14 DAY TRIAL // AMD knows, like everyone else, that its Bulldozer CPUs didn't really impress that much, but it does hope that Microsoft's next version of Windows will make it run better.
Many users will have, by now, been put up to speed with the underwhelming performance of AMD's FX Bulldozer CPUs.
One analysts even said that AMD was in danger if falling into irrelevancy if this goes on much longer.
The apparent acceleration of 28nm GPUs (graphics processing units) might be a way to try and recover face in a timely fashion.
Now, it is reported that Advanced Micro Devices hopes the next version of Microsoft Windows OS will make the FX chips run better.
Current operating systems aren't overly apt at utilizing all the might of multi-core chips, so the Sunnyvale, California-based company hopes Windows 8 will do it better.
For those who want numbers, a certain slide says that the next-generation OS will enable about 10% more speed compared to Windows 7.
The scheduler of Windows 8 supposedly manages multi-core chips more efficiently with its new scheduler, hence the better speed.
Unfortunately, this will only be noticeable in less demanding video games and not so much in heavyweight titles and applications.
Alas, AMD did not say if other of its CPUs will benefit from Windows 8 in the same manner, and X-bit Labs, after tests, said the FX-8150 can still only barely beat the quad-core Intel Core i5-2500 (which even lacks hyper-Threading).
It should also be noted that, by all accounts, a better multi-core management will work on Intel CPUs as well, so there isn't really any reason to expect CPU performance rankings to change between the two companies.
On a related note, AMD is also having trouble with supply of Llano, which could become a worse problem if the shortage extends to the upcoming generation of APUs.