AMD’s Challenger: FX-8150
AMD’s FX-8150 is currently the flagship Zambezi-based desktop processor. It runs at a base clock of 3.6 GHz, but scales up to 3.9 and 4.2 GHz in its multiple Turbo Core p-states. Performance is hit and miss. In single-threaded apps, the FX-8150 goes so far as to trail its predecessor. Only in well-threaded applications does it pull ahead.
All of the background is covered in AMD Bulldozer Review: FX-8150 Gets Tested. It reveals that, over the course of a PCMark 7 run, power consumption is similar to a Phenom II X6-based platform (at least when it comes to averages). Our goal here, however, is to take a deeper dive into the overall efficiency story, drawing a clear distinction between single- and multi-threaded performance, comparing to power use.
On that note, let's get to our efficiency analysis.