Overclocking
We used the same AVC Bulldozer reference cooler for overclocking tests. CPU voltage was increased to 1.475V, Turbo Core switched off, and VRM settings inched up to high. The reported figure of 4.61GHz was stable throughout a battery of tests, while 4.7-4.8GHz, while completing most benchmarks, would cause the occasional error.
An all-core speed of closer to 5GHz will require better cooling and, perhaps, a different FX-8350 sample, we believe.
An overclocked FX-8350 poses no problems for a dual-core, quad-threaded Core i3-3225 in HEXUS PiFast. AMD must be wishing we'd get rid of this benchmark.
The FX OC chip almost gets to grips with a standard Core i7-3770K in CINEBENCH.
And ekes out a little more perf than the standard-clocked chip in Batman: Arkham City.
AMD's already running fairly close to the frequency potential of the eight-core Piledriver chip from the get-go. You're simply not going to see 20 per cent-plus leaps in performance with standard overclocking.
