thanks TC! this CPU has been fun to say the least.
recalling the first k10/deneb core (Phenom II 940BE) just over two years ago- it could barely get to 4.0GHz w/ an aftermarket air cooler and it was only for a cpu-z screeny, not stable at all.
now you have this FX 32nm,
on stock cooler(can't emphasize that enough!), easily reaching 4.7GHz stable and playing AH. no wonder it broke the cpu-frequency world record, and just like k10 cores- no cold bugs!
as for comparison, it really depends on the workload. an fx-8120 feels much like a "workstation CPU" at stock freqs(3.1); but where it really shines on are environments w/ a lot of heavy threads.
thats why i disabled one compute unit and jacked up the frequency. once you step on 4.0GHz, there isn't really anything at all that "feels slow." specially with an ssd.
re: win8DP, i've not had any trouble/crashes with it, the metro interface is annoying though. better suited for tablets. hope they include an option to disable it.
also, i never store anything sensitive on this machine. all my por.. err... tax returns, personal pictures, etc. are stored via a detachable hdd/esata.
you never know what data m$ is gathering in the background- specially on a free developer preview build.
also,
i would suggest waiting for the fx-4170 (1Q/2012) if you're upgrading from a k10 quad. that thing has 4.2 base freqs, crazy!
btw, i assume you have a custom water loop to cool your amd machine? ...
re: patch- m$ yanked the update, it's not available anymore.(?)
i haven't ran win7 (w/o patch) so i can't really compare, but for AH i doubt there's any significant performance improvements.
there's more feedback here, however.