On Tuesday, AMD formally introduced its 2014 lineup of A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) with AMD Radeon R7 graphics, codenamed "Kaveri." These three new chips support Ultra HD (4K) resolutions and new video post processing enhancements, FM2+ socket compatibility, and AMD TrueAudio technology for 32-channel surround audio.
"AMD maintains our technology leadership with the 2014 AMD A-Series APUs, a revolutionary next generation APU that marks a new era of computing," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Business Unit, AMD. "With world-class graphics and compute technology on a single chip, the AMD A-Series APU is an effective and efficient solution for our customers and enable industry-leading computing experiences."
For starters, we have the AMD A10-7850K costing $173 USD. This chip has a total of 12 compute cores: eight GPU cores and four CPU cores. The max turbo core clock is 4.0 GHz, the default clock is 3.7 GHz, and the GPU frequency is 720 MHz. Other features include 4 MB of L2 cache and a 95W TDP.
Next we have the AMD A10-7700K costing $152 USD. This chip has 10 compute cores: six GPU cores and four CPU cores. The max turbo core frequency is 3.8 GHz, the default CPU frequency is 3.4 GHz, and the GPU frequency is 720 MHz. The chip also has 4 MB of L2 Cache and a TDP of 95W.
Finally, we have the AMD A8-7600 costing $119 USD. This chip offers 10 compute cores: six GPU cores and four CPU cores. Using a TDP of 65W, the chip has a max turbo core frequency of 3.8 GHz and a default CPU frequency of 3.3 GHz. However, with a TDP of 45W, the chip has a max turbo speed of 3.3 GHz and a default core clock of 3.1 GHz. In both cases, the GPU frequency is 720 MHz and the L2 cache size is 4 MB.
All three new APUs have Radeon R7 graphics cores and are based on the company's Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture that supports AMD's new Mantle "metal level" API and DirectX 11.2. The chips are also based on the Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA), which enables the CPU and GPU to work in harmony by "seamlessly streamlining right tasks to the most suitable processing element, resulting in performance and efficiency for both consumers and developers."
"The AMD Radeon R9 2400 Gamer Series memory is tested and certified for AMD A10 APUs, unleashing their full potential with AMD Memory Profile technology (AMP) offering speeds up to 2400 MHz," the company's announcement reads.
The AMD A-Series APU processor-in-a-box (PIBs) for the AMD A10-7850K and AMD A10-7700K started shipping in Q4 2013 and are available starting today. These chips are bundled with EA's Battlefield 4. The AMD A8-7600 will be shipping in Q1 2014.
