3 Core Bulldozers for OEM market

Hong Kong motherboard manufacturers HKEPC have confirmed that the new AM3+ boards are being manufactured with support for triple core versions of the new 32nm FX Bulldozer processors. So when the Bulldozer launches on September the 19th we will expect to see triple core OEM’s released alongside these. Now we already saw recently that Llano would not have any triple cores which suggested AMD had fixed the problem of producing faulty quad cores but it seems they have not had the same success with AM3+ or they are looking to the triple core Bulldozers to again provide that competitive advantage over Intel dual core processors by providing more functionality for the same or a lower price.

One of the triple core FX processors has the following specifications:
FX-3150
3.6GHz on 3 cores
4.2GHz turbo mode
3MB L2 Cache , No L3 Cache
80W TDP
Dual Channel DDR3 1866 support

So there will be 4 types of FX Bulldozer processors for release in september three retail and one OEM:

• FX 81XX series , Retail, 8 Cores
• FX 61XX series, Retail, 6 Cores
• FX 41XX series, Retail, 4 Cores
• FX 31XX series, OEM, 3 Cores

AMD expects that during the fourth quarter of 2011 FX series processors will account for 15-17% of the processor market, whilst the Phenom II’s will drop to 5% or less. Shipments of Phenom II processors will stop by the end of 2011. By the end of Q1 2012 AMD expects a healthy 22% market share with the new FX processors while the AM3 will still be clearing the last of its stocks, only the most popular models will be continued such as the budget Athlon II chips.