AMD A4-7210 vs Intel Core i5-5200U vs AMD A6-7310

AMD A4-7210

The AMD A4-7210 is a mobile quad-core SoC (codenamed "Carrizo-L") for entry-level devices and subnotebooks, which has been presented in May 2015. In addition to 4 CPU cores clocked at up to 2.2 GHz (boost clock), the 28 nanometer chip also integrates a Radeon R3 GPU, a single-channel DDR3L-1600 memory controller and the southbridge with various I/O-ports. The TDP of the A4-7210 can be configured from 12 to 25 Watt. The predecessor AMD A4-6210 features similar specifications except the slower clock speed (at least boost), the configurable TDP, and the new FP4 package (compatible to the mainstream Carrizo SoCs). 

Architecture

Carrizo-L, Beema (for notebooks) and Mullins (for tablets and compact subnotebooks, same die) are based on AMD's Puma+ architecture, which is the successor to the previous Jaguar design (Kabini and Temash APUs). Neither the performance per clock nor the feature set (including SSE up to 4.2, AVX and AES) have been modified. However, AMD managed to reduce the leakage current, enabling significantly higher (boost) clock speeds. This leads to a more responsive system and better overall performance. As its predecessor, the chip is manufactured in 28 nm.

Performance

The processor performance depends on the configured TDP of the SoC. Set to 25 Watt, the CPU should be faster than the old A6-6210.

Graphics

The integrated Radeon R3 should be similar to the Beema based Radeon R3 GPU with 128 shaders. In our first review sample the GPU was clocked at 686 MHz and therefore 86 MHz faster than in the A4-6210. Only a few current games (as of 2014) are thus playable in low settings.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the entire SoC is rated at 12 to 25 watts. Thus, the APU is also suitable for small subnotebooks.

Intel Core i5-5200U

The Intel Core i5-5200U is an ULV (ultra low voltage) dual-core processor based on the Broadwell architecture, which has been launched in January 2015. In addition to two CPU cores with Hyper-Threading clocked at 2.2 - 2.7 GHz (2 Cores: 2.5 GHz), the chip also integrates an HD Graphics 5500 GPU and a dual-channel DDR3(L)-1600 memory controller. The Core i5 is manufactured in a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors.

Compared to the Core i5-5250U, the i5-5200U features a higher CPU base clock, but integrates a somewhat slower GPU.

Architecture

Broadwell represents the "Tick" in Intel's Tick-Tock model, which means a shrink of its predecessor Haswell. The new 14 nm manufacturing process with three-dimensional FinFET transistors allows not only improvements in energy efficiency, but also a significantly smaller die size fit for more compact packages and devices.

Further advantages result from the revised microarchitecture of Broadwell. Due to its improved branch prediction, bigger buffer sizes (1500 instead of 1000 entries in the L2 TLB) and other tweaks, the performance per clock has been increased by more than 5 percent over its predecessor. There are also some new instruction set extensions designed for cryptographic applications.

Performance

Thanks to its improved architecture, the Core i5-5200U ends up 5 - 15 percent faster than the slightly lower clocked Core i5-4200U and matches the Core i5-4300U (both Haswell). Thus, the CPU has sufficient power for office and multimedia purposes as well as more demanding applications and multitasking.

Graphics

The integrated HD Graphics 5500 offers 24 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 300 - 900 MHz. Similar to the CPU core, the GPU architecture (Intel Gen 8) has been thoroughly revised for improved performance-per-clock. Therefore, the HD Graphics 5500 is able to beat the HD Graphics 4400 (20 EUs) as well as the HD Graphics 5000 (40 EUs), both part of the Haswell generation. Nevertheless, most games as of 2015 will be playable only in low settings.

Broadwell is the first Intel chip to fully support DirectX 11.2 as well as OpenCL 1.3/2.0 and OpenGL 4.3. Video will output natively via DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a. However, the new HDMI 2.0 standard is not supported.

Power Consumption

The i5-5200U is rated at a TDP of 15 W (7.5 W cTDP Down) including the graphics card, memory controller, VRMs and the integrated chipset. Therefore, the CPU is suited even for small ultrabooks 11-inches and greater.

AMD A6-7310

The AMD A6-7310 is a mobile quad-core SoC (codenamed "Carrizo-L") for entry-level devices and subnotebooks, which has been presented in May 2015. In addition to 4 CPU cores clocked at up to 2.4 GHz (boost clock), the 28 nanometer chip also integrates a Radeon R4 GPU, a single-channel DDR3L-1866 memory controller and the southbridge with various I/O-ports. The TDP of the A6-7310 can be configured from 12 to 25 Watt. The predecessor AMD A6-6310 features similar specifications except maybe a changed base clock, the configurable TDP, and the new FP4 package (compatible to the mainstream Carrizo SoCs). The top model A8-7410 of Carrizo-L in comparison clocks 100 MHz higher and supports DDR3L-1866.

Architecture

Carrizo-L, Beema (for notebooks) and Mullins (for tablets and compact subnotebooks, same die) are based on AMD's Puma+ architecture, which is the successor to the previous Jaguar design (Kabini and Temash APUs). Neither the performance per clock nor the feature set (including SSE up to 4.2, AVX and AES) have been modified. However, AMD managed to reduce the leakage current, enabling significantly higher (boost) clock speeds. This leads to a more responsive system and better overall performance. As its predecessor, the chip is manufactured in 28 nm.

Performance

The processor performance depends on the configured TDP of the SoC. Set to 25 Watt, the CPU should be slightly faster than the old A6-6310 and therefore similar performance to a Haswell-based Pentium or ULV Core i3.

Graphics

The integrated Radeon R4 should be similar to the Beema based Radeon R4 GPU with 128 shaders. Only a few current games (as of 2014) are thus playable in low settings, but older and less demanding titels should run flawlessly.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the entire SoC is rated at 12 to 25 watts. Thus, the APU is also suitable for small subnotebooks.