AMD A6-9220C vs AMD A9-9425 vs AMD A6-9225

AMD A6-9220C

The AMD A6-9220C is an entry-level chip from the Stoney-Ridge APU series for Chromebooks (7th APU generation from 2016), which was announced early 2019. Compared to the A6-9220, the 9220C is rated at a reduced TDP of 6 versus 15 Watt and also reduced clock speeds. It integrates two CPU cores (one Excavator module with 2 integer and on FP unit) clocked between 1.8 - 2.7 GHz (versus 2.5 - 2.9 GHz on the A6-9220).

Architecture

Stoney Ridge is the successor of the Carrizo architecture and the design is almost identical. Thanks to optimized manufacturing processes and more aggressive Boost behavior, however, the clocks are a bit higher at the same power consumption. The memory controller now also supports DDR4-RAM, in this case up to 2133 MHz. Stoney Ridge is the designation for the smaller dual-core and single-core chip, while Bristol Ridge is the bigger quad-core chip with dual-channel memory controller. More technical details are available in the following articles:

• AMD's Bristol Ridge and Stoney Ridge Architecture
• AMD: Bristol Ridge APUs announced

Performance

Because of the significantly lower clock speed, the A6-9220C should be noticeably slower than the old A6-9220. AMD compares the performance against the Pentium N4200 in ChromeOS and sees the A6-9220C clearly ahead. The efficiency should be worse however, due to the old manufacturing process.

Graphics Card

The integrated Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) GPU is a bit controversal, as AMD states 3 compute cores which should translate to 192 shaders.

Power Consumption

AMD specifies the TDP of the A6-9220C with 6 Watts which should enable thin and light (even fanless) Chromebooks.

AMD A9-9425

The AMD A9-9425 is an entry-level chip from the Stoney-Ridge APU series for notebooks (7th APU generation), which was announced mid 2018. Compared to the one year older A9-9420, the 9425 has a 100 MHz higher CPU clock speed (base and boost) as well as a marginally faster iGPU. It integrates two CPU cores (one Excavator module with 2 integer and on FP unit) clocked at 3.1 GHz to 3.7 GHz. It also includes a Radeon R5 GPU with 192 shaders at up to 900 MHz as well as a single-channel DDR4-2133 memory controller, H.265 video decoder and chipset with all I/O ports.

Architecture

Stoney Ridge is the successor of the Carrizo architecture and the design is almost identical. Thanks to optimized manufacturing processes and more aggressive Boost behavior, however, the clocks are a bit higher at the same power consumption. The memory controller now also supports DDR4-RAM, in this case up to 2133 MHz. Stoney Ridge is the designation for the smaller dual-core and single-core chip, while Bristol Ridge is the bigger quad-core chip with dual-channel memory controller. More technical details are available in the following articles:

• AMD's Bristol Ridge and Stoney Ridge Architecture
• AMD: Bristol Ridge APUs announced

Performance

The average 9425 in our database proves to be a rather slow CPU, its multi-thread benchmark scores only just matching those of the Intel Core i3-4012Y. Much like it is with N-class Intel chips, expect a system built around an A9-9425 to perform poorly in all but the most basic tasks.

Graphics

The integrated Radeon R5 (Stoney Ridge) GPU has 192 active shader units (3 compute cores) clocked at up to 900 MHz. More details about the GPU are available in the linked articles above.

Power consumption

This A9 series chip has a default TDP of 15 W. Laptop makers are free to reduce that somewhat with 10 W being the minimum AMD-recommended value; clock speeds and performance will be reduced as a result. By going for the lowest value, it will be possible to build a passively cooled system around the APU.

Last but not the least, the AMD A9-9425 is manufactured on a 28 nm process for very, very low energy efficiency, as of 2022.

AMD A6-9225

The AMD A6-9225 is an entry-level chip from the Stoney-Ridge APU series for notebooks (7th APU generation), which was announced mid 2018. Compared to the one year older A4-9220, the A4-9225 has a 200 MHz higher CPU Boost clock but a slower iGPU. It integrates two CPU cores (one Excavator module with 2 integer and one FP unit) clocked at 2.6 GHz to 3.1 GHz. It also includes a Radeon R4 GPU, probably with 192 shaders at up to 686 MHz, as well as a single-channel DDR4-2133 memory controller, H.265 video decoder and chipset with all I/O ports.

Architecture

Stoney Ridge is the successor to the Carrizo architecture and the design is almost identical. Thanks to optimized manufacturing processes and more aggressive Boost behavior, however, the clocks are a bit higher at the same power consumption. The memory controller now also supports DDR4-RAM, in this case up to 2133 MHz. Stoney Ridge is the designation for the smaller dual-core and single-core chip, while Bristol Ridge is the bigger quad-core chip with dual-channel memory controller. More technical details are available in the following articles:

• AMD's Bristol Ridge and Stoney Ridge Architecture
• AMD: Bristol Ridge APUs announced

Performance

The average 9225 in our database proves to be a very, very, very slow processor, its multi-thread benchmark scores only just matching those of the Core 2 Duo P8600 (a dual-core CPU that saw the light of day in 2008). This is a record-breakingly poor performance and a warning to anyone looking to purchase a system built around this specific A6 series CPU.

Graphics

The integrated Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) GPU is probably similar to the R5 with 192 active shader units (3 compute cores), but a reduced clock of just 686 MHz instead of 800 MHz. More details about the GPU are available in the linked articles above.

Power consumption

This AMD A6 series chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W. Laptop makers are allowed to reduce that value somewhat, 10 W being the lower limit, with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly as a result. By going for the lowest value, it will be possible to build a passively cooled system around the APU.

Last but not the least, the A6-9225 is built with a 28 nm process leading to very, very low energy efficiency, as of 2022.