bulldozer
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Lawsuit claims AMD lied about the number of cores in its chips
Processor makers regularly exaggerate the performance of their chips (remember Intel's obsession with clock speed?), but AMD is learning that there are limits around what you can claim. It's facing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of misleading buyers about the number of cores in its Bulldozer-based CPUs. It would advertise that a given processor had eight cores, for example, when it effectively had four -- each core in AMD-speak was really half of a module, and couldn't operate independently. As such, that Bulldozer part couldn't handle as many simultaneous instructions as you'd expect in a true eight-core design. That was bound to be a disappointment if you were a performance junkie expecting eight-way computing in your gaming PC or server.
AMD FX-8350 review roundup: enthusiasts still won't be totally enthused
Now that AMD's fresh new FX processors based on the Piledriver architecture are out in the wild, the specialist hardware sites have seen fit to benchmark the top-lining FX-8350. Overall, the group feels that AMD has at least closed the gap a bit on Intel's Core juggernaut with a much better FX offering this time around, but overall the desktop CPU landscape remains unchanged -- with Intel still firmly at the top of the heap. Compared to its last-gen Bulldozer chips, "in every way, today's FX-8350 is better," according to Tom's Hardware: cheaper, up to 15 percent faster and more energy efficient. Still, while the new CPUs represent AMD's desktop high-end, they only stack up against Intel's mid-range Core i5 family, and even against that line-up they only edge ahead in heavily threaded testing. But if you "look beyond those specific (multithreaded) applications, Intel can pull away with a significant lead" due to its superior design, says Anantech. As for power consumption, unfortunately "the FX-8350 isn't even the same class of product as the Ivy Bridge Core i5 processors on this front," claims The Tech Report. Despite all that, Hot Hardware still sees several niches that AMD could fill with the new chips, as they'll provide "an easy upgrade path for existing AMD owners and more flexibility for overclocking, due to its unlocked multipliers." That means if you already have a Socket-AM3+ motherboard, you'll be able to do a cheap upgrade by swapping in the new CPU, and punching up the clock cycles might close the performance gap enjoyed by the Core i5. Finally, AMD also saw fit to bring the new chip in at a "very attractive" $195 by Hexus' reckoning, a much lower price than an earlier leak suggested. Despite that, however, the site says that AMD's flagship FX processor still "cannot tick as many desirable checkboxes as the competing Intel Core i5 chips." Feel free to scope all the sources below to make your own conclusions. Read - Tom's Hardware Read - Hot Hardware Read - AnandTech Read - Hexus Read - The Tech Report
AMD updates its FX processors: 8-core chip has 4GHz base clock, '15 percent' more oomph, $195 price tag
If you get the impression that AMD is diverting its energy away from traditional CPUs and towards APUs and fresher PC form factors such as all-in-ones, then you're certainly right -- but you're also slightly ahead of the game. The company promises there's a still a good few years of life left in its CPU-only chips and the AM3+ socket, and it's putting today's announcement forward as evidence. As of now, last year's eight-core FX-8150 has been superseded on retailers' shelves by the FX-8350, which notches the stock clock speed up to 4GHz, or 4.2GHz on turbo (alas with no obvious sign of that resonant mesh we once heard about). The full stack (codenamed 'Vishera') includes eight-, six- and four-core options, all based on the new Piledriver architecture which -- when combined with these higher clock speeds -- promises an overall performance uplift of around 15 percent versus the old Bulldozer cores. To be fair though, those Bulldozers weren't so snappy to begin with, and besides, the most significant performance claims with this upgrade relate to multi-threaded applications and a few gaming titles like Skyrim and Civ 5. Judging from the slide deck below, gains in other areas of performance may be lower -- perhaps in the region of seven percent -- so as usual we're going to roundup a bunch of reviews later today before we jump to any conclusions. If it turns out that stock performance alone isn't enough to sell these chips, then potential buyers still ought to check out FX's pricing relative to Intel -- not least because, as is typical, AMD sells overclockable chips at no extra charge. The top-end FX-8350 will hit the market at $195, which is not only cheaper than some earlier leaks suggested, but also $40 cheaper than an unlocked Core i5-3570K that has a lower clock speed and a smaller L3 cache -- although the relative performance of these two chips remains to be independently tested. Meanwhile, the entry-level quad-core FX-4300 will virtually match the price of a locked i3-2120 at $122, but can be readily overclocked to 5GHz with water-cooling. AMD is also making a few claims based on the cost of multiple components in a rig: for example, that you can spend $372 on an FX-8350 and Radeon HD 7850 combo that delivers a 25 to 70 percent gaming advantage over a similarly priced Core i5 3570K with a GeForce GTX 650 Ti. Again, stay tuned for our roundup and we'll figure out just how compelling this really is.
AMD teases next-gen Steamroller CPU, aims to Bulldoze the competition
AMD's Bulldozer CPUs remind us of Betamax (or MiniDisc), in that its superlative design hasn't been embraced thanks to one or two humbling limitations. However, Mark Papermaster, Sunnyvale's new CTO, took to the stage at Hot Chips to show how he's changing the situation with the third-generation Steamroller architecture. It's rowing back on the more experimental elements of the design, scrapping the single shared fetch-and-decode hardware in favor of dual-cores that should double the amount of instructions it can handle. It's hoping to make performance gains of 15 percent, clawing back some of Intel's lead, and is considering roping in the GPU to help with the heavy-hitting in future versions. The chips will be built at Globalfoundries 28-nanometer line and are hoped to be out at some point next year.
AMD has a server chip for the cheap seats: the 'desktop-like' Opteron 3200
So, AMD's 2012 rampage continues. Having outed a full stack of Radeon HD 7000-series graphics cards on the consumer side of things, it's now ready release the next in its line of Opteron enterprise server chips. Like the 4200 and 6200 series before it, the Opteron 3200 is based on the Bulldozer architecture. It comes in four or eight-core configurations, with 45W to 65W power consumption, plus a 2.7GHz base frequency that gets a 1GHz adrenalin kick in Turbo Core mode (which prioritizes half the cores and shuts down the other half). However, the 3200 series is designed to offer cloud and web hosting server functionality in a cheaper, "desktop-like infrastructure", which means these processors squeeze into a regular AM3+ socket and undercut comparable Xeons by up to $90. Can we expect server builders like SeaMicro to switch to these processors instead of Intel? Oh, you can count on it.
AMD rolls out two new Bulldozer chips, cuts price of the FX-8120 to celebrate
Like Hugh Hefner (probably), AMD took a good hard look at its lineup this week and decided it was high time to add a pair of models. Two new Bulldozer-powered FX CPUs will join the pantheon of world-record beating chips in the company's constant fight against the forces of Intel. The quad-core FX-4170 has a 4.2GHz CPU with 4.3GHz Turbo mode (for more on AMD's Bulldozer architecture, see here) while the six-core FX-6200 has a 3.8GHz base clock and a 4.1GHz Turbo mode. Availability will vary by region as the company shuttles out the new silicon on a rolling timeline, but we'd start keeping our eyes peeled next time you're down the shops. To celebrate, AMD is hacking down the price of the top-end FX-8150 from $245 to $185 and you should see a similar price drop from outlets filter through shortly. After the break we've got all the stats we were able to type about these slices of silicon before our palms got sweaty.
Microsoft leak reveals hotfix for underperforming Bulldozers
AMD's Bulldozer silicon is enormously powerful, but most software isn't configured to schedule threads for the faux-16 core design. Windows can only see the chip as a quad-core CPU and will randomly assign threads, which ruins the point of Bulldozer's "Turbo Core" design. Microsoft inadvertently revealed it had teamed up with the chipmaker to fix the problem when it prematurely released a hotfix for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Initial tests showed that it could improve performance by up to seven percent, before it was pulled -- Microsoft conceding that it wasn't quite ready for prime-time.
AMD shaves 800 million transistors from Bulldozer chip, swears nothing's wrong
When a company cuts 40 percent of its transistors from an upcoming processor, one question comes to mind: why? According to ExtremeTech, AMD issued an update stating that its Bulldozer eight core / four module CPU would feature 1.2 billion transistors, as opposed to the previously stated two billion transistors. The reduction occurred despite the fact that the die size remains unchanged at 315 square millimeters -- putting it on par with AMD's lesser Llano chip -- and depriving the chip of valuable horsepower before I/O, an integrated memory controller or HyperTransport are added. When approached for comment, company representatives stated they were simply correcting a mistake regarding the chip's actual specifications. Before you bemoan the fate of the Bulldozer chip, remember that the drummer from Def Leppard has had a terrific musical career with only one arm, so what's the loss of several hundred million transistors to AMD's latest?
AMD ships '16-core' Bulldozer-powered Opteron 6200
We seem to have mislaid our definition of fashionably late -- a fortnight after the promised "October" launch, systems packing AMD's Bulldozer-powered Opteron 6200 (formerly Interlagos) will commence shipping to enterprise customers. If you haven't been paying too much attention, you might just believe the claim about it having 16 cores -- Bulldozer's architecture has eight two-core modules rather than 16 independent ones. Despite the short delay and the conspicuous claims, the company reckons it's 84 percent faster, 73 percent more efficient and uses half the power of the equivalent Intel Xeon. At the same time, Sunnyvale firmed up news on the Valencia (Opteron 4200) and announced 2012's Opteron 3000 platform with the new Zurich chip -- designed to run on low-power web hosts. Enterprise customers can read the PR we've got after the break and then begin placing orders; the rest of us will have to keep waiting to see if Andre Yang can push his FX all the way to 9GHz.[Thanks, Khan]
Bulldozer world record re-broken by Andre Yang with a 8.58GHz victory lap
There you have it, folks. Floating over this text is the CPU-Z record that proves it: four days after Andre Yang broke the chip speed overclocking record with AMD's Bulldozer, he's done it again. The chip maker was eerily prescient when it said it expected others to beat the record and that unnatural confidence in the silicon has paid off. Last time, Yang managed to push only 30MHz over the previous record, this time he's found a further 123.3MHz -- making the total chip speed 8.58GHz. The secret to his success was in increasing his chip voltage (2.076v compared to 1.992 last time) and over-liberal use of liquid nitrogen. Maybe he could convince Sunnyvale to loan him a massive vat of liquid helium to get ever closer to the goal of 9GHz -- just make sure you don't pick up the check for the shipping and handling, okay?
AMD Bulldozer breaks own world record, overclocked to 8.46GHz
Advanced Micro Devices is probably feeling a bit silly right about now. To show off how powerful the Bulldozer chip really is, it drafted in the world's most elite overclockers, set them up in a room with whatever was required (including a vat of liquid helium) and broke the chip-speed world record. With a verified speed of 8.429GHz, the company collected its Guinness world record and sat back, thinking that no one could ever best it. Less than two months later and Andre Yang (who we can assume does not have his own military complex to run his experiments in) managed to get his Bulldozer running at 8.46GHz, 30MHz faster than the chip's own parent could manage. We wouldn't dare suggest that anyone stand outside AMD's Sunnyvale HQ whilst playing the sad trombone -- but if anyone deserves that chance, it'd certainly be Mr. Yang. Update: AMD got in touch to say that it's expecting others to beat the record and is excited to see how many records the chips are gonna set. So what are you waiting for?
AMD gets Guinness World Record for fastest CPU with overclocked octa-core FX processor
Speed. It's of paramount importance in evaluating any computer system, and the engine that gives your PC its get up and go is its CPU. The folks at AMD wanted to show off just how awesome (and fast) their new Bulldozer-based FX chips can be, and set a Guinness World Record for the "Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor" while they were at it. To get the record, a team of "elite overclocking specialists" cranked up the juice on an 8-core desktop CPU until hitting a speed of 8.429GHz -- handily surpassing the previous mark of 8.308GHz. So, AMD's got the fastest silicon in the west and it's chipping away at Intel's processor predominance. What say you, Chipzilla?
AMD ships 16-core Bulldozer chips for servers, makes consumers wait their turn
AMD's Interlagos, its server-styled Bulldozer chip -- Mr. Opteron 6200 to you and me -- is being pushed out to retailers and OEMs ready for an October launch. AMD is calling it the first 16-core x86 processor, although as we know from the required reading, it has eight two-core shared modules rather than 16 independent ones. The chips are compatible with Socket G34 motherboards, but most of this first production run will go straight into supercomputer projects. AMD remains mute on progress of the consumer-level Zambezi, but rumors are that the company can't clock it fast enough to compete with Intel's Core i7 -- the very class that Bulldozer was designed to bury. [Thanks, Sebastian]
AMD 990FX motherboards from Asus, ASRock and Gigabyte get rounded up and ranked
HotHardware just herded up a trio of new mainboards equipped with AMD's 990FX chipset, which will support those famed 8-core Bulldozer-based processors when they finally arrive, as well as being compatible with existing Phenom II and Athlon II chips. All the boards had similarly high performance, good connectivity and plenty of overclocking and tweaking potential. However, the $229 Asus CrossHair V Formula inched its way to overall victory thanks to its reliability, attractive build and smart layout. The ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional placed second despite being cheaper at $200 and having richer connectivity, including FireWire and a front-mountable USB 3.0 panel. Finally, the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7 lagged behind due to its excessive $250 price tag, a lack of color coding to help guide less experienced builders, plus an ugly and outdated BIOS utility. So, there you have it: if you want to gear up for your next Bulldozer-ready AMD build, the Asus and ASRock 990FX boards are ripe for picking. Check out the source link for the full comparisons and benchmarks.
More details emerge on AMDs Bulldozer for high-end desktops
AMDs Bulldozer is the company's anticipated high-power rival to Intel's Core i7 and the company just released a slew of new information about its internals. Now, pay attention 007 -- the "Zambezi for Socket AM3+" chips will include four modules, each with two cores and 2MB of L2 cache. Operating above these is a single Northbridge with 8MB of L3 cache to direct data between two 72-bit DDR3 channels and 4 x 16-bit receive / transmit HyperTransport links. Finally, the "Turbo Core" increases the whole chip's click speed when taxed or kills power to idle cores when it's not. Hustle on down to the source link to see the slides yourself. [Thanks, Bertrandsbox]
LucidLogix brings GPU virtualization to AMD notebooks, all-in-ones, keeps sharing the graphics love
Late last year, LucidLogix introduced us to Virtu, the GPU virtualization software that makes disparate GPUs play nice on Sandy Bridge PCs, and now its extending the love to AMD Bulldozer and Brazos machines. The latest version of the software, dubbed Virtu Universal, also extends GPU virtualization to all-in-ones and notebooks (on both AMD and Intel), enabling simple switching between discrete graphics and the integrated ilk. What's more, the program ushers in the debut of Virtual Vsync, which claims to bring "maximum gaming frame rates and responsiveness, while eliminating distracting and image-distorting visual tearing." Of course, we'll believe it when we see it, which, if LucidLogix has its way, should be before the ball drops in Time Square. Full PR after the break.
AMD Llano quad-core APUs and Zambezi octa-core CPUs get priced, the former listed inside an HP dv6
Don't mistake the relative quietness from AMD on the APU front for inactivity. Ever since announcing the first shipment of its Llano Accelerated Processing Unit in April, the company's been working behind the scenes to ramp up availability to OEMs, and somewhere along the supply chain a gracious soul has been found who's leaked the bulk pricing for those chips. The new quad-core A Series processors start off at $110 for an A6-3450 and max out at $170 for an A8-3550P, but there's also mention of octa-core FX processors, which will weigh in at $320 a piece and reputedly compete with Intel's 3.4GHz Core i7-2600K. The latter are built around AMD's Bulldozer modules (wherein one module counts for two cores) and look to be the manifestation of the company's Zambezi CPUs, which could come without an integrated graphics processor as is available on the Llano and the rest of AMD's Fusion line. Just to whet appetites further, we've also come across an HP dv6 on an obscure German retail site, offering a 1.6GHz A6-3410MX APU, 6GB of RAM, and a most reasonable €590 price. There's obviously no promised delivery date, but this should be the first of many such appearances in the coming days as we build up towards Computex 2011. Something tells us AMD won't be holding back when the Taipei electronics show gets started. [Thanks, Shashwat and Vygantas]
AMD's quad-core Llano APUs pegged for Q3 2011 release, Computex unveiling
X-bit labs has a (pretty massive) scoop of AMD info to share with us this week, as it has put together the above chart detailing what it expects the company's APU roadmap will look like for the remainder of the year. Published a couple of days ago, this data has now been partially corroborated by the snoops over at DigiTimes, who confirm a couple of the model names and agree that AMD is planning an initial Q3 rollout of five Llano chips, to be followed by even more processors coming in Q4 of 2011. Llano represents AMD's play for the performance crown, coming as it does with dual- or quad-core processing units, DirectX 11-capable Radeon HD 6000-series graphics, and a dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, all bundled up inside the same warm and toasty package. More E-series APUs for power-conscious users are also said to be on the cards, and AMD itself should be making these plans official at Computex in Taipei come early June. It's a bit of a wait, but we've got a feeling it'll be worth it.
AMD publishes CPU roadmaps through 2012, runs a quad-core Bulldozer through the laptop realm
Heard of Trinity, Krishna, Wichita and Komodo? You have now -- they're the codenames of brand-new processors that AMD plans to ship in 2012. AMD dropped preliminary details on the basic platform lineup earlier this week, and it looks like there are some sweeping changes in store -- like the fact that every single chip will have a DirectX 11 capable GPU on board in true Fusion style. Also, if you thought Bulldozer was a desktop processor and Bobcat limited to laptops, you'll be interested to know that's not at all how it's going to work -- powerhouse notebooks and mid-range towers can get the same four high-end cores in the form of a 32nm Trinity APU, while Krishna and Wichita mop up the low-end and hopefully address low power consumption scenarios with 28nm silicon. Of course, there's a little something extra for the desktop enthusiast, and that's where the octa-core Komodo will come in (picture after the break). AMD's also enacted one other very important change, and that's to provide the handy-dandy AMD Codename Decoder™ for telling all these platforms apart. You'll find it at our more coverage link. We kid you not.
AMD's Bobcat and Bulldozer, 2011 flagship CPU cores, detailed today
One of these days AMD is gonna have to stop talking about its Atom-killing Bobcat and Xeon-ending Bulldozer cores and finally release them. But, until that happy moment arrives in 2011 (fingers crossed), we'll have to content ourselves with more presentation slides. First up, the Bobcat core is AMD's long overdue play for the netbook/ultrathin market. Pitched as having 90 percent of the performance of current-gen, K8-based mainstream chips, AMD's new mobility core will require "less than half the area and a fraction of the power" of its predecessors. That sounds like just the recipe to make the company relevant in laptop purchasing decisions again, while a touted ability for the core to run on less than one watt of power (by lowering operating frequencies and voltages, and therefore performance) could see it appear in even smaller form factors, such as MIDs. The Bobcat's now all set to become the centerpiece of the Ontario APU -- AMD's first Fusion chip, ahead of Llano -- which will be ramping up production late this year, in time for an early 2011 arrival. The Bulldozer also has a future in the Fusion line, but it's earliest role will be as a standalone CPU product for servers and high-end consumer markets. The crafty thing about its architecture is that every one Bulldozer module will be counted as two cores. This is because AMD has split its internal processing pipelines into two (while sharing as many internal components as possible), resulting in a sort of multicore-within-the-core arrangement. The way the company puts it, it's multithreading done right. Interlagos is the codename of the first Opteron chips to sport this new core, showing up at some point next year in a 16-core arrangement (that's 8 Bulldozers, if you're keeping score at home) and promising 50 percent better performance than the current Magny-Cours flagship. Big words, AMD. Now let's see you stick to a schedule for once.%Gallery-100088%
