AMD starts selling eight-core Bulldozer desktop CPUs

AMD has launched its first eight-core desktop processors, based on the company's Bulldozer architecture.

Aimed at gamers, high-definition content creators and those interested in what AMD calls "mega-tasking", the FX series of CPUs went on sale on Wednesday. The top-of-the-range eight-core FX-8150, clocked at 3.6GHz, is retailing in the UK at around £200. The processors are unlocked, though, to allow overclocking.

The FX series CPUs are the first Bulldozer-based desktop processors to hit retail availability. In early September, AMD also started shipping 16-core processors based on the same architecture to manufacturers of servers and supercomputers.

Bulldozer is the heavyweight counterpart to AMD's Bobcat design for ultraportable devices, and the first major redesign of AMD's x86 architecture since Opteron came out in 2003.

The new 32nm chips, made by GlobalFoundries, will work with AMD's desktop AM3+ sockets. An FX CPU can also be used together with a 9-series chipset motherboard and AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphics card to form an AMD 'Scorpius' platform for gaming and high-definition visuals.

The 3.6GHz FX-8150 can be overclocked to 3.9GHz using Turbo Core technology, which is AMD's answer to Intel's Turbo Boost. However, Max Turbo, a mode that applies only to the cores that are in use, can take the CPU up to 4.2GHz.