AMD FX-8150 FX 8-Core Black Edition Processor Socket AM3+ – FD8150FRGUBOX
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- Overclocking capabilities – Unlocked for a big boost in performance and speed.
- “Bulldozer” architecture – Designed to increase core communication for unparalleled multitasking and pure core performance.
- AMD Turbo CORE Technology – A burst of speed for the task at hand. Delivers dynamic core performance boosts depending on users’ workload at frequencies of up to 900MHz faster.
- AMD OverDrive software – Tuning controls to push performance to the limits and monitors system stability when overclocking
- 32nm die shrink – Stable and smooth performance with impressive energy efficiency
- Advanced Instruction Support – accelerates a new generation of applications:SSE3, SSE4.1/4.2, AVX, AES, XOP, FMA4
- Includes Heatsink and Fan.
- Larger Caches – increase everyday performance with support up to 8MB L2 Cache and 8MB L3 Cache
Experience responsive game play and mega-tasking performance with AMD FX Processors. Get AMD FX in your system.
AMD Processors
AMD FX-8150 FX 8-Core Black Edition Processor Socket AM3+ – FD8150FRGUBOX
List Price: $ 269.99
Price:
Recommend for AMD fans, heavy threaded applications. Everyone else, not quite,
This is going to be a rather long review; so I’ll get the condensed version
out of the way first. If you enjoy reading long reviews, well, you are in luck!
Who should buy this CPU:
* If you already have an AMD AM3+ capable motherboard and have a low end quadcore or an
entry level Phenom II x6 (6 core)
* You have to buy AMD because that’s how you will always be (see my paragraph below)
* You require serious number crunching ability for your heavy threaded applications
* You love to overclock your CPU and the price of cooling equipment be damned! This is a
Black Edition processor aka the CPU is built for overclocking and comes fully unlocked
* You care about native DDR3-1866MHz support and Quad Channel DDR3
Why you would want to skip this one:
* You have a decent Phenom II X4 or a Phenom II X6 processor
* Your applications are single-threaded (Bulldozer lags behind Intel I5-2500k here)
* If you are in the “should I buy Intel I5-2500(k) or go AMD” camp
* You upgrade every 9-12months; might as well wait for early 2012 (2nd generation Bulldozer)
Now the longer version:
I usually start my reviews by giving the context of where I stand with a particular
product line and how that influences my buying process. Since 2000, I’ve had nothing
but AMD processors in my desktops. I’ve moved around as far as motherboards and chip-
sets go but as far as processors go, it’s been AMD all along. Even for my fileserver/
secondary machines at home. I am probably what you’d call an AMD fanboy except for the
fact that I exclusively buy Thinkpads for my personal laptops (current one has the older
generation I7-640m) and Thinkpads usually come with Intel processors. The machines at
work run I5-2500k and I7-2600. So the point is that I love AMD processors but I am not
quite a fanboy.
What do I use my AMDs for? My main desktop at home has 3 different uses: 1. Video
(Capture, Editing, General Processing), 2. Gaming (think resource intensive titles),
3. Photo processing (Lightroom 3, Photoshop). My current machine has an AMD 1090xt
6core and while I am generally happy with the unit (bought it on Amazon for $169),
I find myself wanting more CPU power during video processing (6 cores being maxed
out by a H.264 encoder makes me want more CPU power).
This is my current setup:
. Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3
. RAM: G.Skill 1866MHz DDR3 16GB
. VGA: Asus GTX 480 with Nvidia drivers 280.26
. OS Disk: Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB
. Scratch Disk: Raid0 with 2*Crucial M4 128 GB SSDs
I managed to get my hands on an 8150 and slapped it on my GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3
(grabbed the latest AGESA dated October 13th from the Gigabyte website). The
1866MHz DDR3 memory was recognized natively at its intended speed and Windows 7
x64 Ultimate booted without any issues. What I was most interested in was how
x264 encoding (2 pass) would benefit from this new processor. Since the first
pass is just analysis, I ignored the first pass numbers and measured the second
pass numbers for both the average fps value and the time it took for an encode.
The source was a 30Mbps 720p MJPEG file in an AVI container and I encoded it to
a 10Mbps 720p H.264in an MP4 container. Over 3 encodes, I got a performance boost
ranging from 8% to 11% on both the FPS and time-taken front. Not a small number
but not the boost I was hoping for. Granted, that the x264 encoder I have does
not have AVX enabled.
As far as the games went (Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY),
I did not see a noticeable increase in frame rates (around 1-2% average frame rate
increase at best) but this was rather expected at 1920×1080 since these games are
not heavy on thread usage.
I wasn’t quite sure how to measure any gains in Photoshop CS / Lightroom 3 –
so I skipped this part. At this point, I have mixed feelings about this
processor (considering my 1090xt is only 6 months old) and my conclusion would
be to wait for the second generation of Bulldozer scheduled to come out in Q1 2012.
The problem as I see it is that this processor seems to be future-ready as far as
applications go but 6 months from now, there will be a better Bulldozer and a better
Intel processor or two out there. AMD has always been my favorite as they’ve always
delivered on the price/performance front but that isn’t quite true with Bulldozer.
I hope AMD cleans up their act with their next release; the desktop/server computing
market cannot afford to have Intel call the shots.
I was split between a three star and a four star review and I realized that I
was drifting towards three stars because of the expectations (and partly…
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|FX8150 really is not bad at all. It certainly beats my I7-960,
I pre-ordered this cpu from Ebuyer UK in early September 2011. It was supposed to be released on 16/09/11 but due to delays, I did not receive it until end of October. I initially purchased an Asus Crosshair formula V mb but due to ongoing problems, I had to return it. I suspected the mb was inherently unstable or it was causing some compatibility issues with the FX8150. Fortunately, on USA Amazon, there are 4 reviews (and many comments) for the FX8150 (where a few guys have confirmed there is some compatibility issues between the Asus mb and FX cpu). I replaced the Asus crosshair V with the Gigabyte UD7 990FX AM3+ mb. It is a great mb. It is working perfectly and I have no issues whatsoever. I gave reviews on UK Amazon for both motherboards. I was also very disappointed to find out there are no reviews on UK Amazon, Novatech, Overclockers, Ebuyer, etc for this FX8150 cpu. So I have just submitted my review on UK (and now USA) Amazon (and a short version on Ebuyer).
Despite all of the negative reviews given by Intel fanatics, this FX8150 really is not bad at all. I also prefer to judge for myself (although I was initially hesitant/concerned due to negative reviews by intel fanboys). I have been using it on a stable mb for just over 4 weeks now. At idle, cpu remains within 35C. When stressed (gaming), cpu remains within 55C (I am using it in a coolermaster HAF 932 atx case). BTW, over the last 7 years, I have had 6 Intel based pc’s but now I decided to give AMD a go, as I was intrigued by the Bulldozer.
My AMD rig = FX8150, Gigabyte UD7 AM3+ mb, 580gtx, 8GB DDR3 corsair vengeance ram 2000MHz but at default 1333MHz, 1200watt psu. Everything is working perfectly. I ran cpu bench mark tests. The FX8150 CPU results:
CPU integer maths: 1663.9 out of 2000
CPU floating point maths: 5404.6 out of 6000
CPU-find prime numbers: 1704.1 out of 2000
CPU-SSE: 30.2 out of 40
CPU compression: 9850.1 out of 10,000
CPU encryption: 28 out of 30
CPU-Physics: 513.6 out of 600
CPU-string: sorting 6170.4 out of 7000
Compare this to my previous I7-960 rig (Asus sabretooth X58mb, 12GB Kingston hyperX ram @ 1600MHz, 560 GTX Ti SOC, 1200 watt psu):
CPU integer maths: 1079.5 out of 2000
CPU floating point maths: 1416.1 out of 2000
CPU-find prime numbers: 765.3 out of 800
CPU-SSE: 8.8 out of 10
CPU compression: 4160 out of 5000
CPU encryption: 13.3 out of 20
CPU-Physics: 257.8 out of 300
CPU-string sorting: 2712 out of 3000
Once I adjust the corsair ram (via mb BIOS) from 1333MHz to 2000MHz, I am sure the benchmark results will be higher still.
In a nutshell, this FX8150 cpu serves all of my needs. It is as fast as my I7-960 with video/music encoding, surfing net, using various software, etc and I have no complaints whatsoever (it is also significantly faster/better than my original I7-920 cpu in every way). However, Intel cpu’s are fast straight out of the box whereas this AMD cpu seems to have a learning curve. Initially in video editing, it was c.30% slower than the I7-960 but due to repeated use of video editing software, cpu performance is now on par with I7-960. I was initially thinking of upgrading my I7-960 cpu and mobo etc, but since Intel are now phasing out the LGA 1366 platform and replacing it with the LGA 2011 rig, investing a large amount of capital on a soon to be defunct platform would have been a pointless exercise and a complete waste of money. What I really wanted was something new, affordable and preferably with 8 genuine physical processing cores. I had to rule out Intel I7-980 and 990 (LGA1366, 6 cores, too expensive despite end of line) and the new Intel LGA2011 (ludicrously extortionate prices). I was also reluctant to jump on the Intel 2nd generation I7 bandwagon. Next on my list was the bulldozer. Whilst the BD is apparently not so great with single threaded apps, it does shine with respect to heavily, multi-threaded applications such as gaming. Now that is what I am looking for.
The FX8150 is substantially better than my original I7-920 for gaming (this was the biggest and most noticeable improvement). It also bettered my I7-960, as the difference was noticeable yet again. Even with the 560 GTX Ti SOC (before getting the 580GTX two days ago), the picture quality when gaming with the FX8150 was far better. Objects had better definition and clarity, more visual depth and breadth and richer colours. In short, the games felt more lifelike and ran very smoothly. By contrast, the I7-920 had a lack lustre feel when gaming. The I7-960 was good but it was bested by the FX8150 wrt richness in picture colour/clarity, fluidity of gameplay and fast response). BTW, Toms Hardware gave a review saying that W7 and other software were never designed to work with 8 cores. Hence poor bench result for FX8150 which caused c.40% bottle neck performance. MS have acknowledged…
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|Best bang for your buck!!!!,
These chips are awesome. They may not beat the i7 stock for stock or even the i5-2500 in some cases but they do what AMD intended. Overclock for overclock, these chips destroy the i5-2500 and beat the i7-2600k in many cases.
The Tech Report did a follow up article called “further overclocked” when they were able to attach AMD’s water cooling kit. “Turning up the clock frequency allows the FX-8150 to put up some really nice numbers, tying or beating a Core i7-2600K overclocked to 4.5GHz in several cases.”
Multitasking is another PRO. If you want to run multiple OS’s at the same time, process video, string netflix to another monitor, and play a highly intensive game at the same time, this processor will help you do that far better than the i7. I was able to play MW3 on Win 7 while a VM of win XP was running to monitor a professional wireless weather station, a Linux VM running to encode video, and second Linux VM running for my wife(She no longer needs her own computer) :).
Cons: Not too much of a con but it get’s hot. You need good ventilation.
As per the article over at The Tech Report. “There are some pain points here, such as the difference in single-threaded Cinebench performance between the FX-8150 at 4.7GHz and the Core i5-2500K at stock (scores of 1.16 vs. 1.48, respectively).
Single threaded performance still seems to be lacking. Will you notice it much? No, not really, and as technology progresses, so will software and applications.
Other Thoughts: Cooling is essential with this CPU. If you plan to OC make sure your case can breathe. My antec case has 5 fans and it’s way overkill.
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