AMD Readies Two New Performance-segment FX Processors

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

I am going to hold off my next cpu purchase for a couple weeks and see what happens with pricing.

 

[Casecutter]

I am going to hold off my next cpu purchase for a couple weeks and see what happens with pricing.

Yea with Pentium G3258 pricing and i3 4130 seeing $120ish, I see things heating up a little. I really like to see AMD release FX-6300 "tray part" for like $70, and let all those AM3 machine with X3-X4 Phenom's (and below) grab a good upgrade till 2015.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

I like to see the 8350's drop to about $120. That won't happen LOL

 

[newtekie1]

Meh, nothing really worth celebrating here. The FX-8370E might be nice because they are likely binned very well to get that type of power level. Other than that it is just release a one clock speed bumped processor in a family with unlocked multipliers, which is totally pointless.

Give us Steamroller on AM3+ or GTFO.

 

[Casecutter]

I like to see the 8350's drop to about $120. That won't happen LOL

As Micro Center has a $160 price for the FX 8350, if they pull it down 9% that's say $145. M-C has the FX 6300 for $100, I'm hoping a box version drops to $90.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

The 8370 doesn't appeal to me unless the 8370e has a great price point and can truly clock good. 8350's clock good enough for what I need.

 

[m0nt3]

AMD should release a 2 CPU motherboard and CPU. If you can't beat them with 1 CPU you can try using 2 CPU's. This would force Intel to make their own 2 CPU chips and boards cheaper.

That just threw me back several years, when AMD did the quad FX and FASN8.

 

[eidairaman1]

Meh, nothing really worth celebrating here. The FX-8370E might be nice because they are likely binned very well to get that type of power level. Other than that it is just release a one clock speed bumped processor in a family with unlocked multipliers, which is totally pointless.

Give us Steamroller on AM3+ or GTFO.

Intel plays the clock bump game all the time...

 

[suraswami]

That just threw me back several years, when AMD did the quad FX and FASN8.

AMD is good at sticking modules together, why not take another module or 2 and stick it with existing 4 module and keep it under 125w, that will be interesting. And then these motherboard morons should not f up the bios like they did all these years until recently we got decent boards with a bios that understands how the FX should work!!

 

[The Von Matrices]

AMD is good at sticking modules together, why not take another module or 2 and stick it with existing 4 module and keep it under 125w, that will be interesting

The problem with that approach is that with so many cores the CPU has to have a low clock to fit within the TDP.

You can already get an Opteron 6344 6-module or Opteron 6376 8-module (both at @ 115W) and a single socket G34 motherboard for less than $1000. However, even the faster of the CPUs is only clocked at 2.6GHz, so they're not going to be winning any single threaded benchmarks. You have to have software that uses all the modules for its performance to be competitive. In a desktop environment, such software is not common

 

[newtekie1]

Intel plays the clock bump game all the time...

And I'm equally unimpressed when they do it. But at least they do it on locked processors most of the time, so the increase is at least actually beneficial.

 

[suraswami]

The problem with that approach is that with so many cores the CPU has to have a low clock to fit within the TDP.

You can already get an Opteron 6344 6-module or Opteron 6376 8-module (both at @ 115W) and a single socket G34 motherboard for less than $1000. However, even the faster of the CPUs is only clocked at 2.6GHz, so they're not going to be winning any single threaded benchmarks. You have to have software that uses all the modules for its performance to be competitive. In a desktop environment, such software is not common

If the 8370E has the same clock as 8370 and still fall under 95w, then adding another module or 2 will still be possible, may be even in the 220w range.

 

[The Von Matrices]

If the 8370E has the same clock as 8370 and still fall under 95w, then adding another module or 2 will still be possible, may be even in the 220w range.

If you raise the TDP to 220W a lot of things become feasible; that 8 module Opteron could reach 4 GHz if it was allowed a 220W TDP.

 

[Sony Xperia S]

Intel isn't doing any better. Just stagnating their CPUs. GPUs have been similar with the amount of rehashing both NV and AMD have done.

In a way it is a good thing because it gives devs more time to focus on tuning and not expecting there to always be more speed.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Intel and AMD have an agreement to do these bullshit. AMD to be the officially positioned underdog.

I think you are wrong, this tuning can not be done to the infinity either, so your argument should be thrown.

We need more speed but those corporations think otherwise. Only GOD knows why...

 

[HumanSmoke]

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Intel and AMD have an agreement to do these bullshit.

Doubtful. AMD do this because their options are limited to say the least. Intel do it to avoid Osborning themselves and to maximize ROI.

AMD to be the officially positioned underdog.

As if there were any other scenario worth entertaining? Only fans of the company tag any company "underdog". The vast majority of personal computing buyers (Apple excepted) just see features (real or imagined) and buy in relation to market visibility.

We need more speed but those corporations think otherwise. Only GOD knows why...

Probably because speed comes at a penalty of increased error rates, power consumption, transistor leakage? Not to mention that the overwhelming percentage of usage scenarios are heavily linked to performance-per-watt - including most desktop (OEM sales), mobile, and enterprise.

 

[Lionheart]

Other than that it is just release a one clock speed bumped processor in a family with unlocked multipliers, which is totally pointless.

Kinda like the i7 4790K you have? Lolz

 

[newtekie1]

Kinda like the i7 4790K you have? Lolz

The 4790K has other improvements, actually. The main one being waaaaay better TIM under the IHS. It also has a better PCB and TSX.

 

[eidairaman1]

The 4790K has other improvements, actually. The main one being waaaaay better TIM under the IHS. It also has a better PCB and TSX.

Which tsx is a flaw

 

[Sony Xperia S]

AMD do this because their options are limited to say the least.

What is the reason for these limitations? They aren't so stupid to realise that what they are doing is not very market expected and should go finally! in other directions. Why do they stay with this architecture for these processors, and in the hybrid, they use something a little bit different?

Maybe their cross-license for x86 with Intel doesn't give them freedom?

The underdog is just a term used for user-friendly purposes in order to better describe their current market position of the smaller producer of inferior (slower) products.

 

[Sony Xperia S]

The CPU in Kaveri is Steamroller, and here you are still with Piledriver.

Why?

 

[HumanSmoke]

What is the reason for these limitations? They aren't so stupid to realise that what they are doing is not very market expected and should go finally! in other directions. Why do they stay with this architecture for these processors, and in the hybrid, they use something a little bit different?

You're kidding right? You believe that because APU's use an upgraded architecture that it is somehow an easy task to shoehorn it into a new CPU line? Bearing in mind that a desktop CPU line will 1. also need new chipsets and probably I/O hubs (unless you think the 900 series can carry on indefinitely and represent a viable selling point for the new CPUs), and 2. have to pull double duty as the Opteron line which means they need both PCI-E 3.0 and DDR4 at the very least as a selling point to be somewhat competitive with Xeon based systems

Maybe their cross-license for x86 with Intel doesn't give them freedom?

Take the tin foil hat off - it's cutting off your blood circulation.
If AMD renegotiated their cross-license agreement in 2009 to allow Intel to dictate what AMD can and can't develop using their own IP they deserve to be curb-stomped. Bulldozer cores were used in both APU and CPU, Piledriver cores were used in both APU and CPU. Why would Steamroller (or Excavator for that matter) be any different? The only reason it isn't presently used in CPUs is AMD lacks the R&D (and by extension, the design teams) to bring them to fruition.
FWIW, AMD's combined x86, ARM, and graphics R&D budget is less than Nvidia's - who really only have graphics and an ARM architectural license. You expect that limitation to somehow produce products across the board?

 

[Sony Xperia S]

If AMD renegotiated their cross-license agreement in 2009 to allow Intel to dictate what AMD can and can't develop using their own IP they deserve to be curb-stomped.

Exactly.

In November 2013, AMD confirmed it will not update the FX series in 2014, neither its current Socket AM3+ version, nor will it receive a Steamroller version with a new socket.[30][31] An unconfirmed article, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of AMD's internal roadmap extending into 2015, also did not mention plans for a new FX processor.[32]

Somehow my mind cannot figure it out how it would be possible, unless AMD is in bankruptcy unable to produce anything. This here is not a matter or question of having money or not. If you can launch Steamroller in Kaveri and new Piledreiver FXs, then you can expect that there are no technical diffuclties to show new Steamroller or Excavator or whatever FXs!

 

[HumanSmoke]

Somehow my mind cannot figure it out how it would be possible, unless AMD is in bankruptcy unable to produce anything. This here is not a matter or question of having money or not. If you can launch Steamroller in Kaveri and new Piledreiver FXs, then you can expect that there are no technical diffuclties to show new Steamroller or Excavator or whatever FXs!

There are only two viable scenario's
1. That which I have already outlined. AMD has insufficient R&D funds to develop APUs and graphics and ARM as well as CPUs for desktop and server
2. AMD has given up on non-graphics x86 microprocessors. They've already tapped out of the x86 server market (their 5% probably represents legacy systems almost entirely), which means that any CPU they develop has to recoup its R&D and make a profit solely off consumer parts. Now, given that APUs probably share R&D with console development and budget APUs nearly hold market share against their Intel counterparts, where should AMD's priorities lie?

 

[64K]

If you want to dig around in AMD's financials it doesn't look very healthy imo.

http://investing.money.msn.com/investments/stock-cash-flow/?symbol=amd

They're not in danger of going bankrupt imo. They are still able to sell their debt. How well they profit from the chips they sell for the newgen consoles should help if they're making a decent profit on them. The thing with AMD is, in most cases, they sell their products too cheap and over the years this has left too little money to invest in R&D. The last thing in the world I want to see is for AMD to go under. No competition for Nvidia and Intel would be a sad state of affairs for consumers.

 

[GhostRyder]

Exactly.

In November 2013, AMD confirmed it will not update the FX series in 2014, neither its current Socket AM3+ version, nor will it receive a Steamroller version with a new socket.[30][31] An unconfirmed article, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of AMD's internal roadmap extending into 2015, also did not mention plans for a new FX processor.[32]

Somehow my mind cannot figure it out how it would be possible, unless AMD is in bankruptcy unable to produce anything. This here is not a matter or question of having money or not. If you can launch Steamroller in Kaveri and new Piledreiver FXs, then you can expect that there are no technical diffuclties to show new Steamroller or Excavator or whatever FXs!

Your missing the point entirely, what would be beneficial right now for AMD to release a Steamroller FX chip? The improvements are not enough to bring the processor on the enthusiasts platform to completely competitive levels right now so developing and releasing something like that would probably not be a fruitful investment.

AMD is focusing on APUs and improving GPUs to balance on laptops, desktops, and tablets (at some point) because that's where they have the best chance to start really selling and profiting. More users than naught are basic users who want a laptop, desktop, or whatever for a decent price that will handle all their media needs whether it be checking email all the way to playing some light games. APUs are much better at that than a CPU and separate GPU on small devices for reasons of energy, design, and heat dissipation which laptop makers especially want.

They will eventually return to the FX or AMX socket, however they first need to improve things to the point they can actually be fully competitive (or wait for heavily threaded software to become the norm).