The Brazos Performance Preview: AMD E-350 Benchmarked
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2010 12:01 AM ESTFinal Words
The Brazos platform really poses the question of what is fast enough from a CPU standpoint. Netbook makers often argued that Atom was fast enough, and honestly they'd be right if Atom wasn't paired with such a heavyweight OS. Running Windows 7, Atom just wasn't fast enough but many made the sacrifice in order to get the form factor and battery life benefits that went along with the platform. The E-350 offers an alternative. You get faster than Atom CPU performance (particularly in single threaded tasks) and a fairly potent GPU. The only issue is that the E-350 doesn't compete against Atom. Most of the time you'll find it up against Pentium or low end Core i3 notebooks.
From a CPU performance standpoint, the E-350 can't compete with either of those CPUs clock for clock. Where AMD has the advantage is in power consumption and GPU performance. This is effectively AMD's answer to Intel's CULV platform, but with better graphics performance.
This is a huge statement from AMD, echoing what Apple has been saying for the past year: while CPU performance matters, GPU performance must scale at least as quickly, if not more to make up for lost time. The only thing we're really lacking are the killer apps (outside of 3D gaming and HD video) to support this mentality today.
The Radeon HD 6310 in the E-350 does very well, despite the memory bandwidth limitations. Its easily faster than Intel's HD Graphics, although some games (e.g. Starcraft 2) are still held back by the performance of AMD's Bobcat cores. Despite being a significant step forward for integrated graphics at this price point, I would be lying if I said I didn't wish it were faster. Ideally I would like to see > 30 fps performance across the board from the E-350.
There's also the GPU compute argument that AMD makes for Fusion, however the GPU compute tests I tried to run on Brazos didn't exactly work. Cyberlink Media Espresso would not use the GPU for encoding and the Civilization V compute shader test wouldn't run either. Both I suspect will be worked out by the time the platform actually ships.
What matters the most with Brazos is what the OEMs do with it. We'll of course get mini-ITX boards to turn into HTPCs, but on the mobile side Brazos needs to be paired with a sleek/well built chassis, good display, fast storage and a large battery to truly be attractive. I am also concerned about the performance of the Ontario based APUs. In many areas the E-350 isn't that much quicker than a dual-core Atom, which makes me wonder how the C-30 and C-50 would do.
Brazos ultimately has the same problem Atom had at its introduction. Compared to similarly priced notebooks based around 2.2GHz Pentium dual-core CPUs or Core i3s, the CPU just isn’t competitive. Unlike Atom however, in GPU bound scenarios the E-350 is actually faster than those two. The only issue, as I mentioned above, is that currently the majority of mainstream applications that are GPU bound are 3D games. Like Atom however, the Brazos platform is also destined for ultra thin formfactors - places a low end Core i3 can’t go. It’s in that comparison that AMD is most successful.
Compared to a Core i3-330UM, Brazos offers much better GPU performance and it’s even competitive in CPU dependent games like Starcraft 2. The i3-330UM is still faster CPU bound scenarios though, reinforcing the CPU speed for GPU performance tradeoff that you’re faced with when considering these two.
The E-350 delivers 50 - 60% of the multithreaded CPU performance of the Core i3-330UM, and nearly 70% of the single threaded performance. It’s a noticeable gap, but AMD attempts to make up for it by delivering up to twice the GPU performance in games.
Then there’s the issue of die size. For years AMD has had to give sell you a larger die at a lower price than Intel in order to remain competitive. The Brazos platform changes that. At 75mm^2, the Zacate die is smaller than just the CPU portion of a Core i3 and it’s less than 40% of the total die area when you include Intel’s HD Graphics. While more CPU performance would be nice to have, this is a good start.
AMD is committed to revving the Brazos platform yearly. We’ll obviously see updated graphics next year but I’m hoping for updates to the CPU cores as well. The biggest mistake Intel made with Atom was to be too conservative with its roadmap. AMD has a history of not making the same mistakes as Intel, so hopefully the Brazos roadmap looks good. Now we wait for the notebooks.
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silverblue - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
"Intel itself has talked about how Atom will get smaller and lower in power consumption while keeping the same performance or better."Of course they'll improve Atom's power draw... architectural tweaks plus new processes ensure that. Not improving Atom much, if at all, is rather mad.
Dark_Archonis - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
Yup, Intel is definitely sitting idle with Sandy Bridge ... oh wait no they're not.Sandy Bridge is the BIGGEST architectural change to Intel CPUs since the Pentium 4, and before that the Pentium Pro.
So being in a strong position, Intel in this case in not sitting idle at all. They are further strengthening their already strong position which will likely allow them to handle any new AMD competition without much issue.
ninjakitty - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
These article posts are funny... I think everyone here either works for AMD or Intel. Nobody is so nerdy to defend or care about processors as much as all of you... It could also be NVidia people who just want to get AMD and Intel people mad at each other.ninjakitty - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
Anand,I am such a huge fan of you. Are you married? How come you never talk about you? Where are the pictures?
N/K
Iketh - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
LOLoutsideloop - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
Guys,Look at the war, not the battle:
Who is biggest thorn in AMD's side today? NVidia, not Intel. AMD wants and needs to eliminate NVidia from the chipset/integrated graphics business. Brazos makes the ION platform irrelevant, and is in effect-kicking NVidia out of this market. Hell, AMD's goal right now is not to beat Intel, its to put NVidia out of business (sure, they can have their Tegra market). That will leave two competitors vying to deliver an ever expanding and increasing HD/3D rendered world to us. The Brazos is the first product with this goal in mind.
Sure, Intel still has higher performance processors. But, which way is the world technology/computer market going? Cheaper, better value, lower power, lower cost. Especially with the world economy struggling and the commoditization of everything we use and need.
The world needs it done cheaper and more efficiently. We can't afford the Intel platforms anymore. And why should we, when an AMD platform at half the price is good enough for most of the stuff we do? Yes, I have the 5850 Radeon for gaming but the rest of the platform is really becoming irrelevant. (I do realize best possible workstation performance is something some of us do need, hence you use a core I5/i7). BUT, for the vast majority of users in the world, why not just do AMD + SSD + Radeon 5XXX/6XXX, and not really notice the difference?
Intel has all those expensive fabs and legions of employees. They need to sell a $200 processor to cover the overhead and make their billions of profit. If we get to the point of a average $100 chipset/processor/GPU combination (Fusion) and below, then that powerful little GPU on the die will become more and more important to the attractiveness and utility of the technology platform in the future.
By 2012/2013, if AMD can produce a superior chipset/processor/GPU (Fusion) for $100, one that games in 3D at high rez, does the next levels of HD content, runs solitaire :) etc, basically doing the 3D job good enough to the Intel platform that will require a DISCREET GPU (which will be a RADEON incidentally) ,THEN it will be a serious problem for Intel.
The Brazos is NVidia poison. Zambezi and beyond are targeted towards taking serious desktop and mobile market share from Intel.
The strategy for AMD is to force Radeon technology on Intel.
Intel will be forced to:
1) Buy NVidia and incorporate their GPU technology into their processors (too late for this, plus they will burn like the sun), or
2) Use low to mid-range Radeon discreet GPUs on their platforms, or
3) Continue using their mediocre IGPs in their future processors (most likely), and watch the world choose the AMD platform at half the cost that delivers a superior graphical) HD/3D computing experience.
A fast, competent high-res 3D capable/gaming capable/HD capable desktop or laptop for $500. This is where AMD will eliminate NVidia and take billions in sales from Intel. But not until Fusion matures.
Dark_Archonis - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
An AMD Fusion product by 2012/2013 that will cost $100 and be able to play 3D games at high resolutions? Those are some ambitious dreams you have there.silverblue - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
Trinity might just miss that pricing mark, however it's certainly possible. Additionally, it all depends on what you mean by "high resolutions" - to some that's still 720p, to others 1080p.If it can handle a smooth gaming experience at 1080p and provide good CPU performance for everything else with a single Bulldozer module, we have a winner... but $100 is cutting it close.
sinigami - Thursday, November 18, 2010 - link
hey dark, did this review just say that zacate's graphics are better than the IGP in clarkdale?how can it say that when there were only three benches run, and the zacate only won one?
currently, intel, with clarkdale, is tied with the 890GX for the fastest integrated graphics, right?
Rayb - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - link
What's to stop the OEMs from dropping the chipset/netbook prices accordingly if still is profitable, after all it's been a while since the Atom/ION was released. Let the customer decide what is their choice and the manufacturers compete for their money. The notion of what you think is best for you is good enough for everybody else. Have you thought that it might not go over so well with other people.Do you really believe that this APU is going to drive Nvidia out of the market or really hurt Intel's profits? It seems to me AMD is a day late and a dollar short in this market segment.
It is a preview that hasn't been released yet and you're already talking two years from now, how good the next iteration is going to be, get real! Therefore, everything else will be static while your favorite company plays catch-up. Hahaha!!!
In short, in one whole swat you managed to drive Nvidia out, cut into Intel profits by billions and left with the only one logical choice, AMD! Huurray!!!
Ladies and Gentelman, this is FANBOYISM at it's best! With unreleased products no less.
This diatribe of yours can only be three things:
1) That koolaid must be something special.
2) Whatever your smoking must be really good stuff (why don't you share with the rest of us?)
3) How much are you getting paid to post your deranged illusions? (is it per word or whole post?).
Excuse me if I don't favor your POV!