ASRock A75 Extreme6 Review and Desktop Llano Overclocking
by Ian Cutress on June 30, 2011 12:05 AM ESTIf we're comparing Desktop Llano to Sandy Bridge, we essentially have to look at the best Llano package, the A8-3850, against a low end Sandy Bridge, the i3-2100. This makes sense, as Desktop Llano comes to the market as a beefed up mobile processor, whereas a Sandy Bridge second-generation Core series CPU is a scaled down performance product.
If we consider the current and expected prices of motherboard and processor combos, the high end ASRock A75 Extreme6 will cost $150 (so I'm told), and the A8-3850 is expected to retail at $150 also. With the i3-2100, we're looking at a H67 board (most of which are below $100) and the processor will cost $125 (all prices from newegg.com), totalling $225. The question now becomes, is Desktop Llano worth the extra $75?
The chipset features are the best place to start - on A75 there are six native SATA 6 Gbps ports, whereas the H67 will only have two (both motherboards may have more from controllers). Memory speed on the A75 will natively accept DDR3-1866 MHz, whereas the H67 will only allow DDR3-1333 MHz. Both motherboards will accept one GPU at 16x, or on Llano this can be split into two at 8x. You can pick and choose with your network, audio, and USB 3.0 controllers - the exact features and warranty will be determined by which model a consumer ends up buying.
In terms of performance, this board and the A8-3850 were tested in several key areas. Compared to Sandy Bridge, the Desktop Llano single thread performance is abysmal - but this is what was to be expected, given that Desktop Llano is based on a K10 core and performs like a Phenom II X4. In multi-threaded performance, it's a case of whether the full four cores of the A8-3850 can outshine the two cores with hyperthreading we find on the 2100.
The one area Desktop Llano stands out in is the integrated GPU. The A8-3850 has 400 streaming processors, wrapped in a HD 6550D. Technically, we're dealing with a DirectX 11 product. Compared to the Sandy Bridge solution, we're looking at nearly double frame rates for the Llano at the resolutions we've tested. That's a clear tick in the Desktop Llano department.
So, for pure iGPU performance and more SATA 6 Gbps ports, can I personally recommend Desktop Llano over a Sandy Bridge model, for an extra $75? In my non-HTPC oriented mind, only in the integrated GPU arena does it make sense. If you're a GPU developer and don't want to tie up a discrete GPU, then yes, it can make sense, as long as you can access that GPU. If you're a multi-GPU gamer, the odd Crossfire scaling leaves something to be desired, and P67 is just a minor step up over H67 prices. Desktop Llano certainly isn't a low power system - the A8-3850 is rated at 100W, so if you want something to word process, look at emails and play flash games, an AMD Fusion board for $150 will do all that quite easily for all under 60W. If you want to do almost anything else (except play 23.976 fps video), in my opinion, I'd recommend the Sandy Bridge route as it commands that extra CPU grunt.
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L. - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
Not quite ... a shit GPU can play full HD x264 with MPC-HT . I think that's maybe the most relevant "performance" aspect of a cheap box for people looking at mail, music, facebook and youtube ;)Seikent - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
In fudzilla it has been said that A8-3850 will cost $135 USD and that there will be fm1 boards around $70 USD, thats cheaper than the core i3 2100 + h67 combo, so I guess that's a much better offer.L. - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
Shhh ./.. don't say that out loud it might just show even more how Liano is a perfect victory for AMD ;)ET - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
That was an interesting read. Lots of figures regarding motherboard performance, not a lot of discussion of them, and few performance figures about the APU itself. I hope that a full Llano review will appear soon. While the preview was quite comprehensive there was something wrong with the GPU figures, as it produced worse results than the lower clocked mobile part. It will be interesting to see if this got clarified, and to get a better overall feel regarding overclocking performance.ET - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
Ah, I see that a reply for this was posted while I was writing this. Hopefully it's a soon "soon".JustWalkingBy - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
if the qoal of the test is: "The main test here is CPU usage, and how much is offloaded by the controller"Why would sou set the speed max t0 100Mbps (1000 MB file across a home network with a 100 Mbps lowest common speed ) and not 1Gbps?
duploxxx - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
there is only one word for this kind of review.....scapyardcontent is not detailed enough to make a decent compare, horrible efforts on OC, info which is not even relevant for the non-turbo versions, not even a manual OC effort which has already shown by other sites to have high potential.
Price ranges and compared platforms are out of proportion due to this way to expensive MB
not to mention incorrect price info while already available in a link post a bit later... do you guys actually share data internally?
and is there any reason what so ever that a Intel platform is required here to compare which is already as it should in the originan LIano review? NO
duploxxx - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
just have a look at this review.... some do actually are able to OC as it couldhttp://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-a...
L. - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
Smell the bias ;)L. - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - link
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews...These guys got the idea about Llano . it's all about the RAM speed, why don't you try that out a bit ;)
28 FPS in Far Cry 2 @ 1080p is definitely huge for an IGP.