14 DAY TRIAL // Kaveri is the codename of the accelerated processing unit (APU) architecture powering AMD's current generation of accelerated processing units, so hearing about price cuts is always good. Especially in the back-to-school season.
Indeed, the AMD A10-7700K is going to drop from $149 / €149 to $139 / €139, which is a 7% slash to the total figure.
In case you need a reminder, the chip is a quad-core APU with a base frequency of 3.4 GHz base frequency, 3.8 GHz Turbo Clock speed, 4MB L2 cache memory, Radeon R7 graphics (384 cores), and a TDP (thermal design power) of 95W. Essentially, it is the third strongest APU in the A-Series.
Unfortunately, it is also the only current-generation A-Series chip to receive a price revision. All other Kaveri chips are hanging onto their tags for now.
The other price revisions are happening to A-6000 Series chips, which is to say the APUs powered by the Richland technology. And even there, not all chips are going to get cheaper in September.
Still, at least the former flagship A10-6800K is getting one. The quad-core APU features its 8 MB cache memory, Radeon 8670D integrated GPU (384 cores), 4.10 GHz base clock, 4.4 GHz boost clock, and a TDP of 100W. It is moving from $139 / €139 to $129 / €129.
Another chip getting a price cut is the A10-6700, going from $139 / €139 to $129 / €129. It is a quad-core unit, like the A10-6800K, but it trades off some performance in exchange for a lower TDP, of 65W.
To elaborate, the processor, with its 4 MB cache memory and Radeon 8670D graphics, has a CPU clock of 3.7 GHz / 4.3 GHz.
The A10-6700T is going through the exact same price change. It is an even more efficient chip, with a TDP of 45W. Its specs are: 4 cores, Radeon 8650D graphics (384 cores, like on the others), 4 MB cache, and 2.5 GHz / 3.5 GHz clocks.
Moving down in the series, the A8-6600K and A8-6500 are both changing from $95 / €95 to $89 / €89. Both are quad-core chips with Radeon 8570D graphics (256 cores), but the former has 3.9 GHz / 4.2 GHz clocks and 100W TDP, while the latter is a 65W processor with 3.5 GHz / 4.10 GHz clock.
Finally, the A8-6500T is going to change from $95 / €95 to $85 / €85. It is a quad-core APU with Radeon 8550D graphics (256 cores), 4 MB cache, base CPU clock of 2.10 GHz, Turbo Core maximum of 3.10 GHz, and 45W TDP.
All these chips are compatible with FM2 socket motherboards, except for the AMD A10-7700K which is an FM2+ chip. The price changes will come into play on September 1, 2014, the same day when the new AMD Athlon X4 and A-Series chips are expected to debut.