AMD’s third generation APU provides another impressive step forward in technology. The Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) boasts 42{b81fbfd19e1fca5890798868c0714c408bbd5ec471654b6f9630c0fffa6e7eb3} of it’s genetic make up as GPU based, utilizing the Radeon HD8xxx series, making this the industry’s fastest APU. That allows AMD to deliver balanced architectures for future heterogeneous computing while winning at today’s gaming, compute, imaging, and video workloads. Nowhere else is the best performance for mainstream computing be found for such an incredible value!
$ 149.29
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Beats Haswell’s iGPU!,
I previously had a 5800K in my HTCP and I was more than satisfied with its performance but now I have the 6800K in my HTPC that I use to watch movies and do some light gaming and it works like charm. It handles everything I throw at it without a hassle. Since the 6800K supports memory speeds of 2133Mhz, system memory speeds are important because both the CPU and GPU share the same memory interface and this is very improvement if you are a gamer because it can boost your FPS quiet a lot. I noticed a smoothness when playing games coming from the 5800K that ran at 1600Mhz.
The stock frequency of the CPU is 4.1Ghz (1.4 volts) but it has a nice turbo of 4.4Ghz which is great. And the stock frequency of the GPU is 844Mhz (1.25 volts). The stock settings are more than enough to handle anything but I have mine overclocked to 4.8Ghz and it flies. It runs relatively cool with the stock cooler without needing to upgrade to an aftermarket cooler. I even tried overclocking it to 5Ghz using my CM212+ using 1.51volts but it generated a lot of heat so I went down to 4.8Ghz. I also overclocked the GPU to 1020Mhz from stock 844Mhz using around 1.34 volts and games are much more smoother now.
The motherboard that I am using to overclock my 6800K to 4.8Ghz is the Asus A85X F2A85-V PRO which is the best motherboard you can get for FM2 socket. The Asus A85X F2A85-V PRO has 8 phase VRMs which makes it awesome to overclock and it can handle a ton of volts without a problem. I have seen some people push the 6800K up to 5.3Ghz using this board with around 1.58 volts which is incredible if you ask me. I highly recommend getting the Asus A85X F2A85-V PRO if you want the best FM2 socket motherboard. The motherboard will also support Kaveri (28nm) when it’s released which will bring a ton of improvements and lower power consumption.
Let’s talk a bit about the power consumption at 4.8Ghz because it really is amazing how little power this thing consumes. In idle, it consumes roughly 8-9 watts and under full load it consumes around 108-110watts. Even though Core i3 Ivy Bridge is at 22nm and has better power consumption than Richland which is at 32nm, I still think the power consumption is more than acceptable.
I am able to play games like Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Counter Strike GO without a problem at 1920×1080. It can even handle some modern games at medium settings which I think is amazing. I’m really impressed with the APUs that AMD has been making.
Here are some benchmarks that I did against the 5800K both overclocked to 4.5Ghz. I wanted to test both of them at 4.8Ghz but I couldn’t get the 5800K anywhere near 4.6Ghz without crashing and the temps going through the roof so instead I dialed it back at 4.5Ghz.
SuperPi
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 1394.66 Seconds
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 1244.22 Seconds
Cinebench 11.5 (Multi-Threaded-GPU)
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 37.54 FPS
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 45.38 FPS
Cinebench 11.5 (Multi-Threaded-CPU)
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 3.26
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 3.87
All the games that I have tested so far have been at max settings except for Metro LL and BF3 which were unplayable. The resolution is 1920×1080 using the iGPU.
Metro Last Light – Medium Settings
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 17FPS avg
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 19FPS avg
Battlefield 3 – Medium Settings
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 21FPS avg
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 24FPS avg
Team Fortress 2 – Max Settings
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 59FPS avg
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 64FPS avg
Counter Strike GO – Max Settings
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 61FPS avg
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 68FPS avg
Left 4 Dead 2 – Max Settings
5800K @ 4.5Ghz = 55FPS avg
6800K @ 4.5Ghz = 57FPS avg
Overall, the improvements over the 5800K makes this worthless to upgrade so I wouldn’t upgrade if I was stuck on a 5800K but if you are thinking about building an HTPC then Richland is the way to go. As you can see from the results above, the improvements in games and applications is less than impressive. What I like about AMD and their APUs is the fact they still use the same socket (FM2) which means you will be able to upgrade your APU in the future to the one that will use the steamroller cores which will be bring a ton of improvements and lower the power consumption drastically. The iGPU in the 6800K is also much faster than Haswell’s iGPU and will play games a lot smoother. The driver support will also be better than Intel because it will be directly from AMD. I give this APU a 4/5 just because of the tiny improvements over Trinity. I don’t have a lot of time now but I will update my review once I do more tests.
If you guys want to read my review of the Asus A85X F2A85-V PRO then go to this link and it should be the first one listed there…
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|Flawless,
Im so glad i have bought this apu. It can even run the latest games on medium. It can even planetside 2 at a decent frame rate on medium settings and planetside 2 is known for the most cpu intensive game. I recommend this apu for gaming.
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|very nice,
Originally I Bought The A8 6600K And Decided It Wasn’t Cut For My Taste! Exchanged It At Fry’s Electronics For This Processor Because It Looked And Sounded So Juicy! Well It Is Definitely juicy And It Set My Desktop On Fire! (With Speed, Not Literally).I WOULD RECOMMEND GETTING AN ADVANCED COOLING HEATSINK FOR YOUR NEW PROCESSOR! (I Bought An Antec Kuhler H2O 920, BEAUTIFUL).
I Play Games On My PC And This Puts Out Some Of The Best Processing Speed That I Have Barely Seen Any Lagging. 4.4 GHz Speed At This Price, Awesome!
I Have An Asus Blu-Ray DVD Player With Powerdvd 13 Ultra And It Can convert 2D Movies Into 3D. Ordered Some Anaglyph Red/Cyan 3D Glasses That I Will Use To Watch The Hobbit 2D Blu-Ray DVD In 3D! Remember To Get An Advanced Cooling Heatsink For This Processor! Enjoy Like I Have! Pair This With An XFX Radeon 6000 Series For Amazing Gameplay, I Have The XFX RADEON 6770. Excellent!
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