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Ridge in Review: AMDs A109600P Against the Competition NotebookCheck.net Reviews
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Bristol Ridge in Review: AMDs A109600P Against the Competition
Till Schönborn (translated by Vinay Pradhan), 07/05/2016 Notebook Windows AMD Bristol Ridge / Stoney Ridge
Careful Development. AMDs 7th APU generation is named Bristol Ridge. Thanks to several
optimizations, it promises greater efficiency and speed. We put the new A109600P APU through
our rigorous test.
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The AMD Raven Ridge APU has a release date in mid2017 and promises a lot of impressive
features: a modern 14 nm process with FinFET transistors, a greatly improved CPU performance GermanEnglishTranslator Details here
thanks to the Zen microarchitecture and a faster HBM2 memory directly on the interposer. Until
then, AMD is keeping the interest of consumers with the 7th generation of AMD APUs: Bristol
Ridge.
Although the name implies a new chip, Bristol Ridge is essentially a rework of the 2016 Carrizo
design. The APU uses the wellknown 28 nm process and offers minor modifications on the
previous design. As such, the technical details have stayed mostly the same: the APU still has up
to 4 "Excavator" CPU cores, 512 shaders (GCN, 3rd Gen) and a Southbridge with 12 PCIe 3.0
lanes. The DDR4 support of the memory controller is new. Although this feature was already
available in the Carrizo design, it was never officially unlocked. Furthermore, AMD has optimized
the finish and boost behavior of the chip. This allows it to perform at higher clock speeds while
keeping to the same power consumption levels.
Additional details about the improvements made to the Bristol Ridge architecture can be found in
the following articles:
Introducing AMD: Bristol Ridge APUs
AMDs Bristol Ridge and Stone Bridge Architecture
Model Overview
See our Top 10 Notebooks:
Unlike Intel, AMD offers a smaller lineup of APUs, which consists of 6 models: 3 in 15watt and 3 » Multimedia, » Gaming, » Lightweight Gaming
» Budget Office, » Business, » Workstations
in 35watt APUs. All APUs have 4 CPU cores, an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) with either
» Subnotebooks, » Ultrabooks, » Convertibles
384 (A10 and A12 series) or 512 shaders (FX series). The max clock speed of the IGP varies
between 720 (A109600P) and 900 MHz (FX9830P). Additional differences can be noticed in the » Top 10 under 300 Euros, » under 500 Euros
» Best Notebooks for University Students
memory controllers. The 35watt series can support RAM up to DDR42400, whereas the 15watt
» Top Windows alternatives to Apple's MacBook
APUs can only support RAM up to DDR41866. series
» Best Notebook Displays
Top 10 Tablets / Smartphones:
» Tablets, » Windows Tablets
» Smartphones
The Test Model
For the following measurements, we used an HP Pavilion 15aw004ng. The laptop was provided
by Notebooksbilliger.de. With a price tag of 600 Euros (~$669), the 15inch model offers the
following components:
AMD A109600P
2x 4 GB DDR41866
Radeon R5 (integrated) + Radeon R7 M440 (dedicated), Driver 16.101.1311.1001
256 GB SSD (SanDisk Z400s, M.2 2280)
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15.6 inch Full HD Display (1920 x 1080 pixels), TN Panel, matte
Windows 10 64Bit
The laptop offers good components for its price range: a 256 GB SSD and an FHD display.
However, the latter is a relatively disappointing TN panel (see review of predecessor). We want to
praise HP for their decision to install two DDR4 RAM modules (1866 MHz). Unfortunately, the
main beneficiary of such strong RAM is the IGP, which is limited to office work, as the dedicated
Radeon R7 M440 GPU takes care of the heavy lifting. We tested both graphics processors
individually and together in CrossFire mode (Radeon R8 M445DX) in the following game
benchmarks.
79% Acer Aspire ES1
78% HP 15ay116ng 332P91H Notebook
Notebook Review Review
Benchmarks
CPU Performance
86% HP ProBook 470 G4 77% MSI CX727QLi581
Notebook Review Notebook Review
The 15watt TDP (Thermal Design Power) of the A109600P
places it in competition with the Intel ULV models, which use the Next Page ⟩
Skylake architecture. From a price perspective, the direct
competition for the APU would be the i3 series.
Due to the stagnating perMHz ratio, any performance increases
achieved by Bristol Ridge is through higher clock speeds. The
APU starts the Cinebench single thread test at 3.2 GHz, but the
clock speed drops to 3.0 GHz after a short period of time. This places the clock speed of our APU
above the similar Carrizo models by a few percent. A Core i36100U can distance itself from our
test model by 20 to 25% and the older Broadwell processors, i35005U and i35010U; achieve a
lead of 5 to 10%.
The A109600P performs better in the Cinebench multithreading test: starting at 2.6 GHz and
ending at 2.2 GHz. This suffices to place our model above the A108700P by 10% and directly
between the i35000 and i36000 series.
Cinebench R11.5 | Cinebench R15 | X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 | TrueCrypt | WinRAR | Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M |
3DMark 06 CPU | Geekbench 3 | Mozilla Kraken 1.1 | Octane V2
Cinebench R11.5
CPU Single 64Bit
AMD A109600P 0.9 Points ∼70%
CPU Multi 64Bit
AMD A109600P 2.6 Points ∼80%
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12/6/2016 Bristol Ridge in Review: AMDs A109600P Against the Competition NotebookCheck.net Reviews
Legend
HP Pavilion 15aw004ng
AMD A109600P, AMD Radeon R5 (Bristol Ridge),
HP Pavilion 17g054ng
AMD A108700P, AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo),
AMD Reference Design
AMD FX7600P, AMD Radeon R7 M275DX, Samsung SSD XP941 MZHPU512HCGL
Medion Akoya E7416
Intel Core i55200U, Intel HD Graphics 5500, Hitachi Travelstar Z5K500 HTS545050A7E680
Asus F555LJXX110H
Intel Core i35010U, NVIDIA GeForce 920M, Hitachi Travelstar Z5K500 HTS545050A7E680
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E55020DGS00300
Intel Core i35005U, Intel HD Graphics 5500, Hitachi Travelstar Z7K500 HTS725050A7E630
Medion Akoya E6422
Intel Core i36100U, Intel HD Graphics 520, Phison 128GB PS3109S9
Lenovo ThinkPad T56020FH001FGE
Intel Core i56200U, Intel HD Graphics 520, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
HP EliteBook 745 G3
AMD Pro A128800B, AMD Radeon R7 (Carrizo), Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
* ... smaller is better
Performance Consistency Sustaining High CPU Loads
The A109600P does not fulfil its potential. AMD specifies a clock speed range of 2.4 to 3.3 GHz.
However, the test APU cannot perform at the upper ends of this range continuously due to the
limiting TDP value. This behavior exhibited in the Carrizo models as well. The APU often starts the Samsung Galaxy A Wine may develop
benchmarks at a high clock speed. Sadly, these high clock speeds are reached by surpassing the (2016) to get Android Windows compatibility
15watt TDP limit, which means that after a short period of time (around a minute), the performance Nougat layer for Android
drops by up to 20%. Intel models present a similar pattern, but thankfully, only the fastest i7
processors are (imperceptibly) affected by it.
This scenario of exceeding TDP limits was observed in the smallest Bristol Ridge model. It is
doubtful whether the stronger 15watt APUs will perform faster with continuously high CPU load. If,
Leap Motion to develop
instead of continuously high CPU load, there are spikes of high CPU load, it is possible for the hand tracking sensor for CyanogenMod 14.1
higher clock speeds of the A12 and FX processors to shine through. The 35watt series should be smartphone VR sets reaches more handsets
able to offer high and stable CPU clock speeds during Turbo.
Next Page ⟩
Start after 1 minute after 5 minutes
GPU Performance
The Radeon R5 IGP of the A109600P offers 720 MHz Boost
clock speed and 384 shaders, which is identical to the features
offered by the older Radeon R6 in the A108700P (Carrizo).
Curiously, the IGP of the more expensive A129700P is named
Radeon R7, although that chip also uses 384 ALUs (max. 758
MHz). The full 512 shaders found in the Bristol Ridge chips can
only be offered by the FX9800P (max. 758 MHz) in this TDP
class. The IGP of the FX9800P is also named Radeon R7. As
the power consumption is limited to a fixed value, we do not
expect great performance differences between the three 15watt
models.
Where does all of this place Bristol Ridge? The APU performs
best in a synthetic 3DMark benchmark, where it can achieve a
lead of 25% over Carrizo. This lead is due to the optimized boost
and faster DDR4 memory support, which offers a 16% larger bandwidth than its predecessor, the
DDR3 (L) RAM. The Intel HD Graphics 520 IGP falls behind by 30 to 60%.
Sadly, this gap shrinks quickly in games. On average, Bristol Ridge places itself ahead of Carrizo
and the HD Graphics 520 IGP by 10 to 15%. The Intel Skylake IGP performs quite well in games
which rely heavily on CPU performance, such as, “Sims 4” or “World of Warships”. The AMD
APUs are clearly in the lead in terms of games which have more demanding graphics, such as
“BioShock”. The Iris Graphics 540 places itself at the head of all benchmarks, but is also more
expensive. It gains a large lead thanks to its eDRAM cache.
We found the dedicated Radeon R7 M440 GPU of our test laptop relatively disappointing. It rarely
performed faster than the integrated Radeon R5 and, when it did, the IGP was suffering
performance drops due to its limiting TDP. Instead, HP should have installed the higher
performance A109630P (35watt). This would have boosted CPU and GPU performance. This
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statement is supported by the fact that the CrossFire setup did not produce higher frame rates in
none of the games we tested.
3DMark 11 | 3DMark | LuxMark v2.0 64Bit | Sims 4 | BioShock Infinite | Diablo III | Crysis 3 | Metro: Last Light |
Dirt Rally | Battlefield 4 | The Witcher 3 | Mad Max | World of Warships | Fallout 4 | Star Wars Battlefront | Just
Cause 3 | Rise of the Tomb Raider
3DMark 11 1280x720 Performance GPU
Radeon R8 M445DX (Dual Graphics) 3697 Points ∼100% +92%
Radeon R5 (A109600P; DualChannel) 1921 Points ∼52%
3DMark 11 | 3DMark | LuxMark v2.0 64Bit | Sims 4 | BioShock Infinite | Diablo III | Crysis 3 | Metro: Last Light |
Dirt Rally | Battlefield 4 | The Witcher 3 | Mad Max | World of Warships | Fallout 4 | Star Wars Battlefront | Just
Cause 3 | Rise of the Tomb Raider
Legend
HP Pavilion 15aw004ng
AMD A109600P, AMD Radeon R5 (Bristol Ridge),
HP Pavilion 15aw004ng
AMD A109600P, AMD Radeon R7 M440,
HP Pavilion 15aw004ng
AMD A109600P, AMD Radeon R8 M445DX,
HP Pavilion 17g054ng
AMD A108700P, AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo),
Lenovo ThinkPad T460s20FA003GGE
Intel Core i76600U, Intel HD Graphics 520, Samsung SSD SM951a 512GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe (MZVKV512)
Acer Aspire V337250LK
Intel Core i56200U, Intel HD Graphics 520, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256G8NU
HP ProBook 430 G3 P5T00ES
Intel Core i56200U, Intel HD Graphics 520, Hitachi Travelstar Z7K500 HTS725050A7E630
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 20FD001XGE
Intel Core i76500U, Intel HD Graphics 520, Samsung SSD PM871 MZNLN256HCHP
Dell Latitude 14 7000 Series E7470
Intel Core i76600U, Intel HD Graphics 520, Samsung SSD PM851 M.2 2280 256GB
Acer TravelMate P648M757N
Intel Core i76500U, Intel HD Graphics 520, LiteOn CV18B256
Lenovo IdeaPad 710S13ISK
Intel Core i76560U, Intel Iris Graphics 540, Samsung PM951 NVMe MZVLV256
Intel NUC6i5SYH
Intel Core i56260U, Intel Iris Graphics 540, Samsung SSD XP941 MZHPU256HCGL
Discussion
Performance Consistency Sustaining High CPU and GPU Loads 12:21 December 5, 2016
Intel releases complete specs for new Apollo Lake NUC
11:24 December 5, 2016
In games, the TDP limit is temporarily exceeded. However, after a maximum of two minutes Re: HP ProBook 470 G4 Notebook Review
10:41 December 5, 2016
(depending on the previous load and temperatures of the laptop), the 15watt limit strikes back, Bluboo Edge scores 28,689 points in AnTuTu
dropping clock speeds. For example, in “Diablo III”, the CPU and GPU clock speeds start at 1800 10:31 December 5, 2016
Desktop PCs continue to outpace smartphones and tablets in
http://www.notebookcheck.net/BristolRidgeinReviewAMDsA109600PAgainsttheCompetition.168477.0.html 4/5
12/6/2016 Bristol Ridge in Review: AMDs A109600P Against the Competition NotebookCheck.net Reviews
dropping clock speeds. For example, in “Diablo III”, the CPU and GPU clock speeds start at 1800
Desktop PCs continue to outpace smartphones and tablets in
and 550 MHz respectively. As the game runs, the speeds drop to 1100 to 1200 (CPU) and 380 to the business sector
10:19 December 5, 2016
420 MHz (GPU). The frame rates drop in parallel in our static gaming scene from 72 to 49 fps. To Note 7 design "unsalvageable" due to battery compression:
some extent, all current Intel ULV chips are also affected by this issue. The game benchmarks QC engineering firm
09:35 December 5, 2016
above reflect the longterm performance of the test model due to the length of the benchmarks and Re: Lenovo Phab 2 Pro now available for $499.99 USD
07:48 December 5, 2016
"hot" state of the laptop. Re: Cube i7 Book CDK09 Convertible Review
07:00 December 5, 2016
LG develops faster, more efficient radio technology for 5G
04:41 December 5, 2016
Samsung to release 4 TB 850 PRO SSD at CES 2017
01:08 December 5, 2016
Re: Acer Aspire ES1332P91H Notebook Review
Power Consumption and Battery Life
While idling, the Pavilion 15aw004ng runs at 5.7 to 9.3 watts, which is far lower than the Carrizo
predecessor, the Pavilion 15ab052ng (6.9 to 12.1 watts). However, the predecessor uses DDR3
memory and a traditional hard disk, which makes it unclear how much of the reduction in power
consumption levels is due to the optimized APU platform. At full load, the 15inch model consumes
a max 37.6 watts, which drops to around 30 watts (typical ULV levels) when the TDP limit kicks in.
With a 41 Wh battery, the Pavilion 15 is able to run a normalized WLAN test for 3.5 hours. This is
significantly better than the Carrizo model, but it falls short of similar Skylake models.
Power Consumption
Off / Standby 0.19 / 0.6 Watt
Idle 5.7 / 8.2 / 9.3 Watt
Load 36.4 / 37.6 Watt
Key: min: , med: , max: Metrahit Energy
Verdict
A little more performance, a little more battery life AMD Bristol
Ridge is a reliable successor to the Carrizo design. This places
AMD closer to the Intel competition. In terms of CPU
performance, we see that the A109600P is placed between the
Intel i3 models of the 5000 series (Broadwell) and 6000 series This website uses cookies. OK
(Skylake), as long as all 4 cores are used. The single thread
performance may be a little lower, but the APU compensates by
offering strong Boost speeds.
We want to praise the AMD IGP. Once again, the manufacturer
steals the performance crown in the 15watt segment. The only
Intel IGP capable of surpassing the AMD competitor is the Iris In review: HP Pavilion 15aw004ng.
Graphics 540, which is very expensive. We hope that many Test model provided by
manufacturers will install Bristol Ridge without a dedicated Notebooksbilliger.de
graphics card and thus make good use of this strong advantage.
Dual Graphics can only create a large lead over the competition in synthetic benchmarks. When
running demanding applications, such as games, the setup does not offer much better
performance.
In summary, Bristol Ridge revives the fluctuating power dynamic between Broadwell and Carrizo
from last year nothing more and nothing less. AMD needs a new CPU architecture to make a
larger dent and this will come in 2017. Raven Ridge will be the next APU generation and uses a
cuttingedge 14 nm process.
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