AMD Processor Update - February 2016 - Article Page 1

AMD Q1 2016 processors - Guru3D Technology update February 2016

AMD is releasing some new SKUs in their processor and APU line-up and ranges in Q1/Q2 2016 alongside some motherboard chipset improvements. APUs wise you will see A10-7860K, A6-7470K, and Athlon X4 845 processors released short term as well as a new AMD FX 8370 bundle with a new cooler series including the new Wraith and a feature update in the motherboard chipset series. Time for a quick 1:1 update to let you guys know what the differences are.
  

AMD motherboard update

You gurus have already noticed that there was a new update in AMDs motherboards chipset recently, the 900 chipset have been revised to support a handful of new features. The two primary features both can be found in storage I/O. The first being that newly revised motherboards SKUs will now support M.2 SATA SSD connectors. Asking around a bit didn't really reveal if the M.2. implementation supports the trendy nVME protocol straight out of the box. However after checking, it does seem to be the case as some boards that launch soon do support nVME like the MSI 990FXA Gaming and the Gigabyte boards. But please do keep an eye out on that if you need nVME compatibility. One concern about M.2. on the AMD platform, It is completely unclear if the slot will be using a single (1 lane) PCIe Gen 3.0 link, or four. Once these motherboards get released I guess we'll learn. My advise, if it is a x1, link it might not be worth it. AMD is also adding USB 3.1 Gen support - Below we placed the specifications in-between USB standards in a chart.

	USB 1.x	USB 2.0	USB 3.0	USB 3.1 Gen 1	USB 3.1 Gen 2
Branding	Full Speed	Hi-Speed	SuperSpeed	SuperSpeed	SuperSpeed+
Bandwith	12 Mbps	480 Mbps	5.0 Gbps	5.0 Gbps	10.0 Gbps
Encoding	8b/10b	8b/10b	8b/10b	8b/10b	128b/132b
Data speed	1.2 MB/s	48 MB/s	625 MB/s	625 MB/s	1250 MB/s

This one is simple, ALL USB solutions are backwards compatible, meaning you can use USB 1.x, 2.0 and 3.0 on this USB 3.1 device just as well. The second feature is USB 3.1 support, the new series will get support for USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A and C. meaning at Gen 2 you will get a full speed 10 Gbps link. BTW USB 3.0 and 3.1 Gen 1 is the same stuff. You guys are going to see news SKUs based on the two new features for the 970, 990 and A88 ranges and chipsets.
  

The Wraith cooler 

As most of you guys already know, AMD will start bundling new coolers. For the APU series you will spot improved and more silent models, and the more high-end range you will see SKUs with that new WRAITH cooler.

The Wraith is a cooler with increased 125W cooling capacity. It does so while remaining really silent. The Wraith cooler has 80mm fan blades and is LED illuminated. The Wraith has more surface area for the cooling fins opposed to the older D3.

 

The CFM values have risen from 42 towards 56 ( a value for measured cubic airflow per minute).  By doing so this new cooler would not exceed 39 DBa measured at close range, which is a substantial improvement over its predecessor. And hey, it looks much nice as well. It definitely is a bit chunkier in size though. 

AMD FX 8370 processor & Wrath bundle

Of course the cooler series is really aimed at the upcoming AM4 based products later this year. However the Wraith caused some marketing buzz and as such AMD is already releasing one SKU bundled with this cooler. Bundled SKUs with this new Wraith cooler you'll recognize on packaging as they come with specifically marked packages. The first SKU that will be released with the new Wraith is the AMD FX 8370 processor.
 

We already received a unit, above some photos a quickie video. The product is really silent, however obviously if you turn on the volume hard enough you will always hear it. In our quick test the processor (AMD FX-8370) is under full load and the cooler remains to be silent. For those of you not interested in spending money on a cooler as you want to combine it with your own tower unit or liquid cooling we have news as well; there will remain SKUs available with the old model cooler, and this that shaves off a few bucks -- albeit it really is that .. a few bucks. My advice ifor you to get the Wraith cooler, even as a spare backup it might become really handy.
 

The cooling performance for the 8-core AMD FX-8370 is absolutely fine. Have a peek yourself, the CPU package sensor reports a temp just over 50 Degrees C under a WPrime 8 threaded stress run. So far the chipsets, cooler and FX bundle update. On the next page we'll talk a little more about some of the APU updates that AMD has in store for us.