AMD A10-5800k APU Processor Review

After taking a look at the A8-5600k, we were keen to see what its big brother, the flagship A10-5800k could do and in some ways I’m happy and in others quite disappointed, and that can really be split into two areas which I’ll talk about one by one. The first has to be based around the GPU side of things. Technically we don’t tend to focus much on the graphical power based around an integrated solution, hence us only showing 3DMark 11, and that’s purely because our benchmarking suite revolves around some of the most intensive games and graphics around and truth be told; this type of product isn’t aimed at that. If you want to do some light gaming, the chances are that you will buy a discrete card to run some dual graphics action with, but other than that, the GPU power is only really going to come into play when it comes to HD content and video playback.

From the GPU side of things, I was really expecting something more in comparison but hopefully drivers can help to boost things further and with the addition of Windows 8 now being released, we may see some drastic changes in our operating systems that may harness more power from the integrated GPU solution.

In terms of the raw compute power of the CPU side of things, it was good and we saw some nice strong numbers but the 3870k did put up a fight as well and it seems that if you are already running an existing Llano FM1 platform with a 3870k, then there may not be as many reasons to upgrade as to a customer who is buying new for the first time. We also tested the A10-5700 which while it’s a locked processor, at stock it did keep up throughout most tests and in some instances; outperformed the 5800k but the flagship 5800k does have a lot more functionality when it comes to overclocking.

In terms of overclocking while we’re on the subject; we did see some good results, firstly by hitting 4.5GHz which is a nice jump from the stock speed with a reasonable voltage that should see anyone with a good, strong cooling solution not having to worry about temperatures to much. With the 4.5GHz overclock, we saw some nice boosts in performance, and that was without touching the GPU frequency, which could be reserved for a slightly different review maybe?

While I was happy with the A10-5800k, we do have to remember that it’s £16 more expensive than the A8-5600k and that could be better spent on upgrading your memory or putting towards a better quality power supply, especially if using this type of APU processor in a small home server, which is one of the many possible solutions for this type of product.

Priced at around £90 to £95, it is good value for money and certainly is a step up from FM1 based APUs when you think about the whole package and what’s on offer as it’s not just all about speed and performance but also about the new architecture on offer and the lower power draw and with a world that is trying to reduce its carbon footprint, electricity is a big killer, not to mention that it will help you to save money.

Overall, it’s a good APU that offers a good investment for anyone looking to buy from new, but I still feel its lacking slightly when comparing like for like against FM1 but it’s nice to see that the architecture has seen a boost and that AMD are constantly trying to improve all-round and that my friends, is innovation at its finest.