Single-Chip PC Gaming on a Budget?

AMD's Richland architecture was underwhelming when we first reviewed it concluding June. The A10-6800K'south CPU performance was only a fraction faster than the A10-5800K Trinity chip, while its GPU functioning went almost untouched over a generation. Still, Richland APUs weren't a total disappointment because if nothing else, they brought higher clocks that helped them outperform their predecessors in some cases.

Jumping to this calendar month's update, Kaveri'due south processor brings bigger changes that event in a welcomed efficiency boost. Despite existence clocked 16% slower than the A10-6800K, the A8-7600 was ofttimes less than 10% slower. This comeback is peculiarly noteworthy when you lot look at consumption figures, with the A8-7600 using 78% less power than the A10-6800K at idle and 51% less nether full load -- on par with the Core i5-4430.

It's been a long time coming, but AMD is finally starting to realize and evangelize on the hope of PC gaming using its integrated APU architecture

Unfortunately, those numbers are less relevant if you focus on performance results. The A8-7600 really struggled in tests including WinRAR, InDesign and HandBrake, and although information technology runs at a lower frequency than the A10-6800K, we were notwithstanding a bit disappointed subsequently comparing each at iii.0GHz. Of the 10 real globe application tests we ran clock-to-clock, half favored the A10-6800K while the A8-7600 had a ~x% atomic number 82 in the rest.

When information technology came to raw CPU performance at less than $200, Intel'due south Core i5-4430 dusted the A8-7600 by a country mile. That said, at $190 the Core i5-4430 is better compared to AMD's A10-7850K while the $130 Core i3-4130 is closer to AMD's asking price of $120 for the A8-7600. Even so, in that location weren't many examples of the A8-7600 beating the i3-4130 in CPU power, barring a solid atomic number 82 in seven-zip and a narrow ane in Afterwards Effects.

The A8-7600 also matched Intel'due south scrap in Photoshop CS6, but it had no chance when running InDesign, WinRAR, Excel and PowerPoint. This, of course, is offset by far superior gaming operation, which was roughly on par with the A10-6800K despite the A8-7600 consuming a niggling over l% less power. Nosotros should annotation again though that the A8-7600 was using slightly lower memory because it wouldn't piece of work with DDR3-2400.

The Cadre i3 is typically faster and information technology uses less power, and then it's an obvious selection for not-gaming machines while AMD's A8-7600 is conspicuously the smarter pick if you desire to enjoy 3D graphics without a detached GPU. With the right motherboard and retentiveness, you have a basic gaming platform that can handle BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider and other modern titles for less than $300. At the end of the day, it's hard to exist bummed most that.

Pros: Kaveri'southward efficiency gains brand it a wise choice over Richland while AMD's powerful integrated graphics and affordable pricing are enough to counter Intel's faster CPUs.

Cons: Relatively weak speed gains overall with a 10% clock-for-clock operation bump over Richland, while the older part actually came out on height more than we expected.