Bulldozer (microarchitecture)

Bulldozer - Family 15h
General information
Launched	Q4 2011
Common manufacturer	AMD;
Architecture and classification
Technology node	32 nm
Instruction set	x86-64
Physical specifications
Socket	Socket AM3+;
Products, models, variants
Core names	AMD FX; Opteron;
History
Predecessor	Family 10h (K10)
Successor	Piledriver - Family 15h (2nd-gen)

The AMD Bulldozer Family 15h is a microprocessor microarchitecture for the FX and Opteron line of processors, developed by AMD for the desktop and server markets.^[1]^[2] Bulldozer is the codename for this family of microarchitectures. It was released on October 12, 2011, as the successor to the K10 microarchitecture.

Bulldozer is designed from scratch, not a development of earlier processors.^[3] The core is specifically aimed at computing products with TDPs of 10 to 125 watts. AMD claims dramatic performance-per-watt efficiency improvements in high-performance computing (HPC) applications with Bulldozer cores.

The Bulldozer cores support most of the instruction sets implemented by Intel processors (Sandy Bridge) available at its introduction (including SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AES, CLMUL, and AVX) as well as new instruction sets proposed by AMD; ABM, XOP, FMA4 and F16C.^[4]^[5] Only Bulldozer GEN4 (Excavator) supports AVX2 instruction sets.

^ "FX Processors". AMD. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
^ "AMD ships 16 core bulldozer powered Opteron 6200". Engadget. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
^ Bulldozer 50% Faster than Core i7 and Phenom II, techPowerUp, retrieved 2012-01-23
^ AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual Volume 6: 128-Bit and 256-Bit XOP, and FMA4 Instructions (PDF), AMD, May 1, 2009, retrieved 2009-05-08
^ Striking a balance, Dave Christie, AMD Developer blogs, 7 May 2009, archived from the original on 2012-04-02, retrieved 2009-05-08

[amd1-1] "FX Processors". AMD. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.

[engadget1-2] "AMD ships 16 core bulldozer powered Opteron 6200". Engadget. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2016.

[3] Bulldozer 50% Faster than Core i7 and Phenom II, techPowerUp, retrieved 2012-01-23

[4] AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual Volume 6: 128-Bit and 256-Bit XOP, and FMA4 Instructions (PDF), AMD, May 1, 2009, retrieved 2009-05-08

[5] Striking a balance, Dave Christie, AMD Developer blogs, 7 May 2009, archived from the original on 2012-04-02, retrieved 2009-05-08

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