AMD FX 8350 processor review - Introduction

The AMD FX 8350 processor is here, and we'll test and review it.  Ya'll learned a new word in the past few weeks, 'Vishera' and it is/was the codename for the new Piledriver core based FX series processors from AMD. The CPU tested today has eight physical CPU cores, it will have a base clock of 4000 MHz, and can Turbo towards 4200. And that makes the FX series a multi-threaded high frequency monster. 

Vishera, it sounds like a mysterious virus from a Mission Impossible movie, when you look it up really you won't find anything other then a Vishera river. The Vishera originates in the swamps near Lake Sindorskoe. It is fed primarily by snow. The Vishera freezes in November, and the ice breaks up at the end of April. Well there you have it.

The new AMD FX series processors from the Vishera family have Piledriver cores, we'll talk about that in a minute. Good to know is that the processors again will be unlocked at no additional cost, and that means they are quite tweakable as well.

This 2nd generation of FX series processors will see four new processors.

Two 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-8350 (which we review today) and it sports a base frequency of 4.0 GHz with a maximum Turbo frequency of 4.2GHz, 8MB of Level 2 cache memory, and has a TDP of 125W. The FX 8320 will be the same yet with lower clock frequencies, 3.5 GHz on the core and 4 Ghz on the turbo.

Dropping down from eigh to six cores we find the FX-6300 which will be clocked at a base frequency of 3.5 GHz with Turbo's towards 4.1 GHz. An 6MB L2 cache here as each core has 1 MB of L2.

The fourth and final processor released today is the FX-4300 which will have four CPU cores that are clocked at 3.8 GHz with a 4 GHz Turbo and as you can expect, a 4 MB cache. 

Piledriver cores, these are the CPU cores inside the FX processor.  A Piledriver core basically the 2nd revision of AMD's Bulldozers cores which we all know from AMD's FX series processors. The theory behind it is simply, they should be more efficient and offer a notch more performance.

That of course we are going to find out in topday's review. next page please where we'll go a little more in-depth.