AMD A10-7870K APU with Near-Silent Thermal Solution Review - PAGE 1

Since AMD first unveiled its Desktop Processor Update Summary for March 1st, 2016 (see the first image below), I have had the opportunity to present reviews of several new and updated AMD processors. One of these reviews was for the new unlocked A10-7890K APU with the premium AMD Wraith cooler, and now I will be taking another look at the older unlocked A10-7870K APU model (first introduced in May 2015) with the new "Near-Silent" 125W AMD thermal solution which is basically the Wraith cooler without an LED-backlit fan shroud.

As shown in the second image below, the A10-7870K APU was introduced with a higher GPU and Max Turbo/CPU frequency than its predecessors. The thermal solution originally provided with the boxed retail release had limited ability to provide adequate cooling for serious overclockers, so the near-silent 125W thermal solution was intended to address this by allowing for higher CPU frequencies while keeping the CPU cool even under load.

In order to find out just how much better the 125W thermal solution will perform, I am going to test the A10-7870K APU mounted on a Gigabyte F2A88X-UP4 motherboard provided by AMD with a set of 16 GB (2 x 8) DDR3 RAM modules set at 2133 MHz speed. I will then run thermal and fan speed tests so a comparison of the results will provide a meaningful data set to compare the near-silent 125W cooler to an older model AMD cooling solution.

Packaging:
The repacked AMD A10-7870K APU processor comes bundled with the near-silent 125W thermal solution in a 5.25” x 5" x 4.75" box covered with a matte dark black background color. This small package only allows minimal information about the processor on the front panel. The back panel lists the package contents in several languages, as well as a reminder about a discrete graphic card required to perform high end computer needs (image processing, CAD, etc.).

Folded over the very back edge of the top panel to the back panel is the package tampering seal with additional processor information including the model/serial number with accompanying bar code, UPC and QR image. The two side panels are simple, with a small viewing window and AMD logo on one side and the logo/URL on the other.

After lifting the top cover we see an inner cardboard box holding the near-silent thermal solution, and to the left is a small black box holding the A10-7870K APU and warranty documentation.

The A10-7870K APU itself is inside a protective plastic package, and comes with an AMD badge to place on your system case or monitor.

Closer Look:
As seen in the next image, the 90mm fan of the near-silent 125W thermal solution entirely covers the top of the heatsink's dissipation fin array to push up to 34 percent more air flow across the dissipation fins. The mounting clip is the same as older heatsinks, so this heatsink can also be mounted on any current AMD socket mount.

NOTE: I replaced the thermal plate protective plastic covers used to hold the cooler in place during transit with a clear plastic film to protect the factory thermal paste while handling, which will be removed prior to mounting the heatsink.

The footprint of the cooler is identical to older model heatsinks, but the heat pipes themselves have a wider stance. The second most notable change is the dissipation fin area that is 21% larger to accommodate for the larger fan that comes with the A10-7870K APU.

The image on the below left shows the near-silent 125W thermal solution installed on the test motherboard. The image next to that shows the processor, integrated video, and RAM information as shown using the Radeon Settings Application found on the System Tray after installing the AMD Crimson drivers. (I used the AMD auto detect utility from their website for drivers to help determine the correct drivers for my setup.)

Specifications:

Information courtesy of AMD http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/processors/desktop/a-series-apu