AMD FX Bulldozer desktop CPU released, slower than cheaper Core i5 competition

AMD has announced the immediate, risen-from-the-ashes availability of the FX family of ambe i, Bulldo er-based CPUs — you should be able to pick one up from your favorite retailer today. As expected, there are three main models: the quad-core FX-4xxx, the hexa-core FX-6xxx, and the octo-core FX-8xxx. Clock rates start at 2.8GH for the slowest 8-core processor, and scale up to 4.2GH for the top-of-the-line quad-core. The suggested retail prices are incredibly competitive: $115 for the low end FX-4100, $245 for the FX-8150, and every chip is multiplier unlocked.

The price is obviously right, but what about the performance? As always, Tom’s Hardware Guide has a full set of benchmarks for AMD’s best — the FX-8150 — and sadly the results are in line with leaked figures: The FX-8150 is slower than Intel’s Core i5-2500K, and in some cases (single-threaded, home user-type applications), the FX chip is even beaten out by its Phenom II predecessors. The Core i5-2500k is only $220, too — some 20% cheaper than the FX chip — and early indications suggest that both chips are equally overclockable.

Basically, this all comes down to the novel (and seemingly quite daring) architecture of Bulldo er. Despite being labelled as 4-, 6-, and 8-core processors, there’s actually only half that number of Bulldo er modules, and only half the number of floating point units — and, more importantly, a Bulldo er module is nothing like what can be found in other x86-64 chips, like Phenom or Sandy Bridge. The theory is that Bulldo er-based chips will be able to scale to higher frequencies — and indeed, AMD recently clocked a Bulldo er chip to 8.429GH , a world record — but software will have to be updated to take advantage of the new architecture.

For now, then, it’s a bit like when Intel released the original Pentium 4: if software was compiled to take advantage of the new SSE2 instruction set, the new chip blew past the competition, but running old software the 1.4GH P4 was usually beaten by P3 and Athlon processors running at 1GH or less. AMD is confident that Bulldo er is the way forward for its desktop and server (Interlagos) chips, but currently it looks like AMD doesn’t even have what it takes to compete with Intel in the performance-per-dollar category.

AMD FX Bulldo er desktop CPU released, slower than cheaper Core i5 competition