AMD Launches "Kaveri" A-Series APUs
AMD has launched three new A-Series APUs.
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.
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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.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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toddybody I want AMD to win so badly...but they've been nothing but a disappointment on the Desktop Class CPU front for years now. Lets hope they break the trend soon :/Reply -
loops Bf4 + APU - Mantel = wtf!Reply
Dice/EA needs to get some real work done. I'd hate to log into BF4 with these APUs w/o Mantel's "up to 45%" help at 1080p. -
shafe88 I hope AMD does good with these apu's, but why no L3 cache. Wouldn't adding L3 cache boost performance in certin apps. Maybe lower clock speed slightly, to leave thermal head room for L3 cache.Reply -
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Not if the L2 cache is large enough.12441726 said:I hope AMD does good with these apu's, but why no L3 cache. Wouldn't adding L3 cache boost performance in certin apps. Maybe lower clock speed slightly, to leave thermal head room for L3 cache.
I don't know if 4MB of L2 cache is enough, but as long as it's large enough, there's no need for L3.
Similarly; if your cache is large enough, you wouldn't need RAM either. Unfortunately, a CPU with such a large cache would probably cost more than an entire nation could afford, and that's assuming you somehow manage to fit this much cache onto such little space to begin with. -
RazberyBandit So much for the AMD-quoted prices... Even MicroCenter, which sells CPUs cheaper than anywhere else (in-store only), is selling them for more than AMD's price. MicroCenter's prices are: A10-7700K = $160 & A10-7850K = $180. Newegg's selling 'em for $170 and $190, respectively.I definitely would have liked to have seen some details regarding the iGPU silicon of each model, such as number the of shaders and clock-speed.Reply -
IndignantSkeptic So do the consoles have HSA or not? because if not they are probably kicking themselves that they missed it by a couple of months and will now have to wait about 7 years before they can try again.Reply -
tolham "A10-7850K costing $173 USD. This chip has a total of 12 compute cores: eight GPU cores and four CPU cores."how does that compare to the traditional video card + cpu set up?Reply -
Mathos @Indignantskeptic,Considering they're pretty much the same architectures other than the cpu cores themselves being jaguar based, I'm going to say yes. Since both current gen consoles have access to the same memory that their cpu cores do. DDR5 in the case of the ps4. Something people need to think about, roadmaps say that the gpu's coming from amd this year are suppose to be hsa compatible as well. If you're in a position like they are, were moving to a higher bandwidth ram would be an advantage. But, you don't have the market share to cause a new memory standard to be adopted main stream. Then your next best bet, is to design an HSA system where the GPU equipped with GDDR5, can share that memory with the CPU.Reply