AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) vs AMD Radeon R6 (Kaveri)

AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri)

The AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) is an integrated DirectX 12 graphics card found on a number of AMD Kaveri APUs. Depending on the APU model, the GPU can offer all 512 GCN shaders and 8 compute cores, such as on the FX-7600P. Alternatively, other APUs may only feature 384 shaders and 6 compute cores, such as on the FX-7500. Additionally, the maximum core clock and memory speeds of the GPU depend on the overarching APU: While the ULV models are limited to DDR3-1600, the standard voltage models can support up to DDR3-2133.

Architecture and Features

Thanks to the new GCN 1.1 architecture, the Kaveri GPUs are significantly more efficient with higher performance compared to its VLIW-based predecessors Richland and Trinity. The graphics card can now handle both DirectX 12 (FL 12_0) and the AMD Mantle API. The GPU is also able to accelerate various applications like Adobe Photoshop by utilizing OpenCL.

The revised video engine of Kaveri includes UVD 4.2 (Unified Video Decoder) and VCE 2.0 (Video Codec Engine). H.264 codec support has been slightly improved in several areas. However, H.265 is still not fully supported in hardware.

Performance

Due to significant differences in shader count, core clock speed, and memory support between various Radeon R7 models, the performance of the Radeon R7 can vary greatly between different APUs. While the fastest GPU version in the FX-7600P can compete with a dedicated GeForce GT 740M, the slower version in the FX-7500 only performs at the level of a GeForce GT 720M or HD Graphics 5500. In some cases, the relatively weak CPU may limit the framerates.

Accordingly, games of 2014 can be played fluently in low to medium settings at 1024 x 768 or 1366 x 768 pixels.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the entire Kaveri APU is rated at 19 Watts and 35 Watts for ULV and standard voltage models, respectively. Thus, the 28 nm chip is suited for smaller or medium sized (sub-)notebooks.

AMD Radeon R6 (Kaveri)

The AMD Radeon R6 (Kaveri) is an integrated DirectX 12 graphics card found on a number of AMD Kaveri APUs. The GPU offers 384 shaders and 6 compute cores (128 shaders / 2 compute cores deactivated) and can be found, for example, in the A10-7400P. The maximum core clock and memory speeds of the GPU depend on the overarching APU: While the ULV models are limited to DDR3-1600, the standard voltage models can support up to DDR3-1866.

Architecture and Features

Thanks to the new GCN 1.1 architecture, the Kaveri GPUs are significantly more efficient with higher performance compared to its VLIW-based predecessors Richland and Trinity. The graphics card can now handle both DirectX 12 (FL 12_0) and the AMD Mantle API. The GPU is also able to accelerate various applications like Adobe Photoshop by utilizing OpenCL.

The revised video engine of Kaveri includes UVD 4.2 (Unified Video Decoder) and VCE 2.0 (Video Codec Engine). H.264 codec support has been slightly improved in several areas. However, H.265 is still not fully supported in hardware.

Performance

Due to significant differences in core clock speed and memory support between various Radeon R6 models, the performance can vary greatly between different APUs. While the fastest GPU version in the A10-7400P can compete with a dedicated GeForce GT 730M, the slower version in the A10-7300 hardly performs at the level of a GeForce GT 720M. Accordingly, games of 2014 can be played fluently in low to medium settings at 1024 x 768 or 1366 x 768 pixels.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the entire Kaveri APU is rated at 19 Watts and 35 Watts for ULV and standard voltage models, respectively. Thus, the 28 nm chip is suited for smaller or medium sized (sub-)notebooks.