Advanced Micro Devices took the lid off the architecture of its upcoming Bulldozer processor at the ISSCC conference held this week. According to the company, Bulldozer was designed to reduce power consumption. As reported by HotHardware, AMD hinted that its Orochi processor core will be capable of operating in excess of 3.5GHz. Central to AMD's new processor on the performance and power front are changes to its FPU (Floating Point Unit), including completely redesigned arithmetic units and control structures.

Based on the details released this week, PC Perspective thinks that a fully utilized Bulldozer-based core should be able to outperform a similarly clocked Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) processor with the same number of threats. However, it conceded that Intel should have a slight advantage when it comes to instances involving single or lightly-threated applications. It is clear that AMD is very excited about the possibilities offered by Bulldozer, though we shall have to wait until the processor is released to determine whether it can match up to Intel's just-launched Sandy Beach family of processors.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at The Register
- check out this article at PC Perspective
- check out this article at Hot Hardware

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