AMD Carrizo Pre-release thread

[mpc007]

The thing that gets me is the HP ENVY 15 - if they would have put the same 1080p screen on the FX-8800p variant as they do with all of the Intel versions they would have gotten a purchase by me. I could have overlooked the lack of 802.11ac/dGPU.

For that money, I hope you're sure it's configured as 35w? Otherwise it's not worth it.

 

[mpc007]

760p vs 1080p is a tough choice. For gaming, 760p is obviously better in these kind of devices, because they simply dont have the power to push 1080p on the igp, and you can game at native res for a lot of games.

However, there are a lot of uses for a laptop besides gaming. If you want to do any kind of productivity work, like spreadsheets, etc., 1080p is far superior. So I suppose it comes down to what you want to do with the laptop. Personally though, I dont think I would buy anything larger than a tablet with less than 1080p.

For me it's about screen quality. If I get a FHD screen, but still crappy non-calibrated TN tech, I'd save the money and opt for the same crapiness in a 786p. But if I'd get IPS tech, I'd want to pay at least 100 quid extra for 1080p.

 

[Abwx]

500€ in Germany in the shop that supplied NBC, at 15"6 and FHD but without OS..

The 17" range from 500 to 600 depending of the screen and the OS, VAT being 19% prices are competitive, that s quite curious that FHD are not available in the US..

http://www.notebooksbilliger.de/produkte/A10-8700p/Kategorie/Notebooks

 

[Infernus]

500€ in Germany in the shop that supplied NBC, at 15"6 and FHD but without OS..

The 17" range from 500 to 600 depending of the screen and the OS, VAT being 19% prices are competitive, that s quite curious that FHD are not available in the US..

http://www.notebooksbilliger.de/produkte/A10-8700p/Kategorie/Notebooks

They are in the Pavilion line - but not in the ENVY model.

In the US right now you've got a choice of:

1080p + 8700 + m360 + 802.11ac in 15" or 17" Pavilions
768p + 8800 (no 802.11ac or dGPU) in a 15.6" ENVY

I do a lot of development (sql/web/mobile/desktop/backend) so having the 1080p screen makes a huge difference.

 

[mpc007]

They are in the Pavilion line - but not in the ENVY model.

In the US right now you've got a choice of:

1080p + 8700 + m360 + 802.11ac in 15" or 17" Pavilions
768p + 8800 (no 802.11ac or dGPU) in a 15.6" ENVY

I do a lot of development (sql/web/mobile/desktop/backend) so having the 1080p screen makes a huge difference.

And did you figure out the TDP on those machines? Would you consider them interesting options if they are 15w devices? Why?

 

[Infernus]

And did you figure out the TDP on those machines? Would you consider them interesting options if they are 15w devices? Why?

No idea what TDP they were - hoping next trip to Frys or Best Buy will have some on display to install CPU-Z on.

If they were 15w (in particular the 8800 ENVY) - as long as it was faster than my now 3 year old 17" HP Pavilion (A10-4600m 35W) that's all I care about.

For work I have an Elitebook with the A10-7350b (19w) and because HP decided a 3 cell battery was a great idea, I can only go about 2-2.5 hours doing development. Where as my older HP with a 9 cell could make it 5 hours. While I'm glad to see with a 3X smaller battery, it can go 50% the time and is faster, it's just a shame you can't even select a larger battery.

 

[monstercameron]

I want a Carrizo mini itx platform so I can move away from my 860k.
AMD I know you have someone reading these threads.

 

[ShintaiDK]

I want a Carrizo mini itx platform so I can move away from my 860k.
AMD I know you have someone reading these threads.

Ask yourself the market for it. Specially when it overlaps current from the same manufactor.

 

[Basto]

I want a Carrizo mini itx platform so I can move away from my 860k.
AMD I know you have someone reading these threads.

Just registered to say: +1 here. Also micro ATX with CPU is fine for me.
I've been waiting and waiting and waiting like all of you and the one thing AMD wants to sell me is a 1,5 years old rebadged Kaveri instead .

 

[JonFX01]

I want a Carrizo mini itx platform so I can move away from my 860k.
AMD I know you have someone reading these threads.

Just registered to say: +1 here. Also micro ATX with CPU is fine for me.
I've been waiting and waiting and waiting like all of you and the one thing AMD wants to sell me is a 1,5 years old rebadged Kaveri instead .

And why on Earth would you want to do that? What do you hope to get out of the Carrizo that you're not getting from the Athlon 860K already? Is the 860K giving you too much performance?

 

[monstercameron]

And why on Earth would you want to do that? What do you hope to get out of the Carrizo that you're not getting from the Athlon 860K already? Is the 860K giving you too much performance?

I want to build another sff system like I did with Kaveri. Also my 860k desktop is busted -I suspect it's a failing vertix 3 ssd and another blown psu- and I just want a small low power replacement, current I have the hp envy with Kaveri hooked up to my desktop monitor.
Besides I also want to keep up with the hsa development on Linux. Not everything is about performance but the 512 gcn units is enough for all the games I play.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Tru dat, anyone doing HSA work is going to want Carrizo. 1.0 Final is fully-supported by Carrizo, but not Kaveri/Kaveri refresh.

Granted HSA is still pretty limited right now. Those not working with HSAIL directly are still stuck with the OpenMP stuff they're doing with GCC and LLVM (I think), and I have not been investigating that carefully as of late.

But the idea that you have to run out and get a TDP-limited, throttle-happy 8700P laptop to do any work with 1.0 Final is . . . frustrating. Or well you could grab that HP AiO, which, sadly, still only has an 8700P.

 

[dark zero]

If they release the 8800P on AIO, it would be a Win win to everyone.

 

[Trovaricon]

Consumers? Possible. But for software developers? Give me a break. For years we see AMD put HSA in every presentation they published yet when they finally create a product that supports it, you can't buy it in a sensible form (I have no intention to buy plastic "overintegrated" POS with display just to put in under the table - be it notebook or AIO).
When they decided to restrict the SKUs to mobile they should have thought of the impact to accessibility of a development platform to actually make it possible for someone to utilize it.

For mini PC enthusiast ITX with a lot of integrated stuff might be nice but for development (m)ATX with 4 DIMMs ideally supporting ECC and no "mobile" TDP ceiling would be preferable.

 

[monstercameron]

I can't believe I have to struggle so much to give money to amd. He'll make it niche and put a price premium on it...atleast make it accessible.

That is enough whining for me anyway, I'm too broke anyway to pick up one now.

 

[monstercameron]

this doesn't bode well for carrizo if even the envy chassis is making it throttle.
https://community.amd.com/thread/185411

 

[Arachnotronic]

I can't believe I have to struggle so much to give money to amd. He'll make it niche and put a price premium on it...atleast make it accessible.

I think you will find empathy from those who want to buy i7 5775c. Can't buy it in North America, which really stinks.

 

[dark zero]

this doesn't bode well for carrizo if even the envy chassis is making it throttle.
https://community.amd.com/thread/185411

Practically the new chassis is ruining even the Broadwell U... the OEMS are each day worse and worse... their desings are worse and worse.... only the highest tier of notebooks are decently made... compared to the old generation...

 

[frozentundra123456]

Consumers? Possible. But for software developers? Give me a break. For years we see AMD put HSA in every presentation they published yet when they finally create a product that supports it, you can't buy it in a sensible form (I have no intention to buy plastic "overintegrated" POS with display just to put in under the table - be it notebook or AIO).
When they decided to restrict the SKUs to mobile they should have thought of the impact to accessibility of a development platform to actually make it possible for someone to utilize it.

For mini PC enthusiast ITX with a lot of integrated stuff might be nice but for development (m)ATX with 4 DIMMs ideally supporting ECC and no "mobile" TDP ceiling would be preferable.

Well, didnt they restrict it to mobile because the performance per watt falls off badly above 35 watts? Above that, I think Kaveri is actually better, if you believe those slides AMD put out.

 

[Dresdenboy]

Well, didnt they restrict it to mobile because the performance per watt falls off badly above 35 watts? Above that, I think Kaveri is actually better, if you believe those slides AMD put out.

The curves looked like standard drawing elements, no actual plots. And there the ascending gradient (spelling?) fell off, not the performance.

In the end this was about one module.

 

[DrMrLordX]

If AMD's slides are to be believed, Kaveri starts to beat out Carrizo somewhere in the range of 45-50W power draw (or thereabouts).

As for OEMs, they are cutting corners everywhere, trying to increase margins to offset sagging sales. AMD may be forced to find an alternative market for Carrizo if OEMs continue to TDP limit it to 20W or less. Putting such a limit on the 8800P is absurd; why even use the chip if you are going to strangle it?

In any case, AMD really should be selling some FP4 BGA boards with Carrizo soldered in there. The only overlap would be with AM1, and AM1 is sort of an afterthought anyway.

 

[jime1]

AMD is gasping for breath !

 

[coercitiv]

Well, didnt they restrict it to mobile because the performance per watt falls off badly above 35 watts? Above that, I think Kaveri is actually better, if you believe those slides AMD put out.

AFAIK with the info from that slide the general consensus was they could still make up to 45-65W desktop APUs out of Carizzo. (Excavator starts losing to Steamroller after 20W per module, so for a mITX build they could go 45W for the CPU alone, 65W for combined load). There's also a FCH in there requiring some juice, so it all adds up nicely.

 

[ET]

AMD may be forced to find an alternative market for Carrizo if OEMs continue to TDP limit it to 20W or less. Putting such a limit on the 8800P is absurd; why even use the chip if you are going to strangle it?

AMD aimed at 15W, precisely in order to address the OEM's desire for that power envelope. If Carrizo isn't good at that, then AMD has done its job badly.

OEM's don't try to maximise power available to the user, they try to address the features the feel users want, and battery life is more of a selling point than processing power.


Anyway, I'm really tired of waiting for Carrizo reviews, and I really want a 11-12" laptop with it to pop up. This is such a disappointing release.

 

[mikk]

this doesn't bode well for carrizo if even the envy chassis is making it throttle.
https://community.amd.com/thread/185411

If this would have been a Notebookcheck test, someone would blame them instead AMD/OEM. Sometimes it isn't this easy.