AMD, along with launching several new Opteron processors, retouched prices of its socket FM1 accelerated processing units (APUs), across its A-Series. These include tiny price hikes for its lower-end APUs, A4-3300 and A4-3400; a minor price cut for the A6-3500; a price-cut for the FX-6100; and introduction of the new Athlon II X4 651. To begin with, the dual-core A4-3300 and A4-3400 got hiked by $2, sending their prices from $64 and $69, respectively, to $66 and $71, respectively.

On the other hand, the price of A6-3500 is cut from $89 to $85. The six-core FX-6100 socket AM3+ processor saw a $10 price-cut, sending its price down from $165 to $155. Lastly, AMD introduced a new Athlon II processor in the FM1 package, the Athlon II X4 651, AMD's second, after Athlon II X4 631. This quad-core chip has 1 MB L2 cache per core, and is clocked at 3.00 GHz, 400 MHz higher than the Athlon II X4 631.

AMD is fine-tuning its product development cycle to deliver a new processor architecture towards the end of each year, and a new chipset towards the beginning of one, maintaining platform compatibility and longevity. The company launched its socket AM3+ compliant 9-series chipset months ahead of its first-generation Bulldozer FX processor family, though it looks like in the year 2012 it will launch a new line of desktop chipset, in all likelihood it will precede the launch of second-generation Bulldozer (codenamed "Piledriver") processors.

In 2012, AMD chipset family will be led by the 10-series chipset. At the very top is AMD 1090FX northbridge, followed by 1070. 1090FX will be designed to give out two PCI-Express x16 links, which can then drive up to four graphics cards. The 1070, on the other hand, gives out just one x16 link, which can drive up to two graphics cards. AMD will scrap its present model of 990X and 970, in which the northbridge is essentially the same piece of silicon, with the 990X having lane switches and supporting CrossFireX. A big revelation here is that the 10-series chipset will not feature PCI Express Gen 3.0. We'd normally expect AMD to be at the forefront of supporting new technologies. If we remember, AMD 790FX was the first AMD platform chipset in the industry to feature PCI-Express 2.0. Also, it is highly likely that AMD's Radeon HD 7000 series graphics, which are slated for later this year, will support PCI-Express 3.0 interface.

AMD's third 8-core desktop processor model is available through OEMs such as HP. Called the AMD FX-8100, this chip is the most affordable among the available FX-8000 series chips (that's FX-8120 and FX-8150), and according to HP's component pricing, about $80 cheaper than the FX-8150. The AMD FX-8100 is a base model processor option for HP Pavilion HPE h8z desktop. It can be configured to have FX-8150 instead, for $80 over the base price of the desktop, of $830.

The FX-8100, like every other FX Series processor, features an unlocked base clock multiplier to help with overclocking. The chip is clocked at 2.80 GHz, with TurboCore technology, all eight cores can overclock themselves to 3.10 GHz. To handle tasks that aren't multi-threaded, the chip can overclock some of its cores (up to four of them), all the way up to 3.70 GHz. Like every other FX-8000 series chip, the FX-8100 packs 16 MB of total cache (8 MB total L2 + 8 MB L3), features an advanced instruction set of AVX, AES, XOP, SSE 4.2/4.1/4a, and a system interface of 5.2 GT/s with HyperTransport 3.1.

A couple of weeks ahead of its worldwide launch, Intel's much talked about "Sandy Bridge-E" Core i7 processors and compatible motherboards are beginning to surface on an online store in China. Listings include all three of the Core i7 LGA2011 processors Intel will launch in November, that includes the quad-core Core i7-3820, six-core Core i7-3930K and six-core Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition (details on the three here. Apart from these, a few compatible motherboards such as the ASUS ROG Rampage IV Extreme and MSI X79A-GD65 8D, were also listed.

Before getting into the pricing, it's important to note that prices of components in mainland China, in general, are more or less consistent with those in the US. The top-of-the-line Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is priced at RMB ¥7,800 (converts to US $1,227). The next best LGA2011 offering, Core i7-3930K, is priced at ¥5,800 (US $912). The most afforable of the three, Core i7-3820, goes for ¥3,500 (US $550).

In mid-September, earlier this year, a team of overclockers sponsored by AMD set a new Guinness Record for clock speed by a silicon processor, setting an AMD FX-8150 processor to run at a staggering 8429.38 MHz. If anything, the coveted Guinness Record feat helped cement the general notion that AMD FX processors are good at overclocking. Sadly, AMD's record didn't last long, with renowned overclocker Andre Yang breaking it with his 8461.51 MHz feat. At this point we don't know if Andre had Guinness covering his feat to he could officially break AMD's record. AMD wouldn't mind it at all, because the new record was set using an AMD FX-8150, too. Andre did it single-handed, or at least he is the only person in the "Submitted by" field on the CPU-Z Validation page.

According to the validation page, 8461.51 MHz was achieved using a base clock speed of 272.95 MHz, with 31.0X multiplier, and a brutal core voltage of 1.992V (almost 2 volts!). As with AMD's record feat, an ASUS Crosshair V Formula motherboard was used. A single 2 GB Corsair-made memory module was used doing 909.8 MHz (1818.16 MHz DDR) with timings of 9-9-9-24T. Like with AMD's feat, only two out of the FX-8150's eight cores were enabled. More details are awaited.

AMD today announced revenue for the third quarter of 2011 of $1.69 billion, net income of $97 million, or $0.13 per share, and operating income of $138 million. The company reported non-GAAP net income of $110 million, or $0.15 per share, and non-GAAP operating income of $146 million.

"Strong adoption of AMD APUs drove a 35 percent sequential revenue increase in our mobile business," said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. "Despite supply constraints, we saw double digit revenue and unit shipment growth in emerging markets like China and India as well as overall notebook share gains in retail at mainstream price points. Through disciplined execution and continued innovation we will look to accelerate our growth and refine our focus on lower power, emerging markets, and the cloud."

Motherboard giant, ASRock Inc. is proud to announce that their AMD Motherboard Series now can fully support the newly launched AM3+ Bulldozer processors. It's been an incredible year for multi-core processing and it's almost time for you to upgrade the essential CPU.

ASRock have prioritized AM3+ motherboard implementation and is the first to produce the most sophisticated AM3+ CPU-capable motherboards. The entire range of AM3+ mobo includes AMD's 9-Series, 8-Series, 7-Series and Nvidia's GeForce 7025 chipset series. Importantly, ASRock have a complete motherboard products line (from high-end, performance to budget-level) supporting AM3+ Bulldozer processors. Users are able to enjoy the exciting AM3+ performance with the latest BIOS update. ASRock is confident to say that they are the only motherboard maker that can offer so many AM3+ mobo choices based on difference chipsets. And this is what other mobo makers cannot do.

The reviews are now out for AMD's brand new Bulldozer architecture, in the form of the Zambezi FX 8120 & FX 8150 processors and they don't paint a pretty picture of these flagship products. The chips use lots of power, run hot and significantly underperform compared to their Intel competition. On top of that, they are being marketed as 8 core processors, when they are actually 4 core with an advanced form of multi-threading, due to the siamesed nature of each dual processor module. Perhaps to counter this negative publicity and try to restore some faith in the AMD brand, they have released a roadmap for the planned improvements to the architecture, all the way to 2014 - an ambitious timeline, given how much and how unexpectedly things can change at the cutting edge of the technology world.

It's been in the works for over three years now. That's right, the first we heard of "Bulldozer" as a processor architecture under development was shortly after the launch of "Barcelona" K10 architecture. Granted, it wasn't possible to load close to 2 billion transistors on the silicon fab technology AMD had at the time, but AMD had a clear window over the last year to at least paper-launch the AMD FX. Delays and bad marketing may have cost AMD dearly in shaping up the product for the market.

After drawing a consensus from about 25 reviews (links in Today's Reviews on the front page), it emerges that:

• AMD FX-8150 is missing its performance expectations by a fair margin. Not to mention performance gains in its own presentation, these expectations were built up by how AMD was shaping the product to be a full-fledged enthusiast product with significant performance gains over the previous generation
• AMD ill-marketed the FX-8150. Hype is a double-edged sword, and should not be used if you're not confident your offering will live up to at least most of the hype. AMD marketed at least the top-tier FX-8000 series eight-core processors as the second coming of Athlon64 FX.

AMD today unleashed the AMD FX family of CPUs, delivering a fully unlocked and customizable experience for desktop PC users. The AMD FX series of desktop CPUs includes the first-ever eight-core desktop processor, enabling extreme multi-display gaming, mega-tasking and HD content creation for PC and digital enthusiasts - all for less than $245 (suggested U.S. retail price). This marks the first retail availability of processors that use AMD's new multi-core architecture (codenamed "Bulldozer"), which is included in AMD's upcoming server CPU (codenamed "Interlagos") and the next-generation of AMD Accelerated Processing Units.

"AMD FX CPUs are back with a vengeance, as validated by the recent feat of setting a Guinness World Records title for 'Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor,'" said Chris Cloran, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Group at AMD. "While overclockers will certainly enjoy the frequencies the AMD FX processors can achieve, PC enthusiasts and HD media aficionados will appreciate the remarkable experience that AMD FX processors can provide as part of a balanced, affordable desktop system."

BIOSTAR Group, a world famous manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, industrial computing systems and computer peripherals, proudly announces the TA990FXE motherboard aimed at the most demanding overclockers and gamers.

The TA990FXE is made in the ATX form-factor on the flagship AMD 990FX chipset in combination with the most advanced SB950 Southbridge which guarantees the support of the latest technologies and ensures the unprecedented performance. The board supports all Socket AM3+ based Phenom II X6, Phenom II X4, Phenom II X3, Phenom II X2, Athlon II X4, Athlon II X3, Athlon II X2 and Sempron CPUs including top 6-core and 8-core AMD FX, AMD Phenom II and AMD Athlon II chips with the maximum thermal design up to 140W.

"Piledriver" is the codename of AMD's processor micro-architecture that succeeds "Bulldozer", which AMD is referring to in a company presentation slide as "2nd Generation Bulldozer". This, even before the first Bulldozer processors in the AMD FX Processor series begin shipping. Piledriver isn't an evolution over Bulldozer as such, and is more of a incremental update to the architecture.

Piledriver features an improved core design to bring about performance improvements of 10% over Bulldozer. It features two new instruction sets: FMA3 (Fast Memory Access 3) and Converged BMI (Branch if MInus). It will feature an improved IOMMU (memory mapping unit), referred to as IOMMU v2. Apart from these, Piledriver will fit into the existing ecosystem of AMD FX Processors, consisting of socket AM3+ and AMD 9-series chipsets. AMD is currently referring to the platform Piledriver-based processors will form around themselves as "FX Next". There is no reason for you to skip Bulldozer for this, our sources told us that Piledriver CPUs can be expected only by mid-thru-late 2012. AMD FX Bulldozer processors are on course for a mid-October launch.

The latest AMD 2012 market outlook slides disclosed by DonanimHaber reveal that AMD will have a brand new lineup of processors and APUs by the third quarter of 2012. In the second quarter, AMD will begin with new accelerated processing units (APUs) that succeed the current A-Series "Llano" APUs, codenamed "Trinity". Trinity APUs will make use of next-generation "Piledriver" architecture x86-64 cores, as well, as next-generation Radeon HD 7000 series graphics.

Then in the third quarter, AMD will release its next-generation "Vishera" processors that succeed "Zambezi" AMD FX processors. Vishera will make use of next-generation "Piledriver" modules, and increase IPC (instructions per clock) beyond its predecessor "Bulldozer" architecture. In the interim, AMD will update its A-Series and AMD FX processor lines with new models. These include a new high-end processor, the AMD FX-8170, and two new A-Series APUs, the A8-3870K, and A6-3670K, both of which are unlocked for overclocking.

In a possible bid to counter the upcoming AMD FX eight-core processors, Intel is reportedly reorganizing its Unlocked Core i7 processor series in the LGA1155 package. Currently there's only one Unlocked Core i7 LGA1155 processor model, the Core i7-2600K, and that is holding on to a US $320 price-point. It will be joined by the Core i7-2700K in the near future.

According to sources, this won't quite be a case of i7-2700K displacing the i7-2600K from its $320 price point, but that the new chip will occupy a slightly higher price point than the $320 the i7-2600K commands. According to the sources VR-Zone spoke with, the new i7-2700K could "end up somewhere close to US$340-350." It would then give Intel the flexibility to play with the price of the i7-2600K as the situation demands (letting the i7-2600K keep its $310~$320 price, or send it down below $300). Intel's Core i7-2700K is expected to launch on October 24, close to two weeks after AMD launches its first AMD FX processors.

Gigabyte unveiled a new socket AM3+ motherboard targeting a price-point sweetspot, the 990FXA-UD3 1.2. The board is based on the AMD 990FX + SB950 chipset, and supports the upcoming AMD FX processors apart from socket AM3 processors in the Phenom II and Athlon II series. As a new revision, the board supports AMD FX processors out of the box. The AM3+ socket is powered by an 8+2 phase VRM. The board is constructed according to the UltraDurable 3 Classic specifications, with 2 oz copper-layer PCB, 50,000+ hours capacitor durability, and DualBIOS. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3-2000 MHz memory with overclocking.

There are four PCI-Express x16 slots on this board, however, only two of them are wired to the AMD 990FX northbridge, both run at full PCI-Express 2.0 x16 bandwidth at all times. The other two are electrical PCI-Express x4, wired to the SB950 southbridge. The board supports both NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX, though it's likely that it will ship with just the 2-way SLI bridge cable.

Sources among retailers told DonanimHaber that retail prices of AMD's next generation performance desktop processor series, the AMD FX, are a lot lower than expected. On October 12, AMD will launch three new parts worldwide, the eight-core FX-8150, FX-8120, and six-core FX-6120, priced at US $245, $205, and $175, respectively.

AMD announced today that it has created drivers to enable support for the upcoming Windows 8 operating system on AMD-based tablets, netbooks, PCs and servers. Continuing a long history of collaboration, AMD is working closely with Microsoft to empower a new generation of innovative PCs and small form factor computing devices.

Currently available Windows 7-based PCs powered by AMD VISION technology deliver multi-core processing for amazing performance, discrete-level graphics for brilliant HD experiences, and AMD AllDay Power for entertainment on the go. Furthermore, AMD VISION Engine Software is uniquely tailored to unlock visual computing with AMD Radeon Cores and video accelerators that enable vivid HD, AMD Steady Video software and accelerated applications like blazing fast Internet browsing.

Weeks ahead of its market launch, AMD pulled off a nice PR feat by setting making its trusty squad of overclockers, Sami Mäkinen, Brian Mclachlan, Pete Hardman, and Aaron Schradin set a new clock speed world record (as in Guinness World Record). With just one of its four modules enabled, the eight-core FX-8150 engineering sample was overclocked to a stunning 8429.38 MHz. The chip was able to tolerate a brutal core voltage of 2.016V. Even for a one-in-a-million cherry-picked chip, those are staggering numbers.

8429.38 MHz was achieved using a base clock of 271.92 MHz, with 31.0X multiplier. The memory used was a Corsair Dominator GT single module, which apparently tolerated 3:10 DRAM ratio and timings of 2-16-2-22. That's right, 2-16-2-22. ASUS Crosshair V Formula seated the platform. Cooling was care of a custom liquid-nitrogen evaporator setup. The team used liquid nitrogen as its cooling medium, and switched to liquid helium halfway, which has a lower boiling point. The team cherry-picked chips from the best lots on-site.A video of the feat follows.

At last, AMD's highly-anticipated performance desktop processors, branded under the FX-Series, are up for pre-order, letting buyers book their chips so they could have it up and running on release date. American retailer Bottom-line Telecommunications (BLT) has the FX-8150 and FX-8120 eight-core chips; and FX-6100 six-core chip up for pre-order. Its price for the FX-8150 is US $266.28, the FX-8120 is priced at US $221.73, while the FX-6100 is priced at $188.32. BLT ships over ground for free to the 48 contiguous American states.

The new FX-Series processors are based on AMD's brand new "Bulldozer" micro-architecture, and come in the AM3+ package. The FX-8150 will lead the first wave with its eight cores clocked at 3.60 GHz, 16 MB of total cache (4x 2 MB L2 + 1x 8 MB L3); followed by the FX-8120 at 3.10 GHz, also with 16 MB cache. The FX-6100 six-core processor is clocked at 3.30 GHz, with 14 MB cache (3x 2 MB L2 + 1x 8 MB L3). Market release is expected in October. You can be ready for the new chips by purchasing socket AM3+ motherboards, ideally those based on the AMD 9-series chipset, as they are already available in the market.

Even as there are rumors that the launch of Opteron processors based on the Bulldozer architecture is imminent, there is news that AMD has rescheduled the launch of its FX series performance desktop processors to October 2011, sources told X-bit Labs. The reasons for the delay are known, but when the processors do come out, AMD wants to make sure that they target as many performance price-points as possible, and so the first wave of FX processors will include 7 models, that's four 8-core FX-8000 series chips, one 6-core FX-6000 series chip, and two 4-core FX-4000 series chips.

The first wave is going to include the 3.60 GHz FX-8150, the 3.10 GHz FX-8120 that will be available in 95W and 125W variants, and 2.80 GHz FX-8100 eight-core models; 3.30 GHz FX-6100 six-core model; 4.20 GHz FX-4170 and 3.60 GHz FX-4100 quad-core chips. As you can see, AMD does seem to have tweaked the clock speeds of some of the models compared to older clock speed tables by other sources. The next wave of FX series processors is slated for Q1 2012, which includes faster models across the three lines. According to data compiled by X-bit Labs, the FX series can now be tabulated as shown below.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced the Sound Blaster Recon3D, the USB audio device that provides unprecedented cross-platform audio immersion and realism and voice clarity for the Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Mac.

The Sound Blaster Recon3D comes in a compact size similar to a gaming mouse and easily connects to an Xbox 360, PS3, PC or Mac via USB. It dramatically improves the audio playback quality and experience with THX TruStudio Pro, a suite of audio enhancements developed by the collaborative expertise of Creative and THX audio engineers. The Sound Blaster Recon3D features Dolby Digital enabled via the optical input to provide full 5.1 surround decoding, which combines with THX TruStudio Pro Surround to deliver stunning accuracy and positional audio playback over a gaming headset and an amazing virtual multi-speaker movie listening experience over headphones. In addition, for voice communications, the Sound Blaster Recon3D improves voice quality with CrystalVoice processing, which implements innovative technologies that are specially designed to deliver crystal clear vocal fidelity in multiplayer games, online chats and video conferencing.

The CPU support list in the product page of Gigabyte's top of the line socket AM3+ motherboard, the GA-990FXA-UD7, spilled out details of upcoming AMD FX series processors, days ahead of actual product launches. Tables listing out specs of FX processors aren't new, but in older occasions, they were posted by the media citing sources. This table comes from a leading motherboard manufacturer. In this case, the 990FXA-UD7 will support FX series processors from BIOS version F4.

The table lists out FX 8000 series 8-core processors, and one each of FX 6000 and FX 4000 series 6-core and 4-core chips. A new detail emerging with this table is the system interface speed, which has been bumped all the way up to 5200 MT/s, up from 4000 MT/s of the previous generation. The faster 8-core chips have TDP rated at 125W, while every other FX series chip is rated at 95W. FX 8000 series chips include the 3.60 GHz FX-8150, the 3.10 GHZ FX-8120, 2.80 GHz FX-8100; FX 6000 series includes the 3.30 GHz FX-6100; while the quad-core FX 4000 series includes the 3.60 GHz FX-4100. The FX series is expected to launch in this month.

The certified fan-heatsink that comes with the CPU is perhaps the first thing enthusiasts get rid of, from their machines. The bundled heatsinks are almost never built in a way that allows you to squeeze the most out of your CPU. It looks like AMD is deciding whether to change this notion with some of its top-tier 8-core "Bulldozer" FX-series processors. The company reportedly plans to bundle self-contained liquid-based coolers with their processors.

Over the last couple of years, consumers have taken a liking for $100 self-contained CPU water coolers, kits that include the block with a motor, pre-fitted tubing to the radiator, which latches onto the common 120 mm rear fan hole of most cases. Bundling water coolers indicate two things: firstly, that the top-end FX-series chips will be hot, secondly, AMD is trying to woo enthusiasts. AMD could have asked its cooler OEMs to come up with a heavy tower-type fan-heatsink, but it chose water-cooling instead. So the move to pack water-cooling could either work for AMD's image (wooing enthusiasts), or against it (to convey that FX chips are so hot that nothing short of water-cooling is fit for them). Pictured below is a popular self-contained water-cooler by Corsair.

AMD's first wave of FX series high performance desktop processors will hit stores on 19 September, 2011, according to industry sources. On that day, AMD will launch two 8-core models: FX-8100 and FX-8150; a 6-core model, the FX-6100; and a 4-core part: FX-4100. The much yapped about "FX-8130P" that has been a CPU-Z screenshot favourite, is not a part of AMD's finalized lineup. Earlier it was rumored that models with the "P" brand extender were unlocked parts, but now it's emerging that all parts in the FX series are unlocked. Detailed specifications are tabled below.

In the first quarter of 2012, AMD plans its second round of product launches, which consist of faster models that display existing ones from their price-points. The FX-8170 will displace the FX-8150, the FX-8120 displaces FX-8100; FX-6120 displaces FX-6100; and FX-4120 displaces FX-4100. In the meantime, AMD is working with motherboard vendors to ensure adequate propagation of socket AM3+ motherboards, and more importantly, for DDR3-1866 MHz memory to become more affordable, since FX processors yield the most optimal performance with that memory speed.

On several earlier articles like this one, we were versed with the model numbers and even possible prices of AMD's next-generation FX series desktop processors, but the clock speeds stayed under the wraps, that's until a table listing them out was leaked. AMD's FX-series consists of eight-core FX-81xx parts, six-core FX-61xx, and quad-core FX-41xx parts, probably harvested out of the Zambezi silicon by disabling modules (groups of two cores closely interconnected with some shared resources). Most, if not all, FX series chips have unlocked multipliers, making it a breeze to overclock them. All chips come in the AM3+ package, feature 8 MB of L3 cache, and 2 MB L2 cache per module.

Leading the pack is FX-8150, with a clock speed of 3.6 GHz, and TurboCore speed of 4.2 GHz, a 500 MHz boost. The next chip, FX-8120, has a boost of close to a GHz, it has a clock speed of 3.1 GHz, that goes all the way up to 4 GHz with TurboCore. This will be available in 125W and 95W TDP variants. Next up is the FX-8100, with 2.8 GHz clock speed, that goes up to 3.7 GHz, another 900 MHz boost. The scene shifts to 6-core chips, with FX-6120, no clock speed numbers were given out for this one. FX-6100, on the other hand, is clocked at 3.3 GHz, with 3.9 GHz Turbo. The FX-4100 is the only quad-core part with clock speeds given out by this source: 3.6 GHz, with a tiny 200 MHz boost to 3.8 GHz. You can see that there is no pattern in the turbo speed amounts specific to models, and hence we ask you to take these with a pinch of salt.