7750 coupled with 256 cores on the APU is actually not so bad for that kind of form factor (assuming proper driver support -- I know, I know). Definitely beats the intel iris box for light gaming.
The extra die area does help with heat dissipation, which may or may not help. Ideally the onboard GPU would be fused off, and AMD does make parts like the Athlon X4 760K, but there's nothing like that in the mobile stack apparently...
You beat me to this, but yeah, the decision to go Richland rather than waiting for more suitable, 35W Kaveri parts is baffling. Dual Graphics isn't a silver bullet by any means, but it'd certainly be better than an unusable VLIW block on the APU.
It does seem odd to go with Richland. But remember that Richland can run just fine in an AM2+ board so Kaveri and Richland are compatible on the same platform. And at 35W Kaveri should prove to be much more capable than Richland at 35W since the benefits of Kaveri are seen at low TDP.
*FM2+ socket, not AM2+. And Richland can run in it but that doesn't mean that they are using that here. So if they use FM2 socket with Richland, there is no compatibility.
So like AMD to announce something without pricing, release, or if the APU and GPU CF well. Basically, they just threw pictures and a brief description up and thought, "Hey, they'll fill in all the bad blanks with assumptions if we say nothing!"
Just like we always do with everything else they "reveal" in this fashion.
Typical gigabyte. Hype a product then reduce it's specs. They've done this before with thunderbolt equipped laptops that never happened, now they tout a 8890M and release it with a much slower part.
No hope in hell the NVidia one will be a 880M, I called this right from the start. It's going to be a 840m or something.
I don't understand the point in this model. The sole point of getting an AMD APU is for the GPU advantage over Intel. If you're going to use a discrete GPU anyway, may as well just use an Intel CPU.
Except for the HUMONGOUS price difference. Not to mention that AMD promised Dual Graphics support for VLIW5 APUs and GCN GPUs so there's extra performance waiting to be reaped in.
I like the honest and technically correct "dual module" with "four threads" in this article, instead the commercial "quad-core" that AMD try to push hard to let consumer think it's comparable to an Intel quad-core CPU.
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nathanddrews - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
That R9 M275X is such a mystery! It is difficult to be excited or not.Spuke - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
http://techreport.com/news/25969/amd-apu-discrete-...Says there the M275X is equivalent to a desktop HD 7750.
thevoiceofreason - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
7750 coupled with 256 cores on the APU is actually not so bad for that kind of form factor (assuming proper driver support -- I know, I know). Definitely beats the intel iris box for light gaming.M1ke116 - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
Isn't the 8550G a VLIW architecture whereas the 7750 is GCN, If so these cannot be crossfired. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.skiboysteve - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
You are correct. Real mistake here to use that CPU. Can't use half of its die area at all (the GPU).thevoiceofreason - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
Oh, that's very disappointing.Colin1497 - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
The extra die area does help with heat dissipation, which may or may not help. Ideally the onboard GPU would be fused off, and AMD does make parts like the Athlon X4 760K, but there's nothing like that in the mobile stack apparently...DryAir - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
Bigger die area will not help much in heat dissipation if the heat production is concentred in just a portion of it.MrSpadge - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
At 35 W there's nothing to worry about except a too small fan. Heat transfer from a 32 nm die is absolutely no problem.Gadgety - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
I expected the Kaveri line in the Brix' units rather than Richland. I'll guess that'll be next year's Brix gaming.konistehrad - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
You beat me to this, but yeah, the decision to go Richland rather than waiting for more suitable, 35W Kaveri parts is baffling. Dual Graphics isn't a silver bullet by any means, but it'd certainly be better than an unusable VLIW block on the APU.Flunk - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
Yes, that is odd and disappointing. I misread this at first and got excited.Hubb1e - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
It does seem odd to go with Richland. But remember that Richland can run just fine in an AM2+ board so Kaveri and Richland are compatible on the same platform. And at 35W Kaveri should prove to be much more capable than Richland at 35W since the benefits of Kaveri are seen at low TDP.Death666Angel - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
*FM2+ socket, not AM2+. And Richland can run in it but that doesn't mean that they are using that here. So if they use FM2 socket with Richland, there is no compatibility.Gigaplex - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
The AMD A8-5557M is BGA mountednightscheme - Sunday, February 2, 2014 - link
Actually AMD promised support for VLIW5 and GCN Dual Graphics, meaning it's still possible.HisDivineOrder - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
So like AMD to announce something without pricing, release, or if the APU and GPU CF well. Basically, they just threw pictures and a brief description up and thought, "Hey, they'll fill in all the bad blanks with assumptions if we say nothing!"Just like we always do with everything else they "reveal" in this fashion.
PhoenixEnigma - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - link
That's funny, as this wasn't revealed by AMD, unless they've suddenly purchased Gigabyte."We have received a PR from GIGABYTE regarding the next model in the stack, dubbed the BRIX Gaming."
rhx123 - Wednesday, January 29, 2014 - link
Typical gigabyte. Hype a product then reduce it's specs. They've done this before with thunderbolt equipped laptops that never happened, now they tout a 8890M and release it with a much slower part.No hope in hell the NVidia one will be a 880M, I called this right from the start. It's going to be a 840m or something.
Gigaplex - Monday, February 3, 2014 - link
I don't understand the point in this model. The sole point of getting an AMD APU is for the GPU advantage over Intel. If you're going to use a discrete GPU anyway, may as well just use an Intel CPU.nightscheme - Tuesday, February 4, 2014 - link
Except for the HUMONGOUS price difference.Not to mention that AMD promised Dual Graphics support for VLIW5 APUs and GCN GPUs so there's extra performance waiting to be reaped in.
iAPX - Sunday, February 9, 2014 - link
I like the honest and technically correct "dual module" with "four threads" in this article, instead the commercial "quad-core" that AMD try to push hard to let consumer think it's comparable to an Intel quad-core CPU.