AMD A8-3870K: Black Edition Llano

INTRODUCTION

AMD launched the desktop APU (codenamed Llano) back in June 2011. While the APU, which is virtually a CPU with integrated GPU, features much more powerful integrated graphics (the HD 6550D) than Intel Sandy Bridge’s HD 3000 counterpart, it is unfortunately not fast enough compare to the similar priced Phenom II processors. Making the matter worse, that the APU lacks the overclocking potential that is found on the black edition Phenom processors due to the locked multiplier.

AMD has heard the enthusiasts demand and released two K series processors, A8-3870K and the A6-3670K, with unlocked multipliers for enthusiast who like to squeeze that extra bit of clockspeed out of their chip. In addition to the unlocked multiplier, the new processors are also running 100MHz faster than the previous A8-3850 and A6-3650, respectively. Since 100MHz does not really yield a huge performance gain, AMD priced the A8-3870K at $144.99 which is just $5 more than the A8-3850. The A6-370K is priced at $10 more than the A6-3650.

The new K series processors allow users to overclock the CPU by simply raising the multiplier and keep the bus speed at default 100MHz. However, users can also increase the GPU clockspeed, an option that was not available with the non-K models. With the A8-3850 (non-K model), we can raise the GPU performance by overclocking the FSB, which in turn raises both the CPU and GPU speed simultaneously. With the K models, we can now raise the GPU frequency independent of the CPU frequency, without raising the FSB frequency.

Both the A8-3870K and the A6-3670K still feature 4MB of L2 cache, four cores on the die, and support DDR3 up to 1866MHz. The A8-3870K CPU runs at 3.0 GHZ and the A6-3670K runs at 2.7GHz. In the GPU department, the bigger brother of the two (A8-3870K) has 400 Radeon cores running at 600MHz while its little brother has 320 Radeon cores at 440MHz.