A while ago we mentioned that AMD faced a lawsuit over the core count on Bulldozer processors. In claiming that its Bulldozer CPU had “8-cores”. The suit alleges AMD built the Bulldozer processors by stripping away components from two cores and combining what was left to make a single “module.” In doing so, however, the cores would longer work independently.

as it now seems, AMD is actually settling. A fifth of eligible people are likely to even bother to apply for the compensation, the agreement notes, and that means the people that do apply will get half of what they want without the hassle of a trial.  

In specific, the problem is bulldozer based processors. AMD introduced the modular back in the day with Bulldozer. The number of cores had been grouped into two, but were divided which are a module. The two "cores" within a module shared not only the L2 cache, but also the decoder, the FPU and the L1 instruction cache. To call this a native 8-core architecture is a slippery slope.

Each member of the group that joined the lawsuit receives a one-time payout of USD $35 per chip and that sums up towards a total of $12.1 million.