In the third quarter of the following year, AMD seems to prepare the introduction of its next-generation FX-Series processor, code named Vishera, which is expected to make the transition to the Piledriver cores as soft-pedia reports today:

When compared with the first-generation Bulldozer cores, that are used for the current FX-Series processors, Piledriver is expected to bring a 10-15 percent increase in performance/Watt, as AMD revealed right after the launch of the FX-8150 & Co.

The added performance will come from IPC improvements like structure size increases (about one third of the total performance), and power optimizations that reduce the overall consumption of the CPU.

The latter will also enable AMD's Piledriver core to reach higher frequencies at a constant TDP. Vishera CPUs will continue to be manufactured by GloFo using the 32nm process and will include 4 Piledriver modules for a total of eight processing cores, which is less than the 10-core that were expected from the now canceled Komodo chips.

The good news is that Vishera will use the same AM3+ socket as AMD