AMD Llano A8-3850 vs Intel Core i3 2120

I have recently been looking at the performance of the new AMD Llano CPU's. Having looked at a few benchmark videos and bench mark results I decided to compare an Intel CPU and an AMD CPU that both cost the same amount of money (well as close as I could get on the eBuyer website)
The two CPU's I chose were the AMD Llano A8-3850 and the Intel Core i3 2120 CPU. Both of which are of the latest CPU's from each company and both cost around the same sort of price. The intel CPU being £6 more. Here are the 2 CPU's on the eBuyer website;

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/272282
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254978

AMD Llano A8-3850 Specifications
Core Speed - 2.9Ghz
Number of cores - 4
Number of threads - 4
Cache - 4mb
Intergrated Graphics - 6550D
Graphics Frequency - 600MHz

Intel Core i3 2120 Specifications
Core Speed - 3.3GHz
Number of core - 2
Number of threads - 4
Cache - 3Mb
Intergrated graphics - Intel HD 2000
Graphics Frequency - 850Mhz

As you can see the AMD CPU has 4 real cores whereas the Intel CPU only has 2 real cores and Hyper Threading. This might make a noticeable difference in the CPU benchmarks later on.

I first went on the the CPU benchmark site called www.cpubenchmark.net this site has bench marks for pretty much every CPU that there is and is based on results that are got from it's own benchmark program called Passmark Performance test. Every time someone runs the program it uploads the results from the CPU and graphics card tests to this website. These are the benchmark results for both of the CPU's. Bearing in mind that the graphics side of the chips are not taken into account on this test.

AMD Llano A8-3850 - 4786
Intel Core i3 2120 - 3943

As you can see the AMD is already way ahead with basic CPU performance. It is around 21% faster for £6 less cost. This clearly makes the A8-3850 a better option for just CPU performance.

Now I am going to look at the graphical performance of each CPU. I couldn't find much data really about the graphics performance however I did find a couple of videos of each CPU running  games. (I know the intel one is based on the 2100 but that is because I couldn't find 2120 specific results)

Here is the AMD Llano A8-3850 running Crysis 2 without the aid of a graphics card

Here is the Intel Core i3 2120 running Dirt 3 without a graphics card

As you can see the Intel CPU is running the graphics on low with a resolution of only 1024x768 which is pretty feeble. The AMD A8-3850 is running Crysis 2 (known for being demanding) It is also running a second benchmark program in the background of the game loading 2 of the cores to 100% as well.

Overall I think that AMD have really hit the spot with the new APU series of processors that they have developed. They are definatly cheaper than the Intel equivalent and also seem to offer some very good performance as well. If AMD carry on this way with there higher performance CPU's in the future I am pretty sure that they will earn a lot of money of this great design.

Images, Details of AMD Fusion "Llano" Mainboards Transpire

EliteGroup Computer Systems (ECS) this week officially unveiled details about its mainboards designed for AMD A-series "Fusion Llano" accelerated processing units (APUs). In addition, the first picture of a high-end ECS motherboard for A-series chips emerged on the Internet.

ECS, one of the world's largest maker of motherboards, plans to release three A75F-series mainboards with FM1 socket for AMD code-named Llano A-series APUs. All three mainboards will be based on the AMD Hudson D3 (A75) Fusion controller hub (FCH), will support dual-channel DDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, Serial ATA-600, USB 3.0, high-definition audion and other advantages.

One of the mainboards - A75F-A "Black Deluxe - will be in ATX form-factor and will thus be aimed at more advanced end-users. For example, ECS A75F-A has passed 50°C burn test, presenting high quality and durability. In addition, based on the image of the mainboard that emerged on the Internet, the platform supports multi-GPU ATI CrossFireX technology which allows to install several discrete graphics cards, a feature typically found on high-end multimedia systems.

^{ECS A75F-A}

The other two FM1 motherboards from ECS - A75F-M and A75F-M2 - will feature micro-ATX form-factor and will thus be aimed primarily at OEMs or system makers.

Read More Here

AMD Plans Extremely Rapid Transition to New Micro-Architectures, Process Technology.

Advanced Micro Devices seems to be planning extremely rapid transition of its desktop microprocessors to 32nm silicon-on-insulator fabrication process, a person with knowledge of the matter said. By the second quarter of 2012 virtually all AMD processors will be made using 32nm SOI technology and be based on new designs.

At present the absolute majority of desktop microprocessors shipped by Advanced Micro Devices are AMD Athlon II and AMD Phenom II chips in AM3 form-factor. But already in a little bit more than a year from now all the desktop chips that AMD will sell will be made using 32nm SOI process technology and will rely on code-named Bulldozer, Brazos and Llano designs, the source indicated.

Approximately 20% of AMD's desktop microprocessors in Q2 2012 will be in AM3+ form-factor and will belong to the FX family of chips, which is based on Bulldozer micro-architecture. About 10% of desktop chips will come in FT1 ball-grid-array form-factor and will therefore be based on Brazos design. The remaining 70% will be Llano accelerated processing units with two or four x86 cores as well as a Radeon HD 6000-class graphics engine in  FM1 form-factor.

It is remarkable that after a number of delays AMD seems to have rather ambitious plans for the 32nm ramp. By contrast, it usually takes years for Intel Corp., the much larger rival of AMD, to transit to one micro-architecture to another or from one technology process for another.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

www.customdesktops.moonfruit.com
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20110211103809_AMD_Plans_Extremely_Rapid_Transition_to_New_Micro_Architectures_Process_Technology.html

AMD readies revised version of CrossFireX for their Fusion Llano APU

After a well-received launch of the Fusion "Zacate" accelerated processing unit (APU) for nettops and entry-level PCs, AMD's higher-performance APU, codenamed "Llano", is just around the corner. Llano is intended for use on mainstream desktops, business PCs, and all-in-one PCs, it is better geared for higher-resolution, visually-intensive computing. Its competitors include Intel's Core i3 and Core i5 dual-core processors. AMD is backing up this launch with a new multi-GPU technology which is both similar and different from Hybrid CrossFireX. The similar part is that the GPU embedded in the Fusion chip will work in tandem with a discrete AMD Radeon graphics card, the difference is that it can work with any HD 6000 series graphics card, and multiply the available display connectivity.

See an internal performance benchmark of the scaling impovements or read the rest of the article here.