FX-6300 to an FX-9370: Is it worth the $220?

TehCaucasianAsian · Jul 28, 2014

As of right now, the FX-9370 can be found for $220 USD or less, much cheaper than what AMD tried getting before for the "new" chip, despite being an OC'd 8350. My question is as follows, and has multiple parts to it:
1. I don't want to go Intel until Broadwell is released, and I may consider sticking with AMD if Excavator or the rumored new Architecture is any good. So, would upgrading from my current FX-6300 be worth it if I stayed on the AMD side of things? I would just get an i7 since I want to improve quality of my YouTube videos, but it's just too expensive for me.
2. Should I just OC an 8350 myself, because I've heard that the 9370 can still overclock rather well, and since it's a better binned part, can even sometimes OC better than an 8350 can.
3. If I did get a 9370, would a Noctua NH-D15 suffice for cooling? The Hyper 212 Evo I have currently definitely won't cut it if I want to OC that oven of a CPU. I don't really like liquid cooling, but if at all necessary, how's the Kraken X41 and X61? They seem decent from graphs that have been shown.

Thanks in advance for the help

Tyree Walker · Jul 28, 2014

If you want to upgrade i would suggest the FX 8350, the fx 9350 is slightly better than the fx 8350 but more expensive, the biggest bang for your buck is the fx 8350 heres the comparison btw the two
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/AMD-FX-9370-vs-AMD-FX-8350

zachparr2442 · Jul 28, 2014

all the 8cores are pretty much the same. the 8320,8350,9370,and the 9590. you can easliy overclock a 8320 to at least 4.5 or higher with your cooler, which would be about the same as the 9370. i have a 8320 at 4.9 daily use and it out performes all those chips in all the benchmarks i run. ive reached 5.24ghz, with my 8320, i had a 8350 but it would get pass 4.9 even when i cranked the voltage up to 1.6

TehCaucasianAsian · Jul 29, 2014

zachparr2442 :

From what I've heard, the 8320 is a lower binned 8350, meaning it's slightly lower quality and that overclocking it to 9590 levels means you need to get lucky and get a good chip. My FX-6300 cranks the voltage up to 1.4125V when it turbos to 3.8, so I'm worried if I got an 8320 I would get a bad chip. I've also heard things about the 9370's being the best overclockers of all the octa cores, since they're very good 8350's, and aren't already pushed to the limit like the 9590... I'm not really sure. The 8350 is probably my best bet, right?

zachparr2442 · Jul 29, 2014

idk i guess i got a lucky 8320 and a bad 8350 my 8320 maxed at 5.24 before i needed to go past 1.55v my 8350 i had couldnt gte past 4.9 i even cranked it 1.6v, what i did which i dont recommed is i bought the fx8320 from amazon overclocked it and see how high it was and the first time i couldnt get past 4.8 then i sent it back and they sent me another one and this one overclocked like a dream. and i though about the 9370 also but i would get a dual 120mm closed loop cooler

Calculatron · Jul 30, 2014

Well, remember than the FX-9370 and FX-9590 will only (properly) work on certain high-end motherboards. Even if you do have one of these, I am not sure if it would be worth the $220. Probably the best bang-for-your-buck thing you can do for yourself right now is to attempt to overclock into the 4.6+ range - assuming you have the components, and will acquire the cooling solution to be able to do so.

Otherwise, the only other thing I would recommend is obtaining an FX-8320 when it is on sale for around ~$130 bucks, and then overclock. Even if the parts are binned, the differences are not substantial, and it is not unheard of that an FX-8320 manages to perform a better overclock than an FX-8350.

When/if you do upgrade to an 8-core platform, I don't think you'll notice a huge boost in performance. The biggest gains will be with productivity - encoding those Youtube videos you are making. Those gains may be noticeable.

sapperastro · Jul 30, 2014

I think your idea of sitting it out is the best idea. The 6300 should be competitive for a few years yet, with overclocking when necessary. This will give you the benefit of checking out AMDs next Big Thing (tm) to see whether it is worth your money, or swapping over to intel with the release of skylake or beyond if it doesn't give you the performance increase you want.

I only upgrade when I notice things are not performing up to scratch. So it all depends on you and what you do with your PC.

DubbleClick · Jul 30, 2014

I don't think it would be worth 220$. I'd either wait for the next generation of AMD chips and cross my fingers they'll be somewhat competitive, or, if you want a better pc now go with intel. The jump from an oc'ed 6300 to a 9370/9590 will not impress you from what I've heard. While even the highest clocking 9590's can't even remotely match i7's.

TehCaucasianAsian · Jul 30, 2014

zachparr2442 :

Well, if I do upgrade and stay with AMD, I'll take the risk and get the 8320

TehCaucasianAsian · Jul 30, 2014

DubbleClick :

My 6300 is at stock clocks, should have mentioned that. My motherboard doesn't support overclocking :/

TehCaucasianAsian · Jul 30, 2014

sapperastro :

The only reason I considered upgrading is because the Piledriver CPUs were released over 2 years ago, and even though they're still competitive they're not exactly the most powerful things in the world, I would rather have a more powerful FX until I have money for a more substantial upgrade

DubbleClick · Jul 30, 2014

Well, if you had to buy a new mobo anyway, you should simply stick with intel.
I can understand being loyal to a company, I'd personally prefer nvidia over amd gpu's, but that doesn't justify spending 100$ more for the same performance, therefore my next gpu is going to be something like a 290. Same goes for intel at the moment, amd simply doesn't deliver the performance I (and probably you) are looking for.

oxiide · Jul 30, 2014

If this is just an interim thing until Broadwell or Excavator comes along, just take the -6300 or -8320 to tide you over for now. The FX-9000's are a bit ridiculous with their power consumption and I really wouldn't wish one on my worst enemy.

Kaspoka · Jul 30, 2014

In my opinion,

the best FX series that someone should buy is the F 8350, any FX further i think it would be a waste of money, for gaming i5 is more than enought, but if i really want something like FX 9370 i'd reather go with an i7.

i'm not a fanboy or anything like it.

sapperastro · Jul 31, 2014

TehCaucasianAsian :

Thats fair enough. It is your money. After reading your posts, I couldn't see where you were having performance issues with your current setup, so I thought since everything is going nicely, you might as well just hang on to the old bus, all the while building up the warchest, so that when you do come up against performance issues, you can splurge on whatever takes you fancy at the time.

TehCaucasianAsian · Jul 31, 2014

sapperastro :

TehCaucasianAsian :

Thats fair enough. It is your money. After reading your posts, I couldn't see where you were having performance issues with your current setup, so I thought since everything is going nicely, you might as well just hang on to the old bus, all the while building up the warchest, so that when you do come up against performance issues, you can splurge on whatever takes you fancy at the time.

Alrighty. If I don't end up sticking with my 6300, then I guess I'll consider an 8320 or just save my money. Thank you all for the advice and information

bmacsys · Jul 31, 2014

TehCaucasianAsian :

As of right now, the FX-9370 can be found for $220 USD or less, much cheaper than what AMD tried getting before for the "new" chip, despite being an OC'd 8350. My question is as follows, and has multiple parts to it:
1. I don't want to go Intel until Broadwell is released, and I may consider sticking with AMD if Excavator or the rumored new Architecture is any good. So, would upgrading from my current FX-6300 be worth it if I stayed on the AMD side of things? I would just get an i7 since I want to improve quality of my YouTube videos, but it's just too expensive for me.
2. Should I just OC an 8350 myself, because I've heard that the 9370 can still overclock rather well, and since it's a better binned part, can even sometimes OC better than an 8350 can.
3. If I did get a 9370, would a Noctua NH-D15 suffice for cooling? The Hyper 212 Evo I have currently definitely won't cut it if I want to OC that oven of a CPU. I don't really like liquid cooling, but if at all necessary, how's the Kraken X41 and X61? They seem decent from graphs that have been shown.

Thanks in advance for the help

You better have a Sabertooth R2 or a Crosshair or Extreme 9 or you will get wicked thermal throttling. There are no other AM3+ boards that can cut it.

bmacsys · Jul 31, 2014

TehCaucasianAsian :

If you don't have a good overclockers board a 9590 would not work for you. But then again neither will a 8320 or 8350. They need a very stout board not to burn up the vrm's. Overclocked they can become 200 watt cpu's.

FX-6300 to an FX-9370: Is it worth the $220?

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