Life is Games

AMD A10-6800K

paval_21 — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:20:45 GMT

Pros

AMD adds support for DDR3-2133, nudges performance higher.

Cons
Intel still rules single-thread performance, power efficiency.

Bottom Line

AMD's Richland APUs boost clock speeds and refine power consumption. In particular, the AMD A10-6800K is a decent, low-cost alternative to Intel's Core i3/i5 products.

The A10-6800K is a 4.1GHz part with a 4.4GHz Turbo Mode and a GPU clocked at 844MHz. That's a modest tap upwards compared to the A10-5800K, which offered a 3.8GHz base clock, 4.2GHz Turbo, and an 800MHz GPU. The A10-6800K also adds formal support for DDR3-2133 (A10-5800K topped out at 1866MHz) and a new power management unit that's designed to give the CPU better visibility.

The A10-6800K can raise clocks automatically for the CPU, GPU, or both. This type of incremental year-on-year improvement is in line with previous manufacturing trends. Typically, AMD and Intel are able to extract an additional speed grade or two at a given TDP as a process node matures and chip designs are tweaked for optimal results.

AMD is launching multiple 6000-series APUs, with each dropping in as a replacement for an older 5000 series part. The new 6000 parts use the same motherboards and chipsets as the older 5000 hardware and they keep the same TDP ratings. The A10-6800K and 5800K are both 100W parts, the A10-5700 and A10-6700 are both 65W, and so on. The difference is that, in each case, AMD has managed to increase the CPU and GPU clocks by 6 to 8 percent while holding the same TDP.

Our performance tests were performed using 8GB of DDR3-2133 on an MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 motherboard. The A10-6800K is capable of using DDR3-2133, while the older A10-5800K tops out at 1866MHz. While others may have different results, our test results confirmed that limitation—the AMD A10-5800K couldn't run our Mushkin Redline memory at full speed and was forced to drop back to 1866MHz, while the A10-6800K had no problems with 2133MHz.

We've compared the AMD solutions to the Intel Core i5-3470 that we reviewed nearly a year ago. That chip is an Ivy Bridge-based quad-core CPU (no HyperThreading) at 3.2GHz with a 3.6GHz Turbo Boost clock speed and Intel HD Graphics 2500. Graphics performance is going to be an automatic win for AMD—the Cayman-derived GPU at the heart of the A10 family is far more powerful than Intel's HD 2500—but what about CPU performance?
Performance

In Cinebench R11.5, the A10-6800K turned in 42.47fps on the OpenGL rendering scene, and scored 1.14 in the single-threaded CPU benchmark test, and 3.58 for the multi-threaded rendering test. The AMD A10-5800K, hit 39.24fps in OpenGL, a 1.08 in single-threaded rendering, and 3.29 in multi-threaded rendering. The Intel Core i5-3470, in marked contrast, turned in scores of 1.48 (single-threaded), 5.67 (multi-threaded) and 12fps in the OpenGL test.

Cinebench, in this case, neatly demonstrates the respective strengths and weaknesses of AMD vs. Intel. Intel's cores are far superior to AMD's when it comes to single-threaded code—the Intel Core i5-3470 was 30% faster than the A10-6800K in single-threaded performance, despite being clocked 20% slower. The A10-6800K improved on the AMD A10-5800K's POV-Ray 3.6 benchmark rendering time (289 seconds vs. 298 seconds), but again, the Intel Core i5-3470 is faster, at 258 seconds total.

In TrueCrypt 7.1a, the A10-6800K turned in a Serpent-TwoFish-AES encrypt speed of 136MBps, compared wiyh 125MBps for the AMD A10-5800K and 162MBps for the i5-3470. Performance in PCMark 7 showed a similar gap—the AMD A10-5800K turned in a score of 4,590, the A10-6800K scored 4,740, and the Intel Core i5-3470 scored 5,511. The quad-core AMD processors tend to sit a ways back from the quad-core Intel chip, and while that distinction is captured in their pricing, it's not a great place for AMD to be. In our Photoshop CS6 12-filter test, the A10-5800K took 289 seconds to perform all 12 actions. The A10-6800K took 277.5 seconds (an improvement of about 4 percent), and the Intel Core i5-3470 clocked in at 182 seconds, or 35% faster.

Gaming benchmarks scores continue to be the exception to this rule. In 3DMark 2011's Performance preset, the Core i5-3470 scored a bare 430 points, compared with 1591 for the AMD A10-5800K and 1,685 for the A10-6800K. Gaming—albeit low-end gaming—is far more palatable in general on an AMD APU than an Intel chip with HD 2500 or HD 4000 graphics. We should point out, however, that the AMD platforms often struggle to deliver modern titles at an acceptable frame rate as well. "Better," at the low-end, doesn't always mean "good."

Richland's power consumption figures are only slightly different from Trinity's. Both the AMD A10-5800K and A10-6800K idle at 48W, which is in line with even the best chips from Intel. Under load in Cinebench 11.5, the AMD A10-5800K drew 116W, while the A10-6800K drew 121W. Richland drew 4% more power, but it was 8% faster—an overall win for AMD. Under what we call peak load—maximum power consumption generated by running Prime95 in its Torture Test mode—the A10-6800K hit 132W, compared with 128W for the AMD A10-5800K. Overall, that's a small win for AMD as far as Richland's total power efficiency is concerned.

In an odd way, Richland mirrors Intel's Haswell, at least as far as what it offers in the short-term as compared to its immediate predecessor. The A10-6800K is a modest improvement over the AMD A10-5800K, with slightly higher performance and power efficiency. It's an iterative design, not a major leap, and if you already own a higher-end Trinity-based system, Richland isn't going to be an attractive upgrade path for you.

There's also the matter of the price increase. While the AMD A10-5800K debuted at $129, the A10-6800K is launching at $149. That's a 15.5% price increase for a CPU that offers 8 to 10 percent more performance than the chip it replaces. Objectively, AMD needs stronger average selling prices and higher revenue if the company is to have any hope of regaining a competitive position against Intel, but $149 is a tougher price bracket.

If you care about peak CPU performance, a fast Intel dual-core or higher-end quad-core will deliver better overall performance than the AMD A10-6800K, even if the total cost is somewhat higher. If, on the other hand, you want a combined CPU+GPU with better graphics capabilities than you can buy from a low-end Intel chip right now, the A10-6800K is a solid deal. The subjective difference between using an Intel and AMD solution is much smaller than you might think, even in cases where benchmark performance points to significant gaps.

Xbox One release date, news and features

paval_21 — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:13:41 GMT

As the new Xbox One finally touches down, Microsoft is ready to enter a new era of console gaming and take on a new generation of multimedia consumers.

The company described the Xbox One as "the ultimate all in one entertainment system - one system for a new generation." It has the second generation of Kinect baked in nice and deep and has powerful specs similar to those of the Sony PS4.

The new Xbox wants to be the one-stop entertainment solution for your living room, integrating live TV, games, movies and web services like Skype, all controlled using Kinect's improved voice recognition features.

Xbox One specs

No big surprises here, really. The Microsoft Xbox One comes packing an x64 8-core AMD CPU, USB 3.0 ports, 500GB hard drive and 8GB DDR3 RAM. Connectivity-wise you've got 802.11n Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Direct functionality for exchanging data between devices - specifically the new Xbox controller.

There's also the addition of a Blu-ray drive, which marks Microsoft's first move to embrace the disc format created by Sony et al, which vanquished HD DVD back when TechRadar was but a glint in someone's eye.

So as expected, then, the new Xbox One is more like a mini-PC than any Microsoft console that's come before. These specs put the console on a par with the PS4 and bode well for developers who want to make cross-platform games.

The console has not only an HDMI-out port but also HDMI-in too. This is for interfacing with set-top boxes in order to integrate the Xbox One with your TV-watching experience. As far as you're concerned, you'll only have one device instead of two.
Xbox One: Kinect

The new Xbox One has Kinect functionality built into its very core. To turn the console on, you need only say the words "Xbox on" - the console is always listening.

A live demo at the launch event showed Kinect instantly responding to hand gestures and voice commands. That simply isn't possible on the current hardware with the Xbox 360 and suggests that the new Kinect v2 is the gesture and voice controller we always wanted it to be.

The demo showed the ability to switch between games, videos, music and live TV instantaneously using simple voice commands such as "Xbox watch TV". You can even ask to watch a specific channel - HBO was an example they used - and Xbox will take you there straight away.

Microsoft says that Kinect 2 is so fast and powerful that it detects motion in just 13 billionths of a second - the time it takes light to get from you and into the camera.

The Kinect sensor as a resolution of 1080p which means its footage will look great on your HD TV, and it captures video at 60fps which means footage that's lovely and smooth.

The camera also has a field of view that's 60 per cent bigger than the original Kinect which means less faffing around trying to stand in the exact spot it tells you to. That combined with the more powerful processor means you'll be able to get a lot more people gaming with Kinect all at one time.

What's more, Microsoft says that the new Kinect uses infra-red, which means it works in complete darkness.

Read our Hands on: Xbox Kinect One review for our early thoughts.
Xbox One controller

The new Xbox controller is very much based on what's come before, but under the hood there are 40 technical design innovations. The pad has an integrated battery which takes AA batteries.

Microsoft confirmed to us that this will work much in the same way as the 360's, but the integrated build will obviously be a lot more comfortable. The biggest change from a gameplay point of view are that the re-designed triggers will now give you vibrating feedback in-game.

All of the other buttons and surfaces have been tweaked as well, but most of the changes are out of sight.

We were lucky enough to get some hands on time with the new Xbox One Gamepad where we got a peek at a few of the 40-plus improvements that have been made over its predecessor.

Based on our brief time with the new controller we felt that the impulse triggers possessed the most promise and potential for immersing players that much deeper in the game play, while subtler features, such as magnetic sensor-equipped triggers and a battery case that no longer protrudes from the back of the controller, hint at the many ways the controller will provide improved precision in your games and comfort in your hands.

Read our Hands on: Xbox One Gamepad review for more.
Xbox One: discs

The Xbox One games will come on Blu-ray discs but they're only for one-time use. Once you've installed the games onto your hard drive, you no longer need them as the game is tied to your Xbox Live account. This is a similar idea to that employed by Steam and Uplay on the PC.
Xbox Live upgraded

Live is the most popular online gaming platform on the planet and it's getting a huge behind-the-scenes overhaul for the new generation.

While current games servers number roughly 15,000, Microsoft is expanding that to a barely conceivable 300,000 in order to ensure you have instant access to your games and content no matter where you are.
Xbox One personalisation

You can turn on the Xbox One by simply walking over and talking to it. It turns on instantly, and Kinect will recognise you and take you straight to your own personalised home screen. Here you have access to your own personal movies and music, as well as leaping straight into your own save games.

Xbox One: backwards compatibility

Because the Xbox One uses a completely different system architecture to that of previous Xbox consoles, it will not be compatible with any Xbox 360 games.

However, it is yet to be seen whether the cloud might come to the rescue and allow games to be streamed over the web. Perhaps E3 has the answer...