AMD in 2012 launched the FX-8150, the "world's first 8-core desktop processor," or so it says on the literal tin. AMD achieved its core-count of 8 with an unconventional CPU core design. Its 8 cores are arranged in four sets of two cores each, called "modules." Each core has its own independent integer unit and L1 data cache, while the two cores share a majority of their components - the core's front-end, a branch-predictor, a 64 KB L1 code cache, a 2 MB L2 cache, but most importantly, an FPU. There was much debate across tech forums on what constitutes a CPU core.Multiprocessor-aware operating systems had to be tweaked on how to properly address a "Bulldozer" processor. Their schedulers would initially treat "Bulldozer" cores as fully independent (as conventional logic would dictate), until AMD noticed multi-threaded application performance bottlenecks. Eventually, Windows and various *nix kernels received updates to their schedulers to treat each module as a core, and each core as an SMT unit (a logical processor). The FX-8350 is a 4-core/8-thread processor in the eyes of Windows 10, for example. These updates improved the processors' performance but not before consumers started noticing that their operating systems weren't reporting the correct core-count. In 2015, a class-action lawsuit was filed against AMD for false marketing of FX-series processors. The wheels of that lawsuit are finally moving, after a 12-member Jury is set up to examine what constitutes a CPU core, and whether an AMD FX-8000 or FX-9000 series processor can qualify as an 8-core chip.US District Judge Haywood Gilliam of the District Court for the Northern District of California rejected AMD's claim that "a significant majority of" consumers understood what constitutes a CPU core, and that they had a fair idea of what they were buying when they bought AMD FX processors. AMD has two main options before it. The company can reach an agreement with the plaintiffs that could cost the company millions of Dollars in compensation; or fight it out in the Jury trial, by trying to prove to 12 members of the public (not necessarily from an IT background) what constitutes a CPU core and why "Bulldozer" qualifies as an 8-core silicon.The plaintiffs and defendants each have a key technical argument. The plaintiffs could point out operating systems treating 8-core "Bulldozer" parts as 4-core/8-thread (i.e. each module as a core and each "core" as a logical processor); while the AMD could run multi-threaded floating-point benchmark tests to prove that a module cannot be simplified to the definition of a core. AMD's 2017 release of the "Zen" architecture sees a return to the conventional definition of a core, with each "Zen" core being as independent as an Intel "Skylake" core. We will keep an eye on this case.