Comparing Llano chips

[dpodblood]

Hey guys;

Not sure if this belongs here or in CPU, but...

I was considering picking up a Llano based notebook (probably an Acer or the HP DV6) which I would like to use just for basic tasks; web browsing, music, videos, as well as some gaming on low to medium detail. Currently I am looking at 3 different Llano APUs. The A6-3400M, A8-3500M, and A8-3510MX. The 3500M and 3510MX cost $50 and $75 extra respectively. I'm wondering if it would be worth spending the extra $50-$75 for the A8 models over the A6. Keep in mind I am only talking about frame rates here. For other basic tasks I'm sure the A6 is more than enough.

In the end I may be better off just waiting until piledriver is released, since I probably wont be picking this up until early next year anyway. Not sure what the projected release date for that is though.

Thanks!

 

[Rhezuss]

I just built a rig for my gf, with the A6-3650. This chip has a HD 6530D in it and it's a relly nice little GPU.

The A8-3500M has a HD 6620G
The A8-3510MX has a HD 6620G too
The A6-3400M has the HD 6520G

Didn't checked any benches but seeing the HD 6530D (on my gf A6-3650) performing quite nicely, i'd say go for the A8 ones and you'll be well served.

 

[Zap]

I'd pay the extra for the A8. Games are not going to get any less graphics intensive.

 

[wirednuts]

A8-3500m

 

[SlowSpyder]

I have an A6-3400M and like it. But if I had any plans of playing anything more than older games on it, I would go with a faster part, like the A8-3510MX. Probably more than the GPU, the CPU's are clocked really low, so get as much as you can there.

 

[dpodblood]

I'm noticing there are quite a new notebooks out there with "hybrid-crossfire" as well with a Llano APU as well as a dedicated GPU. For around $650 that would be a killer deal.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm noticing there are quite a new notebooks out there with "hybrid-crossfire" as well with a Llano APU as well as a dedicated GPU. For around $650 that would be a killer deal.

Yep, I know the A6-3650 can be CFed with a 6450, 6570 or 6670, probably the same with the M/MX versions. That would be quite the boost you need for games!

 

[dpodblood]

Found this one on NCIX.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62592&vpn=LX.RNZ02.022&manufacture=Acer

Not sure if the 6650M is any good, I'm totally out of the loop when it comes to mobile GPUs. In any even I'm sure it's better than the GPU included with the APU.

 

[Rhezuss]

Found this at http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6650M.43962.0.html

The 3D performance should be similar to the older Radeon HD 5730 due to the larger amount of shaders. Therefore, current and demanding games should run fluently in 1366x768 and medium to high details.

Additionnally, if it's not already the case and if it's possible, you could try to Crossfire the HD 6620G with the HD 6650M for even better performances.

 

[dpodblood]

Thanks. Says it's comparable to a desktop 5730 (which I am more familiar with). Seems like a pretty damn good card for a laptop in that price segment. Hopefully I can still find these deals when I'm ready to buy.

 

[Red Hawk]

Desktop 5730? There's no such thing...

 

[dpodblood]

Doh. HD 5830 was the card I was thinking of. Sorry kind of having GPU brain overload at the moment. So many different options out there.

 

[s44]

Yeah, it's an underclocked desktop 6570. Nowhere close to a 58xx.

 

[s44]

The thing with A6 is that it's cheap. Once you hit the top end of A8 pricing, you might as well go in for the Lenovo Y570 and its i5+GT555m (similar shader power to that 6650m, but massively better memory bandwidth thanks to GDDR5).

edit -- for some reason, the Y570s on Canadian stores don't seem to mention the Nvidia graphics, but I'd be rather amazed if Lenovo took 'em out just for the Canadian models