Thinking of buying a AMD FX 9370. advice plz

Crome77

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Jun 28, 2012
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I need a new MB, CPU, and RAM (8g) for my wifes computer. Her PS is new but only 600w i think. A friend has a new AMD FX 9370 8-core cpu he is selling. So it would be a good price around 150$. I am needing to keep this budget for all three parts around 400$. After reading a few posts about this cpu i am wondering if it is worth what i will need to upgrade to use it? I am assuming i will need a larger PS? And what MB should i get that won't break the bank if any? Will i have to upgrade to a water cooling system?

This does not need to be a high end rig just something that games can be played on (WoW, D3, SC2) and normal web surfing and video streaming.

If this is not a good cpu choice please recommend what combo would be.

Any advice is appreciated.
 
Solution
I wouldn't bother with the FX-9XXX series as they're prone to overheating issues on full loads. Get an Intel i5-4460 or i5-4570 and an H97 motherboard, that way you won't have to worry about getting a liquid cooler or anything of the sort.
I wouldn't bother with the FX-9XXX series as they're prone to overheating issues on full loads. Get an Intel i5-4460 or i5-4570 and an H97 motherboard, that way you won't have to worry about getting a liquid cooler or anything of the sort.
 
Solution
Advice is don't go AMD. For $400 you can get a 4690K, motherboard and RAM from Microcenter and end up with a WAY more powerful machine and leave upgrade room on your PSU.

The AMD 8XXX and 9XXX series of Fx processors are a joke. The 6XXX series is where they perform best as a brand.
 
Your choices for the 9000 series:



Asrock 970 Performance
ASRock 990FX Extreme9
ASRock 990FX Extreme6
Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z
Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 R4.0
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7
MSI 990FXA-GD80V2

AMD.COM

Warning: This power draw of this CPU is almost twice that of the average CPU. Due to this, AMD recommends using at minimum a 1000W power supply. For cooling, AMD recommends using either either closed loop liquid cooling or full system liquid cooling.
 
AMD recommends a 1000W power supply as well with the FX9000 series. That 600W would probably not be able to supply enough total 12V wattage to run a complete system including such a chip. The motherboards that support the chip are also quite expensive. And, as mentioned, cooling needs to be top of the line. Just adds up to more expense all around.

For all the Blizzard titles, I would just lean towards a low end i5 or a high end i3.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Xtreem Dark Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $246.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 16:25 EST-0500

 


600w should be fine, provided it's a high quality PSU with plenty of current for the CPU. What make/model is it?

For comparison, under full load stress testing my FX 9590 @ 5.0GHz @ 1.425v pulls ~320-350w SYSTEM power draw from the wall. And I have 6 HDDs, several fans with a custom water cooling loop, pump and a small RAM cooler.

I also got my FX 9590 stable at stock speed of 4.7GHz x 8 cores @ a puny 1.325v core. My 6350 and 8350 were also stable at lower voltages. The stock voltage for the FX line is actually set a little high because not all MoBo manufacturers have good VRMs or LLC calibration. With a good board you can lean it out and get much better efficiency.

If you're getting an FX 9000 series used/at a discount, the price might be good, but my concern is your 'friend' has likely overclocked it. Risky if he's not experienced. I would insist he do a stock speed stability test for 4 hours to demonstrate the CPU is still solid and temperatures are good. Make sure you don't see any cache hierarchy errors in the windows system logs as this is a nonfatal error but can indicate minor issues with the CPU under load.

If he's already got it out of the PC and won't test it for you, don't buy it.

I would not buy a new FX 9000 series new unless it was on sale for ~$225. AMD FX 8350 or 8320 is a better value for the price/performance. So is the Intel i5 4690k, in this price range.

As long as the CPU is stable, and you don't mind paying $150 (personally I'd counter offer $100) for a used CPU, that's a decent deal for what will essentially run as well as an i7 4770k in gaming and video rendering. Some apps and games will give a slight edge to the newer i7 4790k, but it's still not a big gap.
 


The cpu is new was only in a machine for a day or so and he doesn't even know how to overclock. Im sure it is in vary good condition and i trust him. Not sure on make and model of psu till i get home and look. I would still need a water cooler though? I am trying to help him out if i can use it but don't want to double the cost of my build in doing so.