llano 3870k ~ 32nm stars ~ oc

[ctsoth]

Oi, a few bits about llano, and some thoughts on trinity.

(1) Firstly, as far as I can gather most people's distaste for llano seems to be the 'anemic cpu' which is of course a legitimate concern. (2) Lets take a moment to talk about the cpu, the upcoming so-called unlocked version, and the fact that if rumours are true, the 'k' version will only provide 5x more multipliers above the base multiplier. (3) If that is so, the reasons for it being so are very intriguing. (4) When will trinity make it to market, when it does will its 'piledriver' cores bee able to compete with the stars cores in llano?

1. There isn't so much to say on this point, 4x 2.9ghz stars cores isn't exactly screaming, especially when we consider the frequencies of oc'ed Phenoms. My internet investigations have found that an overclock to 3.4-3.6ghz on the a8-3850 isn't too difficult, via bus overclocking.

2. Now, on the unlocked a8-3870k there are a few things to keep in mind. It seems that only five multipliers above the base are unlocked, we'll tackle the reasons for that later. For now let us not forget that the a8-3870 has a base clock of 3.00ghz, which = +1 base multiplier than the a8-3850, essentially the 3870k has 6x more multipliers to play with than the 3850, if the rumours of a limited unlock are true, and it seems to me they are.

3. Obviously only opening up a handful of multipliers is going to limit the overclocking potential of llano, so why do it? The reasonable conclusions I can come up with are few. The first is that with an open multiplier, the 32nm stars must overclock extremely well...

Well, due to it beeing Christmas eve, I'm out of time for now. I'll continue where I left off when I can.

Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy your day, I wish for joy for you all!

 

[Soulkeeper]

I am very concerned about the "partially" unlocked idea
It is just not the AMD I remember and love.

If these chips were fully unlocked 4.0-4.5GHz overclocks with them would be popping up left and right on forum threads and everyone would be buying them imo. The water cooling and "extreme" cooling crowd would be euphoric, enthusiasts rejoice, etc.

 

[lOl_lol_lOl]

I thought this was going to be a thread about OCed 3870K benchies.

OP, why u disappoint?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I thought this was going to be a thread about OCed 3870K benchies.

me too

 

[Kristijonas]

I sold my i3 2120 8gb 9600GT PC to buy a 3870 llano PC, so this thread is interesting to me. I don't generally like overclocking (except iGPU overclocking) so this is not really a concern for me. I just wonder if 3870 has a better graphics overclocking capacity than 3850?

 

[Arachnotronic]

The gfx multiplier is unlocked on the 3870K, so I'd bet it'd be better than the 3850.

 

[Kristijonas]

Well then it sounds perfect for me Too bad Ivy Bridge isn't out yet, I'd choose i5-3570K over Llano.

 

[LoneNinja]

They are partially locked because if they weren't, they would mop the floor with FX processors in single threaded tasks, destroy the FX 4100 at everything, and probably beat the FX 6100 in nearly every multithreaded task. There is no other logical reason to limit their overclocking ability.

 

[RyanGreener]

The partially locked thing doesn't bother me too much. These processors typically hit ~130 Bus Speed, which puts them at 3770 GHz. Being one multiplier higher by default, and adding 5 more multipliers puts them at +0.6 GHz....or 4370 GHz. If you're lucky enough to get even higher on the bus speed, you can go higher. Plus, the GPU multiplier is unlocked completely from what it seems. That alone might be a gold mine

 

[Kristijonas]

Plus, the GPU multiplier is unlocked completely from what it seems. That alone might be a gold mine

The most important part

 

[ctsoth]

Sorry to disappoint, I pre-ordered my 3870k what seems like ages ago, I'll let you know when Global Foundries gets around to manufacturing it.

Even with a limited choice of multipliers, I'm thinking it is probably going to bee pretty easy to get ~3.8 -> 4+ ghz on the 3870k. I've read that 2x multipliers will bee opened up on the gpu side of things.

I agree that a limited unlock isn't much like amd, and it is a bit disappointing. I hope this isn't true. IF it is true, it must bee that 32nm stars overclocks so well that buying 'bulldozer' would bee just silly, thereby turning the fm1 platform into the amd enthusiast platform, especially since the motherboards are very cheap, with great features.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that nobody, as far as I am aware, actually has these chips on hand. Everything is rumour, news, promises etc. Who knows how they will operate out of the box, and with what features, that is, limited or full unlock?

Now, considering trinity/piledriver. I have seen numerous suggestions here, and elsewhere, to bypass llano and wait on 'trinity/piledriver.' Well, take the advice if you want to, but if I know anything at all about AMD, you will bee waiting a lot longer than you think. AMD can't even get their current products to retailers when they say, much less develop knew products within a year of claimed release. None of these concerns even touch on bulldozer performance, and the somewhat silly presumption that piledriver will do everything right that bulldozer does wrong.

If you want to wait on 'Trinity' thats cool. At the time of writing, I would bee very surprised if 'Trinity' makes it to retailers at all in 2012.

What I would really like to see, is an end of AMD <-> Global foundries. AMD's production and yields are pitiful, production efficiency must dealt with as soon as possible. The GPU wing of AMD doesn't seem to be suffering so woefully, perhaps they should consider a change in CPU production venue, though the cost of doing so must bee astronomical.

All this being said, I think AMD enthusiasts/higher end gamers/customers would have been better served by an updated stars cpu with l3 cache and much improved clock speeds, over the current rendition of bulldozer. This of course could bee proved poppycock if AMD can manage to improve the architecture in the near to mid term.

As an asside, I feel like a complete idiot writing this, being forced to use idiotic marketing jargon, bulldozer, trinity, piledriver etc. I hope the first thing AMD's new marketing department does is to start over on all this crap.

 

[Idontcare]

I agree that a limited unlock isn't much like amd, and it is a bit disappointing. I hope this isn't true. IF it is true, it must bee that 32nm stars overclocks so well that buying 'bulldozer' would bee just silly, thereby turning the fm1 platform into the amd enthusiast platform, especially since the motherboards are very cheap, with great features.

If that does turn out to be the case then AMD will have truly recreated, after >10yrs and billions of dollars, their very own "performance issue" ala the PIII and Willamette P4.

Intentionally supressing the upper-end clockspeed potential of the PIII chips while at the same time pushing the bounds of the envelope to attempt to get the P4 clockspeed high enough to justify its billing as the successor microarchitecture.

Intel showed us that it was all possible, but why on earth did AMD have to run the confirmation experiment and prove that it was not an isolated observation?

 

[Kristijonas]

IF the clock multiplier cap is set, it could be for purely technical reasons. I'm not an expert, but perhaps higher than allowed clocks could damage some CPU parts? Just a wild guess, of course. Anyway, Llano is generally slower than SB i3 processors, so it doesn't really matter that it can't be overclocked. It's not that CPU-speed enthusiasts will be using this CPU. It's for low-mid end only. Perhaps High-end users shouldn't be disappointed at something that happens so "low" market-wise.

 

[nyker96]

if as OP mentioned you can OC the chip via both multiplier and bus then the potential to max it out is still there. I hope this chip can do 4,5+ then it's gonna be a real screamer on a budget!

plus the gpu side is also OCable separately, I can't wait to see some members here play w/ this one and report back. could be interesting chip for amd. God knows, Ilano is becoming what AMD is hoping BD to be ... selling like hot cakes.

 

[Soulkeeper]

Hmmm anandtech just edited their original news removing "partially unlocked" and putting in:

"The A8-3870K and 3670K are fully unlocked (thanks to AMD for the clarification)"

Here, but i'm still skeptical until I get one

 

[Kristijonas]

Good to know AMD is reading anandtech

" and their GPU frequency isn't adjustable from what we've seen. "

This worries me greatly However, int he GPU clock in the chart it says "600MHz (unlocked)" So how should I understand this?

 

[Soulkeeper]

I guess we have to wait till someone gives it a thorough test

 

[Kevmanw430]

If the CPU multiplier is in fact fully unlocked, and the GPU at least partially overclockable, this could be an awesome chip, for HTPC or a budget gamer. If it could hit 4.2GHz, it would slaughter an i3-2100 in just about everything.

 

[Kristijonas]

If the CPU multiplier is in fact fully unlocked, and the GPU at least partially overclockable, this could be an awesome chip, for HTPC or a budget gamer. If it could hit 4.2GHz, it would slaughter an i3-2100 in just about everything.

It would be faster than i3 in MOST tests, but probably wouldn't slaughter in any.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

It would be faster than i3 in MOST tests, but probably wouldn't slaughter in any.

:thumbsup: true story

 

[Kevmanw430]

Okay, maybe not slaughter, but it would still be a very good alternative.

 

[lau808]

i'm glad that it will in fact be a fully unlocked cpu multi. i am hoping this chip will run in the 4.5-5.0 range. there should be some users here posting thier results b4 i have money to get one. looking forward to the results

 

[ctsoth]

I promise I'll keep you informed. My system is built, just waiting on CPU.... If it can reliably overclock to 4.5-5ghz the llano platform should be quite nice. I'm hoping for excellent single threaded performance + good multitasking with 4x cores @ 4-5ghz

2x crucial m4 drives (not raid, 1x os drive, 1x application drive)
16gb ram
2-4tb drive when prices come down