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AMD A10-6800 & A4-4000 APU REVIEWS

The one thing I love about AMD above anything else is the ease of their affordable upgrade options of their CPU's. Unlike Intel which generally requires a whole new motherboard, AMD continue to support these technologies so sometimes all you need to do is just replace the CPU (aka APU) and presto, your system has been upgraded. The key to AMD APU's is linking them with an AMD Graphics Card which creates some impressive results thanks to the technology used.

Today we're looking at the A10-6800 which is the King of AMD APU's and also the more affordable A4-4000 which although cheaper, still packs a punch provided it is linked with an appropriate AMD Graphics Card. The A10 supports a clock speed of 4.1Ghz with a boost option of 4.4Ghz and the A4 offers a clock speed of 3.0Ghz with a boost option of 3.2Ghz. The aforementioned APU is definitely for gamers, whereas the 4000 is more for general computer users.

AMD A10-6800 Specifications

• Model: Quad-Core AMD A-Series APU Processor Model A10-6800K
• Core Count: 4
• Thread Count: 4
• Frequency: 4.1 GHz
• Max Turbo Frequency: 4.4 GHz
• L2 Cache: 4 MB
• Integrated Graphics: Radeon HD 8670D GPU
• Graphics Frequency: 844 MHz
• CMOS Technology: 32nm SOl
• Socket: Socket FM2
• Max Thermal Design Power: 100 W
• Processor Features:
  • MMX
  • SSE
  • SSE2
  • SSE3
  • SSSE3
  • SSE4
  • SSE4a
  • AES Instructions
  • Advanced Bit Manipulation
  • Advanced Vector Extensions
  • F16C
  • FMA3
  • FMA4
  • Trailing Bit Manipulation Instructions
  • AMD 64-bit Technology
  • Virtualization Technology
  • Enhanced Virus Protection
  • Turbo Core 3.0 Technology
  • PowerNow!

AMD A4-4000 Specifications

• Model: Dual-Core AMD A-Series APU Processor Model A4-4000
• Core Count: 2
• Thread Count: 2
• Frequency: 3.0 GHz
• Max Turbo Frequency: 3.2 GHz
• L2 Cache: 1 MB
• Integrated Graphics: Radeon HD 7480D GPU
• Graphics Frequency: 724 MHz
• CMOS Technology: 32nm SOI
• Socket: Socket FM2
• Max Thermal Design Power: 65 W
• Processor Features:
  • MMX
  • SSE
  • SSE2
  • SSE3
  • SSSE3
  • SSE4
  • SSE4a
  • AES Instructions
  • Advanced Bit Manipulation
  • Advanced Vector Extensions
  • F16C
  • FMA3
  • FMA4
  • Trailing Bit Manipulation Instructions
  • AMD 64-bit Technology
  • Virtualization Technology
  • Enhanced Virus Protection
  • Turbo Core 3.0 Technology
  • PowerNow!

Test System

Benchmarking is dependent on a whole wealth of options such as memory, hard drive speed, CPU speed and lots of other factors. We tested both CPU's with the following system specifications.

System Specifications

• Intel Core i7-3770K

• ASUS Maximum V Gene LGA Intel Z77

• 8GB Corsair Vengeance Memory DDR4 @ 1600Mhz

• Crucial m4 SSD 256GB Drive

• Radeon HD 7970

• Windows 8 64-bit

PCMark 8

AMD also gave us the latest version of PCMark 8 to test the APU which we compared to Intel's powerhouse, the i7-4770K. PCMark 8 is the latest benchmarking tool from Futuremark which provides a variety of real-world tests for your CPU's. These are broken up into the following tests that include Home, Creative, Work, Storage, Applications and Battery Life. Although Battery Life was not needed for this test, the program is also designed for Windows 8. As you can see, the A10 does a fairly good job at keeping up with the Intel i7-4770k.

3651 (Intel i7-4770k)
3381 (AMD A10-6800)
ÄÙ¶¨(AMD A4-4000)

The other two two real-world tests included Microsoft Excel and Photoshop. This mirrored similar results to PCMark but given the cost of the AMD A10-6800, it's definitely a very affordable and fast option. Unfortunately the AMD A4-4000 trailed behind.

Microsoft Excel 2013 Work Test

6.39 (Intel i7-4770k)
14.11 (AMD A10-6800)
32.13 (AMD A4-4000)

Adobe Photoshop CS6

26.2 (Intel i7-4770k)
40.1 (AMD A10-6800)
102.3 (AMD A4-4000)

Although the APU is not designed for gaming without a graphics card, we did test is with 3DMark and the less intensive benchmark called Cloud Gate. Cloud Gate, one of three new real-time benchmark tests in 3DMark, uses a DirectX 11 engine limited to Direct3D feature level 10_0, making it suitable for testing DirectX 10 compatible hardware such as notebooks and typical home PCs. It is also an ideal benchmark for entry-level integrated DirectX 11 hardware that may struggle to run the more demanding Fire Strike test. 

3DMark (Cloud Gate Score)

13232 (Intel i7-4770k)
11999 (AMD A10-6800)
4969 (AMD A4-4000)

Although the A4-4000 did struggle with these tests, the A10 definitely moved through the tests like an ice breaker. Next up we tested a few games with Far Cry 3 first up on the rank. In Far Cry 3, you play Jason Brody, backpacking with your friends around Asia, looking for fun and adventure. Unfortunately far beyond the limits of civilisation lies an island, a lawless place ruled by violence and human suffering. Far Cry really pushed the graphical boundaries of PC gaming.

Far Cry 3 (DX11 Max Quality)

62.2 (Intel i7-4770k)
52.9 (AMD A10-6800)
23.8 (AMD A4-4000)

The A10 was the clear winner in terms of performance but even so, the A4 did try to keep up and was almost playable on a FULL HD resolution. With Battlefield 3, there was a huge performance jump on both APU's thanks to the combination of CPU meets GPU.

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 leaps ahead of its time with the power of Frostbite 2 engine that delivers enhanced visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations. With very respectable frame rates at 1920x1080p, these APU's work wonders with the more traditional first person shooters.

85.2 (Intel i7-4770k)
81.9 (AMD A10-6800)
71.2 (AMD A4-4000)

Final Thoughts?

Considering the cost of both APU's, they do provide the end-user with a great alternative to Intel. Of course, we did prefer the AMD A10-6800 due to the considerable improvement in speed and performance that makes it ideal for gamers.

For those on a budget, the AMD A4-4000 is okay for entry level application use and gaming, however for number crunching, the AMD A10-6800 is the only choice for us. The A4-4000 is also SUPER cheap but for if you want something to last, the A10-6800 is definitely the pick of the bunch.

Overall Scores
 

	AMD A10-6800		AMD A4-4000
Design		9.0		9.0
Features		9.0		7.0
Performance		9.0		6.0
Value		9.0		9.0
Total		9.0		7.0