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Review: AMD FX 8150 Bulldozer

Alex Kayle
By Alex Kayle, Senior portals journalist
Johannesburg, 15 Dec 2011

The AMD eight-core processor, code-named Bulldozer, is AMD's ultimate play in the gaming enthusiast and over-clocking market.

The FX series offers several options based on the number of cores and speed. ITWeb reviewed the highest-performing processor - the FX 8150 Black Edition, which has eight cores, 3.6GHz CPU (3.9GHz Turbo Core, 4.2GHz Max Turbo).

However, gamers who are looking for a more cost-effective alternative with lower specs can opt for other variants, including the FX 8120 (eight cores), FX 6100 (six cores) or FX 4100 (four cores).

The price of the FX 8150 is very competitive when compared to some of the top-of-the-range CPUs from its biggest rival, Intel. However, while it delivers among the best gaming performance and speed I've seen, it still doesn't quite match up to the highest Intel i7 CPU speed tests.

The AMD FX family of CPUs truly delivers a high-performance gaming experience. The FX series of desktop CPUs offers the first eight-core desktop processors aimed at the consumer market. It uses AMD's new multi-core architecture as part of its next-generation of AMD accelerated processing units (APUs).

The Bulldozer CPU recently set a Guinness World Record for the 'highest frequency of a computer processor'.

Gaming experience

I tested the FX 8150 while playing Battlefield 3 and set all the gaming performance and graphics levels on the highest (ultra) settings. It performed smoothly with extreme speed, no tessellation, and the graphic effects were utterly breathtaking. There was no stutter or lag whatsoever, and I could not fault its performance.

I found the FX 8150 could be pushed quite easily, and it effortlessly managed to perform multiple tasks with ease, such as video rendering, watching movies, uploading and downloading files.

Over-clocking

In summary:

Pros: Excellent high-performance gaming experience; aggressive pricing versus performance; brand new architecture
Cons: Still does not fully beat the highest Intel i7 CPUs
Rating: 9/10
CPU: AMD FX 8150, eight-core CPU, 3.6GHz
Operating system: Windows 7, 64-bit
RAM: 8GB
Memory: 1TB SSD
Graphics card: AMD Radeon HD 6900,Direct 3D 11
Recommended retail price: R3 299 including VAT

The processor was designed to make over-clocking easier, to help gamers and PC enthusiasts achieve higher CPU speeds and related performance. AMD also included what it calls Turbo Core Technology, which optimises performance across CPU cores for intense workloads such as gaming, over-clocking, multi-tasking and rendering.

Using the AMD Catalyst Control Centre, I found it easy to view the system performance, and it also provides regular updates and software enhancements.

High-definition 3D experience

Bulldozer enables gamers to play immersive 3D games in high definition if they have a 3D-capable monitor.

AMD FX CPUs also support AMD CrossFireX technology, which allows for multiple graphics cards to be connected together in a PC. It also supports AMD Eyefinity; which supports a super resolution on up to six monitors.

Putting it to the test

In a Heaven v2.3 benchmark, the AMD FX 8150 scored 680. It achieved an average frames-per-second (FPS) rating of 27.0, while minimum FPS was 6.6 and maximum FPS was 74.8.

In a 3D Mark II professional edition benchmark, the CPU achieved a graphics score of 1 478, a physics score of 6 181 and a combined score of 1 823.

In a Cinebench benchmark, the CPU processor speed reached between 1 400MHz and 3 600MHz. In a multiple CPU render test, it achieved 19 934.

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