AMD FX: Energy Efficiency Compared To Eight Other CPUs

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We've already seen AMD's Bulldozer architecture come up short in the performance benchmarks. However, the company also claims it made important improvements to power consumption. Can FX-8150 at least score some points in the energy efficiency department?

Test Setup And Benchmarks

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Socket AM3 Platform
Socket AM3+ PlatformAsus Crosshair Formula V (Rev. 1.0), Chipset: AMD 990FX, BIOS: 9905 (2011-10-03)
Socket AM3 ProcessorsAMD Phenom II X4 980 (45 nm, Deneb, C3), 4C/4T, 3.7 GHz, 4 x 512 KB L2 Cache, 6 MB L3 Cache, 125 W TDPAMD Phenom II X6 1100T (45 nm, Thuban, E0), 6C/6T, 3.3 GHz, 6 x 512 KB L2 Cache, 6 MB L3 Cache, 125 W TDP, max. Turbo Core freq.: 3.7 GHz
AM3+ ProcessorsAMD FX-8150 (32 nm, Bulldozer) 8C/8T, 3.6 GHz, 8 MB L2 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache, 125 W TDP, max. Turbo Core freq.: 4.2 GHz
LGA 1156 Platform
LGA 1156 PlatformGigabyte P55A-UD7, Chipset: Intel P55, BIOS: F8b
LGA 1156 ProcessorsIntel Core i7-870 (45 nm, Lynnfield, B1), 4C/8T, 2.93 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache, 95 W TDP, 3.6 GHz max. Turbo Boost freq.Intel Core i5-750 (45 nm, Lynnfield, B1), 4C/4T, 2.66 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache, 95 W TDP, 3.2 GHz max. Turbo Boost freq.
LGA 1155 Platform
LGA 1155 PlatformIntel DP67BG, Chipset: Intel P67, BIOS: 2040
LGA1155 ProcessorsIntel Core i7-2600K (32 nm, Sandy Bridge, D2), 4C/8T, 3.4 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache, w/ HD Graphics 3000, 95 W TDP, 3.8 GHz max. Turbo Boost freq.Intel Core i5-2500K (32 nm, Sandy Bridge, D2), 4C/4T, 3.3 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 Cache, 6 MB L3 Cache, w/ HD Graphics 3000, 95 W TDP, 3.7 GHz max. Turbo Boost freq.
LGA 1366 Platform
LGA 1366 PlatformMSI BigBang-XPower, Chipset: Intel X58, BIOS: 1.2
LGA 1366 ProcessorsIntel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition (45 nm, Bloomfield, D0), 4C/8T, 3.33 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache, 130 W TDP, 3.6 GHz max. Turbo Boost freq.Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition (32 nm, Gulftown, B1), 6C/12T, 3.33 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache, 130 W TDP, 3.6 GHz max. Turbo Boost freq.
Common Platform Components
DDR3 Memory2/3 x 4 GB DDR3-1333, Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX
Discrete GraphicsAMD Radeon HD 6850, GPU: Cypress (775 MHz), Graphics RAM: 1024 MB GDDR5 (2000 MT/s), Stream Processors: 960
System DriveSamsung PM810 256 GB, SATA 3Gb/s
Power SupplySeasonic X-760, SS-760KM
System Software & Drivers
Operating SystemWindows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
Drivers and Settings
AMD Radeon DriversATI Catalyst 11.8 Suite for Windows 7
Intel Chipset DriversChipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.2.0.1030
Intel Rapid StorageVer: 10.6.0.1002
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Audio Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
iTunesVersion: 10.4.1.10, Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min., Convert to AAC audio format
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3, Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 kb/s)
Video Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.95, Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 000 Hz, Six-Channel, English to Video: AVC, Audio1: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
MainConcept Reference v2.2Version: 2.2.0.5440, MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16 Bit, 224 kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Application Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
7-ZipVersion 9.22 beta, LZMA2, Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinRARVersion 4.01, RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinZip 15.5 ProVersion 14.0 Pro (8652), WinZIP Commandline Version 3, ZIPX, Syntax "-a -ez -p -r", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012Version: 10 x64, Rendering Space Flyby Mentalray (SPECapc_3dsmax9), Frame: 248, Resolution: 1440x1080
Adobe After Effects CS5.5Create Video, which includes 3 Streams, Frames: 210, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously: on
Adobe Photoshop CS 5.1 (64-Bit)Version: 11, Filtering a 16 MB TIF (15 000x7266), Filters: Radial Blur (Amount: 10; Method: zoom; Quality: good), Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark symbol), Median (Radius: 1px), Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar)
Adobe Acrobat X ProfessionalVersion: 10.0.0, == Printing Preferenced Menu ==, Default Settings: Standard, == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu ==, Encrypt all documents (128-bit RC4), Open Password: 123, Permissions Password: 321
Microsoft PowerPoint 2010Version: 2007 SP2, PPT to PDF, PowerPoint Document (115 Pages), Adobe PDF-Printer
BlenderVersion: 2.59 beta, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, Resolution: 1920x1080, Anti-Aliasing: 8x, Render: THG.blend frame 1
MatlabR2011a, Internal Benchmark: 10 runs

We ran the applications for the efficiency test in the following order:

Single-Threaded:

Adobe Acrobat
Winzip
iTunes
Lame
3ds Max

Multi-Threaded:

Blender
HandBrake
MainConcept
After Effects
Photoshop
Premiere
Matlab
7-Zip

Patrick Schmid