APU vs CPU - Difference?

[Hi P]

If you have two identical systems, with a dedicated graphics card on both of them:

 

- What's the difference between a system with a CPU and a system with an APU?

 

This question came to my mind when I saw the Ryzen 3 1200 being a bit pricier than the Ryzen 3 2200g, since both have identical specs but the later has integrated graphics.

 

Thank you

[iLostMyXbox21]

Just now, Hi P said:

If you have two identical systems, with a dedicated graphics card on both of them:

 

- What's the difference between a system with a CPU and a system with an APU?

 

This question came to my mind when I saw the Ryzen 3 1200 being a bit pricier than the Ryzen 3 2200g, since both have identical specs but the later has integrated graphics.

 

Thank you

APU - accelerated processing unity

CPU - Central processing unit 

 

apu has integrated gpu

 

cpu doesnt

[agent_x007]

Because APU has iGPU inside, TDP gets shared between GPU and CPU parts, which may result in lower clock vs. no iGPU unit.

[Dedayog]

APU is a marketing term from AMD.  It's specifically referring to CPU and GPU on same die.

A CPU shouldn't have a GPU integrated, but it's become an umbrella term now.  Like my 8700K CPU is running well.  But it has graphics too, so...

 

 

[r2724r16]

1 minute ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

apu has integrated gpu

 

cpu doesnt

Isn't the i5 8250u a CPU?

[Brooksie359]

2 minutes ago, Hi P said:

If you have two identical systems, with a dedicated graphics card on both of them:

 

- What's the difference between a system with a CPU and a system with an APU?

 

This question came to my mind when I saw the Ryzen 3 1200 being a bit pricier than the Ryzen 3 2200g, since both have identical specs but the later has integrated graphics.

 

Thank you

The 2200g can run off it's integrated graphics if you need to like if there is an issue with your gpu while the 1200 cannot. 

[Enderman]

APU is the name AMD gives to it's CPUs that have an iGPU.

Intel just calls all their CPUs a "CPU" even if it comes with integrated graphics.

[Hi P]

1 minute ago, Brooksie359 said:

The 2200g can run off it's integrated graphics if you need to like if there is an issue with your gpu while the 1200 cannot. 

But then why is the 1200 pricer? what makes it better than the 2200g?

[Hi P]

3 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

Because APU has iGPU inside, TDP gets shared between GPU and CPU parts, which may result in lower clock vs. no iGPU unit.

I was looking at the specs between the 1200 and the 2200g, apparently the 2200g has higher clocks, though the 1200 is still a bit pricer, why?

[Brooksie359]

Just now, Hi P said:

But then why is the 1200 pricer? what makes it better than the 2200g?

The one upside of the 1200 is it tends to be able to overclock slightly higher due to it being soldered. Honestly I think the 2200g is the way to go because it's priced better and it still overcloks well. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

As @jstudrawa said, APU is a marketing term from AMD. Otherwise if you went and said it was a processor package that includes a CPU side and a GPU side, then Intel's mainstream processors since Sandy Bridge are all technically APUs.

 

Though the original idea for where the "accelerated" for "Accelerated Processing Unit" came from was that AMD was pushing for adoption of Heterogeneous System Architecture or HSA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterogeneous_System_Architecture) The basic idea was that traditionally, the CPU and GPU had portions of RAM that neither one could access without going through a bunch of hoops. HSA allows the CPU and GPU to access the same memory locations, letting software that could use the computing power of the GPU do so easily: just drop the data into the memory region and the GPU can go to work while the CPU can pick it up as needed. I can't find any benchmarks, but I do recall seeing some where HSA really boosted things like video encoding.

[Princess Luna]

8 minutes ago, Hi P said:

But then why is the 1200 pricer? what makes it better than the 2200g?

If you're buying based on prices you're doing it wrong.

 

Being pricey doesn't mean any thing performance wise.

[iLostMyXbox21]

9 minutes ago, Hi P said:

But then why is the 1200 pricer? what makes it better than the 2200g?

because AMD wants moneys, and then2200g was made for budget gaming

[Hi P]

6 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

The one upside of the 1200 is it tends to be able to overclock slightly higher due to it being soldered. Honestly I think the 2200g is the way to go because it's priced better and it still overcloks well. 

I see, so without overclocking a 2200g is a better option? can it use a dedicated graphics card without problems?

[Brooksie359]

2 minutes ago, Hi P said:

I see, so without overclocking a 2200g is a better option? can it use a dedicated graphics card without problems?

Yeah the 2200g will preform better out of the box. It will work just as well with a dedicated gpu as any other cpu so you should have no issues.