AMD A8-7600 review

One exciting new feature of the new Kaveri processors is Dual Graphics, which lets your games make use of the processor’s graphics processor and the DDR3 version of an AMD Radeon R7 graphics card at the same time. Sadly this feature has not yet been enabled so we were unable to test it, but it sounds like a cheap and efficient means of squeezing every last drop of graphics performance out of your setup. Dual Graphics could be ideal for those who want to create a small form factor or budget gaming PC and we look forward to testing it.

Another novel feature of the A8-7600 is AMD’s True Audio technology. This takes the form of a programmable on-die digital signal processor that allows audio engineers to develop realistic and multi-directional sound that’s processed in real-time in tandem with graphics and output over HDMI. We have yet to experience a game or program that makes use of TrueAudio, so we’re unable to comment on its performance.

It’s also worth noting that you can configure the A8-7600’s thermal design power (TDP) in a PC’s BIOS. Our Asus A88X-Pro let us configure the TDP of the A8-7600 anywhere between the processor’s minimum of 45W to its maximum of 65W. When set to the minimum 45W TDP the A8-7600 scored 60 overall in our multimedia benchmarks, which is still a decent performance.

Software developers have yet to harness the power of the new Kaveri processors, but there’s no doubt that the new architecture is exciting and we hope it gets the developer support it deserves. The A8-7600 performed as well as an A10-6800K, which means it’ll handle any desktop application you care to throw at it. We don’t know the price of the A8-7600 at the present time as it isn’t available to buy yet, so it’s difficult to rate the processor. However, we think it’ll be around £100, which is around the same price as an A10-6800K and is reasonable given the A8-7600’s performance. If you’re planning to upgrade your PC during the first half of 2014 it’s worth bearing the A8-7600 in mind.