AMD A8-7670K ‘Kaveri’ APU Review

[section_title title=”Conclusion”]

Conclusion

It’s time to draw this one to a close and to give you our final thoughts on the AMD A8-7650K. What does Play3r think of it, and should it be something that you might want to consider in a budget orientated build? Let’s see…

Given the nature of the product with a quad core CPU and R7 graphics chip on-board in one package, it seems like a strikingly good deal for those who want to get a budget HTPC with plenty of grunt for 4K content with perhaps a smidgen of gaming on the side too. While the gaming performance is going to be somewhat lacking compared to getting a dedicated card and a more potent CPU, you really cannot fault the APU for its price of just over £74. If you’re expecting to be able to game on such a chip, you’re expecting too much from it. While it is doable and it should play a fair number of games on medium details, it’s still asking a lot of the built in R7 GPU.

RAM speed plays a very important factor when you’re considering one of the APUs from AMD’s current line up. Just like with their very first Llano based chips, the Kaveri (and Godavari) require fast RAM to make the most of the on-board GPU. The reason for this is simple – the higher the bandwidth, the better the performance. It is of course only going to affect it up until a certain point whereby the GPU will then become too underpowered to make use of the extra bandwidth, but I think 2400 MHz RAM is the sweet spot for this particular chip (and the Kaveri family for that matter).

So, would I recommend this CPU? Well, as some of you may know, I am a die hard Intel fan boy, but after having a play with this CPU and taking it for what it is, I would have to say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised and actually … yes, I would recommend this product for the very reason that it is a CPU and GPU in one package. It can do most tasks you require without too much hassle. Whilst it may not be the fastest chip on the planet, it does represent is some serious bang for buck in the low-end computing division. AMD may not be able to keep up in the high-end market, but when it comes to value in the sense that you get an R7 GPU with 384 shaders and a quad core processor in a single package, they’ve got that one nailed.

The CPU side of the chip does let it down a little, but the GPU does help to bring it back up to respectable levels. It is a shame that the APU uses 95 watts, but TDP isn’t everything (to some of us anyway). It’s design is clever in the sense that it is more GPU focused instead of CPU focused but that just doesn’t compare to its real winning point here – its price. For the money, you most likely won’t find better unless you’re looking at the second hand market and are going to go down an Intel G3258 route with a similar graphics card. AMD have done well for themselves with this one, and they do deserve some credit in these tough times.