AMD A8-3850 & Gigabyte A75M-UD2H Review

[tinytomlogan]

At last, we are proud to present to you our verdict on AMD's latest APU platform.



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[SieB]

Good review Mul

[F-alienware]

This is going to be a very hard product to review.

Mostly because there is nothing else like it on the market.

I'm a little confused as to why this was pitted against an I5 when the I5 is clearly far more expensive.

£103.99 inc for the Llano from Ebuyer, £137 inc for the I5.

The comparissons should be against the I3. Now sure, as a CPU the I3 is faster. However, the GPU aboard the 3850 poos on the I3 and is actually playable at sensible resolutions. Every other review I have read have pitted it like for like, so I can't understand why this has been benched against a CPU that puts another 35% on top of what the 3850 costs.

I can only summise it was because OC3D maybe didn't have an I3 to put it against?

[AxJaWz]

I agree but nice review!

[jonowee]

Oh FFS Gigabyte, I want vomit when I see SATA ports stick straight out of motherboard. Yeah this motherboard has some odd mix of price, IGP, and Crossfire capability.

[Mul.]

Originally Posted by SieB

Good review Mul

Thank you. I haven't published anything since February - glad to have been able to help out a little

Originally Posted by Z0mB13

I can only summise it was because OC3D maybe didn't have an I3 to put it against?

Bingo.

Indeed an i3 wasn't available to compare it with, however I had left hints along the way that the price of the A8-3850 accounts for its inferior core for core and clock for clock (gag) performance. However, I feel that the article was able to highlight what was most important. Entry level multimedia users don't need outright core processor performance - combine an average CPU with a good enough GPU and their most complex needs are satisfied. Intel's Atom + nVidia ION as well as AMD's own FUZION E350 is a testament to this.

I maintain that so long as you build a FM1 system in a cut price fashion, it represents very good value for money. However as I've said in the review, you've got to be bonkers to spend big £££ on a A75 FM1 board.

[F-alienware]

Fair play Mul. Cheers for clearing that up

Yeah the sweet spot ATM seems to be getting the Asrock £50 micro and then getting 2000mhz ram. The GPU on it performs better on faster ram apparently

[badtaylorx]

seems like this could be a really good choice for a young schoolchildren age type family computer?!?!?!?

[F-alienware]

For around £250 you can build an entire computer that can actually play a real game.

When seen for what they are these are cracking little CPUs. I read this in another review....

The Llano APU from AMD is immensely clever. It has, overnight, made all of the entry level gaming GPUs completely redundant.

[Jaster]

As a desktop based APU I think it will fill a market primarily for OEMS and cheap system vendors. The interesting point about these APU's is not really in the desktop environment. I think the cheap laptop market is where these APU's will excel. For the OEM's like Dell HP/Compaq etc its a bit of a no brainer, offering the customer a better media experience for the same cost. Maybe i'll then get one day at work without some idiot wondering why he can't play WoW on his new Dell with all the settings on full....I pray for that day....