Stefan Mileschin

AMD has confirmed that its mid-range Kaveri chip will to be available in pre-built systems, but will not go on sale to the "great unwashed" any time soon.

AMD said that production of the AMD A8-7600 is on track and will be available first to AMD's OEM customers in Q1 2014, to ensure the introduction of AMD based systems in Q2 2014. Additional parts of the AMD A8-7600 for PIB production will be available for sale in the component channel will not be around until the second half of the year.

The quad-core A8-7600 doesn't have the clock speed of the flagship A10-7850K, coming it at 3.3GHz base and 3.8 Ghz, nor does it have the unlocked multiplier or GPU power. What it does have is that it can manage 80-90 percent of the A10-7850K's performance for less than three-quarters of the price.

It also has a 65W power range which nearly makes it laptop-friendly and could lead to a mobile version.

AMD is not saying why the chip has been delayed. Word on the street is that there is a high-demand for pre-built Kaveri-powered systems from emerging markets and AMD could not make enough of them for the component channel.

AMD took the unusual step of positioning the A8-7600 as a launch part rather than focusing entirely on the high end of its nascent product family. Extreme Tech thinks that this is because Steamroller architecture doesn't scale particularly well at high clock speeds.

Still the chip could take advantage of the sudden interest in Steam Machines or similar systems.

http://news.techeye.net/chips/amd-co...eri-chip-delay