On Friday, we published and commented on The Tech Report's FX-9000 insight and findings from their interview with an unnamed AMD official, among which was the undecided or improbable retail availability of the new processors. Today, the exact same two processors which made the object of AMD's Friday disclosure are available for pre-order from online retailers such as PCSuperStore, and while speculation on the causes or reasons of the apparent misinformation might be expected and could even be interesting, I will spare you the usual AMD bash and just point out the prices of these two new AMD processors, $ 960 for the FX-9590 and $ 576 for the FX-9370, vexing, to be blunt. Unless we're dealing with circumstantial speculation by a retailer (not unheard of), these prices would put the two new CPUs in direct competition with Intel's Core i7 Extreme processors, very unlikely targets for AMD's Vishera chips. We'll know soon enough, with retail availability imminent, it shouldn't be long before benchmark scores and charts start surfacing.Source: CPU World

Mid-April, we learned that AMD was working on its next "TWKR" chip for overclockers, based on the existing "Vishera" silicon. It turns out it is, and scrapes 5.00 GHz frequency at some unreal TDP levels for a client processor. SweClockers reports that AMD is working on at least two new socket AM3+ FX-series processors to make it competitive against Intel's 4th generation Core series. Among these are the FX-9000, and the FX-8770. The FX-9000 leads the pack with 4.80 GHz out of the box clock speed, and a TurboCore frequency of 5.00 GHz. Clock speeds of the FX-8770, on the other hand, haven't been disclosed. A catch here is the TDP of these chips. Two hundred and twenty Watts! The jump from 3.80 GHz to 4.80 nearly doubled TDP from 125W to 220W. Prices of the two remain under the wraps. AMD plans to unveil the two at E3, sometime between 11th and 13th June.Source: SweClockers. Many Thanks to Norton for the tip.

AMD introduced two additions to its FX line of socket AM3+ processors, the six-core FX-6350, and the quad-core FX-4350. The two were released as OEM-only parts, late last year, and are now being released to the retail channel, in PIB (processor-in-box) packages. Based on the 32 nm "Vishera" silicon and "Piledriver" micro-architecture, the two chips are designed to hold two extremely catchy sub-$150 price-points.

The FX-6350 features a nominal core clock speed of 3.90 GHz, a maximum Turbo Core frequency of 4.20 GHz, 6 MB of total L2 cache, and 8 MB L3 cache. The FX-4350, on the other hand, features 4.20 GHz clock speed, with 4.30 GHz Turbo Core, 4 MB of total L2 cache, and 8 MB of L3. Both parts feature unlocked base-clock multipliers, modern instruction-sets such as AVX, AES-NI, SSE4.2, SSE4.1, FMA2, and XOP. Both further have TDP rated at 125W. The FX-6350 retail PIB package will be priced as low as US $132, while the FX-4350 will go for as low as $122. The two will also ship with AMD's newest case-badge design, pictured below.

AMD is apparently working on its second CPU for extreme overclocking, since the nearly four-year old Phenom II Black Edition TWKR 42. Being referred to as "Centurion FX," the chip is said to be based on the eight-core FX "Vishera" silicon, featuring an unlocked multiplier, but born out of some extremely careful chip selection by AMD. How careful you ask? For starters, these chips should be capable of running at 5.00 GHz with just air-cooling, with potential for more, on better cooling.

If the TWKR 42 is anything to go by, Centurion FX should be made specifically for extreme overclockers looking for clock-speed and multi-core performance records, the chip should come with rather low clock speed, and unlocked multiplers, so overclockers could tweak it themselves. The chips should cost four times the average FX-8350, nearing $800, which is "affordable," considering the four-figure prices some of the golden Core i7 K-series Ivy Bridge chips command on online marketplaces.Source: Hexus.net

AMD introduced the FX-4130 value quad-core processor. Although slotted in the 4100 series, which suggests it being based on the older "Zambezi" silicon, the new FX-4130 is in fact based on the newer "Vishera" silicon, and the "Piledriver" micro-architecture. AMD is following a competitive (price-performance) approach to its CPU lineup, rather than a pure-performance one, and the FX-4130 is pitted by the company against the similarly priced Intel Core i3-2100.

The FX-4130 features four cores spread across two "Piledriver" modules, 3.80 GHz nominal clock speed with 3.90 GHz Turbo Core frequency, 2 MB L2 cache per module, 4 MB shared L3 cache, and an up to date instruction-set that includes AVX, AES-NI, SSE4.2, FMA, and XOP. Similarly priced Intel chips lack some of these instruction sets. With the FX-4130, AMD is packing a chunkier stock fan-heatsink than older FX-4000 series chips, which spins at lower speeds to keep the chip cool, and is hence less noisy. The new FX-4130 is priced at $99.99.

Source: X-bit Labs

AMD started selling its FX-8300 eight-core processor, which has been in the news since early-November. The new chip comes with a relatively low TDP of 95W, compared to other eight-core FX "Vishera" processors, which ship with 125W TDP. Despite being slower than the other FX "Vishera" chips, the FX-8320 and FX-8350, its low-TDP appears to have given AMD a big enough selling point, to price the chip around $190. Based on the 32 nm "Vishera" micro-architecture, the AMD FX-8300 ships with a clock speed of 3.30 GHz, 3.60 GHz of TurboCore speed, eight cores spread across four modules, 2 MB L2 cache per module (8 MB total), and 8 MB shared L3 cache.Source: Expreview

MSIs AM3+ mainboards support the latest AMD Vishera processors. In support of this fact is the recent overclocking record on the MSI 990FXA-GD80 which hit the 8.37 GHz mark with an FX-8350 processor, making it the fastest AMD FX-8350 in the world.

Additionally, the Z77 MPOWER and Big Bang-XPOWER II Mainboards have both made significant advancement in the HWBOT over-clocking leaderboards with MSI Lightning graphics cards. T0LSTY from Ukraine scored 18103 which puts him at the top of 3DMark 11 Performance Single Graphics Card scores with a Z77 MPOWER and R7970 Lightning and was the first contestant to break the 18,000 Marks barrier! T0LSTY, not satisfied with one record, also claimed the top spot in the Unigine Heaven DX11 single card benchmark.

Despite losing in market share to Intel, AMD has reason to cheer as its APU gambit is beginning to pay off. According to the latest architecture- and core count-specific sales figures for AMD given out by Mercury Research detailing Q3-2013 in context of two preceding quarters, APUs make for nearly 75% of AMD's processor sales, and the company's recently-launched "Trinity" line of desktop and mobile APUs are off to a flying start.

The most popular chips in AMD's stable are its "Bobcat" Zacate series low-power APUs, which are being built into entry-level computing devices such as netbooks, nettops, and all-in-one desktops. The chips make up 39 percent of AMD's sales in Q3, followed by another APU line, the A-Series "Trinity", which is available in desktop and mobile variants, offers a combination of a fast integrated graphics processor with up to four CPU cores, and makes up 26.1 percent of AMD's sales. AMD's A-Series "Llano" can still be bought in the market, and makes up 7.4 percent of AMD's sales in Q3.

It looks like the flagship FX-8350 and next-best FX-8320 won't be the only FX "Vishera" eight-core chips from AMD, despite the fact that the two occupy low price points of US $194 and $164, respectively. A new model called the FX-8300 surfaced on CPU support lists of a certain motherboard vendor, which reveals quite a bit about it. To begin with, the FX-8300 (model: FD8300WMW8KHK) features nominal core clock speed of 3.20 GHz, with TurboCore frequency of around 3.60 GHz. Its clock speed may be the lowest among its peers, but that results in a significant drop in rated TDP. The new eight-core chip has a rated TDP of 95W, down from 125W of the FX-8320 and FX-8350. It is based on the same C0-stepping silicon as the other models. Socket AM3+ motherboards with AGESA micro-code 1.5 should be able to support it. As for pricing, we expect its 95W TDP to serve as a selling point, and don't expect it to be much cheaper than the 125W FX-8320.

AMD's FX "Vishera" socket AM3+ processors are in for a long haul. According to a DonanimHaber report based on a leaked company roadmap slide, the company plans no new processor architecture to succeed it in 2013. The company recently launched its FX "Vishera" line of eight-, six-, and four-core chips just an year following FX "Zambezi," leading analysts to believe the company would launch a new micro-architecture each year to keep up with Intel's "tick-tock" product development strategy.

The roadmap slide, pictured below, shows AMD FX "Vishera" continuing through 2013 as the flagship desktop platform, followed by "Richland" third-generation desktop APU, which combines "Piledriver" CPU components with "Radeon 2.0 cores" (we're guessing those are Graphics CoreNext stream processors), which maintains socket FM2 platform; and low-power "Kabini" APU, which carries the mantle from "Brazos."

Source: DonanimHaber

In late-2011, ASUS set itself a target of shipping 25 million PC motherboards in the following year. Contributing to its optimism were three new platform launches - Intel Core "Ivy Bridge" (7-series chipset), AMD "Trinity" (socket FM2), and AMD Vishera; and Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, prompting PC upgrades. Falling demand in US and Europe, and weaker-than-expected shipment growth in China forced ASUS to trim its 2012 target down from 25 million to 22.2 million. In 2011, the company shipped 23.2 million motherboards.

In the first three quarters, ASUS shipped 16.7 million motherboards, and expects to ship no more than 5.5 million; down 5% sequentially, and flat year-over-year. The company faced severe competition from Gigabyte, which shipped 14 million motherboards in the three quarters thus far, and expects to ship 4.5 million in Q4, totaling 18.5 million for the year. The third biggest motherboard vendor, ASRock, is astray from its 2012 goal of 9 million shipments, and is hoping for a more conservative 7 million units target for 2012.Source: DigiTimes

FinalWire Ltd. today announced the immediate availability of AIDA64 Extreme Edition 2.70 software, a streamlined diagnostic and benchmarking tool for home users; and the immediate availability of AIDA64 Business Edition 2.70 software, an essential network management solution for small and medium scale enterprises.

The latest AIDA64 update introduces completely rewritten PhotoWorxx and AES benchmarks, optimized for AESNI, AVX, SSE4.1, VIA PadLock, and XOP capable AMD, Intel and VIA processors. The new AIDA64 release also implements full support for Socket FM2 motherboards, adds optimized 64-bit benchmarks for AMD FX-Series "Vishera" processors, and supports the latest GeForce and Quadro graphics accelerators by nVIDIA.DOWNLOAD: FinalWire AIDA64 v2.70 Installer | ZIP Package

Gaming PC maker Origin PC added AMD FX "Vishera" processors as options to its entire fleet of gaming desktops. The company is presenting these options as: FX-6300 (3.50 GHz, six-core), FX-8320 (3.50 GHz, eight-core), FX-8350 (4.00 GHz, eight-core). The two eight-core models are further offered with "ORIGIN PC Professional Overclocking" (factory-overclocking).

• AMD FX 8350 Octa-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo), 8MB Cache
• AMD FX 8320 Octa-Core 3.5GHz (4.0GHz Turbo), 8MB Cache
• AMD FX 6300 Hex-Core 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo), 8MB Cache
• Overclocked AMD FX 8320 Octa-Core 3.8-4.4GHz , 8MB Cache with ORIGIN PC Professional Overclocking
• Overclocked AMD FX 8350 Octa-Core 4.2-4.8GHz, 8MB Cache with ORIGIN PC Professional Overclocking

The world renowned mainboard manufacturer MSI announced that once the BIOS of MSI AM3+ mainboards have been updated, they will support newest 2012 FX Processor (Vishera). When used with MSI's exclusive OC Genie one-second overclock technology, the performance of the 2012 AMD FX Processor can be easy increased!

MSI's excellent R&D skills allow users to enjoy faster performance and experience the newest technologies. This is done by simply updating the BIOS to support new 2012 AMD FX Processor without having to buy a new compatible mainboard which proves that purchasing MSI mainboards is a safe choice.

AMD announced the 2012 FX "Vishera" line of eight-core, six-core, and quad-core desktop processors. Based on the new "Piledriver" CPU micro-architecture, the new processors feature increased performance and an updated instruction set, over the previous generation. To begin with, the processors are based around the "Vishera" silicon, built on the 32 nm HKMG process at Global Foundries. With a transistor count of 1.2 billion and a die area of 315 mm², Vishera packs four Piledriver modules, with two cores each, 2 MB L2 cache per module (8 MB total), and 8 MB of L3 cache. Eight-, six-, and four-core models are carved out by toggling the number of modules between four, three, and two.

The Vishera silicon also features an updated CPU instruction set, which includes SSE/2/3/S3/4.1/4.2/4A, AVX, AES-NI, FMA/FMA2/FMA3, XOP, and F16C. An x86 processor by design, Vishera features the AMD64 x86-64 instruction set. Its updated integrated memory controller supports up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, with a standard speed of DDR3-1866 MHz, and more possible with overclocking. The memory interface is single, monolithic 128-bit, unlike the dual 64-bit IMC approach of the "Stars" micro-architecture. Built in the same socket AM3+ package as the previous generation FX, the new chips are compatible with existing AM3+ motherboards with a BIOS update. The 2012 FX processor lineup includes a total of four models, the FX-8350 flagship eight-core, FX-8320 performance eight-core, FX-6300 mainstream six-core, and FX-4300 value quad-core. All models feature unlocked base-clock multipliers, making each of them fit for overclocking. Their specifications and target SEP pricing are tabled below. Market prices could be about 5~10% above the SEP prices.

AMD's next-generation FX series processors may be just around the corner, but OC feats around its flagship model, the FX-8350, are already beginning to take shape. Chinese overclocker Ma Yuchuan (马宇川) achieved 7.443 GHz with the FX-8350, except with just one of its four modules enabled (two cores). The clock speed of 7443 MHz was set with a base clock of 244.3 MHz, and multiplier of 30.5X. A core voltage of 1.968V was used, and the chip was cooled with liquid nitrogen. 8 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory by Patriot was used, and seating it all was Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7 motherboard. Find the CPUID validation here. The feat still trails Andre Yang's 8.71 GHz on FX-8150. That's not to say that the FX-8350 isn't as good a chip with overclocking, not enough enthusiasts have their hands on it, yet.Source: Expreview

According to new reports, AMD's next-generation FX "Vishera" processors built on its "Piledriver" architecture could surprise buyers with pricing, in a similar way to the A-Series "Trinity." AMD's FX "Vishera" socket AM3+ processors will not exceed US $200, according to the report. The launch pricing (along with specifications compiled from older reports) reportedly looks like this:

• AMD FX-8350 - $199: 8 cores, 4.00~4.20 GHz with TurboCore, 16 MB total cache
• AMD FX-8320 - $175: 8 cores, 3.50~4.00 GHz with TurboCore, 16 MB total cache
• AMD FX-6300 - $135: 6 cores, 3.50~4.10 GHz with TurboCore, 14 MB total cache
• AMD FX-4300 - $125: 4 cores, 3.80~4.00 GHz with TurboCore, 8 MB total cache

Source: VR-Zone

AMD's upcoming second-generation FX "Vishera" multi-core CPUs are likely to appeal to a variety of budget-conscious buyers, if a price-list leaked from US retailer BLT is accurate. The list includes pricing of the first four models AMD will launch some time in October, including the flagship FX-8350. The FX-8350 leads the pack with eight cores, 4.00 GHz clock speed, and 16 MB of total cache. It is priced at US $253.06. The FX-8350 is followed by another eight-core chip, the FX-8320, clocked at 3.50 GHz, and priced at $242.05.

Trailing the two eight-core chips is the FX-6300, carrying six cores, 3.50 GHz clock speed, 14 MB total cache, and a price-tag of $175.77. The most affordable chip of the lot, the FX-4350 packs four cores, 4.00 GHz clock speed, and 8 MB of total cache (likely by halving even the L3 cache). The FX-4350 is expected to go for $131.42. In all, the new lineup draws several parallels with the first-generation FX lineup, with FX-8150, FX-8120, FX-6100, and FX-4150.Source: HotHardware

It's traditional for AMD to camp outside an ongoing IDF event (at a nearby hotel suite), siphoning off a small portion of its visitors. In the backdrop of this year's IDF event in San Francisco, AMD showed off two of its upcoming flagship client processors, the socket FM2 A10-5800K "Trinity" APU, and socket AM3+ FX-8350 "Vishera" CPU. The two chips were shown running fully-loaded gaming PCs.

The FX-8350 was shown installed on a machine with ASUS Crosshair V Formula (-Z?) motherboard, liquid cooling, and Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. The chip was clocked at 5.00 GHz (4.80 GHz when the picture was taken), and running popular CPU-intensive benchmarks such as WPrime and Cinebench. The A10-5800K was shown running application demos, including a widget that displays real-time boost states of the processor and GPU cores.Source: Hardware.fr

A leaked AMD document for retail partners spelled out specifications of the first three FX "Vishera" processors by AMD. The new CPUs incorporate AMD's "Piledriver" architecture, and much like the first-generation "Zambezi" chips, will launch as one each of eight-core, six-core, and four-core chips. The eight-core FX-8350 is confirmed to ship with 4.00 GHz nominal clock speed, with 4.20 GHz TurboCore speed. The six-core FX-6300 ships with 3.50 GHz nominal, and 4.10 GHz TurboCore speed. The quad-core FX-4320, on the other hand, ships with the same clock speeds as the FX-8350. In addition, the document confirmed clock speeds of several socket FM2 A-series APUs, such as the A10-5700 and the A8-5500.Source: Expreview

It has been known since Computex that AMD plans to synchronize launch of its second-generation "Trinity" desktop APUs and second-generation "Vishera" desktop CPUs, in late-Q3 or early-Q4, 2012. In likely preparation for that, and to step up price-performance of its current lineup, AMD cut prices of its desktop CPUs and APUs across the board. These include price-cuts for Phenom II AM3 series, FX-series AM3+, and A-series FM1 CPUs and APUs. Some of the prices as down by as much as 22.9%. The Phenom II series chips are the ones with the biggest price-cuts. Find a list of chips with old and new pricing, and differences, compiled by CPU World, below.Source: CPU World

AMD reportedly deferred the launch of its next-generation "Trinity" A-series accelerated processing units (APUs) for desktops, to October, 2012. The products were originally slated for August. The delay affects launches of most APUs in the socket FM2 package, including the A10-5800K, a top-performing part in the series.

Launches of the A-Series "Trinity" APUs appear to have been clubbed with those of the FX-Series "Volan" (Vishera silicon, Piledriver micro-architecture) processors, including the FX-8350 and FX-6300. Meanwhile, AMD is in the process of phasing out its low-cost socket AM3 processors (such as Athlon II AM3, and Phenom II AM3), replacing them with Athlon II FM2, Phenom II AM3+, and mid-range FX-Series AM3+.Source: DigiTimes

Production of AMD's next-generation FX processor family, which are based on its "Piledriver" microarchitecture, will commence in Q3 2012, according to industry sources. Some of the first client processor models based on the "Vishera" silicon, will be the eight-core FX-8350, six-core FX-6300, and quad-core FX-4320. The three model names were earlier misinterpreted with an "x" prefix from a roadmap slide.

A few more details are known about these chips. For starters, the chips will be built on the existing AM3+ package, retaining compatibility with current AM3+ platforms. The chips will also retain dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz integrated memory controllers, and Turbo Core 2.0. The main differences here, are increases in IPC (performance to clock-speed ratio), and the implementation of resonant clock mesh technology, which increases energy efficiency.Source: DonanimHaber

AMD is pushing on with a desktop product lineup that's leveraging its Piledriver CPU and Graphics CoreNext GPU architectures in 2012. Apparently, the company will have a faster product development cycle to catch up with Intel's "Tick-Tock", as revealed in a roadmap slide scored by DonanimHaber. The current product lineup will remain unchanged in the first quarter of 2012. Then in the second quarter, AMD will launch a few more socket AM3+ FX-8000, FX-6000, and FX-4000 series eight, six, and four-core processors; along with the much talked about "Trinity" accelerated processing unit.

The fastest "Trinity" APUs will get a new brand identifier, the A10-5000 series. These APUs will pack next-generation "Piledriver" modular cores and Radeon HD 7600D series graphics. Around this time, AMD will also launch the Brazos 2.0 low-power APU for netbooks, nettops, and embedded computing devices. Brazos 2.0 will get the E2-1000 series branding. The big change is reserved for the third quarter of 2012, when AMD launches the successor of its less-than-lucky AMD FX "Bulldozer" processor family.

Today at its annual Financial Analyst Day, AMD has presented an updated roadmap detailing the hardware it plans to bring to the table during 2012 and 2013. For this year, the Sunnyvale-based company is preparing a processor quarter which includes the Trinity, Brazos 2.0 and Hondo APUs (accelerated processing units) and the Vishera CPU.

Set to be the main weapon in AMD's x86 arsenal, the Trinity APU (aka the 2nd gen A Series) is made on 32 nm process technology, and features DirectX 11 graphics, two/four Piledriver cores (Piledrive is said to deliver 25% better performance than the Stars cores found in Llano APUs), and a TDP that can go as low as 17 W on mobile parts. Trinity is expected to debut in Q2 and already has close to 100 design wins (more than Llano had before its release).