Bulldozer prototype suggests AMD shooting for Sandy Bridge performance
AMD's Bulldozer processor architecture still hasn't formally launched, but Donanim Haber got a hold of a recent engineering sample with benchmarked speeds that come close to Intel's current Sandy Bridge CPUs. With the ability to run limited cores at up to 4.2GHz, it could potentially outperform comparable Intel hardware at certain workloads. Still, AMD's "1.5 core" SMT approach may offer "good enough" performance, which could have wide appeal if the price is right.
An earlier engineering sample leaked back in March ran at a measly 1.8GHz, and the widely variable results made it hard to draw any usable conclusions. The latest sample uncovered by Donanim Haber, identified as a FX-8130P, has a base clockspeed of 3.2GHz. With all four Bulldozer "1.5 core" modules running, the processor can "turbo boost" its speed up to 3.6GHz. When only half of its modules' hardware is active, however, it can crank the speed up to 4.2GHz.
