AMD A8 vs Intel i3 (5th gen) which suits you.......

AMD and Intel, two biggest competitors known so far in computer's processor segment. During the period you are planning to buy a new laptop you obviously research a lot on these two processors, raising several questions in mind : Which is better...AMD or Intel ? or Which will fit my budget and offer best performance ? So here I will clear few things like what is an APU and compare two most popular processor AMD APU A8 (7410) and Intel core i3 5010u (5th gen.). 

What is an APU ?
 
The AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), formerly known as Fusion, is a series of 64-bit microprocessors from AMD designed to act as a CPU and graphics accelerator (GPU) on a single chip.
The Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One both use semi-custom third-generation low-power APUs.
So, basically APU's are AMD's A series chip with AMD A4,  A6, A8, A10 as CPU and AMD Radeon R3, R5, R7  as GPU put on a single semi- conductor chip.
Although intel doesn't use the name "APU", Intel Corporation produces CPU-GPU combinations like its Ivy Bridge that are architecturally very similar.

AMD APU A8 7410

Number of cores: 4
Architecture: amd64                         
Frequency: 2.2 GHz
Turbo frequency: 2.5 GHz
Data width : 64 bit                                  

                                               

GPU: AMD Radeon R5
GPU clockspeed : 849 MHz
L1 data cache : 4 x 32 KB
L1 instruction cache: 4 x 32KB
L2 cache : 2 MB
L3 cache : none
Power consumption : 15W
Additional feature: PowerNow technology, Turbo core, supports virtualization, NX bit.

 

 

Intel Core i3 5010u

Number of core: 2                                   
Architecture: x86-64 
Frequency: 2.1 GHz
Data width: 64 bit
Power consumptions: 12.2 W
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 5500
GPU clockspeed: 300-900 Mhz
L2 cache : 0.5 MB
L2 cache per core: 0.25 MB
L3 cache: 3 MB

Additional features: dynamic frequency scaling(SpeedStep tech), supports virtualization and NX bit

Detailed differences

1) Number of cores: The A8 - 7410 has more CPU than the i3-5010U processor. More number of cores helps CPU to process many threads or applications simultaneously.

2) Clockspeed: The A8-7410 comes with higher operating frequency than the Intel i3-5010U microprocessor. therefore better speed and performance.

3) GPU:The Graphics 5500 transistor size technology is 6 nm smaller than the Radeon R5 . This means that the Graphics 5500 is expected to run very slightly cooler and achieve higher clock frequencies than the Radeon R5. While they exhibit similar graphical performance, the Graphics 5500 should consume less power than the Radeon R5.
The Radeon R5  requires 17 Watts to run and the HD Graphics 5500 Mobile requires 15 Watts. The Radeon R5 requires 2 Watts more than the Graphics 5000 to run. The difference is not significant but may be in your annual electricity bill.
Therefore Intel HD 5500 performs similar to AMD radeon R5 but consumes less power.
4)Power Consumption: Intel Core i3 5 th gen processors are designed to consume less power and deliver better performance. Their microprocessors are smaller in size than Amd processors and consume 12.2 W compared to amd's 15 W processor.

5)L1, L2, L3 cache: CPU cache is a smaller faster memory used by CPU to reduce average time to access memory. They are faster than RAM and are accessed in the sequence L1(smaller memory), L2, L3(larger memory). Though there is not much difference regarding this segement in both the processors but this should not be the criteria to select laptops.
6) PowerNow and SpeedStep: These are Dynamic frequency scaling technologies of AMD and intel respectively which helps in changing cpu's clockspeed according to data load if it is less then CPU clockspeed decreases and helps to save more power and improves battery life.

Verdict:
Intel has its brand value and is well established in terms of processors for PC and laptops. Performance of both the processors is more or less similar. Intel offers less power consumption whereas AMD has more cores to offer high performance and lag-free experience for daily computing. AMD Radeon is more preferred but Intel has improved its GPU significantly to meet customer expectations. The only thing that differentiates the two is price. If you are willing to spend more then you can enjoy the benefits of Intel whereas AMD rules for budget laptops.