AMD Fusion: Brazos Gets Previewed: Part 2, Performance

Features
By Andrew Ku
published

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?

AMD Fusion: Brazos Recap, Power, And Heat

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.

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Test Hardware
ProcessorsIntel 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)
Memory4 GB DDR3-10664 GB DDR2-8004 GB DDR3-10664 GB DDR3-10664 GB DDR3-13334 GB DDR3-13334 GB DDR3-1333
GraphicsNvidia Ion2Intel GMA 3150(Optimus)Intel GMA 4500MHDAMD Radeon HD 5450, 1 GB DDR2650 MHz/800 MHzIntel HD GraphicsNvidia Quadro NVS 3100MAMD Radeon HD 4225AMD Radeon HD 6310500/1066 MHz
NotebookAsus eeePC 1215NAsus UL20ADesktop SystemDell Vostro 3300Lenovo Thinkpad T510Asus eeePC 1215T-
Operating SystemWindows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
DirectXDirect X11
Graphics Driver260.99 (Nvidia)8.14.10.2117 (Intel)8. 14.10.21178.7828. 14.10.2226260.998.7828.789

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.

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Benchmarks and Settings
Video Encoding
Cyberlink MediaExpresso 6Version: 6.0.1026.32053, Convert 1080p 16 Mb/s H.264 video file to MPEG-2 352x288 6 Mb/s
Applications
WinRAR 3.93Version 3.93 (64-bit), Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
Dragon NaturallySpeakingVersion 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 AntivirusVersion: 18.1.0.37, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.00, System, Memories, TV and Movies, and Productivity benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
SiSoftware Sandra 2010CPU Test=CPU Arithmetic/Multimedia, Memory Test=Bandwidth Benchmark
Games
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King3.4.0Fair Quality Setting, No AA / 2xAF, 4xAA / 16xAF, vsync off, 1280x720, 4 minute sequence, Fraps
Aliens vs. Predator BenchmarkUltra High Settings, 4xAA / 16xAF, 1366x768, Built-In Benchmark
DiRT 2Modified Medium Setting, 2xAA 1366x768, In-Game Benchmark, Steam Version
Andrew Ku
62 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ares1214
    Looking extremely impressive AMD, where as before you were a full gen behind, now id just say half gen. Make BD a big success, and you will most definitely get back in the game, however i doubt it would be enough to take the lead.
    Reply
  • did you realize that sometime it's as fast as the i3 with 2,2ghz?
    Reply
  • frederico
    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
    Reply
  • vaughn2k
    Hope it will come sooner than later...
    Reply
  • I don't like when Tom's trow at us many facts from the AMD crowd to brainwash our mind. I don't like when the game is to convince the community to buy something who is not proved again.

    "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!!!

    Reply
  • killerclick
    Who the hell plays games on a netbook? Another spectacular fail for AMD.
    Reply
  • tsnorquist
    killerclickWho the hell plays games on a netbook? Another spectacular fail for AMD.
    Probably not a lot of people, but when netbooks have the capability to play at acceptable levels for the masses, they will be great.
    Reply
  • gxpbecker
    Nifty, an the best thing about AMD making high end competition for intel is price drops lol, if AMD can pull it off.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Even more interesting would be a tablet that can be used to play games!
    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!
    Reply
  • K2N hater
    fredericoIf an Intel processor and an AMD processor were exactly the same - 9 out of 10 'normal' people would choose the IntelThe 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 processorsThe average user either picks Intel or Apple. And when the user picks Apple the CPU manufacturer is absolutely out of question.
    Reply