14 DAY TRIAL // In an effort to increase the hype on its Trinity APUs, Texas-based company AMD has today allowed some reviewers to test and reveal the performance of the new chip. The most important mention was that only the integrated graphics processing unit (iGPU) was to be revealed.
The performance of the Piledriver x86 CPU cores was supposed to remain a secret until next week, but it seems that one reviewer was naughty enough to mount an AMD Radeon HD 7870 video card and spill out some gaming benchmark numbers.
Hardware experts at vr-zone.com have compared the new AMD A10-5800K desktop processor to Intel’s Core i5-3470 quad-core CPU.
The comparison is somewhat warranted by the comparable default working frequencies as Intel’s Core i5-3470 works at a default 3200 MHz, but it can also Turbo up to 3600 MHz.
That’s still 200 MHz behind AMD’s Trinity A10-5800K, but we know that AMD’s x86 IPC is not as good as Intel’s, so we believe Intel’s chip will have no problem overtaking AMD’s new wonder.
Probably the most important aspect to note is that, as many other review sites have demonstrated, AMD’s Trinity has a killer iGPU that will mop the floor with Intel’s best HD4000 in all benchmarks.
On the financial side, the comparison is somewhat unwarranted as AMD’s top performing Trinity APU is priced around the $130 mark while Intel’s Core i5-3470 is close to $190 and that makes Intel’s chip 46% more expensive.
The guys at vr-zone only tested the gaming performance of the new Piledriver cores and the end result is that Intel is clearly ahead in some benchmarks while AMD manages to keep pace with it in others.
This is an interesting development as Intel’s chip is not overall 46% faster and if we give up on the external graphics card, the situation is exactly reversed.
Our take is that, if you don’t yet have the money for a graphics card or you’re planning on waiting for AMD’s Radeon HD 8000 Oland, you would be better off with the A10-5800K Trinity as you will actually be able to game with it decently.
When the time for a discrete graphics adapter comes, you’ll have $50 more to spend on your desired 3D chip and then overclocking will help you to somewhat close the gap.
Overall, AMD’s A10-5800K is the definite winner in its price class and if it can compete with the Core i5-3470 in some games, then good for it.
