AMD Brand New APU!

[jrtubs]

So AMD just released their APU's they are pretty cheap. about 150$ what will this mean for mining and will it be any good?


The New AMD A-Series APU gives you discrete-level graphics and multi-core CPU power all on one energy efficient chip.

-Get discrete-level graphics performance without purchasing a discrete graphics card.

-DirectX 11 capable graphics enables lifelike imagery and stunning details in games.

-Boost visual performance by at least 40% when you combine an AMD A-Series APU with select AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series graphics cards.

here the link from newegg
http://promotions.newegg.com/AMD/11-1834/index.html?cm_sp=Homepage_LB-_-AMD/11-1834-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2fAMD%2f11-1834%2f980x130.jpg
http://sites.amd.com/us/fusion/apu/Pages/fusion.aspx

[1715069172]

1715069172

[1715069172]

1715069172

[d.james]

what will this mean for mining and will it be any good?

no,
wait for the 7xxx.

[r3v3rs3]

400 SPs running at 600 MHz, expect something around 60 - 80 MH/s.

[AngelusWebDesign]

I was wondering the same thing -- if I built a machine today, would I buy the usual $60 low-end chip, or would I pay an extra $50 to get one of these?
60-80 MH/s is something -- at lot better than CPU mining.

[error]

This just competes with Intel's onboard-graphics-on-the-same-chip. You aren't going to get much out of them for mining; they're intended for cheap systems.

[Jack of Diamonds]

This just competes with Intel's onboard-graphics-on-the-same-chip. You aren't going to get much out of them for mining; they're intended for cheap systems.

Intel GMA onboard chips on CPUs are useless for anything besides putting out an image to the screen though. Useless for OpenCL mining as well.

With the new Zambezi and Bulldozer type processors, there are about 600SP on the die itself. That's almost the performance of a Radeon 5750.
Someone on the forum reported getting over 100mhash/s out of these.

[bcpokey]

Not worthwhile to make a dedicated rig for, but in conjunctions with GPUs, might make an ok choice, depending on available motherboards. Decently low TDP too I believe.

[jrtubs]

well that was what i wondered about this new apu, since you are able to get a board with crossfire. and run 2 video cards with it.

[Isepick]

It will be interesting to see exactly how much these add to rig's hashing power...whether or not it will be worth the extra $$ remains to be seen...

[sakkaku]

well that was what i wondered about this new apu, since you are able to get a board with crossfire. and run 2 video cards with it.

Crossfire is shitty anyway.  It is enabled on a per game basis in the drivers and there is no easy way to get around it.  So your 2nd card will sit around doing nothing most of the time.

[Littleshop]

So far a user has reported 63 mh/s as far as I know.  Now you can get a sempron 140 for $90 less then the APU?  It would be better to put that $90 into a discrete card, or upgrading to a better discrete card vs the APU currently. 

You may be able to overclock the APU to 90mh/s. 

[Pipesnake]

If you're building a new rig this makes a lot of sense.  Use one of these in addition to your dedicated GPU arsenal for an extra 70mh/s or whatever (per rig).  The question is why wouldn't you?

[Littleshop]

Because if you put the $90 into a better card you in most cases would get more. I admit if you are at a 6970 or 6990 there is no better card for just just $90 so there may be some use cases for it.

[Pipesnake]

Because if you put the $90 into a better card you in most cases would get more

That's a silly argument.

1.  The discrete card will require more equivalent power than the nearly free hashing power from the integrated GPU.
2.  The discrete card will use up a valuable pcie slot on the mobo (if you are going for full density.)
3.  On normal rigs the CPU slot is wasted by an inefficent SLA-256 calculator.  The APU remedies this.
4.  All other things being equal, a rig built with the APU will outhash the same rig built with a standard CPU.

There really is no argument.

[Littleshop]

Because if you put the $90 into a better card you in most cases would get more

That's a silly argument.

1.  The discrete card will require more equivalent power than the nearly free hashing power from the integrated GPU.
2.  The discrete card will use up a valuable pcie slot on the mobo (if you are going for full density.)
3.  On normal rigs the CPU slot is wasted by an inefficent SLA-256 calculator.  The APU remedies this.
4.  All other things being equal, a rig built with the APU will outhash the same rig built with a standard CPU.

There really is no argument.

Spending $90 more for 60MH/s is silly. 

Your point 1 is wrong.  You are not getting free hashing power.  You are overpaying for the 60mh/s AND paying more electricity as the APU uses more power then a CPU with the same power.  And you are using 50 watts over a sempron 140 that would make the most sense in mining.

$90 will buy a 5770 that will do 1/3 more hashes then the APU

going from a 5830 to a 5870 will cost about $90 and give you more then 60 MH/S
going from a 6950 to a 6970 will cost about $90 or less and give you more then 60 MH/S

[jrtubs]

what about the

-Boost visual performance by at least 40% when you combine an AMD A-Series APU with select AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series graphics cards. if a 6990 is hashing at 800 and 40% increase would add 320 mh/s? wouldn't that be well worth the extra money?

[Littleshop]

what about the

-Boost visual performance by at least 40% when you combine an AMD A-Series APU with select AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series graphics cards. if a 6990 is hashing at 800 and 40% increase would add 320 mh/s? wouldn't that be well worth the extra money?

That is marketing-speak from AMD.  Notice the word 'select' in there.  If you have a 6990 and switch to an APU cpu you will get 60 MH/s or so for mining from the APU.  It will not change depending on your main video card.

[Pipesnake]

You are overpaying for the 60mh/s AND paying more electricity as the APU uses more power then a CPU with the same power.  And you are using 50 watts over a sempron 140 that would make the most sense in mining.

Sorry but your logic is flawed and you are simply wrong.

You're saying that using a Sempron 140 sitting around doing nothing and draining 50w is better than an APU hashing at 65-75mh/s and draining nearly the same energy?

You think the APU will drain 100w at 65mh/s?

Nope.  The 5870m in my Alienware laptop has a TDP of 50w and hashes at 152mh/s at stock clock.  The APU was designed from the Mobility series and has an even higher efficiency rating than the Mobility series.  So, like I said, the hashing power of the APU is nearly free (compared to an equivalent CPU).

There is no reason to build a rig from this point forward with a useless CPU when you could be using that slot for efficient extra hashing.

[Fakeman]

I have a pretty minimalist mining setup with an entry-level AMD APU (E-350 on Sapphire motherboard) and one Sapphire 5830. Is there some way to mine with the on-chip 6310 while using the 5830 at the same time? The 5830 is device 0 and there is no device 1. The 6310 only does ~10 MHash but that's 10 more than I'm getting now.

[error]

I have a pretty minimalist mining setup with an entry-level AMD APU (E-350 on Sapphire motherboard) and one Sapphire 5830. Is there some way to mine with the on-chip 6310 while using the 5830 at the same time? The 5830 is device 0 and there is no device 1. The 6310 only does ~10 MHash but that's 10 more than I'm getting now.

Did you update to SDK 2.4?