Introduction

Being a reviewer, and just getting older, has caused a huge perspective shift for me when it comes to computer components. Back in the day, I used to be one of those strict top end type users, meaning that anything less than a certain level of performance just wouldn't suffice for me. Therefore, when I ended up making component purchases, they were always the best, or just about the best, that could be bought at the time. I would save money and skip over perfectly good components to get the better one, even if it meant holding out to the next generation. If I wasn't able to get the expensive product, I made sure that I was able to get the best for the money at hand. This usually meant something just a step below what would overclock to meet, or get close to, that top end product.

As I get older, my demand on computers has changed. I still game, however, I no longer sit around looking for the absolute best video card that can give me the highest possible FPS in a game. I've found that once you hit a certain level, say 50fps, the gameplay experience really doesn't "feel" any different. This means that a card that can boast 120fps doesn't impress me like in the past. Now, I can relate more to the average user that doesn't have the same thought process on purchases like the top end user has. They can look at things from a more economical standpoint and make purchases that will give them the essentials that they need.

The AMD A6-3650 Llano 2.6GHz Quad Core APU seems to fit that economical need that average users may have. The A6-3650 boasts a 2.6GHz quad core processor and a Radeon 6530D GPU. The APU was manufactured with the 32nm process and comes with 4MB of L2 cache. The Radeon 6530D has a 443MHz core clock and 320 Radeon cores. This next generation of AMD chip also has the support of up to 1866 DDR3 memory. Codenamed "Llano", this APU has a TDP of 100W. Feature support includes AMD Dual Graphics, DX 11, and AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing Technology.