AMD FX-8150 8-Core CPU Review: Bulldozer Is Here


Video Encoding: Espresso, 3DMark Vantage

Next up, we tested the video encoding performance of the AMD FX-8150 using Cyberlink's MediaEspresso 6.5. Although this application is coded to take advantage of Intel Quick Sync technology and leverage GPU compute resources, we disabled hardware acceleration for these tests to ensure they were all run only on the CPU cores.

Video Encoding With Mediashow Espresso
Media Encoding

In this test, we took a 256MB AVCHD MTS file recorded using a Canon HD camcorder and converted it to an H.264 encoded MP4 designed for use on an iPhone 4 / iPad (or other portable media playback device).

The FX-8150 put up a respectable number in our Mediashow Espresso test, besting all of the other AMD-build processors and hanging right alongside the Core i5-2500K. Please note, however, we DID NOT employ Intel's QuickSync technology here. With QuickSync enabled, the Core i7-2600K encodes the same video in only 9 seconds; the Core i5-2500K does it in only 10.

We should also point out that this test does not leverage the XOP or AVX instructions available within the FX-8150, which would result in better performance.

Futuremark 3DMark Vantage
Synthetic DirectX Gaming

3DMark Vantage's CPU Test 2 is a multi-threaded test designed for comparing relative game physics processing performance between systems. This test consists of a single scene that features an air race of sorts, with a complex configuration of gates. There are aircraft in the test that trail smoke and collide with various cloth and soft-body obstacles, each other, and the ground. The smoke spreads, and reacts to the planes as they pass through it as well and all of this is calculated on the host CPU.

3DMark Vantage's CPU Test 2 has the new FX-8150 finishing just behind the six-core Phenom II X6 1100T, but ahead of the Core i5-2500K. The higher-end Intel processors hold onto a commanding lead here, however.


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