AMD FX 6300 

That's not the only difference between this and the previous chip as, despite having the same general make-up and 14MB cache size, the FX-6300 has got a lower TDP than the Bulldozer.

Part of that is down to the fact that it's a very cool-running chip - at stock speeds it's running at 28°C under load.

Especially considering it's only just over £100.

The multi-threaded performance easily eclipses a stock Core i5, and almost manages to do the same in single-threaded performance too.

Still, as a budget alternative, the FX-6300 is a very capable CPU offering decent multi-threaded performance, even at stock speed for use in productivity-related tasks and improved gaming performance too.

We've even managed to push the FX-6300 over 5GHz and had it stably posting benchmark scores.

Steamroller should squeeze more into each Bulldozer module to allow each core to function much more like a traditional CPU core, and should seriously beef up the single-threaded performance of the next generation processors.

The essential make-up still remains the same with each module housing most of the silicon that makes up a traditional core.

Still, the same Bulldozer problems reared their heads with that six-core chip as with the eight-core: namely weak single-threaded performance.

With the clockspeeds taking a cut compared to the previous processor, and a lower overall TDP to boot, you might be forgiven for thinking the overclocking prowess of this Piledriver CPU may have been compromised.

Pleasingly that drop in both TDP and clockspeed doesn't mean this is a slower chip in real-world terms.

In the other straight CPU performance tests in Cinebench it shows a very slight advantage, though the improvements in single-threaded performance aren't as pronounced as with the FX-8350.