AMD Trinity review roundup: good bang for your entry-level buck

DNP AMD Trinity review roundup not bad for the price

It's never easy playing second fiddle, but AMD is trying their best to keep Intel on their toes with its latest line of Trinity desktop chips. We were introduced to the Trinity last week, but now the official reviews are in from the usual specialist sites. The consensus seems to be that it provides solid performance for the price. The Trinity A10-5800K is in the same class as the Core i5 but sells at $130 on NewEgg, which is the going rate for the Core i3-3220 (Guess those price leaks were true). Hot Hardware notes that both the A10-5800K and the A8-5600K offer improved performance and decent overclockability, stating that it offers "roughly a 10 percent kicker in CPU performance" and "15 - 17 percent increase in GPU performance." As for power consumption, Anandtech claims the Trinity isn't quite as good as the Core i3, but "compared to Llano, Trinity is a bit more efficient" so it looks like there's improvement from past AMD chips. TechSpot points out the Trinity also requires a new Socket FM2 motherboard.

Like most reviews, Hot Hardware recommends the Trinity chips as a solid choice for those who want an entry-level system. However, those hungry for power are probably still going to go Intel. Legit Reviews states that the AMD Trinity will do just fine for everyday use and some light gaming, leaving the pricier Intel chips for performance-chasers. Definitely peruse the links below for more details before considering a purchase.

Read - Hot Hardware
Read - Tom's Hardware
Read - AnandTech
Read - Legit Reviews
Read - Benchmark Reviews

Filed under:

AMD Trinity review roundup: good bang for your entry-level buck originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

AMD Trinity desktop chips due next week, promise Core i5-matching power at Core i3 price

AMD to release Trinity desktop chips next week, promises Core i5 power for a Core i3 priceBeing the industry underdog means youre always in need of a punchy pitch Fortunately, the marketing around AMDs latest processors  the longawaited Trinity APUs for desktop PCs  is brutally simple For something like the cost of an Ivy Bridge Core i3, you can get an overclockable A105800K that, were told, belongs in the same weight category as an Ivy Bridge Core i5 with HD4000 integrated graphics In other words, and although exact pricing wont be revealed until the full stack of A10, A8 and A6 processors hit shelves next week, buyers of lowpower PCs like allinones and HTPCs could potentially save around $xx by going with AMD instead of Intel  Such a claim just cries out to be tested, which is exactly what we try to do in the video after the break  albeit under the auspices of AMD and solely in relation to the game Sleeping Dogs The upshot of the video is that the A10 runs that title at medium settings and 16x10 resolution at almost 30 fps Throw in some conservative GPU and memory overclocking while sticking with the stock cooler and chip will readily stretch to 1920 x 1080 at 37 fps By contrast, an Ivy Bridge Core i5 struggles to get beyond slowmo 10 fps, and of course you cant overclock it without spending extra on unlocked K variant of the chip  something AMD sells at no premium whatsoever   But thats just one game  and moreover one game on a chip that isnt especially targetted at gaming so much as allround entertainment and productivity ie the kinds of customers who dont want to spend $100 extra on a discrete graphics card We need full benchmarks covering more scenarios and general computing performance, and a number of specialist sites will be releasing such data today see the More Coverage links below, with fuller reviews following on October 2nd  at which point well do our regular review roundup

Being the industry underdog means you're always in need of a punchy pitch. Fortunately, AMD's latest briefing to journalists in London yesterday contained exactly that: for something like the cost of an Intel Core i3 you'll be able to pick up an overclockable Trinity A10-5800K which, we're told, belongs in the same weight class as a Core i5 with HD 4000 graphics. Exact pricing won't be revealed until the full stack of A10, A8, A6 and A4 processors hits shelves next week, but the top-end A10 will likely cost around $130, based on recent leaks and a glance at what Newegg currently charges for an i3. Unluckily, however, whereas Ivy Bridge was compatible with some previous-generation motherboards, Trinity will require the purchase of a new Socket FM2 motherboard.

The claim of performance parity with the Core i5 just cries out to be tested, but we'll have to wait until early October before we can round up verdicts from full reviews on specialist sites. In the meantime, check out the More Coverage links below for some early previews. Also, if you require something more directly head-to-head with an Intel chip, then that's exactly what you'll find in the video after the break, albeit under AMD's auspices and solely in relation to a single game, Sleeping Dogs. As you'll see, there's nothing to turn hardcore gamers against discrete graphics cards, and there are no clues about non-gaming performance (which is arguably more relevant on an APU-powered system). But the quad-core A10-5800K does offer plenty of scope for escapism on a low-power HTPC or all-in-one. Indeed, the more expensive Core i5 is left for dust, not least because it's locked -- unlike AMD, Intel charges a premium for its overclockable K-denoted chips. We'll add further preview links as they become available.

Update: Just added HotHardware's preview, which shows that the A10 really does game as well as our video suggests in addition to providing a mostly fluid computing experience. As mentioned, however, it's impossible to reach a final verdict until AMD allows sites to publish full benchmarks next week.

Continue reading AMD Trinity desktop chips due next week, promise Core i5-matching power at Core i3 price

Filed under: ,

AMD Trinity desktop chips due next week, promise Core i5-matching power at Core i3 price originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

AMD’s top-end Trinity desktop chip could cost just $130, the same as a budget Core i3

AMD's topend Trinity desktop chip could cost $130, the same as Intel's cheapest Core i3

You can't get a Core i3 on Newegg right now for much less than $130 -- a sum that'll put you almost at the bottom of the Ivy Bridge league with a dual-core processor, 3MB cache and HD 2500 (i.e. not HD 4000) integrated graphics. That's why it's interesting to see these leaked AMD Trinity prices over at retailer BLT. If they're accurate, they indicate that the same amount of cash might afford a top-end Trinity A10 processor with overclockable 3.8GHz quad-cores, 4MB cache and vastly superior Radeon HD 7660D graphics. At the other end of AMD's range, a dual-core A4-5300 APU could cost as little as $60. The only catch we can see -- aside from the issue of accuracy -- is that by the time these processors actually become available rival Intel may well have seen fit to adjust its own prices. In fact, Chipzilla just launched some new Ivy Bridge processors over the weekend that brought the cost of entry down to $117 -- which goes to show that nothing stands still for long. Head past the break for some official gaming benchmark claims about the A10, or see More Coverage for extras.

Continue reading AMD's top-end Trinity desktop chip could cost just $130, the same as a budget Core i3

Filed under:

AMD's top-end Trinity desktop chip could cost just $130, the same as a budget Core i3 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ZDNet  |  sourceBLT  | Email this | Comments