The Llano Desktop Preview: AMD A8-3850 CPU & GPU Performance
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 14, 2011 12:00 AM ESTLlano vs. Sandy Bridge: Finally, Acceptable Processor Graphics
On average the A8-3850 is 58% faster than the Core i5 2500K. If we look at peak performance in games like Modern Warfare 2, Llano delivers over twice the frame rate of Sandy Bridge. This is what processor graphics should look like. While I believe Sandy Bridge was a good start for integrated GPU performance, Llano is my ideal for 2011. Update: We've added results from the latest 2372 driver for the 2500K. Most performance results remain unchanged however a few problematic areas for Sandy Bridge have been addressed as a result. Llano still maintains a significant performance in the majority of cases.
Games that are more CPU bound however do show Llano's weakness. Both Dragon Age and Starcraft II have Sandy Bridge either outperforming or coming very close to Llano in frame rates. Those are most definitely the exception rather than the rule however; for the most part AMD is able to deliver entry-level discrete GPU performance with Llano.
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bnjiman - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
@seapeople: which version of Excel/processor are you using? Using Excel 2008 on XP I can agree with your experience using a core 2 duo @ 3ghz - in fact I had IT write an executable to open Excel on one CPU only and diabled multi thread calc. However using a Core I5 laptop 2.7ghz quad core with Office 2010/Win 7, spreadsheets that would take ten minutes to update are done in thirty seconds. I appreciate there will be a single threaded performance delta but I don't feel this accounts for such a radical improvement; perhaps the multi threaded suport is getting better as well.psiboy - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
8 watts difference in a desktop? Ooooohh I'm gonna cry....psiboy - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
14 years doesn't mean dick if you suck at it... on the other hand you might be good at it...quiksilvr - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
That's the big factor here as well. It would be nice to see a comparison please.quiksilvr - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
Apologies, I saw the explanation.8steve8 - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
curious about power consumption.disappointing that amd seems so far behind in performance per core.
Lots of software (still) have components that require single core performance.
8steve8 - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
the igp looks nice though, funny the people who care the most about that won't be using it. Still nice though.TrackSmart - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
Agreed. This isn't an exciting release for the desktop computer realm, where there's lots of spaces and small power saving differences don't matter much.HOWEVER, for HTPCs, All-In-Ones, and Small Form Factor systems, the new Llano APUs might be a hit. Of course, that's an admittedly small (but growing) market.
mino - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
This is a godsend for any OEM customer. Anybody who can't see that must be blind.jjj - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
wish you had at least a few numbers for higher res gaming.