Hasta La Gadget!

It’s never easy playing second fiddle, but AMD is trying their best to keep Intel on their toes with its latest line of Trinity desktop chips. We were introduced to the Trinity last week, but now the official reviews are in from the usual specialist sites. The consensus seems to be that it provides solid performance for the price. The Trinity A10-5800K is in the same class as the Core i5 but sells at $130 on NewEgg, which is the going rate for the Core i3-3220 (Guess those price leaks were true). Hot Hardware notes that both the A10-5800K and the A8-5600K offer improved performance and decent overclockability, stating that it offers “roughly a 10 percent kicker in CPU performance” and “15 – 17 percent increase in GPU performance.” As for power consumption, Anandtech claims the Trinity isn’t quite as good as the Core i3, but “compared to Llano, Trinity is a bit more efficient” so it looks like there’s improvement from past AMD chips. TechSpot points out the Trinity also requires a new Socket FM2 motherboard.

Like most reviews, Hot Hardware recommends the Trinity chips as a solid choice for those who want an entry-level system. However, those hungry for power are probably still going to go Intel. Legit Reviews states that the AMD Trinity will do just fine for everyday use and some light gaming, leaving the pricier Intel chips for performance-chasers. Definitely peruse the links below for more details before considering a purchase.

Read – Hot Hardware
Read – Tom’s Hardware
Read – AnandTech
Read – Legit Reviews
Read – Benchmark Reviews

Filed under: Desktops

AMD Trinity review roundup: good bang for your entry-level buck originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chipmaker AMD has announced retail availability of its new A-Series APU. This is a second generation APU aimed at DIY computer builders constructing their own desktop, small form factor, or home theater computers. AMD says that the A-Series APU offers affordable performance, discrete-level graphics, multiple cores, and fast processing.

The A-Series APU is available in multiple configurations with pricing ranging from $53-$122 depending on clock speed. One of the good things about the A-Series line is that it uses a stable socket platform with the new AMD FM2 infrastructure. That means that people who build a computer using this APU have a direct upgrade path for more performance down the road.

The A-Series APU promises more than 700 GFLOPS of computer performance at up to 4.2 GHz maximum frequency. The CPU of the A-Series is unlocked and using AMD OverDrive software users can overclock the processor to operate at up to 6.5 GHz. The CPU and GPU also both feature AMD Turbo Core 3.0 technology allowing GPU and CPU frequencies to automatically increase.

The hallmark feature of AMD APUs is the integration of a graphics core along with the CPU core. The A-Series APU features an AMD Radeon HD 7000 series GPU providing discrete-class graphics integrated into the processor. The GPU supports AMD Eyefinity Technology for multiple monitors. The integrated graphics can be leveraged when a discrete graphics card is added for a performance boost of up to 75%.

AMD unveils new A-Series processors is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Xi3 has been one of the more inventive PC builders in the field, designing its Modular Computers in the belief that small, more upgradable desktops are the way of the future. The company is planning two new systems to further that dream, the X3A and X7A, but it wants our help: it’s running a Kickstarter funding drive until October 28th to assist the development and garner some early adopters. Put down $503 or $603 and you’ll get the entry-level X3A, a dual-core 1.65GHz (likely AMD E-450-based) PC with 4GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD and either Linux or Windows installed; splurge with $1,103 or more and you’ll get the more performance-driven X7A, which jumps to a quad-core chip with a 3.2GHz peak speed, a Windows-loaded 64GB SSD and faster graphics. Assuming Xi3 makes its target, we should see the X3A and X7A arrive in January and February respectively, with Kickstarter supporters beating the larger herd by a week. Even existing owners are accounted for through a Primary I/O Board upgrade, due before the end of this year, that carries more Ethernet and USB 3.0 ports. Crowdfunding is an unusual approach to buying that next PC, without the certainties of shopping at an online store — but we’re also dealing with an unusual PC from the get-go.

Continue reading Xi3 goes the crowdfunding route for future X3A, X7A modular PCs (video)

Filed under: Desktops

Xi3 goes the crowdfunding route for future X3A, X7A modular PCs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While it’s always been possible to emulate an Android device on a Windows PC, to this point it hasn’t been practical for most users and would best be described as a developer tool. But if you’ve got a PC with an AMD chip inside, you can now emulate individual Android apps, including some popular games like Fruit Ninja. Today, AMD launched the AppZone player, which makes it possible to run native Android apps on a Windows PC. The AppZone player seems to have a good deal of AMD-specific technology baked in, so it won’t run on Intel PCs.

(more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Next-gen BlackBerrys might see Android action, Fruity Loops Studio for Android is still in the works,

AMD has a disproportionately large $6.4 million investment in BlueStacks, and now we’re seeing one clear reason why. The two companies have teamed up to create a special version of the BlueStacks App Player that’s tuned for AMD’s Fusion-based processors and Radeon graphics cards, running Android apps with the full help of the chip desgner’s hardware in Windows 7 and 8 PCs. Accordingly, over 500,000 Android apps are invading AMD’s new AppZone portal without any needed tweaks of their own, giving the service a much larger catalog than if it had gone with Windows alone. Both companies have a clear incentive to this melding of desktop and mobile: BlueStacks suddenly gets exposure to as many as 100 million AMD-running users, while AMD can tout a giant app catalog that may be preloaded on future PCs using its components. We don’t know if the world needs yet another avenue for playing Angry Birds, especially when many AMD-based PCs won’t have touchscreens, but the BlueStacks partnership could be a strong lure for new PC buyers who’d like an instant software library.

Continue reading BlueStacks teams with AMD to optimize Android App Player for Fusion, Radeon chips (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

BlueStacks teams with AMD to optimize Android App Player for Fusion, Radeon chips (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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