AMD's Bulldozer Architecture: Overclocking Efficiency Explored

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AMD’s FX processor line-up was supposedly designed with efficiency in mind, according to AMD. We're putting this claim to the test, assessing the Bulldozer architecture at a number of different clock rates and comparing the results to Intel's CPUs.

Efficiency Score And Power Diagram

When the performance per watt is plotted, it becomes obvious that the Bulldozer-based processors are most efficient when the voltage to them is as low as possible. Undervolting does not even result in a performance hit when you use it with the FX-8150's default reference clock and multiplier setting.