AMD Kaveri Update: A10-7800 APU Review


Our Summary and Conclusion

Performance Summary: The AMD A10-7800 APU’s performance is somewhat mixed, though it is a decent performer overall. Its Steamroller-based CPU cores do not do much to make up ground versus Intel’s processors, so in the more CPU-bound workloads, Intel’s dual-core Core i3-4330 competes favorably to AMD’s quad-cores. And in terms of IPC and single-thread performance Intel maintains a big lead. Factor graphics into the equation, however, and the tides turn completely. The GCN-based graphics engine in Kaveri is a major step-up over the previous-gen, and much more powerful than Intel’s mainstream offerings. The A10-7800’s power consumption characteristics are also more desirable versus the Richland-based A10-6800K.


The AMD A10-7800 A-Series APU - Find It At Amazon

As we mentioned earlier, AMD's updated A-Series line-up consists of the A10-7800 we showed you here and the A6-7400K. The A8-7600, which was listed as "new" on the chart on the first page, is technically not new, but its price has been reduced. The A10-7800 arrives at $155, the A8-7600 at $101, and the A6-7400K at only $77.


AMD Kaveri Bundle

AMD is sweeting the deal by bundling a game with its A10 APUs. Users who purchase an A10 can choose one game from the following list: Thief, Sniper Elite III, or Murdered Soul Suspect. The offer only runs through October, but we still dig it when companies include value-adds, especially when they're full-version games.

When we closed out our initial evaluation of Kaveri we said, "Kaveri doesn't change the game for AMD today, but it is a major step forward for the company and lays the foundation for a number of future advances. If software developers get on board and leverage Kaveri's heterogeneous compute capabilities to their fullest potential though, then the future could be bright." That sentiment rings true today as well, though AMD's lower price points are certainly more appealing.

  • Great Graphics Performance
  • Improved Power Efficiency
  • Small CPU Performance Improvements
  • GCN and TrueAudio In An APU 
  • Four AMD Cores Not Always As Fast As Two Intel Cores
  • New Socket

Tags:  AMD, GPU, CPU, processor, A-8, APU, Kaveri, FM2

Related content