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AMD A10-5800K 'Black Edition' Trinity APU - AMD Takes HSA to Newer Heights

By Wong Chung Wee - 27 Nov 2012
Launch SRP: S$169

Test Setup

Test Setup

The new AMD A10-5800K was tested using the ASUS F2A85-M Pro. While the new Trinity desktops have official memory support for DDR3-1866MHz, we were unable to achieve system stability at this rated frequency and we had to downclock the frequency to DDR3-1600 with their memory timings set to automatic. We will look into memory scaling capabilities in the near future after nailing down what memory modules and settings work best. In fact, according to AMD, we should be able to run memory at 2,133MHz and even 2,400MHz for touted greater performance.

For comparison, we’ll be pitting the A10-5800K against the Intel Core i3-3220. Although the latter's base clock speed of 3.3GHz is much lower than our A10-5800K's rated speed of 3.8GHz, the Core i3-3220 is in approximately the same price range as the top Trinity desktop APU. We have included a list of competitive processors in order to flesh out the competition properly. We included the Core i5-3470 as it is a mid-range desktop CPU from the Ivy Bridge camp. With a base frequency of 3.2GHz, the Core i5-3470 comes in right between in the Core i5-2500K and Core i5-2600K, which have base clock speeds of 3.3GHz and 3.4GHz respectively. The AMD FX-8150 was thrown into the mix to possibly ascertain the improvements of the Trinity's desktop APU Piledriver architecture over that of the former's Bulldozer one. Last of all, the AMD Phenom II X4 975 BE was included to round up the competition to see how well AMD's new HSA emphasis bodes against traditional desktop CPU technology from the previous generation. Note that we've maintained a somewhat older configuration and benchmarks for the sake of compatibility across various class of products tested across time.

AMD A10-5800K Test Configuration

  • ASUS F2A85-M Pro Desktop Motherboard (AMD A85X FCH chipset - Hudson D4), BIOS version 5104
  • 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 (CAS 9-9-9-27)
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 260 AMP! Edition (ForceWare 285.65)
  • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps hard drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
  • AMD Catalyst Version 12.8

Intel Core i3-3220 Test Configuration

  • MSI Z77A-GD65 (Intel Z77 Express chipset), BIOS version 0602
  • 2 x 2GB Patriot G2 Series DDR3-1600 (CAS 9-9-9-27)
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 260 AMP! Edition (ForceWare 285.65)
  • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB, SATA 6G hard drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
  • Intel INF 9.2.0.1015

The above test configuration was used for the Intel Core i5-2500K and Intel Core i7-2600K CPUs when we obtained the scores of PCMark 7 benchmark.

Intel Core i5-3470 Test Configuration

  • Intel Desktop Board DZ77GA-70K (Intel Z77 Express chipset), BIOS version 3000
  • 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 (CAS 9-9-9-27)
  • Zotac GeForce 260 AMP! Edition (ForceWare 197.45)
  • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps hard drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
  • Intel INF 9.3.0.1020

Intel Core i7-2600K / Intel Core i5-2500K Test Configuration

  • ASUS P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67 chipset), BIOS: 0602
  • 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 (CAS 7-7-7-20)
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 260 OC (ForceWare 197.45)
  • WD Caviar Black 1TB, SATA 6G (Intel SATA 6G)
  • Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
  • Intel INF 9.2.0.1015

AMD FX-8150 Test Configuration

  • ASUS Crosshair V Formula (AMD 990FX + SB950, 0813 BIOS)
  • 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 (7-7-7-20)
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 260 OC (ForceWare 197.45)
  • AMD Chipset driver
  • WD Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6G (AMD SATA 6G)
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)

AMD Phenom II X4 975 Test Configuration

  • ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (AMD 890FX + SB850, 0702 BIOS)
  • 2 x 2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 (7-7-7-20)
  • Zotac GeForce GTX 260 OC (ForceWare 197.45)
  • AMD Chipset driver
  • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps (one single NTFS partition)
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
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8.0
  • Performance 7.5
  • Features 8.5
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Excellent SoC solution for mainstream users
Ideal for HTPC and compact desktops
Affordable GPU boost with Dual Graphics
Low power consumption
Multi-monitor gaming capable
Good value
The Bad
Poor compute performance in some tests
Doesn't perform better than Llano all the time
Dual Graphics doesn't work with 7000 series GPUs
No FM1 socket support
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