AMD Kaveri Update: A10-7800 APU Review

Name: AMD Kaveri Update: A10-7800 APU Review
Brand: AMD

by Marco Chiappetta — Thursday, July 31, 2014, 03:29 PM EDT

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

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com