AMD A10-5800K "Trinity" APU On Linux

[pingufunkybeat]

They should work fine with the open source drivers. There were some display problems with certain configurations, but those should all be fixed now with the fixes in 3.6 kernels and newer as well as the stable series kernels. 3D is supported in mesa 8.0.5 and 9.0.

Fantastic.

Thanks for the quick reply!

[agd5f]

Any news on what the problem is with OSS drivers and these new chips?

IIRC, these are not GCN (southern islands) parts, they use Northern Islands GPU cores, and those are really well supported by r600g.

Have AMD guys looked into this? Any tentative ETA?

My motherboard is dying and since it's an AM2 socket thing, I'll need to replace the processor at the same time. I'd love to go for one of these APUs, but I'd rather skip the Llano parts and go with Piledriver. I have to replace one of the graphics card at the same time (multi-seat) so I'd rather have kernel and Mesa support it.

Compiling from git is no problem.

They should work fine with the open source drivers. There were some display problems with certain configurations, but those should all be fixed now with the fixes in 3.6 kernels and newer as well as the stable series kernels. 3D is supported in mesa 8.0.5 and 9.0.

[pingufunkybeat]

Any news on what the problem is with OSS drivers and these new chips?

IIRC, these are not GCN (southern islands) parts, they use Northern Islands GPU cores, and those are really well supported by r600g.

Have AMD guys looked into this? Any tentative ETA?

My motherboard is dying and since it's an AM2 socket thing, I'll need to replace the processor at the same time. I'd love to go for one of these APUs, but I'd rather skip the Llano parts and go with Piledriver. I have to replace one of the graphics card at the same time (multi-seat) so I'd rather have kernel and Mesa support it.

Compiling from git is no problem.

[Kivada]

I've seen this for years and years. Fact, once you get to 1920x1080 or higher with max detail settings the CPU in by far not the limiting factor in bleeding edge game graphics tech.

The CPU does however make an impact at all resolutions and detail settings when you are looking at high end RTS titles(hundreds-thousands of units doing stuff), flight simulators(MS Flight sim and its clones are completely CPU bound) or massive active world type games such as the Grand Theft Auto series(much like the RTS games, a ton of things happening at the same time).

As for crossfire on an APU, it's actually a great idea for mid range cards provided you have fast enough RAM to allow the APU to stretch it's legs.

Pairing an APU with a high end GPU, already being done, see the MSI GX60 http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GX60.html which is pairing the A10-4600m with an HD7970m in a 15" laptop. You get to have cake that isn't a lie, the HD7970m is only spooled up for heavy gaming and for heavy GPGPU tasks, when it isn't needed you get good all around performance and actual battery life so that you can use the laptop for actual work.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with OpenCL and GPGPU for in game physics. These APUs would be perfect for use as physics co-processors in the same way that Nvidia does with low end cards and PhysX.

[crazycheese]

The numbers went sweet by till I saw that thats with Catalyst. Given the fact Intel driver is opensource, HD4k wins over this anyday.

[bug77]

The problem with those numbers is they don't support your point of view.

Then why are you so quick to dismiss them?
And how come they don't support my point of view? If Trinity would have enough horsepower as to not bottleneck games, then more powerful CPUs wouldn't push more FPS. And again, two tests were run at 1680x1050 with pretty high settings.

[ownagefool]

They're not my numbers, they're Anand's. The only benchmark I could find that tests the impact of the CPU on gaming. I don't think it's irrelevant just because it doesn't support your point of view. Until you can show me benchmarks that say otherwise, you could at least have the courtesy not to call me names.

The problem with those numbers is they don't support your point of view.

[bug77]

Here are some cold hard numbers:-

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.

They're about as relevant as yours.

They're not my numbers, they're Anand's. The only benchmark I could find that tests the impact of the CPU on gaming. I don't think it's irrelevant just because it doesn't support your point of view. Until you can show me benchmarks that say otherwise, you could at least have the courtesy not to call me names.

[ownagefool]

Point #2: if there's more horespower than the embedded GPU can handle, you need a discrete GPU, not a crossfire setup.
Point #3: what questionable about running several games on several CPUs, using the same GPU? It just shows games can benefit from a more powerful CPU.

#2: Not when having the discrete system you're suggesting costs more. You compare by total cost of ownership or you're comparing about a metric that nobody really cares about.

#3: Running the games on lower than normal settings so they'll use more CPU power than GPU power is questionable. Nobody would really do that unless they're trying to make a point whilst benchmarking. Those same games will be running at 1000 FPS in the future when we have CPUs and GPUs which far exceed todays. So yes, they can benefit from a more powerful CPU, but that point is completely and utterly stupid, just like yours is. You talk about performance per $, or you're not talking the same language as anyone else.

Two of the test I mentioned were using 1680x1050. Crysis was set at Mainstream details, Civ V at High Quality. Yet the difference was still there. I wish there were more in-depth tests out there. In the meantime, I'll take cold hard numbers over wishful thinking.

Here are some cold hard numbers:-

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.

They're about as relevant as yours.

[tuke81]

Sure, at 1024x768 low detail everything is CPU bound. But does anybody still play at that level?
Turn it to 1920x1200 with medium/max detail and check again. Surprise-surprise, you don't benefit from the stronger CPU now and this is exactly what he's been trying to explain you.
Hence spending more money on a stronger GPU and buying a cheaper APU is likely better than buying a stronger CPU and a weaker GPU for the same sum.

It's not that simple. It usually depending on the engine is the game cpu or gpu pounded(physics,ai,etc.). But granted in 1200p resolution it's usually gpu pounded. And I don't think that these apus can run modern games with max settings at 1200p, maybe 720p which is okay resolution for casual gaming in living room.