AMD FX-8150 8-Core CPU Review: Bulldozer Is Here

Name: AMD FX-8150 8-Core Processor
Brand: AMD

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 12:02 AM EDT

Next up, we ran our test systems through Futuremark’s total-system performance evaluation tool, PCMark Vantage. PCMark Vantage runs through a host of different usage scenarios to simulate different types of workloads including High Definition TV and movie playback and manipulation, gaming, image editing and manipulation, music compression, communications, and productivity.

Preliminary Testing with PCMark Vantage

Synthetic Benchmarks

Most of the sub-tests used to come up with the final scores in each category are multi-threaded as well, so the tests can exploit the additional resources offered by a multi-core CPU.

The FX Series support for hardware accelerated AES encryption give the FX-8150 a significant boost in performance in PCMark Vantage's Communications test, but in the remainder of the tests, AMD's new flagship eight-core chip can't quite keep pace with the previous generation Phenom II X6 six-core processor, let alone any of Intel's quad or six-core processors.

Tags: AMD, CPU, AM3, Bulldozer, 8-core, fx, unlocked, Zambezi, Octo-Core

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com