AMD’s Trinity processors are the
latest to combine processing cores with a proper graphics core, but can the
plucky underdog take on the might of Intel?
It’s been a tough few years for AMD. Its
underperforming FX processors have all but conceded the top-end and mid-range
market to Intel’s superb Core i5 and i7 parts, and its Radeon graphics
processors have battled with NVidia for desktop and mobile supremacy, but
neither firm has been able to grab a decisive lead.
One bright spot has been the firm’s range
of Accelerated Processing Units, or APUs. They’re parts that were planned from
the moment AMD bought ATI back in 2005, and they make plenty of sense in a market
that’s packed with processors either saddled with weak integrated graphics
chips or lacking a GPU at all. Rather than compromise by taking either of these
approaches, AMD has chosen to cram a traditional processing core and a Radeon
graphics chip onto the same die.
AMD
Trinity the Chip to Take down Core i3?
These so-called ‘Fusion’ APUs debuted in
2011 with Llano, and 2012’s Trinity chips have already appeared in a handful of
laptops. While laptops are one of the growth areas when it comes to computing,
there’s still a hefty slice of desktop market share to be won, and it’s here
AMD hopes its six latest chips will make a big impact.
Processing Boost
The basic blueprint for Trinity APUs
remains the same as last year’s chips, but AMD has beefed up the two key areas
of its new parts. Llano’s processing cores were based on the architecture
behind older Phenom II and Athlon II processors and suffered as a result - but
Trinity is based on Piledriver, an updated version of the Bulldozer
architecture that’s currently used in AMD’s full-fat FX processors.
Top-end Trinity chips use four of these
Piledriver cores, and they’re built using a 32nm manufacturing process. This is
less efficient and advanced than the 22nm process used by Intel for its latest
Core i3 parts, which have been upgraded with the same Ivy Bridge technology
found in its more powerful Core i5 and Core i7 range of processors.
The lack of a die shrink sees AMD falling
behind Intel, but it’s worked hard to negate this lack of innovation by making
improvements elsewhere. AMD is touting improved power consumption, for
starters, which allows the TDPs of Trinity APUs to remain the same as Llano
chips, despite higher clock speeds being used throughout the entirety of the
range. It’s clear that tweaking of the Bulldozer architecture has made for a
more efficient and effective Piledriver core, and it’s these improvements that
AMD hopes will see Trinity challenge Intel’s low-end parts.
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Trinity is based on Piledriver, an
updated version of the Bulldozer architecture
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Graphics Core Next?
AMD is making some big claims when it comes
to the graphics hardware included in Trinity chips, with Radeon HD 7000-series
cores integrated into the firm’s latest APUs. While AMD is making it sound as
if the new cores share plenty of attributes with chart-topping chips like the
Radeon HD 7970, the situation isn’t that clear-cut.
The Radeon HD 7000-series cores included in
Trinity are actually constructed from the architecture (codenamed Cayman) that
formed the Radeon HD 6970, 6950 and 6930 cards. The modified Cayman core used
in the A10-5800K’s Radeon HD 7660D features 384 stream processors, which is a
huge reduction on the 1,536 included in top-end cards and, unusually, also a
reduction on the Radeon HD 6550D core included with last year’s A8-3870K, which
included 400 stream processors. Those stream processors are divided into six
SIMD engines, with 64 stream processors in each, and the texture units and ROPs
(Render Output Units) have also been cut back to make the new cores: top-end
Cayman cards featured 96 texture units and 32 ROPs, but high-end Trinity GPUs
feature 24 texture units and eight ROPs.
The decision to use an older core also
means that Trinity GPUs use the VLIW4 instruction set, rather than the VLIW5
set used in top-end Radeon HD 7000-series desktop parts. That, in theory, makes
for a less efficient chip - VLIW5 proved itself more adept at handling complex
and varied tasks when it was introduced in the Radeon HD 7970.
AMD is keen to stress that, while Trinity’s
HD 7000-series parts are based on last year’s architecture, they’ve still been
beefed up with some new features. Compatibility with DisplayPort 2 is included,
and Eyefinity for up to four displays is now supported. High-quality 7.1
channel surround over HDMI works, too, as well as support for four independent
7.1 channel audio streams.
AMD's
Trinity APU, 2 Piledriver modules (4 cores)
The Trinity Range
Trinity is an enticing-sounding range,
then, with improved features across both processing and graphics cores. AMD’s
new range is smaller than last year’s offering, though, serving up six parts
rather than the 13 that eventually made up its selection of Llano chips.
Top of the heap are two A10-branded chips:
the 5800K and 5700. The former is the more powerful of the two parts, running
at 3.8GHz and using Turbo Core to dynamically overclock to 4.2GHz, with the
latter running at 3.4GHz with a Turbo Core peak of 4GHz. Both are quad-core,
both use 4MB of L2 cache, and both include the high-end Radeon HD 7660D GPU,
which has 384 stream processors at its disposal and runs at 800MHz.
A8-branded chips were top-end parts last
year, but here they’re relegated to the middle of AMD’s stack. The A8-5600K and
A8-5500 have base clocks of 3.6GHz and 3.2GHz respectively, with Turbo Core
speeds of 3.9GHz and 3.7GHz. They’re quad-core parts with 4MB of L2 cache like
the more powerful A10-series chips, but they’re equipped with a less powerful
Radeon HD 7560D GPU, which has 256 stream processors running at 760MHz.
There are fewer low-end options this time
around, too. The A6-5400K is dual-core, runs at 3.6GHz with a modest Turbo Core
clock of 3.8GHz, and its Radeon HD 7540D graphics core runs its 192 stream
processors at 760MHz. Bottom of the heap is the A4-5300 - again a dual-core
part. It runs at 3.4GHz with a Turbo Core level of 3.7GHz, but its Radeon HD
7480D is the weakest of any included with Trinity: it has just 128 stream
processors, and runs at 723MHz.
It’s also worth making a note of the three
chips saddled with the ‘K’ suffix, which means they’re unlocked, and can be
overclocked by upping its multiplier in the BIOS. AMD claims that its latest
chips can hit speeds of up to 5GHz with air cooling, but the amount of extra
power you can squeeze out of them will vary depending on each particular chip.
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Trinity is an enticing-sounding range,
then, with improved features across both processing and graphics cores
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