just for the fun of it and give those of you with lower powered CPU's an idea I decided to see how much of a bottle neck the A10 6800K is with high end grapics cards A10-6800K + GTX970 vs A10-6800K + R9 290x http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/8949487/3dm11/8621475 A10-6800K +GTX970 vs Intel i7-4770 + GTX970 http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/8836229/3dm11/8949487 the graphic performance is the same its only when cpu physics gets involved the APU falls on its face, at least with 3dmark 2011 that is,. not to bad for a wimpy APU really,
APU's still have there place though it all depends on what you use it for I guess to me theres not much point buying an APU if you just going to add a graphics card to it wasting your money but if you plan on using it just as an APU they are good choice.
Most of that difference is down to the physics score, not the GFX. CPU makes very little difference there. Mine: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4663893
I have taken the 970 out of the apu system put it back in sli with my main system, from playing around with it, its fine until any gpu+cpu physics come into play then the apu falls flat on its face only when the cards were unplayable did they bench the exact same fps on metro last light with settings for both computers at : dsr 3840x2160, quality very high, AF 16X, SSAA enabled, physics enabled. both setups hit : intel i7 4770 setup 14.36fps AMD 6800K apu setup 14.33fps. oh and at 1080P intel i7 4770 + GTX970 G1: average 46fps (or GTX970 + 760 set to dedicated physics 49fps) min 35fps , amd 6800k + GTX 970 G1: average 38fps min 15fps (where action gets heavy) so it was unplable on the 6800k at same settings as the intel system with same gfx cards. settings where : 1080P, quality very high, SSA on, tessellation normal, blur normal, physics on. there is no point using an 6800k with anything bigger than HD7870 or at most an gtx760, I just set the apu up with the 970 as I was bored and gave me something to play about with.
Breaking it down if you look at the graphics sections, it's not a big difference at all. G-Test 1 with the 970 and APU- 71.2 G-Test 1 with the 970 and i7- 74.6 Not a big difference like there is in the physx test. Physx test with the 970 and APU- 12.4 Physx test with the 970 and i7- 27.1 But then you put into factor the i7 has 8 threads, and a better memory controller. As far as results go considering the price differences between the two this is not bad at all for the 6800k. Consider it even less if you get the FM2 Athlon's and OC that for the same results CPU wise as the 6800k.
it is ok for a little apu but the main problem is when lots of action kicks in on real games the 6800k will stick around 15-17fps where as the intel lows stick around 35-38fps there can be parts of metro last light that become unplayable at max settings even at 1080p using an 6800k with the gtx 970 but perfectly playable on the intel system at same settings, the 6800k is ok but that's about as far as I would say about it. just no good for max settings with high end gfx card.
True, but what do you expect out of a sub $100 CPUA/APU? Physx relies mainly on IPC performance, and memory management which is where AMD falls short in both areas. With their APU's though they are starting to get better at least.
APU's are good for what they are, best place for APU's is in an HTPC or an PC for lite everyday tasks, team it up with an SSD to help keep it feeling snappy although intel's Igpu's are getting better so I wonder how much longer it will be befor the AMD apu's seem pointless as a low cost intel cpu with Igpu will have good enuff gpu power with better cpu cores to run an HTPC and probs run cooler and use less power.
APU's have the core and shader count, they just need the memory support. Iris Pro gets its boost thanks to the 128mb eDRAM onboard, and the memory controllers as well. Look at benchmarks of the 6800k and where you see the most improvements when overclocking. The memory!
Kaveri is getting better and better lately though. Power efficient and pretty strong. Only thing is their price. IGPU's are still pretty weak atm.
I cant agree that ipgu's are weak, the fact they can play games even if it is at lower settings means it has to be fairly good, now the days of onboard gfx I would agree. for an htpc you don't need much gpu power, just enough for blu ray and video stuff is normaly all they need or want, being able to play games on an htpc I think is looked at as an added value bonus.
im stuck in two minds with what to do with my A10-6800k based system. in one thought I think well I bought this apu just to play around with and keep it as and apu gpu only but maybe play around with dual gfx (which I did and came to the conclusion its pretty pointless really as if im going to add a gfx card I might as well add something better than the dual list of cards for the 6800k) and another thought I cant help thinking sod it put the 760 back in it as the card is just laying aroud doing nothing ( spare card I had left after selling an old setup, but replaced the 760 which was installed in the system with an 6850 as the buyer wanted the system for less money) but when I do that I start feeling well why did I buy the a10 6800k if im using a better gfx I might as well just bought an better intel cpu for the same price lol ... what I will probs do is sell the 760 and stick to why I bought the 6800k in first place and that was to use it as an apu only system... it a really funny place I put myself heeh its like if you own an 6800k and use its built in gpu it plays games fine just at low ress and low detail for newer games but it works fine and when you take in to account its not using an add-on gfx card the novelty factor for me is quite fun, but that's the thing, im trying to work out is it just an novelty type thing ? probs.
yes please with CPU bound DX11 games thrown in the mix I have a hunch 970 + APU would do much better than 290X + APU
its an asus 760 https://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/GTX760DC2OC2GD5/ I have no idea what they are worth on second hand market atm, its only around 5-6 months old and not really been used. only threw out the box the other day, doing my man cave up so I dumped loads of boxes for the space .. (still waithing for my carpet to turn up though lol :/)
the apu with the gtx970 over the r9 290x you probs wouldn't notice the difference, I would never advise anyone with an apu or weak cpu to buy an high end gfx card It would be a total waste of money, the 6800k is a nice match with the 760 or an r9 270 but even then they probs a little bit over powered for the a10 6800k, these are just my feelings while playing around with this apu im not stating them as facts.
