Using eight cores built on AMD’s Piledriver architecture, the FX-9590 is the world’s first processor to reach 5GHz that will be available to consumers from a chipmaker. The 5GHz barrier has been broken before in labs and basements where extreme cooling techniques were applied to CPUs but not in a boxed chip thats available to the public.
The FX 9590’s frequency will range between 4.7 to 5GHz and will utilize AMD’s AM3+ socket. The processor will be built on a new 32 nanometer die and have 8MB of L2 and L3 cache. The chips power consumption is considerable at 220W but that’s to be expected with a chip like this, especially early on. AMD has always had great pride in producing a lot of bang with a small amount of power and it’s my guess that power consumption will likely get better. It’s also important to note that AMD’s power management will likely keep the CPU “Cool n’ Quiet” when there isn’t a large demand for power from the system.
The new chip isn’t cheap as it will cost you around $900 to pick up and although early benchmarks indicate that the performance is solid, it may not be the ultimate processor we are looking for AMD to release. Still, 5GHz is impressive and well, awesome.