Who Controls the User Experience? AMD’s Carrizo Thoroughly Tested
by Ian Cutress on February 4, 2016 8:00 AM EST#2 The HP Elitebook 745 G3 (Carrizo, PRO A12-8800B)
The Carrizo Elitebook 745 G3 looks practically identical to the Kaveri based 745 G2, so there’s no need to cover the visuals again, but the internals here cause a lot of talking points.
| HP Elitebook 745 G3 (Carrizo) Specifications | |
| Size and Resolution | 14-inch, 2560x1440 IPS |
| Processor | AMD PRO A12-8800B Dual module, 4 threads 2.1 GHz Base Frequency 3.4 GHz Turbo Frequency |
| Graphics | Integrated R7 512 Shader Cores 800 MHz maximum frequency GCN 1.2 |
| TDP | 15W |
| Memory | 4 GB in Single Channel Operation 1 x 4GB at DDR3L-1600 C11 2 SO-DIMM Slots |
| Storage | 128GB SSD |
| Battery Size | 45.76 Wh 3 cell Li-Po design, rated to 8.5 hours |
| WiFi | Broadcom Broadcom BCM943228Z 802.11ac 2x2 |
| Optical Drive | No |
| Dimensions | 13.3 x 9.3 x 0.74 in (non-touch) 13.3 x 9.3 x 0.80 in (touch) |
| Weight | 3.41 lb (non-touch) 3.76 lb (touch) |
| Webcam | 1280x720 |
| Other Features | Gigabit Ethernet 4 x USB 3.0 DisplayPort VGA Smart Card Reader |
| Operating System | Windows 8.1 |
| Website Link | link |
The G3 is almost the top premium model Carrizo you can buy, coming in at nearly $1100 if you put up the cash for the top model, which includes as much memory and storage you can fit in. For our unit, it came in at a more modest $700 ($700 for the base model, this was more $1100), which is more in-line with what price point AMD originally expected the Carrizo platform to hit. This is the first notebook with AMD’s new A12 line of processors, with this one being the PRO A12-8800B. This is a 15W part running at a base frequency of 2.1 GHz with a turbo mode up to 3.4 GHz. Any mobile APU in the A12 category has a full complement of 512 streaming processors similar to the FX mobile parts or A10 desktop parts, and the A12 runs these at 800 MHz. Unfortunately this is slightly crippled by only having the equivalent of one memory module in play, a single 4GB DDR3L-1600 module. It is dual channel capable if another is installed.
One of the big plus points with this model is the display, in comparison to the dire one on the G2, but this probably explains the majority of the cost in this 745 G3. With a 2560x1440 IPS display running a high contrast ratio (1422), it did have the best display out of what we tested for this piece. This is matched by the Wi-Fi solution, which had Broadcom’s BCM943228Z module which is an 802.11ac module in the M.2 form factor. One of the general feelings I had from the engineers here is that laptop Wi-Fi will all migrate to M.2 eventually on the understanding of better power control and form factor.
G3 Specific Testing
The 2560x1440 display varied from 0.21 nits all the way up to 297, nearly reaching the 300 mark but resulting in a 1422 contrast ratio. The white point was high, marking it up at 6657K.
While the color accuracy calibration graph looks as if the red line is the one going off on its own, it is actually the red line that is most accurate – we’re expecting a straight line through (0,0), (32,32), (64,64) and so on and while the red line is below most of these points, it isn’t as low as the green or blue.
The CPU-Z outlay shows the new FP4 socket with Carrizo over Kaveri, as well as having the full 12 compute units with those 512 SPs in tow.
On the integrated graphics side, despite the R7 graphics in there, the important element is that memory bandwidth running at 12.8 GB/s due to the single channel memory in use. We can also see the GPU clock running at 200 MHz idle, lower than the Kaveri implementation, which has power benefits.
With the 745 G3 we were able to do a run down on our light battery test, as well as run through some charge numbers.
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basicmath - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
can you post a link to those dual channel benchies please :)basicmath - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
actually just saw the notebook check graph, that is a considerable increase in performance!zodiacfml - Sunday, February 7, 2016 - link
Right! The review should have included dual channel performance. Going through the review, I thought Intel finally came close with AMD in graphics performance. With dual channel, Carrizo is well ahead in gaming benchmarks at nearly half the price.extide - Thursday, March 24, 2016 - link
AMD does not have a partnership with Samsung. GF does, but GF is, now, a separate company.Gc - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
Anandtech: how did you determine that the Y700 pre-production unit that you tested was accessing its two memory cards through a single channel only? Are you simply reporting what AMD told you, or is there a test that readers can use to check production laptops, and other machines? (Might the two memory cards be mismatched in some way, so the processor backed off to single channel mode?)typo:
s/ R9 385MX / R9 M385X /
Ian Cutress - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
Aside from being told directly, I did memory bandwidth testing and other software indicators (CPU-Z, AIDA, etc). Both modules were matched, I took them out and had a look.basicmath - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
@Ian Cutress, any reason you didn't put an extra 4GB stick in the G3 745? Seems like a really simple thing to do and would have given a really useful graphical comparison. I guess you guys are too poor to have a stick floating around!Ian Cutress - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
Aside from your snarky comment, your answers are explained in the review.The laptops were tested as sold. This is a review on the user experience of these devices. As shown on the Carrizo vs Core page, device after device from Carrizo comes by default with a single stick of memory. Most users who pick a device and go don't want to understand why their UX is the way it is, it just needs to work when they buy it.
I'd also like to mention that testing five laptops with a our suite of tests plus power testing and thermal testing in a single week without an opportunity to revisit is mightily tough for one person who doesn't have access to all their normal gear (testing was done on location, as mentioned), and adding in more variables extrapolates testing time which I didn't have.
We'll be doing further testing for Carrizo, specifically on generational updates, when the Athlon X4 845 comes out. I'm hoping to rope in an R-Series Carrizo platform as well (with IGP) to test DDR3/DDR4 comparison points.
basicmath - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - link
Dude, you highlighted the fact that the 512 core Carrizo chip was running on a single channel, weren't you even slightly curious to find out how it performed on dual channel? It's like reviewing a water proof phone and not trying to drown it!erple2 - Sunday, February 7, 2016 - link
No, its like testing a phone as it came from the factory, then not paying for some third party "waterproofing" company to waterproof the phone and testing it underwater.