AMD gave us an opportunity to go hands-on with its upcoming Brazos platform--the only preview you'll see before this technology surfaces in retail notebooks. Is it fast enough to compete with the Nehalem-based competition, and cool enough to trounce Atom?
One week ago, we went over the details on Brazos and Zacate. Today, we are finally allowed to go release our benchmark numbers. If you haven't read our earlier coverage, it's a good time to go back and go over all the nitty gritty details on Brazos, Zacate, and Ontario.
A quick recap:
Bobcat: The processing architecture behind AMD's upcoming Zacate and Ontario APUs.
Brazos: AMD's 2011 platform for the ULV Zacate/Ontario APU + SB750 southbridge. It effectively replaces the high-end parts of the Nile platform.
| Test Hardware | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processors | Intel Atom D525 (Dual-Core, 1.8 GHz) | Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 (Dual-Core, 1.3 GHz) | Simulated Intel Core i3-330UM (Dual-Core, 1.2 GHz) | Intel Core i3-350M (Dual-Core, 2.26 GHz) | Intel Core i3-540M (Dual-Core, 2.53 GHz) | AMD Athlon II Neo K125 (Single-Core, 1.7 GHz) | AMD E-350 (Dual-Core, 1.6 GHz) |
| Memory | 4 GB DDR3-1066 | 4 GB DDR2-800 | 4 GB DDR3-1066 | 4 GB DDR3-1066 | 4 GB DDR3-1333 | 4 GB DDR3-1333 | 4 GB DDR3-1333 |
| Graphics | Nvidia Ion2 Intel GMA 3150 (Optimus) | Intel GMA 4500MHD | AMD Radeon HD 5450, 1 GB DDR2 650 MHz/800 MHz | Intel HD Graphics | Nvidia Quadro NVS 3100M | AMD Radeon HD 4225 | AMD Radeon HD 6310 500/1066 MHz |
| Notebook | Asus eeePC 1215N | Asus UL20A | Desktop System | Dell Vostro 3300 | Lenovo Thinkpad T510 | Asus eeePC 1215T | - |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit | ||||||
| DirectX | Direct X11 | ||||||
| Graphics Driver | 260.99 (Nvidia) 8.14.10.2117 (Intel) | 8. 14.10.2117 | 8.782 | 8. 14.10.2226 | 260.99 | 8.782 | 8.789 |
Because we were dealing with notebooks, we often have no way to control memory timings. Given that platforms often ship with memory specific to that product line, we tried not to alter memory module configurations.
Benchmarks and Settings | |
|---|---|
Video Encoding | |
Cyberlink MediaExpresso 6 | Version: 6.0.1026.32053, Convert 1080p 16 Mb/s H.264 video file to MPEG-2 352x288 6 Mb/s |
Applications | |
WinRAR 3.93 | Version 3.93 (64-bit), Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Version 11.00.200.049, Transcribe Audio 14.1 MB Wav Recording (Duration: 11:12) |
| Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64-bit) | Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates filters |
| Norton Antivirus | Version: 18.1.0.37, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores |
PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.00, System, Memories, TV and Movies, and Productivity benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646 |
SiSoftware Sandra 2010 | CPU Test=CPU Arithmetic/Multimedia, Memory Test=Bandwidth Benchmark |
| Games | |
| World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King 3.4.0 | Fair Quality Setting, No AA / 2xAF, 4xAA / 16xAF, vsync off, 1280x720, 4 minute sequence, Fraps |
| Aliens vs. Predator Benchmark | Ultra High Settings, 4xAA / 16xAF, 1366x768, Built-In Benchmark |
| DiRT 2 | Modified Medium Setting, 2xAA 1366x768, In-Game Benchmark, Steam Version |
Probably not a lot of people, but when netbooks have the capability to play at acceptable levels for the masses, they will be great.
If an Intel processor and an AMD processor were exactly the same - 9 out of 10 'normal' people would choose the Intel
The only people "in the know" are in the enthusiast segment of the market, which is a very small slice really.
Its a constant uphill battle for AMD, but then again, if they didn't exist, we'd all be paying through the nose for slower processors
The average user either picks Intel or Apple. And when the user picks Apple the CPU manufacturer is absolutely out of question.
If an Intel processor and an AMD processor were exactly the same - 9 out of 10 'normal' people would choose the Intel
The only people "in the know" are in the enthusiast segment of the market, which is a very small slice really.
Its a constant uphill battle for AMD, but then again, if they didn't exist, we'd all be paying through the nose for slower processors
"The new AMD Fusion developer "trust fund" is actually a great way to start chipping away at the current CPU-heavy mentality." Yeas and we are also GPU-heavy mentality too!!!
Probably not a lot of people, but when netbooks have the capability to play at acceptable levels for the masses, they will be great.
So it could mean that we can read e-mail, read e-books watch movies and internet pages and even play with tablet-PC. Netbook is just one step ahead... Yep it is not the same as Nvidia 460, even 350 or amd 5650 from the low end (gaming), but the resolution would be smaller, so it would be possible.
Let see what we get when this is really out.
All in all it gives people a choice. Need more CPU and very rarely GPU power... take intel... If you don't need so much CPU power, but need GPU power chose AMD. It's good to have altenatives!
The average user either picks Intel or Apple. And when the user picks Apple the CPU manufacturer is absolutely out of question.
Those kind of people would indeed like a extremely portable gaming device, hell if they have a deal with some sort of internet on the go then maybe I will take the bus + subway and not drive to work.
On other news you guys used 3.4.0 wow?! Patch 4.0.1 dropped in 12 of OCT and you can't get on the official servers w/o updating, are you guys using a private server?! Or even better a blizzard sanctioned low lat testing server?!!!!
But against what is soon to become Intel's "old line." With the release of Sandy Bridge and a whole new architecture, AMD is going to need to have solid performance, at least enough to match Intel's previous offerings.
You mean a half gen ahead? Cuz this stomps atom into dust and intel has nothing close.
Intel's "old line" is mostly on the same 32nm process of Sandy Bridge so it's not like intel has some huge miracle coming up, just a few percent more. They still have nothing close to this performance per die size and watt.
It waw probably run when 3.4.0 was the latest version, over a month ago.