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 |
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chizow - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Yeah I doubt McDowell's had a problem using the "Golden Arcs" either. AMD just comes off looking like a cheap knock-off every time they try copying Intel's naming scheme.....this classic bit comes to mind:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGRiTpCji0I
Belard - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
The DUMBEST thing about the AMD A-Series K chips is that... ONLY computer geeks/techies know the difference between a 2500 and a 2500k (and so on)...Those SAME people *KNOW* the difference between an AMD-A and FX and how it compares to the intel i5.
Yeah, none of the As are in comparison to the i5... and from the looks of things, an overclocked A chip may exceed the performance of an FX.
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, May 26, 2012 - link
LOL - a8 3870 beats i7 3770 !Once again amd relies on deceipt and the hope that it's customers are dumb as a rock.
It must work for them, right, because we were told for years that nVidia renamed and rebranded to fool the public, and the amd fans couldn't repeat it enough, angrily telling us that's why nVidia had such high sales. I suspect amd won't achieve the high sales part.
What say you amd fans, is amd evil ?
Since "you're trolling" and silent crickets is the response, we know none of you have any integrity and were not about fairness or defense of the public.
Pure hypocrisy.
fic2 - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Ok, so for $135 I can either get an locked part running at 2.9GHz or unlocked part running at 3.0GHz? Why not just take the 3650 and 3850 off the market. Seems rather stupid to have both.Pinin - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Not for me. Only will consider it when they fix the OpenGL bug that makes it use the worse GPU's in the system.BSMonitor - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
This is exactly what these should have been from the start. AMD A8-3870K version that is.Now, a system builder can lower the maximum CPU clock and increase the GPU clock. Or vice versa depending on the use.
Why on earth AMD increased CPU and GPU power as the models increased blows me away. Anyone who wants more CPU power is not going to be satisfied with anything the iGPU can provide. So increasing it's capability is really wasted. But increasing both is likely going to hit instability faster.
Here's an idea, lower the CPU perfomance, as light gaming rarely needs 4 CPUs clocked insanely high, and use that extra thermal room on the GPU clock!!! Wow. Brilliant!
Now if only they'd let you shut off 1-2 CPU cores or 200-300 GPU cores as needed as well.
AMD, if you want to stand out, make a single SKU that can ramped up or down based on the consumers need! Make the ultimate OEM friendly APU.
Arnulf - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
"Here's an idea, lower the CPU perfomance, as light gaming rarely needs 4 CPUs clocked insanely high, and use that extra thermal room on the GPU clock!!! Wow. Brilliant!Now if only they'd let you shut off 1-2 CPU cores or 200-300 GPU cores as needed as well."
Back when Llano came out I would have preferred it to come in a 2 or 3 core + faster GPU flavor. If this could be managed in software on the fly, even better. There are plenty of games that don't even run two threads.
JonnyDough - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
The solution we need is automatically adjusting the frequencies based on the application load. AMD knows this I am sure. Intel does too, and is headed in that direction with their turbo as well. Automatic removal of the bottleneck is an awesome feature to have. Every application would ideally run at the fastest speed the system can provide.tech6 - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Given all the bulldozer fiasco and the lukewarm reception to the Fusion parts maybe they should just unlock everything.Taft12 - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Of note (to me at least) is that the A6-3600 and A8-3800 seem to be in stockat Amazon. It's the first time I've seen the 65W versions of the Llano desktop quad-cores available anywhere besides an OEM HP or Acer systemAlso somewhat amusing is Amazon's A8-3870's price:
List Price: $149.99
Your Price: $160.02