
A nearly last-place finish for FX-8150 turns into a second-place prize for FX-8350 in our 3ds Max 2012 workload. This time last year we were wondering how AMD could justify charging more for its new flagship than a Core i5-2500K. Now, by bringing the price of FX-8350 down to $200, it’s beating a pricier Core i5-3570K and nipping at the heels of a $320 CPU.

Both FX-based processors actually do pretty well in Blender, similar to what we saw last year (even if this time around we’re using the newer Cycles engine). In fact, even the old Thuban-based Phenom II X6 manages to best Intel’s Core i5-3570K.

The Cinebench single-threaded test illustrates what we’ve known for a year: AMD’s per-core performance is pretty dismal compared to Intel’s. Piledriver at least allows AMD to match the older Stars architecture in the Phenom II X6 and X4 parts. However, Intel’s Ivy Bridge-based CPUs—particularly the Hyper-Threading-equipped Core i7—are much stronger.
Brute-forcing performance with higher clock rates and as many as eight integer clusters allows FX-8350 to snag a second-place finish in the threaded benchmark.

The same speed-up that changed AMD’s position in 3ds Max also affects the results in SolidWorks. The FX-8150 loses out to the $200 Core i5-3470. Meanwhile, the new model manages to top the Core i5-3570K, landing in second place yet again.
- Meet AMD’s Piledriver-Based FX Line-Up
- Overclocking And Platform Compatibility
- The Piledriver Architecture: Improving On Bulldozer
- Hardware And Software Setup
- Benchmark Results: PCMark 7
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark 11
- Benchmark Results: SiSoftware Sandra 2013 Beta
- Benchmark Results: Content Creation
- Benchmark Results: Adobe CS 6
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Compression Apps
- Benchmark Results: Media Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3
- Benchmark Results: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Benchmark Results: World Of Warcraft: Mists Of Pandaria
- Power Consumption And Efficiency
- FX-8350: Still Not The FX Us Old-Timers Remember…
I now really don't see people purchasing it though....people will be buying the 8320.
I now really don't see people purchasing it though....people will be buying the 8320.
If more games / daily use apps start using more cores these new AMD's could really take off.
Thanks for the review.
Btw Chris, how many cups of joe did you had to take for the overclocking testing?
5-12% performance increase 12% less power - sound familiar?
the only difference this time was less hype before the release. (lesson well learned AMD!)
You seem to forget that unlike Intel's Ivy compared to Sandy, Vishera versus Zambezi leaves Vishera the superior overclocker as well as cooler-running and with superior overclocking price/performance ratios. There's also the fact that AMD did this on the same process node, not that that matters as anything other than a foot note.
One really big one. Kept me up till 5AM this morning ;-)
Anyway it good upgrade for owner with am3+ board... (including me
If you are paying that much, why would you let it set idle, turn it off instead!
But wow! at only 195$ this 8350 looks like a clear winner! Nice Comeback AMD !
But wow! at only 195$ this 8350 looks like a clear winner! Nice Comeback AMD !
It really isn't a cut & dry black & white situation. Depends on the workloads and purpose...
for now i'll pass. if it was truely under $200 i would consider it for my next low end system, but so far the price is well over $200 and not worth it.
amd fx-8350 for $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284&name=Processors-Desktops
intel i5-3470 for $199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115234
intel i5-3570 for $214.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233
intel i7-3770 for $299.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502