AMD Richland (codename “Annapurna”) APU Thread

Originally Posted by macks 

I'm fairly certain that the CPU's are getting a clock increase and nothing else. This is possible b/c GCN is a lot more energy efficient.

Assassin I have never heard of AMD surpassing there TDP, except on boards that push the voltage too high by default(I believe Intel has this problem also). Any links?

This shouldn't run any hotter than the A10-5xxx series so why would you need an aftermarket cooler?

Edit: There are a lot of posts on here about driver issues with Intel and Nvidia graphics.

Originally Posted by macks 

I'm fairly certain that the CPU's are getting a clock increase and nothing else. This is possible b/c GCN is a lot more energy efficient.

Assassin I have never heard of AMD surpassing there TDP, except on boards that push the voltage too high by default(I believe Intel has this problem also). Any links?

This shouldn't run any hotter than the A10-5xxx series so why would you need an aftermarket cooler?

Edit: There are a lot of posts on here about driver issues with Intel and Nvidia graphics.

Originally Posted by assassin 

I think the AMD driver issues aren't really debatable as even Reviewers mention them in many of the recent reviews for use in HTPC. With that being said they are a TON better than they used to be and I hope this is actually a thing of the past. Personally I was driven almost insane by AMD drivers in the past using 5xxx and 6xxx cards.

In regards to AMD never overshooting their TDP (largely irrelevant at load for HTPC but does underscore that they just run hotter than their Intel counterparts)...

Max TDP 100w







Most people suggest using an aftermarket cooler on the A8 or A10. I have tried an A8 in a smaller build and the heat is considerably more than the A6, A4, i3 or even the i5/i7. This has also been shared by StardogChampion with some of his smaller builds trying to use the larger AMD CPUs. Heat is definitely an issue with the Trinity A8 and A10 in many HTPC cases which may necessitate a larger and more expensive aftermarket cooler.

Originally Posted by macks 

These are all total system power consumption. I doubt any of these processors are actually surpassing there TDP. I thought AMD came out with new heatsink's a couple months ago that solved these issues?

As far as the driver issues. They have come a long way. The only issue I have anymore when I reinstall Windows(I'm crazy and do it too often) is just setting overscan after I download the latest driver.

Originally Posted by Mfusick 

AMD drivers today are light years better than two years ago. Just sayin'

Originally Posted by assassin 

I don't know of any data that shows just the cpu. If some exists please post.

As a side note many of the smaller cpu coolers are rated for 65w tdp. I have tried these on an a8 and a10 and it didn't go well. But for many htpc cases they are the only coolers that fit.

Originally Posted by macks 

I doubt cpu-only benchmarks exist. From peoples reactions I'm probably wrong on the included heatsinks, I always buy an aftermarket heatsink or use one I already have anyways though or at least change the TIM.

Originally Posted by gtgray 

Keep in mind these parts will be competing with Haswell, not IVB.

Originally Posted by StardogChampion 

Didn't Trinity just come out? On the heels of Trinity comes Richland, supposedly landing on March 19th.

APU Lineup:

• A10-6800K Radeon HD 8670D 844 MHz/ Quad Core 100W, 4.1 GHz/4.4 GHz
• A8-6600K Radeon HD 8570D 844 MHz/ Quad Core 100W, 3.9 GHz/4.2 GHz
• A10-6700 Radeon HD 8670D 844 MHz/ Quad Core 65W, 3.7 GHz/4.3 GHz
• A8-6500 Radeon HD 8570D 800 MHz/ Quad Core 65W, 3.5 GHz/4.1 GHz
• A6-6400K Radeon HD 8470D 800 MHz/ Dual Core 65W, 3.9 GHz/4.1 GHz
• A4-6300 Radeon HD 8370D 760 MHz/ Dual Core 65W, 3.7 GHz/3.9 GHz

Features:
Compatibility with FM2, targeted to A85X and a new A88X chipset
DDR3-1866 MHz
14x USB 2.0 ports
4x USB 3.0 ports
8x SATA 6GB/s
AMD’s HD 8000 series graphics based on the ‘Southern Island’ GCN architecture
Dual-GPU support with Radeon HD 7000 discrete graphic solutions.

News/Links:
http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2013/2013030503_AMD_Richland_processors_to_launch_in_March.html
http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2013/2013012601_Specifications_of_upcoming_Richland_APUs.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/AMD-Kabini-Richland-APU-Release,20888.html
http://gamingio.com/2013/02/amds-next-gen-apus-benchmarked-details-and-launch-schedule-also-leaked/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Accelerated_Processing_Unit#2013_platforms

It will be interesting to see what actually gets released come March 19th and what the reviews look like. I am hoping for better power consumption and better heat management.

Originally Posted by StardogChampion 

For what my own experience is worth on an internet forum having built A10-5700 and A6-5400K systems, I can say that the A10-5700 with just the motherboard, CPU and one stick of RAM I get wattage readings almost double the 65W TDP, closer to 120W (not that I believe TDP = power consumption). However, surprisingly, the stock A10-5700 cooler I've found to work really well and not loud at all in comparsion to various other low-profile AMD aftermarket coolers I've tried so for mini-ITX builds where it fits I prefer it.

These are all mini-ITX builds with mini-ITX power supplies (120W or 180W DC powerboard/120W AC adapter or 150W AC adapter) with the MSI FM2 mini-ITX motherboard. Don't even talk to me about the ASRock FM2 A75 mini-ITX motherboard.

Originally Posted by macks 

The higher wattage probably boils down to the inefficiency of your power supplies. No HDD?

Originally Posted by StardogChampion 

So, you're saying the mini-ITX power supply (basically the same as a picoPSU) is 50% efficient? LOL. We're done here.

Originally Posted by SlantNGo 

Pretty much every review I've seen has the AMD APUs exceeding their TDP. Here's one from SilentPCReview's review of the A10-5700 where they estimate DC Watts based on the measured efficiency of the PSU at different load levels:


The A10-5700 probably shouldn't be going up to 120W but I wouldn't be too surprised to see it at 90+. The A10-5800K+ at 137W is a bit disturbing to say the least.

Originally Posted by macks 

For the last time that is total system power consumption. The CPU isn't the only thing that uses power.