New AMD APUs... [AMD A8-Series]

[LehmanSister]

Doubt anyone has one yet, looks like they came out last week, but they are quad-core CPUs with an internal GPU core with 400 shader processors. While clearly not a powerhouse, I'm curious to hear when someone gets one and tries to mine on it.

Looks like they are about $130-150/retail. Looking at the motherboards that support Socket FM1, the most you'll be able to fit is 2ish GPU cards, but possibly a spare slot for an FPGA PCI array (the mobo's seem to be in the $100ish dollar range). Of course, all this is brand spankin' new to market. I'd probably want to wait for some more developments to arise before I look at getting one.

This may (haven't done the math here) be more cost effective then going with a Sempron considering the low wattage of these new chips (at least the AMD A8-3800 looks like the wise choice along this train of thought). The A8-3850 runs faster, with more wattage, and no TurboCore, but it doesn't really need it. If you mix-in CPU mining, it may be handy to go with the 3850.

Reviews:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-a8-3850-apu-review/1
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/06/30/amd-a8-3850-review/1

Thoughts?

OR IF SOMEONE WANTS TO BUY ME ONE I'LL LET YOU KNOW HOW THE MINING GOES

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[Zoomer]

It'll be about 92% of a 5570, or about 55 MH/s.

[hugolp]

It'll be about 92% of a 5570, or about 55 MH/s.

I have a 5570 and can do 200+ Mh/S... Unless a 92% means something different now, there is a problem somewhere.

[fyrebryan]

my best guess would be somewhere between 50-75mhash/sec, and honestly i think 75 would be a super extreme top end. more realistic is 50-60mhash.  Sadly the cpu isnt as good as i had hoped, and while yes, if you are in a situation where you need to rely on integrated graphics, nothing even remotely comes close, but if you're building a mining pc, then sempron is much more cost effective way to go, and if you're building a gaming/mining pc then you're much better off getting an i3/i5 or a Phenom II 955 Black.

Now granted, this is just my opinion.  if you feel that buying a $130 processor for an extra 50-60mhash is worth it, then by all means, the A8 is for you.  If you need to build a super cost effective low end gaming machine... again the A8 is for you.  If you dont fit into either one of those, then you're best bet is to get one of the other cpus i mentioned.

[fyrebryan]

It'll be about 92% of a 5570, or about 55 MH/s.

I have a 5570 and can do 200+ Mh/S... Unless a 92% means something different now, there is a problem somewhere.

no way a card with 400 sps can do 200 mhash.  the 5770 has 800 and it can do 200mhash with overclock.

[hugolp]

It'll be about 92% of a 5570, or about 55 MH/s.

I have a 5570 and can do 200+ Mh/S... Unless a 92% means something different now, there is a problem somewhere.

no way a card with 400 sps can do 200 mhash.  the 5770 has 800 and it can do 200mhash with overclock.

Sorry, I misread. I have a 5770, not a 5570.

[Jack of Diamonds]

If they make a power-efficient (I'm thinking 45W) APU that can put out 80-120mhash/s with 400-600 Radeon 7xxx series shaders, CPU mining will be worth it.

Granted it's not much in daily BTC, but it will pay to keep the processor mining, unlike now.

[fitty]

If they make a power-efficient (I'm thinking 45W) APU that can put out 80-120mhash/s with 400-600 Radeon 7xxx series shaders, CPU mining will be worth it.

Granted it's not much in daily BTC, but it will pay to keep the processor mining, unlike now.

Agreed. For new mining rigs, it might make sense once they have some 3-4-5 pci-e slot boards. You'd get the same GPU production with a bonus 50-80mhs from your cpu.

[LehmanSister]

Yes... It should be investigated. I'm more then happy to accept donations of hardware to do this

[Littleshop]

It'll be about 92% of a 5570, or about 55 MH/s.

Apparently you can do some overclocking on it but 100mh/s would be the max I would expect.  Now the next version might make sense when combined with a stanard video card or two but not this version

[Takamsda]

I have a A8-3850 Box,

Running all 4 cores. Getting 65MHash/s

[fitty]

I have a A8-3850 Box,

Running all 4 cores. Getting 65MHash/s

What's the load on the cores? Wonder how close it is to using 100 watts. Sounds about right though. It's a nice boost over a normal cpu.

[Littleshop]

I have a A8-3850 Box,

Running all 4 cores. Getting 65MHash/s

Have you considered overclocking? 

[LehmanSister]

I have a A8-3850 Box,

Running all 4 cores. Getting 65MHash/s

What's the load on the cores? Wonder how close it is to using 100 watts. Sounds about right though. It's a nice boost over a normal cpu.

Are you using the internal GPU? That's what I want to see tested.

[CanaryInTheMine]

So, the 2.9GHz will do 65Mhash/s...

What about the 2.6GHz version? 

I know it's the same wattage and all, but it's $20 cheaper and if it will do same hashing rate, i'd prefer to pay $20 less.

[kr105]

What software are you using to mine?

[Takamsda]

What software are you using to mine?

GUIMiner 0701

[Takamsda]

I have a A8-3850 Box,

Running all 4 cores. Getting 65MHash/s

Have you considered overclocking? 

You should worry about Noise generated when running full load(even just 1 core)
Better spend $30 for a after-market heat-sink+fan.

[LehmanSister]

What software are you using to mine?

GUIMiner 0701

But is GUIMiner taking advantage of the GPU core?

[Serge]

if AMD would just make gpu chips stack-able in to arrays that would be something