Mini-ITX A10-5700 power numbers, Turbo Core influence
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 10:04 am
(SPCR has reviewed this processor already. I was surprised by some of the numbers I got, so I'll post them here.)
I recently bought a FM2 mini-itx system. The goal was 720p gaming in a very small case. I'll post pictures later, for now I'll share my observations about the influence of Turbo Core (TC).
The configuration:
AMD A10-5700 (65W Trinity, 3.4GHz, 4 GHz Turbo)
MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 (BIOS v1.2)
2x4 GB G.Skill Sniper Memory (1866 MHz 9-10-8-28, 1.5V)
Samsung SSD 830 128GB
PicoPSU 160XT with 192W external brick (89% avg. efficiency)
Noctua NH-L9a CPU cooler
M350 case (case not closed during tests, i.e. open air results)
Short remark about noise: It is quiet with the case open, but at idle there is coil whine from the PSU (disabling C6 improves this a bit). With the case closed and an added 40mm fan it is not silent, but below the noise floor when gaming.
Power numbers (230V AC, taken with a ProfiTec KD302):
BIOS: 96W, later falling to 84W (78W w/o TC)
Windows 8 Desktop Idle: 23W
With turbo core:
OCCT CPU test: 86W (CPU frequency jumping all the time between 3000-3700 MHz)
OCCT 3D test: 65W (DX11, 720p, Shader 7, ~40fps)
OCCT PSU test: 85-100W (CPU ~2x00-3700MHz, 74-81fps)
Without turbo core:
OCCT CPU test: 84W (stable 3400 MHz)
OCCT 3D test: 72W (~44fps)
OCCT PSU test: 126W (~85fps)
Witcher 2: 75-85W (Loc Muinne market, casting some Igni to create some special effects)
Test Drive Unlimited 2 (TDU2): 75-90W
I retried the PSU test w/o TC after the system was turned off and permitted to cool down and I got 120W. Since the PicoPSU is only rated for 96W 12V continuous, I interrupted the test in both cases to avoid damaging hardware.
For gaming use, disabling Turbo Core seems to be a good idea. The GPU gets more headroom which results in higher and more stable fps in the OCCT 3D and PSU tests. (Edit: Disabling TC did not solve the micro stutter in TDU2 contrary to what I claimed earlier.)
However, it appears that disabling Turbo Core also removes some limiter when using both CPU and GPU at 100%. >120W power consumption is scary with a 65W APU that has 23W idle power consumption. Gaming tests don't show this as a problem, but I'll try this with Metro 2033 in the future to make sure there are no issues.
I recently bought a FM2 mini-itx system. The goal was 720p gaming in a very small case. I'll post pictures later, for now I'll share my observations about the influence of Turbo Core (TC).
The configuration:
AMD A10-5700 (65W Trinity, 3.4GHz, 4 GHz Turbo)
MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 (BIOS v1.2)
2x4 GB G.Skill Sniper Memory (1866 MHz 9-10-8-28, 1.5V)
Samsung SSD 830 128GB
PicoPSU 160XT with 192W external brick (89% avg. efficiency)
Noctua NH-L9a CPU cooler
M350 case (case not closed during tests, i.e. open air results)
Short remark about noise: It is quiet with the case open, but at idle there is coil whine from the PSU (disabling C6 improves this a bit). With the case closed and an added 40mm fan it is not silent, but below the noise floor when gaming.
Power numbers (230V AC, taken with a ProfiTec KD302):
BIOS: 96W, later falling to 84W (78W w/o TC)
Windows 8 Desktop Idle: 23W
With turbo core:
OCCT CPU test: 86W (CPU frequency jumping all the time between 3000-3700 MHz)
OCCT 3D test: 65W (DX11, 720p, Shader 7, ~40fps)
OCCT PSU test: 85-100W (CPU ~2x00-3700MHz, 74-81fps)
Without turbo core:
OCCT CPU test: 84W (stable 3400 MHz)
OCCT 3D test: 72W (~44fps)
OCCT PSU test: 126W (~85fps)
Witcher 2: 75-85W (Loc Muinne market, casting some Igni to create some special effects)
Test Drive Unlimited 2 (TDU2): 75-90W
I retried the PSU test w/o TC after the system was turned off and permitted to cool down and I got 120W. Since the PicoPSU is only rated for 96W 12V continuous, I interrupted the test in both cases to avoid damaging hardware.
For gaming use, disabling Turbo Core seems to be a good idea. The GPU gets more headroom which results in higher and more stable fps in the OCCT 3D and PSU tests. (Edit: Disabling TC did not solve the micro stutter in TDU2 contrary to what I claimed earlier.)
However, it appears that disabling Turbo Core also removes some limiter when using both CPU and GPU at 100%. >120W power consumption is scary with a 65W APU that has 23W idle power consumption. Gaming tests don't show this as a problem, but I'll try this with Metro 2033 in the future to make sure there are no issues.