread and I will attempt to get them done for you.

I am creating this to show directly the results of using an APU by itself and with various dedicated GPUs. This will also show the advantages of pairing an APU with the proper GPU can provide amazing results.

It is not all about getting the best video card anymore. With the APU systems, you will get better results with a properly matched GPU. I will post below my results for Vanilla and other configurations.

Post your own, and Let us all know your own results. As I have more results I will post them in this same thread.

My apologies for my hardware not being the most current, but it should illustrate my point fairly well.

Disclaimer:
I was at one time an AMD fanboy, then I switched sides. These days I have no loyalty to any side, I am an IT Manager, I build PCs for my companies and for people's personal use. My only loyalty now is to provide my clients with the best PCs possible for their budget and intended use. I have found that the APU systems provide excellent results at a low cost point. Also they can have a smaller form factor that other systems, allowing for a better portability than full size FX systems, and lower power usage than Intel Core systems. I have been in IT since 2001, and working with PCs since the later 80's. I have seen fads come and go in this industry and I am trying not to be a huge AMD fan boy about all this.

Post your own results for full comparison. Include price point estimations for your system(s) so that others searching can compare and contrast. Also, please try to be objective and so not hate on the choices that I or others have made.

Thanks and good hunting!

 

[smulvenon]

First up, my vanilla setup. Just the APU, no GPU installed.

All of my results were done on the same system, the only change was the GPU.

CPU- AMD A8-6500B
GPU - AMD Radeon HD 8570D (integrated/onboard graphics)
Driver - Catalyst 13.12
OS: Win7 x64 pro SP1
Memory: 8GB DDR3
HDD: 7200rpm 500GB drive
Video Resolution: 1024x768 (small I know but keeping it consistent throughout was the point)
Total Build Cost: ~$700

Scores:

Windows 7 Experience:
https://www.mediafire.com/?r5xt5r4mpe4f7hd
Processor: 7.3
Memory: 7.3
Graphics: 6.7
Gaming Graphics: 6.7
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9

FurMark:
https://www.mediafire.com/?rze91ijrgrcqcwu
504 Points (8 FPS)

3dMark Vantage:
https://www.mediafire.com/?x4o9cr97v4c970e
Score: P4712
Graphics Score: 4020
CPU Score: 9736

PCMark Vantage:

Will post later after re-run (corrupted results)

 

[smulvenon]

Next up, I installed an HD 5450 Card, to show that not every card improves performance when installed. It can be detrimental to install the wrong card. This is a cheap card that I install into some machines in a business setting, when all they want is the ability to have two monitors. Since framerate and other factors really don't come into play with spreadsheets and email, it is a cheap option for those clients. I do not install this card with the APU systems I deploy, I happened to have one laying around so I figured I would throw it in for comparison.

The only change from above is the video card.
GPU - HD 5450
Total Build Cost: ~$740

Scores:

Windows Experience:
https://www.mediafire.com/?6jqfflm5dx5e4s4
Processor: 7.3
Memory: 7.3
Graphics: 4.3
Gaming Graphics: 6.0
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9

Fur Mark:
https://www.mediafire.com/?6jqfflm5dx5e4s4
Score: 134 points (2 FPS)

3dMark Vantage:

Will update later... (corrupted results)

PCMark Vantage:
https://www.mediafire.com/?6jqfflm5dx5e4s4
Score: 7338

 

[smulvenon]

Third in line is the most powerful of the cards. But not the best results out of all of them.

An R7-240 was used for these tests, but that was the only change
R7-240 - ~$70

Windows Experience:

Processor: 7.3
Memory: 7.3
Graphics: 6.8
Gaming Graphics: 6.8
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9
Total build cost: ~$770

Fur Mark:

Score: 582 Points (9 FPS)

3DMark Vantage

Score: P7852
Graphics Score: 7379
CPU Score: 9722

PC Mark Vantage:

Will post later (scores corrupted)

An overall improvement over the APU alone, but not to great an improvement. You can seed that the 3D Mark score improved quite a lot. With the CPU score within margin of error of the vanilla set.

 

[smulvenon]

Third in line is the most powerful of the cards. But not the best results out of all of them.

An R7-240 was used for these tests, but that was the only change
R7-240 - ~$70

Windows Experience:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/a0bawyd8y4u28v8/r7240_experience.PNG
Processor: 7.3
Memory: 7.3
Graphics: 6.8
Gaming Graphics: 6.8
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9
Total build cost: ~$770

Fur Mark:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/w1d3y3q76domtz2/furmark_r7240.PNG
Score: 582 Points (9 FPS)

3DMark Vantage
http://www.mediafire.com/view/0ezzczo064dp28f/3dmark_r7240.pdf
Score: P7852
Graphics Score: 7379
CPU Score: 9722

PC Mark Vantage:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/j77ydxvjtqd74d2/pcmark_r7240.pdf
Will post later (scores corrupted)

An overall improvement over the APU alone, but not to great an improvement. You can seed that the 3D Mark score improved quite a lot. With the CPU score within margin of error of the vanilla set.

 

[smulvenon]

Last up, we have an HD7750. This card was more expensive than the others, but did not quite have the high stats that the R7-240 did, but still a decent card.

The HD7750 cost about $100, cheaper models were available in the 7000 series, but I needed to run an HD system for a conference room, so this card was purchased specifically to best match the APU's integrated graphics, to provide the best results.

Windows Experience:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/ln5l7jmsb7s8jpy/7750_experience.PNG
Processor: 7.3
Memory: 7.3
Graphics: 7.4
Gaming Graphics: 7.4
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9
Total Build Cost: ~$800

FurMark:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/88kijhs5obb9t7g/furmark_7750.PNG
Score: 873 points (14 FPS)

3D Mark Vantage:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/286iluv4o3v11cy/3dmark_7750.pdf
Score: P11419
Graphics Score: 12148
CPU Score: 9677

PC Mark Vantage:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/4xc7pgcsqe3yax4/pcmark_7750.pdf
Score: 8365

The best results, albeit for the most money (but chepaer could be found, especially now). Not the newest, or greatest card in it, but still provides pretty good power for the cost.

 

[smulvenon]

Last up, we have an HD7750. This card was more expensive than the others, but did not quite have the high stats that the R7-240 did, but still a decent card.

The HD7750 cost about $100, cheaper models were available in the 7000 series, but I needed to run an HD system for a conference room, so this card was purchased specifically to best match the APU's integrated graphics, to provide the best results.

Windows Experience:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/ln5l7jmsb7s8jpy/7750_experience.PNG
Processor: 7.3
Memory: 7.3
Graphics: 7.4
Gaming Graphics: 7.4
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9
Total Build Cost: ~$800

FurMark:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/88kijhs5obb9t7g/furmark_7750.PNG
Score: 873 points (14 FPS)

3D Mark Vantage:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/286iluv4o3v11cy/3dmark_7750.pdf
Score: P11419
Graphics Score: 12148
CPU Score: 9677

PC Mark Vantage:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/4xc7pgcsqe3yax4/pcmark_7750.pdf
Score: 8365

The best results, albeit for the most money (but chepaer could be found, especially now). Not the newest, or greatest card in it, but still provides pretty good power for the cost.

 

[smulvenon]

For the doubters: The corrupted scores were in that I could not open the PDFs that I printed from the results page. I will re run those tests that post their scores and provide links to PDFs that work, which are the full print outs of the pages.

 

[smulvenon]

For the doubters: The corrupted scores were in that I could not open the PDFs that I printed from the results page. I will re run those tests that post their scores and provide links to PDFs that work, which are the full print outs of the pages.

 

[smulvenon]

The results are pretty clear. Match your APU to the proper GPU and hybrid crossfire will properly take over and provide much better results. My APUs are last generation (available cheaper than current, saving my clients money in the process), but current generation APUs are even better, and have direct Hybrid Crossfire support for the R7 graphics series cards).

Before you get in too big of a huff about the specificity of these tests, I am well aware of many other setups which can provide great results. I, myself, run a 6 core FX with dual 7700's in crossfire, 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 2400, dual SATAIII SSDs in RAID 0, with dual SATAIII hybrid drives in RAID 0 for my main storage (providing my OS and Steam ~240GB of storage, and ~1TB of hybrid storage for other games and projects). I know my system out performs these by a mile, and it is much older.

I also recognize the following:
If money is no option, sure go for the ~$1000 Core i7 CPU from Intel and Dual GTX 780 Ti cards will get you one of the best experiences out there. I also recognize that for the same cost as middle tier Core i5 that I could get an 8-core FX. I know that the R9 series graphics cards are amazing, especially when put in CrossFireX. I mean, 6GB of memory for each card, wow.

But, these are not the points I am trying to make.

Many of the systems I build with APUs fall into a few categories:
A person is looking for a starter gaming machine, but doesnt want to spend too much. Solution: an APU without a graphics card, so that they could easily upgrade later.
A person wants a system that will be plenty powerful for gaming, but wants it to be highly mobile. Solution: an APU with a graphics card. Boards that support an FX or full Core i7 in a mini-ITX board/case are few and far between, with often great expense coming from them.
A person wants good gaming or video prowess, but wants to keep costs to a minimum. Solution: an APU, with our without card.
A person want the greatest bleeding edge system out there. Solution: Offer both the Highest end FX, or a mid grade i7 (I never recommend the highest i7, too expensive). Pair that with dual graphics cards, either the latest GTX or the latest series from AMD.
A person "needs" an Intel box. Solution: sure, I will find you a solution that involves any Intel CPU you think you need. But I will investigate why you think you need this, and offer you all my solutions if you are open to it.

The way I see it, and with the thousands (tens of thousands maybe) of PCs that I have dealt with over the years, there is a solution for every price point (within reason, don't ask for the $5 PC, you wont like it). But there is little direct comparison out there for various price points, and the options that exist for every need, and the information is good.

I did all of this testing and fact searching for one of my companies. They were looking for a cheap, but powerful solution for wide use. These APU systems performed great and won me yet another contract. I was the only bidder who came to them with an APU and testing to prove what it could do, in multiple scenarios. MY demo involved play Sins of a Solar Empire on max graphics (6 stars, 90+ planets) and Kerbal Space Program at the same time. Both at 1080P full screen, each on their own monitor. The APU with the R7-240 and the 7750 did not miss a beat, no lag, no stutter. So, of course it would work for AutoCAD, and other general office use.

In summary, Hybrid CrossFire can be a great solution, if it is used right, and for the right situations. And it can be cheaper than other solutions, along with being more upgrade-able in the future.

What are your thoughts, or your results for the tests? How does your system compare with my sub $1000 systems? Does anyone else have results for the APU systems and different GPUs?

Thank you and good hunting!