AMD launches its fastest APU, the A10-7890K

by Parm Mann on 1 March 2016, 16:13

AMD fans may have turned their attention to next-generation Zen processors, due later this year, but the chip giant needs to remind people it's still around in the interim, and is doing so by sprucing-up its desktop product stack.

We've already seen incremental upgrades in recent months, and that trend continues today with the announcement of the A10-7890K, the fastest AMD APU to date, as well as a new Athlon X4 range-topper in the form of the X4 880K.

AMD A-Series APUs - March 2016
Model	CPU Cores	CPU Base Clock	CPU Turbo Clock	GPU Brand	GPU Processors	GPU Clock	Max. DDR3	TDP	Suggested Price
A10-7890K	4	4.1GHz	4.3GHz	Radeon R7	512	866MHz	2133MHz	95W	$165
A10-7870K	4	3.9GHz	4.1GHz	Radeon R7	512	866MHz	2133MHz	95W	$140
A10-7860K	4	3.6GHz	4.0GHz	Radeon R7	512	757MHz	2133MHz	65W	$118

Slotting-in at the top of the A-Series portfolio, the new A10-7890K raises base and turbo frequencies to 4.1GHz and 4.3GHz, respectively, while keeping to a familiar 95W TDP. The chip's onboard Radeon R7 graphics portion hasn't changed in make-up or speed, however AMD's suggested retail price continues to undercut any of Intel's current Core i5 options.

There's nothing particularly innovative about the chip itself, though AMD does add interest by bundling the A10-7890K with the recently announced Wraith cooler as standard. Making good use of the 125W thermal solution, AMD will also now include a variant of the cooler without the illuminated shroud with the A10-7870K and Athlon X4 880K.

The new Athlon, detailed in the table below, raises core frequency by a mere 0.1GHz and is seen as an alternative to Intel's line of Pentium CPUs.

AMD Athlon X4 CPUs - March 2016
Model	CPU Cores	CPU Base Clock	CPU Turbo Clock	Max. DDR3	TDP	Suggested Price
X4 880K	4	4.0GHz	4.2GHz	2133MHz	95W	$95
X4 870K	4	3.9GHz	4.1GHz	1866MHz	95W	$90
X4 860K	4	3.7GHz	4.0GHz	1866MHz	95W	$80