AMD Intros New Unlocked K-Series Llano APUs: A8-3870K & A8-3670K
by Anand Lal Shimpi on December 20, 2011 11:22 AM ESTWhen we first reviewed Llano we thought it was a fairly competent desktop part if you needed a solution that didn't rely on discrete graphics. My biggest issue with Llano on the desktop was its price, at $135 for the top end A8 it seemed a bit too high. Today AMD is using the normal process improvements you see with any design over time to deliver a slight frequency bump without increasing prices. The extra 100MHz you get at the $135 and $115 price points isn't really going to change much, however AMD is introducing two K-series parts (they are also known as Black Edition SKUs) into the Llano lineup:
| AMD's Updated Llano Desktop Lineup | |||||||||
| GPU | Total TDP (GPU + CPU) | CPU Cores | CPU Clock (Base/Turbo) | GPU Cores | GPU Clock | Price | |||
| AMD A8-3870K | Radeon HD 6550D | 100W | 4 | 3.0GHz (unlocked) | 400 | 600MHz (unlocked) | $135 | ||
| AMD A8-3850 | Radeon HD 6550D | 100W | 4 | 2.9GHz | 400 | 600MHz | $135 | ||
| AMD A8-3820 | Radeon HD 6550 | 65W | 4 | 2.5/2.8GHz | 400 | 600MHz | $??? | ||
| AMD A8-3800 | Radeon HD 6550D | 65W | 4 | 2.4/2.7GHz | 400 | 600MHz | $129 | ||
| AMD A8-3670K | Radeon HD 6530D | 100W | 4 | 2.7GHz (unlocked) | 320 | 444MHz (unlocked) | $115 | ||
| AMD A6-3650 | Radeon HD 6530D | 100W | 4 | 2.6GHz | 320 | 444MHz | $115 | ||
| AMD A6-3620 | Radeon HD 6530D | 65W | 4 | 2.2/2.5GHz | 320 | 444MHz | $??? | ||
| AMD A6-3600 | Radeon HD 6530D | 65W | 4 | 2.1/2.4GHz | 320 | 444MHz | $109 | ||
| AMD A6-3500 | Radeon HD 6530D | 65W | 3 | 2.1/2.4GHz | 320 | 444MHz | $85 | ||
| AMD A4-3420 | Radeon HD 6410 | 65W | 2 | 2.8GHz | 160 | 600MHz | $?? | ||
| AMD A4-3400 | Radeon HD 6410 | 65W | 2 | 2.7GHz | 160 | 600MHz | $71 | ||
| AMD A4-3300 | Radeon HD 6410 | 65W | 2 | 2.5GHz | 160 | 444MHz | $66 | ||
The A8-3870K and 3670K are fully unlocked (thanks to AMD for the clarification) partially unlocked parts allowing you to overclock an extra 500MHz on the CPU clock and an extra 200MHz on the GPU clock. Stock Llano parts are multiplier locked above their default multiplier and their GPU frequency isn't adjustable from what we've seen. AMD's new K-series SKUs give you another 5 multipliers above the default multiplier on the CPU side, and let you ramp up the GPU clock independently as well. In our original overclocking experiments we found that hitting 3.5 - 3.7GHz via bus overclocking on an A8-3850 wasn't too difficult, so these new K-series parts should let you reach close to what you could before without as much effort. In theory it should be pretty effortless to take a 3670K and turn it into something a bit faster than a 3870K, allowing you to pocket the $20 difference.
The 3x20 parts are new as well - these are mild speed bumps over their 3x00 predecessors. These parts are available starting today (err how about in the coming weeks):
There are also new mobile Llano parts being officially announced today, although we already reported on them earlier.
| AMD Llano Mobile CPU refresh | |||||||
| Name | Cores |
CPU Clock (Max Turbo) |
L2 Cache | GPU | GPU Cores | GPU Clock | TDP |
| A8-3550MX | 4 | 2.0GHz (2.7GHz) | 4MB | HD 6620G | 400 | 444MHz | 45W |
| A8-3520M | 4 | 1.6GHz (2.5GHz) | 4MB | HD 6620G | 400 | 444MHz | 35W |
| A6-3430MX | 4 | 1.7GHz (2.4GHz) | 4MB | HD 6520G | 320 | 400MHz | 45W |
| A6-3420M | 4 | 1.5GHz (2.4GHz) | 4MB | HD 6520G | 320 | 400MHz | 35W |
| A4-3330MX | 2 | 2.2GHz (2.6GHz) | 2MB | HD 6480G | 240 | 444MHz | 45W |
| A4-3320M | 2 | 2.0GHz (2.6GHz) | 2MB | HD 6480G | 240 | 444MHz | 35W |
| A4-3305M | 2 | 1.9GHz (2.5GHz) | 1MB | HD 6480G | 160 | 593MHz | 35W |
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
36 Comments
View All Comments
backy51 - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
And the Pentium M came from PIII - didn't get anything from the P4 line that I'm aware of.Operandi - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
From the model number itself to the adoption of the “K” designation for unlocked chips (what exactly was wrong with “Black Edition”?), to the bringing back of the FX name only to have it trashed with a subpar chip. AMD market is absolutely horrible at least in the CPU division, I thought they fired all these idiots?, seriously WTF is going on here?JonnyDough - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
That's definitely trolling. It isn't saying anything constructive at all. It's just being an anti-AMD Intel fanboy. Truth be told, an all in one CPU and GPU for $135 that is capable of playing any game over five years old is amazing.CeriseCogburn - Saturday, May 26, 2012 - link
Way to go, total hypocrisy from an amd fan.I suspect you posted in anger, disgust, and disbelief over nVidia rebranding for like 5 years straight.
Doesn't matter if you did or not, own the evil, deceptive, PR fool the public amd lying trickster naming convention. Own it - feel it - let the evil flow through you...
StevoLincolnite - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
No. The PR rating that AMD re-introduced with the Athlon XP wasn't a performance metric that could be compared with the Pentium 4.It was actually a benchmark to compare it to the Thunderbird Athlons, the older Athlons without the PR denominator.
It just so happened that Intel's performance with the Pentium 4 was simply bad, it wasn't until the 3000+ Athlon XP's that the naming scheme wasn't comparable to the Pentium 4 as the IPC/clock speed improvements just wasn't cutting it when compared to Netburst.
Then... We got the Athlon 64 which left feces in the competitions face.
The number rating that was used with the K6-2 was a different kettle of fish to as it wasn't a metric used to compare the newer chips with the older ones.
silverblue - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
I thought the K6-2 had actual MHz ratings?chizow - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Yeah, funny there's 25 other letters in the alphabet and they settle on K. If AMD wants to stop playing "follow the leader" they could start by not mimicking Intel's naming schema verbatim.JarredWalton - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
I don't mind the "K" for unlocked being used, and given we had the A8-3850, A8-3870K makes complete sense. Remember that the A8-3850 already existed prior to the announcement of the i7-3770K. Anyway, if someone is so uninformed as to buy an AMD A8-3870K and think it's better than an i7-3770K, they get exactly what they deserve. "Hmm... why is this PC one fourth the price of this other PC when the CPU appears to be a higher model number?"SlyNine - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Yea, I always wondered who that wasn't in the "know" actaully cared about the model number, or even bothered to look enough to know the other one had the same model number.Unless it was a computer at best buy sitting right next to it. But then the price should give them a clue. But honestly How many of those people would even benifit from spending more.
N4g4rok - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Doesn't really seem like a bad idea to have a understood standard for unlocked processors either.