Test Bed and Setup

As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.

Test Setup
  AMD Intel Core
Processor Ryzen 5 2400G
Ryzen 3 2200G
A10-8750
A8-7870K
i7-8700
i3-8350K
i5-7400
i3-7350K
i3-7100
Motherboards MSI B350I
Pro AC
ASUS
A88X-Pro
ASRock
Z370 Gaming i7
GIGABYTE
X170 Gaming ECC
Cooling AMD Wraith Stealth Arctic Freezer 13 ICO Silverstone AR10-115XS
Power Supply Corsair AX760i PSU 
Memory G.Skill
TridentZ
2x8GB
DDR4-3200 
@ 2933
G.Skill
RipjawsX
2x8GB
DDR3-2133
Crucial
Ballistix
4x8GB
DR4-2666
G.Skill
RipjawsV
2x16GB
DDR4-2400
Video Drivers Ryzen APU: 17.7 beta
NVIDIA GT 1030: 388.52
Intel IGP: 15.60.2.4901
Hard Drive Crucial MX200 1TB
Optical Drive LG GH22NS50
Case Open Test Bed
Operating System Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Many thanks to...

We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.

 

Thank you to Crucial for providing us with MX200 SSDs. Crucial stepped up to the plate as our benchmark list grows larger with newer benchmarks and titles, and the 1TB MX200 units are strong performers. Based on Marvell's 88SS9189 controller and using Micron's 16nm 128Gbit MLC flash, these are 7mm high, 2.5-inch drives rated for 100K random read IOPs and 555/500 MB/s sequential read and write speeds. The 1TB models we are using here support TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 (eDrive) encryption and have a 320TB rated endurance with a three-year warranty.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Crucial MX200 (250 GB, 500 GB & 1TB) Review

Thank you to Corsair for providing us with an AX1200i PSU. The AX1200i was the first power supply to offer digital control and management via Corsair's Link system, but under the hood it commands a 1200W rating at 50C with 80 PLUS Platinum certification. This allows for a minimum 89-92% efficiency at 115V and 90-94% at 230V. The AX1200i is completely modular, running the larger 200mm design, with a dual ball bearing 140mm fan to assist high-performance use. The AX1200i is designed to be a workhorse, with up to 8 PCIe connectors for suitable four-way GPU setups. The AX1200i also comes with a Zero RPM mode for the fan, which due to the design allows the fan to be switched off when the power supply is under 30% load.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Corsair AX1500i Power Supply Review

Thank you to G.Skill for providing us with memory. G.Skill has been a long-time supporter of AnandTech over the years, for testing beyond our CPU and motherboard memory reviews. We've reported on their high capacity and high-frequency kits, and every year at Computex G.Skill holds a world overclocking tournament with liquid nitrogen right on the show floor.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Memory Scaling on Haswell Review, with G.Skill DDR3-3000

Competition: AMD vs Intel, AMD vs AMD Benchmark Overview
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  • haplo602 - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    Finally one review where I can see the driver version ... So this is the same driver used also for the Ryzen mobile APUs. Can you check if you can force/manual install the latest Adrenaline drivers ? That works on some of the Ryzen 2500u chips and actually increases the performance by some 15+% ...
  • haplo602 - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    I hope there's a memory scaling article in the future with frequency and CL scaling for the APU part ...
  • crotach - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    What about HTPC use?

    I was considering GT 1030 + Intel route for H265 and HDR10 playback and was really looking forward to Zen APUs, but there doesn't seem to be any motherboards with HDMI 2.0?!

    Also, I wonder if the chips can be undervolted and underclocked to bring them to a near silent noise level for the living room.
  • Lolimaster - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    You can undervolt and underclock ANY intel or amd cpu.
  • forgerone - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    What most writers and critics of integrated graphics processors such as AMD's APU or Intel iGP all seem to forget, is not EVERYONE in the world has a disposable or discretionary income equal to that of the United States, Europe, Japan etc. Not everyone can afford bleeding edge gaming PC's or laptops. Food, housing and clothing must come first for 80% of the population of the world.

    An APU can grant anyone who can afford at least a decent basic APU the enjoyment of playing most computer games. The visual quality of these games may not be up to the arrogantly high standards of most western gamers, but then again these same folks who are happy to have an APU also can not barely afford a 750p crt monitor much less a 4k flat screen.

    This simple idea is huge not only for the laptop and pc market but especially game developers who can only expect to see an expansion of their Total Addressable Market. And that is good for everybody as broader markets help reduce the cost of development.

    This in fact was the whole point behind AMD's release of Mantle and Microsoft and The Kronos Group's release of DX12 and Vulkan respectively.

    Today's AMD APU has all of the power of a GPU Add In Board of not more than a several years back.
  • krazyfrog - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    Why did you leave out the 8400 and the 1500X in these comparisons?
  • Kamgusta - Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - link

    Because these CPUs, while having the same price range, outperform these Raven Ridge chips. That would have been a bad press for AMD and it seems like Anandtech wants to remains extremely loyal to AMD in these days.
  • msroadkill612 - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    "the data shows both how far integrated graphics has come, and how far it still has to go to qualify for those 'immerse experiences' that Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA all claim are worth reaching for, with higher resolutions and higher fidelity. "

    This assumes a static situation which is rot.

    what it reveals is that in the current paradigm, coders have coded accordingly for satisfactory results. If the paradigm changes and other ways work better, then code evolves.

    This unprecedented integration of new gen, sibling cpu & gpu, offers many performance upsides too for future code.

    picture a mobo with a discrete gpu like an equivalent 1030, then picture a ~matchbox footprint apu - there is a huge difference in the size of the respective circuits - yet they both do the same job & have to send a lot of data to each other.

    it's not hard to figure which is inherently superior in many ways.

    I strongly disagree with your blinkered bias.
  • Pork@III - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    There is something unfinished, something inconsolable.
  • elites2012 - Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - link

    anything this chip lost to intel at, was most likely outdated. adobe, fcat, dolphin, pov are all outdated benchmarks.

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