AMD, the maker of much silicon chippery are preparing their response to Intel’s highly successful 3D transistor based Ivy Bridge CPU, the third generation Core CPU’s.
The Piledriver architecture is AMD’s new technology being brought to the battle. An upgrade to the Bulldozer architecture this is Bulldozer version 2. The new processors will be branded as FX Processors, collectively part of the Vishera microprocessor line-up.
Four new Piledriver models are to be released on October 23rd. The new top of the line processor will be the FX-8350, with eight cores running at 4 GHz, internally it includes 16GB L2+L3 cache, and will cost $253 USD. The slightly cheaper FX-8320 will have the same specs but with a lower clock speed of 3.5 Ghz and will cost $242 USD.
The Piledriver architecture will also appear in lower core count models, the FX-6300 six core CPU clocked at 3.5 Ghz and costing $175 USD while the FX-4300 four core CPU will be clocked at 3.8 Ghz and priced at $131 USD.
While the performance of the original Bulldozer architecture disappointed many analysts it put many new technologies in place, now the Piledriver architecture should fine tune these new technologies, producing a faster and more efficient CPU powerhouse. AMD are aiming for the new architecture to be 10-15% faster than the original Bulldozer chips, probably not enough to overtake Intel’s Ivy Bridge CPU’s but it will keep them in the game.
Pre-orders are being taken now, with the product launch scheduled for October 23.
Related Article: AMD’s Bulldozer
Related Article: Intel’s 3D Transistor
Reference: Xbits
