AMD APUs (CPU) any good?

• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-07-18 04:21
  The cat is sad that the current ones still dont hold a candle to the i7-2600k
  but they definitely almost reach the i5-2500 for $100 less...
  except that the cat knows where to get an i5-2500k for a much cheaper price
  and the cost difference is only $50
• RicochetOrange wrote on 2011-07-18 04:39
  Does the AMD Phenom II count as one? I've never heard of the term 'APU.'
  
  My CPU is an AMD Phenom II Quad Core. Probably one of the best you can find on a budget AMD build. I am quite pleased with it.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-07-18 04:42

  Quote from RicochetOrange;516490:

  Does the AMD Phenom II count as one? I've never heard of the term 'APU.'
  
  My CPU is an AMD Phenom II Quad Core. Probably one of the best you can find on a budget AMD build. I am quite pleased with it.

  
  
  no, the phenom is the older one
  APU is the newest CPUs from AMD
  that has integrated graphics like Sandy Bridge does
  similar CPU power but with integrated graphics
  
  also the same price as phenoms
• RicochetOrange wrote on 2011-07-18 04:44

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;516496:

  no, the phenom is the older one
  APU is the newest CPUs from AMD
  that has integrated graphics like Sandy Bridge does
  similar CPU power but with integrated graphics
  
  also the same price as phenoms

  
  
  I have no idea then. :p
  
  I would be more inclined to think that a separate GPU would be better than almost anything integrated.
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-07-18 04:54
  Just to clarify, the APU is a CPU+GPU hybrid. On the CPU side, AMD actually uses improved Phenom II cores. But on the GPU side, it packs DX11 support (vs Sandy Bridge's DX10 only) and over 2x SB's graphics performance. Game performance is actually quite good. Some people will say that SB's weak HD3000 integrated graphics are good enough for casual gaming.. well the AMD APU's is 2x+ better.
  
  The APU cannot touch the i5-2500 in terms of raw CPU power, however.
• Shirayuki wrote on 2011-07-18 04:56
  A dedicated gpu and a sandy bridge should do better than amd+dedicated.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-07-18 05:03

  Quote from Shirayuki;516509:

  A dedicated gpu and a sandy bridge should do better than amd+dedicated.

  
  
  of course
  but this is made for the extremely cheap people with budget builds
• Shirayuki wrote on 2011-07-18 05:13

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;516522:

  of course
  but this is made for the extremely cheap people with budget builds

  
  
  well, on newegg their best(?) one on the line is only 140 and seems like it does well, so price:performance i'd go with the new apu's
  
  and apparently using a radeon 6000 series gpu boosts graphics performance a lot too, so I really think new APU's might be good for budget peepz
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2011-07-18 23:27
  So wait, what's the actual point of getting a CPU with a GPU when you could just get a CPU and GPU separately and pick whatever you want? Even the argument of "but this is another GPU!" seems weird to me, because you could just spend the extra money on a second GPU of your choice to put in the same system.
  
  I also find this hard to visualize because CPU's are tiny and GPU's are massive.
• Random wrote on 2011-07-19 04:12

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;517342:

  So wait, what's the actual point of getting a CPU with a GPU when you could just get a CPU and GPU separately and pick whatever you want? Even the argument of "but this is another GPU!" seems weird to me, because you could just spend the extra money on a second GPU of your choice to put in the same system.
  
  I also find this hard to visualize because CPU's are tiny and GPU's are massive.

  
  
  Think more on the low end budget side. It's not so much as a replacement but more of a placeholder.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-07-19 04:15

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;517342:

  So wait, what's the actual point of getting a CPU with a GPU when you could just get a CPU and GPU separately and pick whatever you want? Even the argument of "but this is another GPU!" seems weird to me, because you could just spend the extra money on a second GPU of your choice to put in the same system.
  
  I also find this hard to visualize because CPU's are tiny and GPU's are massive.

  
  
  because it literally costs the same
  to get cpu of the same caliber
  but you get gpu as a bonus.
  
  you dont need to buy a gpu if you can already run your favorite games with the integrated one
  until a PC intensive game comes out
  not only that, Sandy bridges have a software that turns off your graphics card if you're not playing video games/don't need it and saves electricity by using the integrated GPU for youtube videos and internet surfing
• Andy-Buddy wrote on 2011-07-19 04:39
  Doesn't it have some sort of Crossfire built in to the APU, so a discreet GPU can be added on with even higher performance?
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2011-07-19 04:43

  Quote from Random;517715:

  Think more on the low end budget side. It's not so much as a replacement but more of a placeholder.

  
  I'm not entirely sure how a CPU/GPU combo would function, but because it's mainly a CPU, it probably wouldn't be very big... meaning you'd almost certainly be paying a lot more than if you got the big version of that same integrated card.
  
  I dunno, I'm just saying this all based on assumptions. I have absolutely no idea what these things would look like.
  

  because it literally costs the same
  to get cpu of the same caliber
  but you get gpu as a bonus.

  
  I find this hard to believe.
  
  And if it does happen to be true at the moment, certainly prices will drop for equivalent CPU's without GPU's. No one is going to pay for something when something else that's better in every way is available at exactly the same price.
  
  As for electricity efficiency, I don't care about that at all :P Although I suppose I should, because electricity=money. Guess it depends on whether you pay for how much electricity you use or if it's just a standard monthly rate. For me it doesn't matter how much electricity I use.
• Andy-Buddy wrote on 2011-07-19 04:52
  http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A8-3850+APU+with+Radeon+HD+Graphics
  APU scores
  
  http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2500+%40+3.30GHz
  i5 scores
  
  APU = $140 with a score of 6170
  
  CPU = $210 with a score of 6500
  
  And its GPU match those of a discreet card, according to this video.
  
  Motherboard costs aren't out of the water either, especially with new promotions.
  http://promotions.newegg.com/AMD/11-1834/index.html?cm_mmc=SNC-YouTube-_-na-_-na-_-na
  
  Most of the information on APUs can be found here:
  [video=youtube;fK1dX-c_VIg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK1dX-c_VIg[/video]
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-07-19 05:02

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;517749:

  I
  I find this hard to believe.
  
  And if it does happen to be true at the moment, certainly prices will drop for equivalent CPU's without GPU's. No one is going to pay for something when something else that's better in every way is available at exactly the same price.
  

  
  
  less use = longer hardware life
  anyways The i7-2600k Sandy Bridge is $320, but its processing power is equivalent/similar to other processors priced at $1000+
  and includes an integrated GPU