AMD has a couple of new accelerated processing units (APUs, natch) for your consumption. They’re interesting mainly because they have some of the most powerful integrated graphics chipsets you’ll find in a CPU, and they can be tweaked for lower power consumption and heat output.
The news of today is that the A10-7800 I talked about a month ago is now available to DIYers and system builders; you can pick one up from your local computer store and use it at the centre of your next PC build. That build may as well be a super-compact mini-ITX one in a fanless case, since the new A10’s configurable TDP lets you pick full-power 65 Watt output or reduced 45 Watt that sacrifices processing and graphics performance for a tighter thermal envelope.
Joining the quad-CPU-core, octa-GPU core A10-7800 is a quad-CPU-core, hexa-GPU-core A8-7600. Both APUs have Radeon R7 Series graphics chipsets integrated, which will blow away the garden variety Intel HD Graphics of your Core i5 or i7. As a bonus, you’ll get a free game to choose from Thief, Sniper Elite III or Murdered: Soul Suspect.
I think the idea that AMD is pursuing with this configurable TDP is really interesting; it’s the concept of underclocking given the 21st century treatment. AMD’s APUs don’t really make sense in a larger case where you have space for a discrete graphics card already, but they’re already a smart choice for multipurpose and mid-power small form factor PCs where you want and need all-in-one performance. [AMD]