AMD FX 6300 

The FX-6200 was originally set to run at 3.8GHz while this Piledriver version is set at just 3.5GHz.

The one that we've been interested in getting our techy mitts on is this six-core FX-6300.

In a bit of a switch around from the FX-8350, where it turned up with a 4GHz clockspeed compared to the FX-8150's 3.6GHz, this six-core CPU is set up slower than its Bulldozer ancestors.

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.

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.

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.

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

In fact if anything the overclocking performance has been enhanced.

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.

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.

With that sort of raw processing power from a cheaper chip you could then drop the money you're saving going for an AMD platform and plough that cash into a superior graphics card.

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

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.