TechRadar Verdict
An interesting option, but only if the module-enabling prospects turn out good.
Pros
- +
AMD's latest microarchitecture
- +
Decent multi-threading throughout
Cons
- -
Weak per-core performance
- -
Jury's out on module re-enabling
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When is a six-core PC processor not a six-core PC processor? When it's AMD's new FX 6100 Black Edition.
Long before AMD released its fancy new FX chips, we had a feeling a fisticuffs was brewing over the definition of what constitutes a processor core.
Now the FX has arrived and the gloves are off.
It all comes down to the radical new approach to simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) taken by AMD with the new Bulldozer architecture.
Intel's been doing SMT for a bit in the form of Hyper-Threading and fair to say Chipzilla's take can be called SMT lite.
It hasn't spent a lot of transistors in enabling each of its processors cores tow run two software threads in parallel. So a multi-threading performance boost of around 15 to 20 per cent is a pretty decent outcome.
AMD reckoned it could do better and verily cooked up the Bulldozer module. This little techno-beasty packs a pair of execution units. But much of what you'd normally consider a processor core is shared.
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So has that Bulldozer module got enough power to give this six core processor a chance?
Technology and cars. Increasingly the twain shall meet. Which is handy, because Jeremy (Twitter) is addicted to both. Long-time tech journalist, former editor of iCar magazine and incumbent car guru for T3 magazine, Jeremy reckons in-car technology is about to go thermonuclear. No, not exploding cars. That would be silly. And dangerous. But rather an explosive period of unprecedented innovation. Enjoy the ride.