If AMD released a 30th Anniversary APU, what would the specs and price be?

[janeuner]

Maybe one of these...

A15-7400K:
3 Steamroller modules (6 integer cores)
256 Stream Processors (Comparable to A6-7400K)
AMD Marketing Newspeak: 6CPU/4GPU

A15-7300K:
3 Steamroller modules (6 integer cores)
128 Stream Processors (Comparable to a Socket AM1 Kabini)
AMD Marketing Newspeak: 6CPU/2GPU

A20-7250K:
4 Steamroller modules (8 integer cores)
128 Stream Processors (Comparable to a Socket AM1 Kabini)
AMD Marketing Newspeak: 8CPU/2GPU

Then, finally retire Socket AM3+. This would put all the nice Kaveri APU features (IGP, VCE, TrueAudio, HSA) into a package comparable to the enthusiast FX-6xxx and FX-8xxx processors.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Maybe one of these...

A15-7400K:
3 Steamroller modules (6 integer cores)
256 Stream Processors (Comparable to A6-7400K)
AMD Marketing Newspeak: 6CPU/4GPU

A15-7300K:
3 Steamroller modules (6 integer cores)
128 Stream Processors (Comparable to a Socket AM1 Kabini)
AMD Marketing Newspeak: 6CPU/2GPU

A20-7250K:
4 Steamroller modules (8 integer cores)
128 Stream Processors (Comparable to a Socket AM1 Kabini)
AMD Marketing Newspeak: 8CPU/2GPU

Then, finally retire Socket AM3+. This would put all the nice Kaveri APU features (IGP, VCE, TrueAudio, HSA) into a package comparable to the enthusiast FX-6xxx and FX-8xxx processors.

Wouldn't those be nice?

I've been saying the exact same thing for some time, AMD needs a flagship 3M/6T or 4M/8T FX for FM2(+). A minimal IGP would just be a welcome bonus.

 

[sm625]

I dont see how AMD could do any better than an A8-7600 for that price range. $100 for a cpu+motherboard is really hammering the profit margins. You need a really small core/die to get away with that. But then again, their IGP is worth considerably more than intel's. My G3258 display driver crashed 15-20 times during a game of LoL. It ran ok on medium/high settings, except for the constant crashing and reloading of the driver. The funny thing is that because the cpu is so frickin fast, it only takes less than a second for the display driver to crash and reload. lol.

 

[cbn]

$100 for a cpu+motherboard is really hammering the profit margins.

I'm guessing it is the retailers that take the hit on the cpu/motherboard bundle, not the OEM.

 

[Elixer]

If they were smart, it would be something like the 1090 series, except have 8 Vishera cores err modules.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I dont see how AMD could do any better than an A8-7600 for that price range. $100 for a cpu+motherboard is really hammering the profit margins. You need a really small core/die to get away with that. But then again, their IGP is worth considerably more than intel's. My G3258 display driver crashed 15-20 times during a game of LoL. It ran ok on medium/high settings, except for the constant crashing and reloading of the driver. The funny thing is that because the cpu is so frickin fast, it only takes less than a second for the display driver to crash and reload. lol.

Agreed, the price-slashed 7600 post-Sept. 1st is hard to beat on the low end with their existing process. It will be interesting to see where the 860K sits (for example).

So the Intel drivers are still that bad? The agony. At least it recovers quickly!

To address the question of Stars cores: It would not surprise me if AMD's upcoming x86 core due for 2016 release is an evolutionary update to the Stars core. Cache improvements, IMC improvements, higher clockspeeds, support for more-modern instruction sets, and some other tweaks could yield a fairly nice processor. Add on an iGPU and you've got SuperMegaLlano!

 

[Insert_Nickname]

To address the question of Stars cores: It would not surprise me if AMD's upcoming x86 core due for 2016 release is an evolutionary update to the Stars core. Cache improvements, IMC improvements, higher clockspeeds, support for more-modern instruction sets, and some other tweaks could yield a fairly nice processor. Add on an iGPU and you've got SuperMegaLlano!

Either that or a cat/dozer/K10.5 hybrid without CMT. Given Jaguar has almost the same IPC as Stars/K10.5, it'd make sense to continue along that line. Especially since they're likely doing it on a shoestring budget. I also think I read somewhere the cat cores have a strong likeness to the K8/10/10.5 family.

If that's the case, its not necessarily a bad thing. After all our Core ix's grew out of the Pentium M design, with a little P4 thrown in.

 

[PPB]

The stilt already talked about FM2+ limitations in regards of TDP. And 28nm is crappy enough that a 3.5ghz 3 SR module SKU without iGP would hit the 125W TDP range. Also he disclosed that SR design for desktop can be maxed at only 3 modules, while EX might be maxed at 4.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Either that or a cat/dozer/K10.5 hybrid without CMT. Given Jaguar has almost the same IPC as Stars/K10.5, it'd make sense to continue along that line. Especially since they're likely doing it on a shoestring budget. I also think I read somewhere the cat cores have a strong likeness to the K8/10/10.5 family.

That would make sense, and it would fit in with AMD's ongoing push towards iGPU integration.

If that's the case, its not necessarily a bad thing. After all our Core ix's grew out of the Pentium M design, with a little P4 thrown in.

And the Pentium M drew a great deal from Tualatin. Intel scrapping Netburst for Conroe/Merom was an enormous improvement. If AMD could make a jump like that, they'd be back in the game. I'm not holding my breath waiting for it, though.

 

[chrisjames61]

Hmm, If it could be anything in AMD's portfolio maybe a die shrunk stars core but with some improvements, just to see what it would perform like.

They did this. It was called Llano and it was terrible.

 

[superunknown98]

They did this. It was called Llano and it was terrible.

Yeah, but I was thinking along the lines of a 20nm shrink, and maybe some other improvements. Kind of a, where would AMD be now if they had never designed the bulldozer cores type thing.


I would like to see faster cat cores because they are most likely the future of AMD.

 

[VirtualLarry]

They did this. It was called Llano and it was terrible.

I had a quad-core Llano, and it wasn't that bad. Though I was using it for HTPC and not gaming. I did some DC on it too.

I still have it, it's just not in service right now.

 

[Erenhardt]

I had a quad-core Llano, and it wasn't that bad. Though I was using it for HTPC and not gaming. I did some DC on it too.

I still have it, it's just not in service right now.

I tried to explain to my brother that his fm1 athlon is junk and my fx6300 is superior in comparison, with no success. He just doesn't care anymore about benchmarks. It runs the games fine and whole PC costed less than PS4.

A lot of people game on those old CPU's and are happy about them. And a lot of people will use APUs for gaming, when they finally fix the memory bandwidth bottleneck.

EDIT: He uses 7750 1BG GDDR5 graphics cards in his build. a10-7850k have the same amount of shaders. Those people will use apu's as soon as its best perf/$

 

[VirtualLarry]

I tried to explain to my brother that his fm1 athlon is junk and my fx6300 is superior in comparison, with no success.

Why would you say that? An FM1 quad-core has four native FPUs. An FX-6300 only has three. It also has superior IPC. The only advantage a 6300 has is clock speed. If the FM1 quad-core OCed to 4Ghz, it would clearly be superior.

 

[Madpacket]

Llano series wasn't that bad in hindsight, just the lack of L3 cache hurt it in some situations.

For the OP's question, I don't think AMD can afford to or has anything to compete with the 3258. The best they have is the 750/60K which is unfortunately not good enough.

Only way AMD could offer something of comparable value would be to drop something like the 7700K down to under 100 bucks so they can give you a decent IGP to make up the CPU deficit.

 

[nenforcer]

A Phenom II shrunk to 16nm.

 

[richierich1212]

Man, I just looked up the year AMD released the K-6 since that was my first non-Intel CPU: 1997. Time flies.

Anyways, I guess they could release a 20th Anniversary CPU next year based off of the K-5 which was released in 1995.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

For the OP's question, I don't think AMD can afford to or has anything to compete with the 3258. The best they have is the 750/60K which is unfortunately not good enough.

It'll be interesting to see how the new 860K stacks up to the 3258, since the 860K should be pretty equal to the 7850K in CPU performance. Same clocks but lacks 2MB L2.

 

[Madpacket]

It'll be interesting to see how the new 860K stacks up to the 3258, since the 860K should be pretty equal to the 7850K in CPU performance. Same clocks but lacks 2MB L2.

When is this 860K supposed to arrive and what are the rumoured specs?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

When is this 860K supposed to arrive and what are the rumoured specs?

It should be out already. At least it is in Europe. Don't know about NA though. Price is around 700DKK (~$140, but VAT is 25%, so ~$110 or there about is perhaps realistic).

Specifications are 2M/4T Steamroller @ 3.7GHz/4.0GHz and 2MB L2. Official memory frequency is 1866MHz. So we're looking at roughly 7850K-level performance and it can of course be overclocked.

 

[Madpacket]

It should be out already. At least it is in Europe. Don't know about NA though. Price is around 700DKK (~$140, but VAT is 25%, so ~$110 or there about is perhaps realistic).

Specifications are 2M/4T Steamroller @ 3.7GHz/4.0GHz and 2MB L2. Official memory frequency is 1866MHz. So we're looking at roughly 7850K-level performance and it can of course be overclocked.

Ahh, Okay. This won't really help AMD then, the G3258 will still be a better value.

 

[DrMrLordX]

$110 for the 860k is too much if it clocks to ~4.5 ghz like the other Steamroller procs out there. You can get an A8-7600 for less.

 

[Soulkeeper]

Seeing llano mentioned above, I just figured i'd chime in on my opinions and experiences.

My llano with a 10% overclock trades blows with my old core2 quad clocked around the same speed. I consider that somewhat impressive given the 12MB of cache the core2 had. Also on many benchmarks i'm able to beat current FX-6xxx series cpu's which I consider relatively strong.

Personally as I sit here waiting 1.5hrs for FF to compile, I wish I had 8 stars cores.
I'd like an 8 core CPU with no GPU on the FM platform. Even if the PS3 APU was available for a desktop mb i'd consider that a step up for the things I do (compiling code, transcoding, etc.). 8 "small cat" cores with all that mem bandwidth would be a beast in many things I do.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Ahh, Okay. This won't really help AMD then, the G3258 will still be a better value.

$110 for the 860k is too much if it clocks to ~4.5 ghz like the other Steamroller procs out there. You can get an A8-7600 for less.

Please keep in mind this is only the current list price, its liable to drop quickly. Also you can't directly compare Danish and NA pricing, I expect it'll be cheaper on the other side of the pond.

If it was the same cost as the G3258 and 750/60K (~500DKK), I'd at least consider it. Right now I agree with you, it too expensive at that price.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Let's hope so. Retailers don't seem to have picked up on the Sept. 1st price cuts yet (at least I'm not seeing it on pcpartspicker.com). Obviously someone must be buying this stuff if prices are staying high.