FRONTPAGE AMD FX-8150 - Bulldozer - Processor Review

Hey rat, look at the difference between it an the Thuban, thats why it got an approval stamp. SB is a generation ahead of AMD, but in a single jump AMD got pretty close in a lot of ways.

It may also be worth noting the power draw differences at load between BD and SB.

They covered it in the [h] review (re-hosted the image, so it doesn't give them ad rev)


huge power draw difference, definitely not winning on the performance/watt area.



For being effectively the same chip, I think the 8150 would get disapproval and the 8120 would get approval for costing $50 less.



I wonder if BD can pass SB in 3d benching while it is cold for globals?

Excellent Review Jeremy, very thorough and also balanced, well done man.

I'm not terribly disappointed as I did not really expect BD to beat SB on benchmarks etc, I'm nicely impressed on the high clocks cold, that is way above what SB can get, so I will get one after all to play with. I think it has a fair price point especially with 8 full cores

Jeremy, what was temps under water with CPU at 4.75 Ghz under load?

I.M.O.G. said:

It can run 8 "real" threads. It isn't like hyperthreading.

The answer to your second question depends on which benchmark is used to measure.

wprime and superpi are very FPU dependent, of which Bulldozer only has 4 FPUs which is why, I think, you see it trading blows more or less in these benches with Thuban which had 6 FPUs. So basically, it could be said that the architecture of Bulldozer is strong enough to overcome the lack of FPUs to perform comparably to the old architecture with 2/3rds the FPU count. There are a few different ways you could frame that, so don't pick that comment apart too much - but hopefully it makes sense.

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So, if I were to run Deep Rybka 4, it would show up as 8 cores to the program?

Janus67 said:

It may also be worth noting the power draw differences at load between BD and SB.

They covered it in the [h] review (re-hosted the image, so it doesn't give them ad rev)


huge power draw difference, definitely not winning on the performance/watt area.



For being effectively the same chip, I think the 8150 would get disapproval and the 8120 would get approval for costing $50 less.



I wonder if BD can pass SB in 3d benching while it is cold for globals?

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We covered power draw also, though in less detail. In case you missed it, from the article:

Just got home...I see you guys finaly got to talk. Seems the bulldozer are doing better than the previous benches,. But still not what some of us expect.

Anyone have some charts compared to a 965 or 980. Id like to see how the 4100 stacks up?

What are load temps clock for clock with the same cooler, say 4.5 Ghz, now that would make a difference getting it for a gaming/24/7 rig over a 2500k/2600k?

Not trying to argue with you Dolk, but can you say its a generation behind? I understand that PII was the generation of Core2 and was meant to slug it out there, but it was AMD who delayed and put off this chip for how long? Yeah, technically its a gen behind but will AMD ever catch up?

You can say its a generation behind and its a success because its better than the previous but as long as it was in production it should be. Its already being knocked around by SB which is 10 months old already and about to be killed by SB-E and IB. I know you mentioned PD but come on, I have no faith in AMD getting it out anytime soon.

Atleast AMD is good about their graphics cards and hopefully will get the 7xxx out by December or January at the latest. Seems thats more their department these days anyways.

And Brollocks, it was reported in HF's report that they had issues keeping temps within reason at 4.6ghz (86c) with a H100 cooler to give you an idea. H100 should be about what a highend air cooler is so that isnt saying a whole lot. A good population of SB chips can get to 4.5ghz without many problems and temps are pretty reasonable.

As AMD pointed out to hokie and as its in the review. Its performance today != future performance. The capacity for 256bit instructions is kinda important. AMD if nothing else is good a driving tech forward even if they fail to utilize it all properly. Considering the aim of the APU designs they are going to be pushing next year and the idea of homogenous computing the lower FPU count should be quite adequately supplemented by the GPU moving forward.

Id rank my satisfaction with the new design as a ~7.5, I expected to see more solid right now improvements. What were getting is marginal right now improvements with a potential for big later improvements. IMO adopters of BD should experience a pretty solid longevity for there systems.

One thing Ive yet to see are CF/SLI comparisons. Considering the number of PCI-E lanes that BD has it should be capable of some gains in multi GPU setups.

I.M.O.G. said:

We covered power draw also, though in less detail. In case you missed it, from the article:

View attachment 100309

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Gotcha, I must have skipped over it, although those were just ones at stock, it's helpful to see the scaling when OCed.

As AMD pointed out to hokie and as its in the review. Its performance today != future performance. The capacity for 256bit instructions is kinda important. AMD if nothing else is good a driving tech forward even if they fail to utilize it all properly. Considering the aim of the APU designs they are going to be pushing next year and the idea of homogenous computing the lower FPU count should be quite adequately supplemented by the GPU moving forward.

Id rank my satisfaction with the new design as a ~7.5, I expected to see more solid right now improvements. What were getting is marginal right now improvements with a potential for big later improvements. IMO adopters of BD should experience a pretty solid longevity for there systems.

One thing Ive yet to see are CF/SLI comparisons. Considering the number of PCI-E lanes that BD has it should be capable of some gains in multi GPU setups.

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Then maybe it would be better to wait for the future when the performance is utilized?

EarthDog said:

Thats like a Dos Equis commercial...

Stay overclocked my friends!

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lol now im going to change my avatar

doz said:

You cant give a disapproval on such a large ticket item and expect to be part of the next NDA

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We could, they would still send us gear. They didn't pay for my flight and hotel for me to get briefed on the architecture because they would throw us out with tomorrows trash - I sat in the same room as Kyle, Anand, Charlie, etc... Hell, I got in trouble while at HQ for installing superpi and wprime on their demo machines and they gave me a stern talking to. A slap on the wrist, but not a you guys are never welcome back. The demo machines were there, I had a USB stick with the apps... What's an overclocker supposed to think a demo machine is for?

But they know as well as we do, credibility is the most important thing. If we don't have credibility, our articles aren't worth anything. Hokie wouldn't ever lead you guys wrong...

So basically, keep in mind, the Overclockers Approved rating is best compared to the USDA stamp for beef. Overclockers Approved isn't saying you are getting a premium slice of Kobe Beef - its saying the product delivers on the performance one should expect given the price and position in the market. You have to read the review to gather the details on what leads to that conclusion - we don't spoonfeed in the conclusion or by ratings, so that people have to read and decide for themselves. That is really important.

doz said:

Not trying to argue with you Dolk, but can you say its a generation behind? I understand that PII was the generation of Core2 and was meant to slug it out there, but it was AMD who delayed and put off this chip for how long? Yeah, technically its a gen behind but will AMD ever catch up?

You can say its a generation behind and its a success because its better than the previous but as long as it was in production it should be. Its already being knocked around by SB which is 10 months old already and about to be killed by SB-E and IB. I know you mentioned PD but come on, I have no faith in AMD getting it out anytime soon.

Atleast AMD is good about their graphics cards and hopefully will get the 7xxx out by December or January at the latest. Seems thats more their department these days anyways.

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It is and it isn't a generation behind. This is a new territory for AMD. AMD has always gone by and pushed for more and more cores to help increase performance, now they are utilizing a form of Threading to create a more powerful CPU. If you think about it, adding more cores can only go far in performance. So the next step is to exploit each core to its fullest. AMD has done this by adding in more of a middle area to increase performance.

I'll be talking about this more in depth later, but to put it shortly, AMD is catching up, and it will not be long for them to be up against Intel, hopefully.

I.M.O.G. said:

We covered power draw also, though in less detail. In case you missed it, from the article:

View attachment 100309

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So where I live, even if you only run the chip 5 hours a day, it's going to cost you an extra $36 a year over a better performing SB chip. Fold on it, and it's costing you (about 90 watts more, so 24 hours at 90 watts = 2.16kwh more per day, or about $.40 per day, $12 per month) $146 more per year to run in electricity costs alone. Run it in Denmark and that's more like $300 a year.

This is without a doubt the "AMD GTX 480." What a shame.

edit: Almost forgot, in those OC'd results, the 8150 at 4.6 uses 177 watts more than the 2600k at 4.8. 177 watts means in about 5.65 hours, you just sucked down a whole extra kilowatt hour compared to the SB machine. Math says if you fold on that machine, 1550.52 killowatt hours per year. Where I live, that's about $310.10 extra per year on the ole' power bill, figure about double that in Denmark.

You'd have to be some kind of idjit, or get free electricity, to even consider folding on BD.

Thats the problem though. Its really not delivering on price and position in the market. SB chips are priced so well now that they are almost as cheap as BD. Couple that with the fact that SB system does NOT cost more outside of the chip itself, a MUCH HIGHER power consumption, reports of higher temperatures (requiring better cooling, remember with SB you can pretty much hit 4 to 4.2ghz with stock cooling and be OK), and a price point that really isnt that great.

If it came in at $180 to $200 for the 8150 I might say OK, decent chip at a good price but its not even there. When theres a much better product at the same price I just dont see why anyone would want to get this for a daily rig (I can understand benchers wanting to play, or other people wanting to have fun) when theres another option thats better at close to the same price (I mean really, whats $30 to spring for the 2600k when you are going to be spending $400+ on a mobo/cpu?). Also, you can spring for the 2500k which is almost always $180 now and itll run ALMOST as well in most things (and better in some) than BD's new chip?

Sorry, Im just really disappointed.

So basically, keep in mind, the Overclockers Approved rating is best compared to the USDA stamp for beef. Overclockers Approved isn't saying you are getting a premium slice of Kobe Beef - its saying the product delivers on the performance one should expect given the price and position in the market.

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Will it kill me if I eat it?

Good review guys!

I'm gonna get one and take it cold.... Has anyone seen one for sale yet?

SupaMonkey said:

What about Bulldozer vs i5/i7 performance in crossfire?

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ssjwizard said:

One thing Ive yet to see are CF/SLI comparisons. Considering the number of PCI-E lanes that BD has it should be capable of some gains in multi GPU setups.

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doz said:

Couple that with the fact that SB system does NOT cost more outside of the chip itself, a MUCH HIGHER power consumption, reports of higher temperatures (requiring better cooling, remember with SB you can pretty much hit 4 to 4.2ghz with stock cooling and be OK), and a price point that really isnt that great.

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I guess we will have to see how well the FX chips do when under different aftermarket cooling (not just a custom water loop) -- or I guess, more directly, how well the bundled watercooler that comes with the chip performs

wickedout said:

TigerDirect has them!

Link

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...=22&cm_sp=Masthead-_-Computer Parts-_-Spot 05

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Unless I am blind, Tiger doesn't have them nor does EGG.

doz said:

Thats the problem though. Its really not delivering on price and position in the market. SB chips are priced so well now that they are almost as cheap as BD. Couple that with the fact that SB system does NOT cost more outside of the chip itself, a MUCH HIGHER power consumption, reports of higher temperatures (requiring better cooling, remember with SB you can pretty much hit 4 to 4.2ghz with stock cooling and be OK), and a price point that really isnt that great.

If it came in at $180 to $200 for the 8150 I might say OK, decent chip at a good price but its not even there. When theres a much better product at the same price I just dont see why anyone would want to get this for a daily rig (I can understand benchers wanting to play, or other people wanting to have fun) when theres another option thats better at close to the same price (I mean really, whats $30 to spring for the 2600k when you are going to be spending $400+ on a mobo/cpu?). Also, you can spring for the 2500k which is almost always $180 now and itll run ALMOST as well in most things (and better in some) than BD's new chip?

Sorry, Im just really disappointed.

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I respect your position.

I would consider SB vs BD board prices also in the total package, without forgetting cooling, as the FX-8150 ships with upper-end air cooling (the watercooling unit).

If you look at the benchmarks there is a lot of trading blows going on outside of wprime and superpi. If you then consider the cost of CPU+Mobo+HSF... Where do things land? The power consumption is a knock against AMD it appears, so that can't be forgotten either. I dunno.

I'm not saying everyone is going to agree, but I'm saying given the total package, what you get seems to be on the mark to me.

EDIT: This is not a rush out and buy it argument from me, I'm just saying it seems alright. I voted 7 in the poll. Partially also because I found SB a terrible bore in regards to overclocking at best, and infuriating at worst. On SB I could run wprime1024 on all threads at 5.3GHz, but I couldn't even run CPUz at 5.4GHz. What the crap is that? I'm a bencher though also, so take that for what its worth.