AMD Readies Two Unlocked A-Series APUs

btarunr · Sep 8, 2011, 08:55 AM

In the fourth quarter of 2011, AMD will unveil new A-Series APUs in the socket FM1 package, these include not one (as reported back in July), but two models that come with unlocked base clock multipliers. Unlocked multipliers made overclocking significantly easier. While AMD won't use the "Black Edition" moniker, it will use the "K" extension. Incidentally, "K" stands for "black" in the CMYK colour model.

AMD's unlocked APUs include the A8-3870K and the A6-3670K, which are 100 MHz faster than the A8-3850 and A6-3650, respectively. With its four x86-64 cores clocked at 3.00 GHz, the A8-3870K features 400 stream processors running at 600 MHz on its Radeon GPU component, while the A6-3670K CPU cores are clocked at 2.70 GHz, and the chip has 320 stream processors running at 444 MHz. The two chips, however, will not feature TurboCore technology for the CPU cores.

Source: X-bit Labs

caleb · Sep 8, 2011, 09:00 AM

What a coincidence that Intel also uses K for unlocked CPU's

naoan · Sep 8, 2011, 10:02 AM

A truly honest question : What's the point of this?

I doubt people which this APU marketed for are interested or in need of doing overclocking.

rpsgc · Sep 8, 2011, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caleb

What a coincidence that Intel also uses K for unlocked CPU's

Quote:

Originally Posted by btarunr

Incidentally, "K" stands for "black" in the CMYK colour model.

Not really.

DrunkenMafia · Sep 8, 2011, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naoan

A truly honest question : What's the point of this?

I doubt people which this APU marketed for are interested or in need of doing overclocking.

Maybe they can do 170000mhz without a core voltage increase

And yeah, intel uses the K for its unlocked processors... AMD should get their own branding.. What was wrong with black edition anyways?

NdMk2o1o · Sep 8, 2011, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrunkenMafia

Maybe they can do 170000mhz without a core voltage increase

And yeah, intel uses the K for its unlocked processors... AMD should get their own branding.. What was wrong with black edition anyways?

Black edition was introduced with the Phenom series CPU's and is generally associated with the highest performance parts, APU's are not. That's what I would have thought anyway.

jpierce55 · Sep 8, 2011, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NdMk2o1o

Black edition was introduced with the Phenom series CPU's and is generally associated with the highest performance parts, APU's are not. That's what I would have thought anyway.

Actually black series were around in the AMD 64 x2 days. There was a 5000+black edition.

Mindweaver · Sep 8, 2011, 12:37 PM

It's good marketing for AMD. Whenever the son of a mother or father or tech friend tells the person, "Make sure it has the "K" on the end!". It's a very good chance that the best priced one with the "K" will be an AMD version. So, the unknowing picks up the AMD APU.. Is it deceptive? Yes, but will they ever know the difference just web browsing the internet facebooking, and keeping up with there pictures? No..

Nesters · Sep 8, 2011, 12:44 PM

I've seen gaming benchmarks where these A series APUs clocked lower(>0.5ghz) outperform Athlons (both with discrete gpu).

TheLaughingMan · Sep 8, 2011, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nesters

I've seen gaming benchmarks where these A series APUs clocked lower(>0.5ghz) outperform Athlons (both with discrete gpu).

The improved memory controller is a monster for the APUs. And I honestly think they will hit 4.0 GHz fairly easy.

NdMk2o1o · Sep 8, 2011, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpierce55

Actually black series were around in the AMD 64 x2 days. There was a 5000+black edition.

So there was but you get my point...

JrRacinFan · Sep 8, 2011, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheLaughingMan

The improved memory controller is a monster for the APUs. And I honestly think they will hit 4.0 GHz fairly easy.

I can back him on this from some of the early reviews. They handle gaming multi-gpu configurations VERY well.

Thefumigator · Sep 8, 2011, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

I can back him on this from some of the early reviews. They handle gaming multi-gpu configurations VERY well.

but low performance on multigpu is just a driver issue, I'm right?

JrRacinFan · Sep 8, 2011, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thefumigator

but low performance on multigpu is just a driver issue, I'm right?

Not always. Many variables can come into play but i am speaking mainly from an IMC point of view.

jpierce55 · Sep 8, 2011, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NdMk2o1o

So there was but you get my point...

Yes, I do. I also agree they should have used something that does not sound like Intels name scheme. I am sure we will see some kind of lawsuit.

JrRacinFan · Sep 8, 2011, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpierce55

I am sure we will see some kind of lawsuit.

That's funny, I didn't know Intel had a patent/copyright claim on the letter "K"

Thefumigator · Sep 8, 2011, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpierce55

Actually black series were around in the AMD 64 x2 days. There was a 5000+black edition.

Actually those BE X2 were among the highest performance parts, at the time.
Then there was a Phenom Athlon X2 7750 BE, the one that didn't overclock too well but was great as an affordable dual core with 2MB of L3

JrRacinFan · Sep 8, 2011, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thefumigator

Then there was a Phenom Athlon X2 7750 BE, the one that didn't overclock too well but was great as an affordable dual core with 2MB of L3

Just adding to your post; some of them did a full unlock to quad.

Thefumigator · Sep 8, 2011, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Just adding to your post; some of them did a full unlock to quad.

Are you sure? I thought that unlocking was for the Phenom II based X2 and Athlon II, not those cpus based on Phenom I

johnnyfiive · Sep 8, 2011, 03:35 PM

No one cares about these stupid A series processors. WTF is bulldozer AMD!

devguy · Sep 8, 2011, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thefumigator

Are you sure? I thought that unlocking was for the Phenom II based X2 and Athlon II, not those cpus based on Phenom I

5 second google search pointing back to our own forums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyfiive

No one cares about these stupid A series processors. WTF is bulldozer AMD!

Really?! No one??!

JrRacinFan · Sep 8, 2011, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thefumigator

Are you sure? I thought that unlocking was for the Phenom II based X2 and Athlon II, not those cpus based on Phenom I

http://www.techpowerup.com/92330/Ath...Quad-Core.html

@J5

I care! I'm looking at replacing an HTPC.

[H]@RD5TUFF · Sep 8, 2011, 04:34 PM

I thought APU's performance scales really badly when overclocked, so wouldn't these be pointless.

JrRacinFan · Sep 8, 2011, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [H]@RD5TUFF

I thought APU's performance scales really badly when overclocked, so wouldn't these be pointless.

The problem with Llano, you have to raise bclk to get it to overclock, which from what I've read can cause issues (on this particular platform). This eliminates that factor. If the overclock does help, will need to see that first hand with a review once they hit shelves.

MikeMurphy · Sep 8, 2011, 04:41 PM

I just bought an a8-3850 as no black edition was available. Amd just lost out on a $25 upsell for the same silicon.

I bought it for good integrated mainstream graphics. I'm very impressed with it so far!

Sep 8, 2011, 08:55 AM	#1
btarunr Editor & Senior Moderator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 14,984 (7.29/day) Thanks: 788 Thanked 12,911 Times in 5,655 Posts System Specs	AMD Readies Two Unlocked A-Series APUs In the fourth quarter of 2011, AMD will unveil new A-Series APUs in the socket FM1 package, these include not one (as reported back in July), but two models that come with unlocked base clock multipliers. Unlocked multipliers made overclocking significantly easier. While AMD won't use the "Black Edition" moniker, it will use the "K" extension. Incidentally, "K" stands for "black" in the CMYK colour model. AMD's unlocked APUs include the A8-3870K and the A6-3670K, which are 100 MHz faster than the A8-3850 and A6-3650, respectively. With its four x86-64 cores clocked at 3.00 GHz, the A8-3870K features 400 stream processors running at 600 MHz on its Radeon GPU component, while the A6-3670K CPU cores are clocked at 2.70 GHz, and the chip has 320 stream processors running at 444 MHz. The two chips, however, will not feature TurboCore technology for the CPU cores. Source: X-bit Labs

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Sep 8, 2011, 09:00 AM	#2
caleb Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Poland,Slask Posts: 1,109 (0.35/day) Thanks: 200 Thanked 174 Times in 142 Posts System Specs	What a coincidence that Intel also uses K for unlocked CPU's __________________ "Let me noobilize you"

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Sep 8, 2011, 10:02 AM	#3
naoan Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 292 (0.21/day) Thanks: 14 Thanked 63 Times in 50 Posts System Specs	A truly honest question : What's the point of this? I doubt people which this APU marketed for are interested or in need of doing overclocking.

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Sep 8, 2011, 12:37 PM	#8
Mindweaver Moderato®™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Statesville, NC Posts: 3,672 (2.45/day) Thanks: 4,329 Thanked 2,322 Times in 1,153 Posts System Specs	It's good marketing for AMD. Whenever the son of a mother or father or tech friend tells the person, "Make sure it has the "K" on the end!". It's a very good chance that the best priced one with the "K" will be an AMD version. So, the unknowing picks up the AMD APU.. Is it deceptive? Yes, but will they ever know the difference just web browsing the internet facebooking, and keeping up with there pictures? No.. __________________ “As long as I feel the warmth from the sun and breathe precious air…. I must ask questions to feed the Mind!” Battletag: Mindweaver#1523

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Sep 8, 2011, 12:44 PM	#9
Nesters Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 117 (0.13/day) Thanks: 7 Thanked 28 Times in 23 Posts	I've seen gaming benchmarks where these A series APUs clocked lower(>0.5ghz) outperform Athlons (both with discrete gpu).

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Sep 8, 2011, 03:35 PM	#20
johnnyfiive Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 2,975 (1.60/day) Thanks: 740 Thanked 856 Times in 537 Posts System Specs	No one cares about these stupid A series processors. WTF is bulldozer AMD! __________________ [o_0] - GO BUCKEYES! ------------------------------------------------------ HEATWARE /MY KEYBOARD / VIDEO OF MY LGA 2011 RIG ------------------------------------------------------ Steam: johnnyfiive ORIGIN: johnny5iive League of Legends: 5iive

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Sep 8, 2011, 04:34 PM	#23
[H]@RD5TUFF Eligible for custom title Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 5,589 (4.33/day) Thanks: 1,825 Thanked 1,710 Times in 1,431 Posts System Specs	I thought APU's performance scales really badly when overclocked, so wouldn't these be pointless. __________________ Stuff 4 Sale! Heat Ware ebay

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Sep 8, 2011, 04:41 PM	#25
MikeMurphy Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 314 (0.10/day) Thanks: 34 Thanked 32 Times in 23 Posts	I just bought an a8-3850 as no black edition was available. Amd just lost out on a $25 upsell for the same silicon. I bought it for good integrated mainstream graphics. I'm very impressed with it so far!

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