AMD FX 8150 processor review - Introduction

Oh hey now, after months of speculation, rumors, and a lot, seriously a lot, of gossip AMD today finally puts an end to all that. Yes, the all new AMD FX series processors are released today -- octacores for the win my man, octomom will be pleased alright :)

Though all press will actually review just the flagship processor, several processors are being launched.

Previously known as Bulldozer and Zambezi, today the FX series is released. It will be AMD's most high-end and complicated to fab processor series to date, yet will remain an affordable processor series. As you probably know, the product tested today has eight (!) physical CPU cores, it will have a base clock of 3600 MHz, may Turbo to 3900 MHZ and can peak a thread or two towards a cool 4200 MHz. And that makes the FX series a multi-threaded monster.

The new AMD FX series processors are all unlocked at no additional cost, and that means very tweakable as well. Performance for dollar is a phrase we'll use in today's review a lot actually.

This initial launch will include six FX series processors, four of them featuring eight processing cores while the two other include six and respectively four cores. The fastest of the upcoming chips is called the FX-8150 (which we review today) and it sports a base frequency of 3.6GHz, a maximum Turbo frequency of 4.2GHz, 8MB of Level 2 cache memory, and has a TDP of 125W.

Right bellow in line will be the FX-8120 that also packs eight processing cores and other similar features, but comes clocked at 3.1GHz (4GHz in Turbo mode). The FX-8120 will also be the only AMD FX-Series processor to be available in two different SKUs, one featuring a 125W TDP while the other is a 95W part.

The three remaining processors are the FX-8100, which has a base frequency of 2.8GHz and a maximum Turbo frequency of 3.7GHz, the six-core FX-6100 with a 3.3GHz base speed, 3.8GHz Turbo and 6MB of Level 2 cache memory and the quad-core FX-4100, which is clocked at 3.6GHz and can reach 3.8GHz when Turbo Core is active.

Today, AMD specifically launches four out of the six models, the FX-8150, 8120, 6100 and FX-4100. The other two will be inserted into the channel at a later stage.

It's going to be an interesting ride to find out what the processor is good at, but the top model FX-8150 with its eight cores, which we review today, is a sub 245 USD product, in EUR we expect it to launch at roughly 225 EUR.

Have a quick peek at the processor and then let's head onward into the review.