HD 3000
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AMD Llano desktop APU gets reviewed: the best integrated graphics in town
AMD is due to release a batch of new Llano APUs next month that are specifically tailored to desktops rather than laptops. The most powerful among them will be the 2.9GHz A8-3850, which has already caused a stir on the review circuit for one simple reason: it pulls off a brutal "one shot one kill" on Intel's HD 3000 integrated graphics. AnandTech raised an impressed eyebrow at the fact that all its benchmarking games were playable on the $135 AMD chip, which roughly doubled frame rates in titles like Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2 and World of Warcraft compared to the more expensive Sandy Bridge i5 2500K. TechSpot declared the APU its "new budget king," with graphical performance "on another level" compared even to an i7. However, the superlatives quickly evaporated once reviewers shifted their focus to the CPU. TechReport spotted that pure CPU performance per dollar was actually lower than what you'd get from a lowly i3. Moreover, it reckoned you'd only have to spend an extra $70 to buy a much more powerful CPU and a separate graphics card -- an option that comes "awfully close to making the A8-3850 seem irrelevant." Ouch. Nevertheless, if an affordable processor with integrated graphics is what you're after, then it's fair to say this one sets the standard. Click the source links below for full reviews.
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 lands in Toshiba Satellite P305, ASUS M50 laptops
AMD wasn't exactly all that specific about exactly when its new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series graphics chips would actually find their way into some laptops when it announced them earlier this year, but it looks like they're now finally starting to trickle out, with new laptops from Toshiba and ASUS now each receiving a boost from 'em. For Toshiba's part, it's squeezed the lower-end ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 into its 17-inch Satellite P305 and P305D laptops (pictured at right), with other "select" P305 models also getting the more powerful Mobility Radeon HD 3650 model, which boasts 120 stream processors, a 128-bit memory interface, and 512MB or 1GB of VRAM depending on the system. ASUS also opted for the higher-end HD 3650, with it landing in the company's 15.4-inch M50 Series M50Sa laptop. Needless to say, however, those aren't the only models in the 3000 series, with the even higher-end Radeon HD 3850 and 3870, and 3850 X2 and 3870 X2 dual-core models, apparently also on track, though there doesn't seem to be any word on a release for those just yet.[Thanks, Husar]
