The AMD A8-3500M APU Review: Llano Is Unleashed

Features
By Don Woligroski
published

Code-named Llano, AMD’s first desktop-class APU arrives today. This single-chip combination of the Stars CPU architecture and Radeon graphics brings unique strengths (and weaknesses) to the table, and we’re here to compare them to Intel's Sandy Bridge.

CPU Benchmarks: Content Creation

Now for a look at content creation benchmarks, starting with 3D modeling and rendering:

3ds Max and Blender only benchmark the time it takes to render a 3D scene, but Cinebench measures both rendering time (green result) and window responsiveness (blue result). See how Intel dominates the rendering task across all three programs, but Cinebench is the only benchmark that exposes the GPU’s ability to display smooth viewport frame rates? Intel is left behind in this test.

Switching from 3D in Cinebench to 2D in Photoshop puts the impetus on processing cores. Our benchmark employs a number of threaded filters to best tax multi-core processors. Intel has an indisputable lead.

Intel maintains a lead in these two titles from Adobe, and the A8-3500M performs inexplicably poorly when it comes to After Effects. It seems unlikely that you’d want Llano driving a mobile video workstation.

Don Woligroski
134 Comments Comment from the forums
  • _Pez_
    HO ! GOD FINALLY I am the first to read this !! Im feeling a Nerdgasm !! :D :D !!
    Reply
  • oneblackened
    I now really want a laptop with Llano. Also first.
    Reply
  • fstrthnu
    AMD is kind of in a fix here, the more enthusiast gamers won't even bother looking at the Llano computers while this is kind of overkill for casual gamers. MAYBE money-pressed college students or something, but most people will just skip this and either buy a regular gaming computer or build their own using one of the guides from this very site! Going for good graphics in cheap desktops is kind of a futile exercise, the people who will care will just get the more expensive stuff anyways. Notebooks are more understandable, but the prices on the decent gaming desktops are just too good for Llano to be very competitive (and also, the CPU portion will be a letdown for the average person. Noticeably slower than the comparable Intel Core i5.)
    Reply
  • vz7
    Do you know when the desktop review for llano will be out?
    Reply
  • stingstang
    Good job, AMD. You finally made a better cpu/gpu combo than intel in terms of graphics power.
    ....big win there...
    Reply
  • vz7
    After reading the desktop benchmarks on anandtech I can't say I'm impressed. The top of the line a8 3850 manages to scratch the best intel integrated graphics, which doesn't say much. Its CPU power seems to be a toss up with the i3. I think this hardly justifies the +70 premium (over an i3) that you'd have to spend to get it.
    Reply
  • billj214
    This APU being somewhat low power and good graphics almost deserves to be in a tablet PC since CPU processing is not critical in tablet PC's and graphics is something that can help with media and games.

    Ditto on the "Good Job AMD" definitely on the right track.
    Reply
  • cangelini
    vz7Do you know when the desktop review for llano will be out?
    The NDA is up on the 30th.
    Reply
  • niceview
    two things:

    1) What happened to the Game Charts results for the Radeon HD 5570, when the games were benchmarked? I thought you made a point to say you were going to compare the APU's 6620G with a discrete card (that has the same number of SPs and same clock). So much for that, unless you thought only comparing the two with a synthetic test was enough. Oh well. Tom's can be such a tease!

    2) I'm just a little disappointed that the APU's graphics power was not able to double Intel's.... Under the best of circumstances, AMD's latest integrated graphics came close to being twice as fast, but i guess that is ok since we are not playing horseshoes. I just thought it would be nice if it had made a nice even doubling, or more. Now, i'm worried IVY BRIDGE will beat it....
    Reply
  • niceview
    sorry, i guess that should be:

    we ARE playing horseshoes...

    and i have to give credit where credit is due: props to AMD for almost doubling Intel's HD Graphics in the integrated space....
    Reply