And how much does one spend on a processor? I guarantee you that mantle will help quite a few people, more than you think. In fact, I'm probably a little average with my specs and a majority of gamers have similar build.
I5 2400 paired with a AMD 270. The cpu cost around $200 along with a $200 video card.
He's saying it will help. If you play 1-2 games. On the other hand, the vast majority of PC gamers with high end hardware will get a processor that gives them a great experience in all games.
Now for those using only an APU with no dGPU, this is a boost for them. But, again, only for Mantle games. There are 3 confirmed Mantle games for 2014 and 1-2 maybe games. Most of the FB3 games, even if they're using Mantle, are slated for either 2015 release or have no release date at all pinpointed. So the entire point here is that the notion of hanging on to a crap CPU is absurd because with Mantle, you don't get coverage in 100% of games. You get coverage in very few games. Far less than 1% of games, and most PC gamers play a ton of games since Steam sales are so popular.
So, basically, you can get a cheap junk 7600k APU and get a good experience in one game with Mantle. Maybe. Possibly with a 290X dGPU. I would argue the vast majority of PC gamers would find this notion absurd - if you're paying that much for a dGPU, you're going to get a good CPU to match that gives you a good experience in 100% of games. Not .001% of games. Honestly, I just have to laugh at anyone thinking that a 290X with an APU is going to be a "thing". Come on. The APU by itself with a low end dGPU is nice for HTPC, I don't disagree with that. But anyone suggesting a Celeron or APU with a 290X...ahem..yeah right. I don't think the vast majority of PC gamers will spend 600-700$ on a dGPU only to get the cheapest crap CPU they can find. Not for 1-2 games.
I think the most realistic scenarios for Mantle use will be for 1) High end PCs with high end dGPUs and 2) low end APUs with possibly a low end dGPU. But this mythical scenario of APU + 290X? Yeah uh, no.