Would you buy a Steamroller/Excavator based AMD FX CPU if it existed today?

MLSCrow · Nov 6, 2014

Just curious as to just who, out there, would actually purchase an AMD CPU if they were to create an 8-core (quad module) FX series based on the Steamroller or Excavator architectures.

I'm still running a Phenom II 955BE@4.0, and am in the market to upgrade and most likely going with a 4970K, but, honestly, if there were an updated FX, I would probably give it a go. Just seeing if anyone else would.

AtenRa · Nov 6, 2014

I would [FONT=&quot]definitely[/FONT] get a 20nm (Gate first SOI) Quad Module Steamroller/Excavator today.

monstercameron · Nov 6, 2014

im a bit biased but yes i would. as it stands, I've been changing my mind about pd fx cpus, why should people spend hard earned money on such an old chip?

Yuriman · Nov 6, 2014

28nm and lower clocks? Probably not. 20nm with significantly higher clocks? That'd be pretty compelling. A 5GHz three module with reasonable power consumption would be a pretty respectable chip.

SlowSpyder · Nov 6, 2014

Not right now since I'm happy with my current system, but if the performance increase was worth it, I would sooner or later.

schmuckley · Nov 6, 2014

If they made a chip that was on par with SB in IPC and overclocked more..sure!

cbn · Nov 6, 2014

monstercameron said:
im a bit biased but yes i would. as it stands, I've been changing my mind about pd fx cpus, why should people spend hard earned money on such an old chip?

$129.99 for a FX-8310 and $119.99 for a FX-8300 is not bad IMO (especially for non-gaming uses)

But it would be great to see an update.

P.S. Those prices I quoted have been $20 lower when on sale.

jacktesterson · Nov 6, 2014

schmuckley said:
If they made a chip that was on par with SB in IPC and overclocked more..sure!

Only if priced right.

Justinbaileyman · Nov 6, 2014

If they made one for the FM2+ platform I would be all over it..

Bradtech519 · Nov 6, 2014

Depends on how much better one would be compared to my FX 8350. I want to see AMD catch up in single threaded performance. Newer instruction sets like AVX2 would be nice along with DDR4 support. I will most likely sit out & see how 2015 goes. I admire how Intel has done but miss the old AMD that could release something more competitive in raw performance not just at the budget end.

SPBHM · Nov 6, 2014

the 8350 MT performance is fine for most users, AMD would need a significant improvement on power usage and/or higher performance per thread to become become more interesting, I don't think Steamroller adds significantly to that...

Rickyyy369 · Nov 6, 2014

I don't think an 8 core steamroller FX chip would be worth it over Piledriver. What you gain in IPC is lost in clockspeed headroom. If excavator can provide a good 15-20% bump in single thread performance, then my answer is - maybe, if its priced competitively.

monstercameron · Nov 6, 2014

Rickyyy369 said:
I don't think an 8 core steamroller FX chip would be worth it over Piledriver. What you gain in IPC is lost in clockspeed headroom. If excavator can provide a good 15-20% bump in single thread performance, then my answer is - maybe, if its priced competitively.

that was due to the process used and not the uarch.

Rickyyy369 · Nov 6, 2014

monstercameron said:
that was due to the precess used and not the uarch.

Yeah I know but it made Steamroller into pretty much a lateral move from Piledriver. Steamroller didn't raise the performance ceiling of AMDs processors at all, it just held the line. Hopefully Excavator can actually move them forward. It would be nice if a 4.0-4.2Ghz Excavator performed like a 5Ghz Piledriver.

Edit: I guess I should be more specific. Kaveri didn't raise the performance ceiling of AMD cpus. Steamroller itself made some pretty good IPC gains that were wiped away because of Kaveri's manufacturing process.

el etro · Nov 6, 2014

I sense AMD achieving that Bulldozer is a unfixable uarch and stopped providing resources the Bulldozer teams work. Real changes will come in Zen, is what i think.

NostaSeronx · Nov 6, 2014

I would be okay with a 2 GHz(not boost_clk) 16-core XV on Advanced FDSOI.

28FDSOI = 28HPP perf @ 28LP cost
Adv28FDSOI = 20LPM perf @ 28HPP cost

28/Adv28 both support PCIe gen 4.0 and Hypertransport gen 4.0 at Cadence, Mentor, and Synopsys.

So, this 16-core part that I am "okay" with is definitely launching 2H 2015 with Rev 0.9/1.0 PCIe 4.0/full Hypertransport 4.0 support. Let's not forget FreedomFabric Gen2 with Hypershare! w00t?

P.S. (Do I have to talk about the 16-core ARMv8-A part as well?)

Lepton87 · Nov 6, 2014

Bradtech519 said:
Depends on how much better one would be compared to my FX 8350. I want to see AMD catch up in single threaded performance. Newer instruction sets like AVX2 would be nice along with DDR4 support. I will most likely sit out & see how 2015 goes. I admire how Intel has done but miss the old AMD that could release something more competitive in raw performance not just at the budget end.

If I could choose between DDR3 and DDR4 I would have chosen the former but there's no choosing, HW-E means DDR4 anything else means DDR3. DDR4 is only an improvement for bandwidth heavy applications which right now is mostly IGP gaming and HW-E doesn't even have an IGP. The other improvement is lower voltage which translates into lower power consumption but that is only relevant for mobile. The only pros is longevity.

DrMrLordX · Nov 6, 2014

Rickyyy369 said:
Yeah I know but it made Steamroller into pretty much a lateral move from Piledriver. Steamroller didn't raise the performance ceiling of AMDs processors at all, it just held the line. Hopefully Excavator can actually move them forward. It would be nice if a 4.0-4.2Ghz Excavator performed like a 5Ghz Piledriver.

Edit: I guess I should be more specific. Kaveri didn't raise the performance ceiling of AMD cpus. Steamroller itself made some pretty good IPC gains that were wiped away because of Kaveri's manufacturing process.

Bear in mind that some of the latest batches of 28nm Steamroller CPUs are clocking better than the first run of 7850ks. There are people popping up here and there with 860ks running at 4.6-4.8 ghz, usually requiring around 1.5v vcore to get there. It remains to be seen if those improvements will find their way into Kaveri APUs as well.

At this stage, however, Excavator would be the more desirable uarch. AMD seems to have mostly squandered Steamroller.

bunnyfubbles · Nov 6, 2014

Rickyyy369 said:
I don't think an 8 core steamroller FX chip would be worth it over Piledriver. What you gain in IPC is lost in clockspeed headroom. If excavator can provide a good 15-20% bump in single thread performance, then my answer is - maybe, if its priced competitively.

this

only other way I would consider would be if they released something with more than 4 modules (again, price would have to be right on that part as well)

Spawne32 · Nov 6, 2014

Would I buy a steamroller/excavator FX chip? yes, would I buy an AM3+ motherboard? No, not on your life. As an mATX builder and user, AM3+ technology only comes as far as 2008 with the 760G chipset. I just dumped my entire 8320 mATX system for a 860K with an A88XM-Gaming motherboard and the performance for almost every aspect except things that require 8 cores is at least 10-20% better. I made a thread about it on OCN and posted a bunch of comparison benchmarks. Not to mention this chip overclocks like crazy compared to what I was able to do on the 8320.

Gikaseixas · Nov 7, 2014

Spawne32 said:
Would I buy a steamroller/excavator FX chip? yes, would I buy an AM3+ motherboard? No, not on your life. As an mATX builder and user, AM3+ technology only comes as far as 2008 with the 760G chipset. I just dumped my entire 8320 mATX system for a 860K with an A88XM-Gaming motherboard and the performance for almost every aspect except things that require 8 cores is at least 10-20% better. I made a thread about it on OCN and posted a bunch of comparison benchmarks. Not to mention this chip overclocks like crazy compared to what I was able to do on the 8320.

And this is what i've been saying all along. Current FX lineup is not as bad as some say or think, the biggest handicap is that ancient AM3+ tech they're bundled with.

I would buy if they released a updated chipset but i would never touch an FX chip again with this AM3+ crap they have now. My Intel setup is so much better and that's not because of the cpu alone, the entire package counts.

nenforcer · Nov 7, 2014

I keep repeating myself in multiple threads but I believe these AMD FX chips are going to have a longer life than anticipated because of the fact that both consoles this generation (Sony PS4 and MS XBONE) are using 8 core Jaguar class x86 chips.

I have an ASSRock Extreme 9 990FX motherboard running a single core Sempron (mining test rig) for the time being and I know the 990FX Chipset lacks native USB 3 and native PCI-E 3.0 but it does have a large amount of PCI-E 2.0 lanes even more than consumer Intel chipsets (P67 / Z77 / Z87 / Z97).

I don't currently own any USB 3 devices and PCI-E 2.0 x 16 = PCI-E 3.0 x8 has a negligible performance loss.

When these future console game ports start coming out for PC I think your going to start seeing a lot of FX benchmark victories if the games are properly multi-threaded for them.

I'm holding off on my upgrade until next year, 2015, when Windows 10 gets released.

AtenRa · Nov 7, 2014

nenforcer said:
When these future console game ports start coming out for PC I think your going to start seeing a lot of FX benchmark victories if the games are properly multi-threaded for them.

I dont believe we will see any victories BUT the vast majority of new 2014 games can produce 60fps with those 8-core FXs when the GPU can cope with the Image Quality settings. We dont have StarCraft II low performance situations anymore.
Anyone saying AMD FX CPUs are not recommended for Gaming today they dont know what they are talking about (to put it mildly).
For the same or lower price than Intel CPU you will have the same Gaming experience when you will have an adequate GPU

nemesismk2 · Nov 7, 2014

I really like my amd fx 4300 and amd fx 8350 and only do light gaming but i would consider an upgrade.

Insert_Nickname · Nov 7, 2014

Justinbaileyman said:
If they made one for the FM2+ platform I would be all over it..

Seconded...

Especially if they stick a basic (128-192SP) IGP in there. Would be a decent chip.

Would you buy a Steamroller/Excavator based AMD FX CPU if it existed today?

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