AMD hit with deceptive marketing lawsuit over Bulldozer chip core claims

The company promote that a certain processor comes with eight cores, but in reality it only had four - each core in AMD-speak was just 50% of a module, and couldn't function autonomously.

While AMD has yet to comment on the lawsuit, Engadget notes that Zen, its next architecture, offers a more conventional approach by focusing on simultaneous code threads within each core, similar to Intel's Hyperthreading.

Chip-maker AMD faces a lawsuit for misleading adverts for its Bulldozer processors.

At the core of the issue (no pun intended) is how AMD designs their multi-core Bulldozer chips.

Still, this could mean big trouble for AMD, as it could be chased for a large amount of money if the plaintiffs emerge victorious and the company is found guilty of willfully deceiving consumers.

Tony Dickey, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, filed a class-action lawsuit on October 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division against Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

The suit claims that Bulldozer's design means its cores can not work independently, and as a result, can not perform eight instructions simultaneously and independently. Dickey says that AMD stripped away components from two cores and mixed what was left to make a single module.

The suit accuses AMD of violating two California laws and a whole host of other counts, including "false advertising, fraud, breach of express warrant, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment".

Reportedly, the allegation would put the company in violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act in the United States as the company did not convey accurate specifications that have misled to tens of thousands of its consumers into buying its Bulldozer CPU that isn't capable of performing as a true 8-core CPU would.

AMD is facing damages (statutory and punitive), litigation expenses and possible injunctions on the CPUs.