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Topic: Processors

First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

Summary: So far most of the news surrounding AMD's launch of its new Llano accelerated processing units (APUs) has been related to laptop chips, like those in soon-to-be-shipping notebooks from HP. But Fudzilla has unearthed some preliminary pricing for the first Llano desktop parts -- and they look to give Intel's Core i3 processors a run for your money.

Sean Portnoy

By for Laptops & Desktops |

So far most of the news surrounding AMD's launch of its new Llano accelerated processing units (APUs) has been related to laptop chips, like those in soon-to-be-shipping notebooks from HP. But Fudzilla has unearthed some preliminary pricing for the first Llano desktop parts -- and they look to give Intel's Core i3 processors a run for your money.

That's because the two Llanos listed -- the A6-3650 and A8-3850 -- are quad-core chips that are priced in the same ballpark as the dual-core Core i3-2100 and i3-2120, respectively. The A6-3650's CPU cores run at 2.6GHz, while it integrates the Radeon HD 6530D GPU. It reportedly will cost just $126.

For $150, the A8-3850's four CPU cores run at 2.9GHz, and it packs a Radeon HD 6550D graphics core. If you don't require a discrete graphics card, this should provide enough graphics horsepower for light gaming and other multimedia tasks, and you may be able to make use of those two extra cores the Core i3s lack.

Fudzilla points out that these are preliminary prices, and we still don't have any firm release date for desktop Llano parts, though it may be sometime next month. But the pricing seems to be aggressive enough to give system builders on a budget reason to wait to see if the A-series can offer superior performance to the Core i3 series.

Do you think you'll be in the market for one of these Llano chips for your next desktop? Let us know in the Comments section.

Topics: Processors, Hardware, Networking

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11 comments
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  • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

    I won't be using these in my desktop for a while; unless I decide to build my wifey a new PC from scratch! However, I'm impressed with the APUs and hope they do well ^^ Would make a killer HTPC. I'm definitely considering getting a laptop that uses one. Will a new motherboard port-type be introduced to fit these APUs or will they fit on a current standard CPU port?
    Imrhien
    Reply Vote

    • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

      @Imrhien

      New socket, FM1
      Alan Smithie
      Reply Vote

    • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

      @Imrhien

      From what I am reading is that some motherboards made recently are using a socket called AM3+ which will work for current AMD Athlon II and Phenom II processors and also the upcoming AMD "Bulldozer" generation processors. I think you need a 800 or 900 series chipset though.

      So if you bought a board recently the manufacturer may have put the AM3+ socket on it but I am sure that is very few at this point.
      bobiroc
      Reply Vote

      • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

        @bobiroc AM3+ does indeed have Bulldozer support, but not Llano. In order to deal with the extra data from having a GPU on die, you need the specific socket for that, FM1.
        GaMEChld
        Reply Vote

  • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

    Hope they kick tushy because if Intel drives AMD out of business and becomes the only main chip maker it won't be good for prices, and it probably won't be good for innovation either.
    josh92
    Reply Vote

  • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

    socket FS-1 is mobi w/ two way univ vid decoder.fm1 is desktop.. 4 core cpu & 6550 discrete actually cost less seperate than A8 3850.
    just out a8 3850 is on sale, in aust $189 incl VAT. Main from asus available too, from asia. both yesterday. so 10 days early <br><br>drashek
    VONDRASHEK@...
    Reply Vote

    • Dude?

      @VONDRASHEK@... a

      You mean besides the fact they now offer battery life that puts older models of their CPU's to absolute shame?

      Maybe 32 NM downsize, power gating, turbo 2.0 and all this fit into half the die. What it lacks in L3 cache they make up for w/ improved L2.
      tomnesh
      Reply Vote

  • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

    I'm not in the market for a new desktop CPU yet, but I could be persuaded to upgrade my existing discrete GPU, which is now getting long in the tooth, an Nvidia 8600GT. The built-in GPU of the Llano part should give it a run for the money.
    bbbl67
    Reply Vote

  • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

    I will be replacing all my PC parts (except for my power supply, optical drive, and hard drive during Spring 2012, which will be great for testing Windows 8, but then I might keep my computer for music production and perhaps get a new AM3 CPU for my ECS A780GM-A motherboard.

    Hmm, so what will it be? A 32nm APU with an integrated AMD Radeon HD 6670? An 8-core? I think having an 8-core CPU would be great for music creation as I have an Echo Gina3G for connecting to my receiver and be able to make music. Hmm... Maybe with IOMMU support, I thought it would be nice to virtualize Windows 8 and Ubuntu 12.04 (each with 5GB of RAM since I'll be putting in 12GB of DDR3) and take advantage of the PCI cards -- Creative X-Fi for Windows and Gina3G for Linux), but then I don't think the GPUs can be hot-swappable between two virtualized operating systems, can they? That is, even if I put Windows 8 to sleep and use Ubuntu or put Ubuntu to sleep when I use Windows 8? Of course, I'm talking about using libvirt/kvm in Ubuntu minimal (with no GUI) for virtualization of Windows (hoping that the Windows activation service will not be tripped) and Ubuntu.
    Grayson Peddie
    Reply Vote

  • RE: First desktop AMD Llano chip prices revealed: quad-cores selling for $150 and less

    No I-3 for me, AMD or Intel. No LLano desktop until competitive with high I-5 or I-7 2600. Quad core a must. Price, performance, power use matters. Force Sandy Bridge prices down & I will chose best option, AMD or Intel.
    TEXASCITIZEN
    Reply Vote

  • Re: First DT AMD Llano Chip ...Quad-Cores for &lt; $150 ...

    I like Llano's specs -- the cooler and more powerful and fewer processes necessary the greater the potential for performance. I'm on the verge of building a tower rig based on this chip matched to a Gigayte UDx series MB
    w/the fastest & cheapest video card -- Radeon Sapphire 6850 or so -- running on 4-6GB Ram 9-9-9-24 latency probably 16000 -- depending on bundles/discount offers. I need the most bang for the buck both in power & performance. Have seen Llanos for $119.99 & $129.99.

    Would like to read of actual experiences w/Llano before I jump in. Otherwise the fastest AMD Phenomena II 4x is my fall-back choice. Don't know how to compare the two different Sockets involved though -- new F1 vs old A3 -- More to be revealed! lol

    BTW: I've not been impressed by the i-3 thru i-7 Series CPUs esp now that the Llano offers several processes morphed into a single APU. Benchmarks for Llano: Looking good!
    jordierocks94
    Reply Vote
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