Conclusion

With the A8-3870K, AMD has a really versatile allrounder in its portfolio. We very much liked that this CPU was very easy to overclock. Setting the multiplyer higher as well as give the CPU a bit more volt is already enough to have some overclocking fun. Furhtermore there is the very attractive price of just CHF 149.- (est. EUR 124.-). For this kind of money you do not only get a CPU, you also get an integrated HD 6550D graphics chip, that offers sufficient performance to do casual gaming a lower resolutions.

From the processor itself you shouldn't expect miracles. In benchmarks that need a lot of processing power the A8-3870K lacks behind. Never the less there is plenty of performance for an office PC. If you keep in mind that this is not only a CPU and you also get quite a strong integrated graphics processor in the package, which is way more powerful than Intels HD 2000/3000 solution, then you'll quickly realize that this is a product with a very good price/performance ratio.

Next to office PCs you could also build HTPCs with this CPU on which you could watch movies as well as play some games from time to time. Furthermore, if you do some calculations you find that CPU, motherboard and memory will set you back just about CHF 250.- (est EUR 208.-), which is highly competitive.