- Feb 2, 2009
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This is an evaluation of Hybrid Cross Fire using the Kaveri A10-7850K in Hybrid Cross Fire mode with the R7 250 2GB DDR-3 Cape Verde GPU.
There are three different configurations I have used for this review, the APU alone using the iGPU, the APU + dGPU using only the R7 250 and the APU Hybrid CrossFire mode when both the iGPU and the dGPU are working together.
With all three methods we can evaluate the performance, perf/$ and perf/watt of each mode.
I have included the Core i3 4330 with iGPU and using the R7 250 alone for reference.
Also, the HD7790(1075MHz) 1GB DDR5(5000MHz) was used at 1080p. This can simulate an R7 260X.
Hardware and software used
Socket FM2+
APU : AMD Kaveri A10-7850K
Motherboard : ASUS A88XM-Plus
Memory : 2x 4GB 2133MHz Kingston Genesis 11-12-11 1.65V
HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB SATA-6
PSU : Thermal Take TR2 380W 80plus Bronze
AMD Catalyst 14:12 Omega
Windows 8.1 64bit
Socket 1150
CPU : Intel Core i3 4330
Motherboard : ASUS B85E-M
Memory : 2x 4GB 2133MHz Kingston Genesis (1600MHz at 9-9-9 1.5V)
HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB SATA-6
PSU : Thermal Take TR2 380W 80plus Bronze
Intel Graphics Driver 15.36.14.64.4080
Windows 8.1 64bit
Graphics Cards
GigaByte R7 250 2GB DDR-3, 512 Shaders, 720MHz core, 800MHz memory
GigaByte HD7790 OC GDDR-5, 1075MHz core, 5000MHz memory
Overclocking
The AMD A10-7850K was overclocked in two different modes. When the APU was working with its iGPU alone the CPU was at 4.35GHz, the iGPU at 970MHz, the memory was run at 2424MHz 11-13-13, NB was at 2000MHz and bus speed at 101MHz.
In Overclocked Hybrid CrossFire mode with the R7 250 the iGPU was lowered to 856MHz, the rest remained the same as above.
That was made because the Overclocked R7 250 was also working at 855MHz for the GPU core and 830MHz for the Memory.
So in order to understand the different modes here are the exact specs.
A10-7850K iGPU = Default A10-7850K, using only the iGPU
A10-7850K iGPU OC = Overclocked A10-7850K, CPU core at 4,35GHz, iGPU at 970MHz, memory at 2424MHz, NB at 2000MHz (using only the iGPU).
A10-7850K + R7 250 = Default APU and dGPU, using only the R7 250 and the A10-7850K as a CPU only, simulating the Athlon 860K with a dGPU.
A10-7850K + R7 250 OC = the APU CPU is at 4.35GHz and the R7 250 at 855MHz core, 830MHz memory (dGPU graphics only). Simulating an OC Athlon 860K with a OC dGPU.
A10-7850K Hybrid CF = Default APU and R7 250 in Hybrid Cross Fire mode, both iGPU and dGPU graphics.
A10-7850K Hybrid CF OC = Overclocked A10-7850K at 4,35GHz for the CPU Cores, 856MHz for the iGPU and 2424MHz memory with NB at 2000MHz. R7 250 OCed to 855MHz core, 830MHz memory. Both iGPU and dGPU graphics.
Mantle and CrossFire.
I have used three games that support Mantle, those are the Civilization Beyond Earth the Dragon Age : Inquisition and Sniper Elite III.
Only one of them can support CrossFire using the Mantle API and that is the Civilization Beyond Earth. You can read about Civ BE Mantle CrossFire in this Anandtech article.
For the rest of the games, when in Hybrid Cross Fire mode the benchmark was run in DX-11 (iGPU and dGPU only modes were run with Mantle).
Thief also suppose to have Mantle Cross Fire support but it was not working in Hybrid CF mode with my hardware, so i havent included that game in the end.
There are three different configurations I have used for this review, the APU alone using the iGPU, the APU + dGPU using only the R7 250 and the APU Hybrid CrossFire mode when both the iGPU and the dGPU are working together.
With all three methods we can evaluate the performance, perf/$ and perf/watt of each mode.
I have included the Core i3 4330 with iGPU and using the R7 250 alone for reference.
Also, the HD7790(1075MHz) 1GB DDR5(5000MHz) was used at 1080p. This can simulate an R7 260X.
Hardware and software used
Socket FM2+
APU : AMD Kaveri A10-7850K
Motherboard : ASUS A88XM-Plus
Memory : 2x 4GB 2133MHz Kingston Genesis 11-12-11 1.65V
HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB SATA-6
PSU : Thermal Take TR2 380W 80plus Bronze
AMD Catalyst 14:12 Omega
Windows 8.1 64bit
Socket 1150
CPU : Intel Core i3 4330
Motherboard : ASUS B85E-M
Memory : 2x 4GB 2133MHz Kingston Genesis (1600MHz at 9-9-9 1.5V)
HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB SATA-6
PSU : Thermal Take TR2 380W 80plus Bronze
Intel Graphics Driver 15.36.14.64.4080
Windows 8.1 64bit
Graphics Cards
GigaByte R7 250 2GB DDR-3, 512 Shaders, 720MHz core, 800MHz memory
GigaByte HD7790 OC GDDR-5, 1075MHz core, 5000MHz memory
Overclocking
The AMD A10-7850K was overclocked in two different modes. When the APU was working with its iGPU alone the CPU was at 4.35GHz, the iGPU at 970MHz, the memory was run at 2424MHz 11-13-13, NB was at 2000MHz and bus speed at 101MHz.
In Overclocked Hybrid CrossFire mode with the R7 250 the iGPU was lowered to 856MHz, the rest remained the same as above.
That was made because the Overclocked R7 250 was also working at 855MHz for the GPU core and 830MHz for the Memory.
So in order to understand the different modes here are the exact specs.
A10-7850K iGPU = Default A10-7850K, using only the iGPU
A10-7850K iGPU OC = Overclocked A10-7850K, CPU core at 4,35GHz, iGPU at 970MHz, memory at 2424MHz, NB at 2000MHz (using only the iGPU).
A10-7850K + R7 250 = Default APU and dGPU, using only the R7 250 and the A10-7850K as a CPU only, simulating the Athlon 860K with a dGPU.
A10-7850K + R7 250 OC = the APU CPU is at 4.35GHz and the R7 250 at 855MHz core, 830MHz memory (dGPU graphics only). Simulating an OC Athlon 860K with a OC dGPU.
A10-7850K Hybrid CF = Default APU and R7 250 in Hybrid Cross Fire mode, both iGPU and dGPU graphics.
A10-7850K Hybrid CF OC = Overclocked A10-7850K at 4,35GHz for the CPU Cores, 856MHz for the iGPU and 2424MHz memory with NB at 2000MHz. R7 250 OCed to 855MHz core, 830MHz memory. Both iGPU and dGPU graphics.
Mantle and CrossFire.
I have used three games that support Mantle, those are the Civilization Beyond Earth the Dragon Age : Inquisition and Sniper Elite III.
Only one of them can support CrossFire using the Mantle API and that is the Civilization Beyond Earth. You can read about Civ BE Mantle CrossFire in this Anandtech article.
For the rest of the games, when in Hybrid Cross Fire mode the benchmark was run in DX-11 (iGPU and dGPU only modes were run with Mantle).
Thief also suppose to have Mantle Cross Fire support but it was not working in Hybrid CF mode with my hardware, so i havent included that game in the end.
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