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PC Building

dabeat
Adept I

CPU for mini-ITX PC without graphics card

Hello!
I have been wanting to build a mini-ITX PC without a graphics card for some time. I have been looking at the Ryzen 5700G APUs and was waiting for the Ryzen 7000. But now I see that they are not APUs, but only iGPUs.
The use I will give to the equipment or programs I will use will be: office, internet, converting and coding videos, (NOT gaming). I have a 1440p monitor.
- My main doubt is what would be better (for the use I will give it) a Ryzen 7 5700G or a Ryzen 7000?
- Will AMD release 7000 APUs?
Thank you!

9 Replies

The 7000 series APUs have already been sold to the public since September 2022:

AMD released four Ryzen 7000 series CPUs on September 27, 2022. As it did with the previous Ryzen 5000 chips, the company plans to release the higher-end (i.e. more expensive) CPUs first and then follow up with more budget processors later this year. Prices for the initial crop of CPUs ranges from $299 to $699.Jan 5, 2023

All 7000 series processors are APUs with Integrated graphics.

So I would go with the latest technology which is the AM5 Motherboard with a 7000 series APU processor installed.

Plus you need to purchase compatible RAM for the CPU you choose from either the Motherboard or RAM Manufacturer's QVL List.

The AM4 with the 5000 Series APUs might be less expensive but it is older technology.

I would say that the current Ryzen 7000 are iGPU, not APU. That's why I was asking if there's any forecast for AMD to release APUs from the 7000 series.

IGPU is the graphics part of a APU Processor.

APU means any processor that has Integrated Graphics embedded like most of Intel APU processors in the past.

There is no such thing as a separate IGPU. The "I" means Integrated.

So all of AMD's processors (Processors with Integrated Graphics) are considered to be APU processors.

CPUs are processors without any Integrated Graphics on it.

Some Motherboards in the past used to have Integrated Graphics embedded in the Motherboard itself but today maybe only specialized Motherboard may have that feature.

Many of you will say: a CPU with iGPU is an APU, and you're partially right but not completely, so let's explain it in detail below, but in the simplest possible way so it's understandable.

The CPU is the processor of a PC, the "brain" responsible for performing all operations and controlling everything that happens in the system. On the other hand, we have the GPU, which is the "processor" incorporated in dedicated graphics cards and, unlike CPUs, its instruction set and internal components are optimized for graphics. Although a CPU can perform most (not all) of the operations of a GPU and vice versa, as they are not optimized for this, performance is substantially lower, which is why they are two separate components. In other words, the processor is dedicated to the general operations that a PC needs to perform, while the GPU is entirely dedicated to calculations related to the graphics we see on the screen, such as scene generation, polygons, etc. To perform these calculations, they incorporate different hardware inside, and their instruction set is also different.

Some CPUs can incorporate a graphics processor on the same die, called iGPU, which is nothing more than an integrated GPU but operates independently. In this way, it is possible to visualize the content on a monitor without the need for a dedicated graphics card, although in these cases the performance is quite low due to the physical limitations.

As a variant of the CPUs with iGPU, in 2011 AMD launched the concept of APU, which differs from these in that the graphics hardware it integrates is not only much more powerful (in fact, AMD sells them as gaming devices), but it has a fundamental difference, the HSA (heterogeneous) architecture.

So, the difference between an APU and a CPU with iGPU is that in an APU, the calculation cores (CPU) share data directly with the graphics cores (iGPU), being able to use one or the other indistinctly depending on the type of operations we are performing on the PC at each moment. In short, an APU has HSA architecture and that simplifies the number of steps that have to be taken to complete any instruction.

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Yes, the term "APU" refers strictly to AMD CPUs with IGPU, yet Intel CPUs with IGPU are generally identical yet are not called APU since that refers to AMD Processors.

APU is just AMD's way to differentiate the difference between a regular CPU and a CPU with IGPU on it while Intel doesn't differentiate between a regular CPU and a CPU with IGPU on it.

The difference between Intel's CPU with IGPU and AMD APU is that AMD APU processors have better graphics and are made for gaming while Intel are just for basic video applications and low intensive type gaming.

From a Wepc article about CPU with IGPUs: https://www.wepc.com/cpu/compare/apu-vs-cpu-gpu/

An APU (accelerated processing unit) is just another CPU from AMD, except it features integrated graphics onboard. Some people can get confused around this as most Intel CPUs come with integrated graphics. However, only AMD APU chips come with integrated graphics

Is APU better than CPU and GPU?

Being that APU stands for Advanced Processing Unit, you’d be forgiven for thinking they had some sort of performative edge over the discrete CPU & GPU setup, but that’s not the case.

APUs are a fantastic way to kill two birds with one stone, which is particularly handy for new starters on a budget, but they’ll never compete with dedicated processing and graphics units. They just don’t have as much muscle in either department.

For typical computing, an APU is all you’d ever need. But when it comes to applications that impart a burden on both the CPU and GPU, such as gaming or 3D animation, two will always be better than one.

A dedicated GPU has its own cores, a customized thermal solution, and even an integrated memory, enabling higher resolution gaming, while simultaneously taking the pressure off your CPU.

The above article does state that APU or CPU with IGPU aren't as powerful as a separate CPU and GPU card.

From another article about Intel Processors with IGPU:

Even Intel's iGPUs, which were generally far weaker than AMD's at the time, have been called Intel UHD Graphics for this reason since 2017. 4K media playback isn't so demanding on raw graphics horsepower as it is on simply having the compatible and modern enough display technologies available to you.
 
 
 
The Best CPUs with Integrated Graphics (iGPU) [Updated 2023]
 

NOTE: Your previous statement about the 7000 series APU is wrong "I would say that the current Ryzen 7000 are iGPU, not APU."

BigAl01
Volunteer Moderator

I have been very happy with the graphics performance of the AMD 5700G CPU.  For this platform, the memory and motherboards are still a reasonable cost and much cheaper than the newer 7000 series CPUs.

AVPR-2_Aug2021_ (6) (Medium).jfifAVPR-2_Aug2021_ (29) (Medium).jfif

As Albert Einstein said, "I could have done so much more with a Big Al's Computer!".

I'm digging the upholstery job on that chair, Al!

I'm also digging the artwork behind it!

Performance over Pretty.
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dabeat
Adept I

Well, then it seems that a Ryzen 7 5700G with its Vega 8 graphics has better performance than a Ryzen 7000 with RDNA 2. Is that right?

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I wouldn't say it has better performance, but it has a better price to performance ratio right now.

Performance over Pretty.
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