AMD today officially introduced second-generation FX-Series CPUs based on the Piledriver architecture. AMD introduced a total of four new FX-Series CPUs with either 8, 6 or 4-cores.

The Vishera FX-Series is built on the 32nm HKMG process at Global Foundries and features a total of 1.2 billion transistors on die area of 315mm2. It has four Piledriver modules, each with two cores, 2MB of L2 cache per module and a total of 8MB of L3 cache.

The top of the line is the eight-core FX-8350 flagship that, according to AMD, should provide up to 15 percent higher performance when compared to the previous FX-Series flagship, the FX-8150. The FX-8350 is clocked at 4GHz with a 4.2 GHz Turbo, has full 8MB of L3 cache and a 125W TDP. The next in line is the slightly lower clocked eight-core FX-8320 clocked at 3.5GHz with 4GHz Turbo. It also features 8MB of L3 cache and a 125W TDP.

The six-core FX-6300 works at 3.5GHZ with a 4.1 GHz Turbo, has 8MB of L3 cache and slightly lower 95W TDP. The last is the quad-core FX-4300 clocked at 3.8GHz with 4GHz Turbo, 4MB of L3 cache and a 95W TDP. The entire lineup features Turbo Core and Virtualization technologies as well as 64-bit, SSE/2/3/S3/4.1/4.2/4A, AVX, AES-NI instructions, as well as the new FMA and F16C instructions brought by Piledriver architecture.

It also has a single 128-bit memory interface, has an updated integrated memory controller with support for up to 64GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866MHz memory. It is built for the same AM3+ socket and is compatible with existing AM3+ motherboards.

The most surprising fact were the recently rumored price and it appears that they were pretty spot on. The SEP price for the flagship FX-8350 is set at US $195, the FX-8320 at US $169, the FX-6300 at US $132 and the FX-4300 at US $122.

AMD targets Intel's Core i5-3570K and the Core i5-3430 with its FX-8350 and FX-8320 CPUs while the FX-6300 and the FX-4300 are marketed against the Core i5-2300 and the Core i3-2120.