The AMD A8-7650K APU Review, Also New Testing Methodology
by Ian Cutress on May 12, 2015 10:00 AM ESTTest Setup
| Test Setup | |
| Processor | AMD A8-7650K 2 Modules, 4 Threads 3.3 GHz Base, 3.7 GHz Turbo 95W, MSRP $105 |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE F2A88X-UP4 |
| DRAM | G.Skill RipjawsZ 4x4GB DDR3-2133 9-11-10 |
| Low End GPU | Integrated ASUS R7 240 2GB DDR3 Dual Graphics with R7 240 |
| Mid Range GPU | MSI R9 285 Gaming 2GB MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB |
| High End GPU | MSI R9 290X Gaming LE 4GB ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB |
| Power Supply | OCZ 1250W Gold |
| Storage Drive | Crucial MX200 1TB |
| Operating System | Windows 7.1 64-bit, Build 7601 |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Nepton 140XL CLC |
Many thanks to...
We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our test bed:
Thank you to AMD for providing us with the R9 290X 4GB GPUs.
Thank you to ASUS for providing us with GTX 980 Strix GPUs and the R7 240 DDR3 GPU.
Thank you to ASRock and ASUS for providing us with some IO testing kit.
Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with Nepton 140XL CLCs.
Thank you to Corsair for providing us with an AX1200i PSU.
Thank you to Crucial for providing us with MX200 SSDs.
Thank you to G.Skill and Corsair for providing us with memory.
Thank you to MSI for providing us with the GTX 770 Lightning GPUs.
Thank you to OCZ for providing us with PSUs.
Thank you to Rosewill for providing us with PSUs and RK-9100 keyboards.
AMD A8-7650K Overclocking
Methodology
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+). Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.
Overclock Results
The base frequency of the A8-7650K goes up to 3.7 GHz in the highest turbo mode, and we were able to jump right into 4.0 GHz without much problem. That being said, our sample did not move much above that, giving 4.1 GHz but at 4.2 GHz we noticed that the CPU frequency would decrease during sustained workloads, resulting in a zero performance increase overall.
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silverblue - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
I heard a rumour that AMD were unable to meet demand and as such failed to secure a contract with Apple. Make of that what you will. As it was, Llano went from being under-produced to the exact opposite.galta - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Exactly: not only have they devised a poor strategy, they were also unable to follow it!V900 - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Nah, Llano would have been way too hot for an Apple laptop. Heck,'the CPU/GPU in a MacBook Air has a tdp of 15watt. Does AMD have anything even close to that, that doesn't involve Jaguar cores?galta - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Again, they were not able to deliver their strategy, even if it was a poor one.One says that integrated GPU is the future. That, per se, is questionable.
Later, we find out that they can't meet production orders and/or deliver a chip that is too hot for one of its potential markets. This is poor implementation.
Teknobug - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Enjoying my i3 4010U NUC as well, all I need for daily use and some occasional light gaming on Steam (I run Debian Linux on it).nerd1 - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Yoga 3 pro with 4.5W Core M got 90 points in Cinebench R15 Single-Threaded testThis 95W chip got 85 points in Cinebench R15 Single-Threaded test
So who's gonna buy this at all?
takeship - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Cynically, AMD may consider it better to have *any* product to discount/write-off down the road rather than fork over another wafer agreement penalty to GloFo with nothing to show for it.BrokenCrayons - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
I noticed that as well, but the fact that this is a 95 watt processor isn't that much of a concern when you have the power envelope of a desktop chassis at your disposal. The intended niche for these APUs seems more to make a value proposition for budget gaming in a low-complexity system (meaning lacking the additional PCB complexity introduced by using a discrete GPU). Unfortunately, I don't see OEMs really putting any weight behind AMD APUs by selling systems containing them which leaves much of the sales up to the comparatively few people who DIY-build desktop hardware. Even those people are hard-pressed to find a lot of value in picking an APU-based platform over competing Intel products as they tend to have a little more budget flexibility and are targeting greater GPU performance than the A-series has available, putting them into discrete graphics solutions.zodiacfml - Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - link
The APU has more cores than that. In the test, did it tell you how much power it is using?yannigr2 - Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - link
Those two more and much more expensive Intel CPUs on the charts, make APUs look totally pathetic. Yes you do have the prices next to the charts, yes they do make APUs, look extremely valuable in the 3D games, but most people probably would not go past the first 4-5 pages in this article having being totally disappointed from the first results. Also the long blue lines will imprint in their memories, they will forget the prices.Next time throw a few Xeon e7 in the charts.
PS. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, don't turn to Tom's Hardware.