Bulldozer is the next coming microarchitecture from AMD that according to the company self will be truly energy efficient and the leaked specifications talk about a majority of models at 95W TDP. The top models will still be in the 125W envelope and according to a source to XbitLabs AMD is considering shipping them with water cooling.
Back in April we discussed how Intel had serious plans to ship Sandy Bridge-E with water cooling, something Intel has neither confirmed nor denied to this date. We then wondered how this would affect the store prices and that it was likely it would include water coolers for the top models.
Sandy Bridge-E could ship with water cooling, but also AMD’s Bulldozer?
We are of course talking about a closed system like Antec Kühler H20 620 or Corsair H60. If we are to believe the latest sources AMD is considering doing the very same. According to the source the top models with eight cores are the ones who will get the wet coolers, which may not be that surprising since they have been rated 125W TDP.
We have also been able to uncover the price of AMD’s flagship Bulldozer, FX. With a price around 250€ it will go up against Core i7 2600K, but it doesn’t feel very realistic that this would include a closed water cooling system. It is therefore uncertain what will really be included in the top model package, or if there will perhaps be a special edition with water cooling included.
| Model | FX-8150 | FX-8120 | FX-8120 | FX-8100 | FX-6120 | FX-6100 | FX-4120 | FX-4100 |
| Code name |
Zambezi | Zambezi | Zambezi | Zambezi | Zambezi | Zambezi | Zambezi | Zambezi |
| Cores | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Clock freq. |
3.6 GHz | 3.1 GHz | 3.1 GHz | 2.8 GHz | ?.? GHz | 3.3 GHz | ?.? GHz | 3.6 GHz |
| Turbo Core 2.0 | 4.2 GHz | 4.0 GHz | 4.0 GHz | 3.7 GHz | ?.? GHz | 3.9 GHz | ?.? GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| L2 Cache | 4 x 2 MB | 4 x 2 MB | 4 x 2 MB | 4 x 2 MB | 3 x 2 MB | 3 x 2 MB | 2 x 2 MB | 2 x 2 MB |
| L3 Cache | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB |
| Memory support |
DDR3-1866 | DDR3-1866 | DDR3-1866 | DDR3-1866 | DDR3-1866 | DDR3-1866 | DDR3-1866 | DDR3-1866 |
| Unlocked | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Socket | AM3+ | AM3+ | AM3+ | AM3+ | AM3+ | AM3+ | AM3+ | AM3+ |
| Node | 32nm SOI | 32nm SOI | 32nm SOI | 32nm SOI | 32nm SOI | 32nm SOI | 32nm SOI | 32nm SOI |
| TDP | 125W | 125W | 95W | 95W | 95W | 95W | 95W | 95W |
FX-8150 and FX-8120 with 125W TDP could get bundled water cooling
Exactly why it has chosen to do this is not entirely clear, but 125W TDP is not too much for air coolers, or even 140W like the Phenom X4 9950BE and Phenom II X4 965BE processors, so why Bulldozer would need water cooling makes us wonder what this is really about. It is of course a plus for home builders and enthusiasts, but is it worth the price premium for such a cheap processor? Exactly what will come we will just have to wait and see – when Bulldozer actually launches.
