A couple of months' ago we wrote about AMD's plans to release a 5GHz processor based on the 'Piledriver' FX architecture present in 8-core chips.
It now transpires that our sources were indeed correct, with AMD announcing the 8-core FX-9590 and FX-9370 chips at the E3 gaming show in Los Angeles, USA.
AMD is being coy with most of the details, but promises the FX-9590 will run at a maximum Turbo Core 3.0-induced speed of 5GHz, while the FX-9370 will jump up to 4.7GHz under ideal conditions. What is not known is whether this speed applies to a single core or multiple cores.
AMD's most powerful desktop chip is the FX-8350, clocked in at 4.2GHz, but the A10-6800K holds the current distinction for running at the highest speed - 4.4GHz.
It is interesting to note that AMD's press release states "The new AMD FX CPUs will be available from system integrators globally beginning this summer," meaning it's unlikely they're sold as standalone products at launch. This makes sense as the SIs will have to meet strict qualification guidelines in order for the chips to operate at the quoted speed.
AMD's bombastic announcement cannot hide the fact that the best FX chips are barely a performance match for the quad-core Core i7-4770K processor, let alone the six-core Core i7-3970X, so we doubt that Intel is worried.