3 years ago I reviewed the AMD FX-9590 and ever since then it has become the one and only processor that I deemed bad, and probably the worse processor I’ve ever used.
Moving forward to year 2016 and we now have the FX-9370 that’s 300Mhz behind the FX-9590 and drains just as much power – READ : HOT!
There’s a reason why AMD states the following in their product page
*Featuring a 220 Watt TDP, the AMD FXâ„¢ 9000 Series processors have special system requirements including a robust liquid cooling system. For more information, see the AMD FXâ„¢ 9000 Series system requirements page. – SOURCE : AMD.
Processor Details & Test Setup
| Motherboard | ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer/3.1 |
| RAM | Avexir Blitz 1.1 8GB kit 2x 4GB DDR3 1600 |
| Graphic Card | ASUS R7 250 |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master V850 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 64bit |
Overclocking doesn’t seem to be this processor’s strong point, I couldn’t get it to go beyond the stock clock.
Benchmarks
The following are the test results.
x264 – 10bit to 8bit Video Conversion
The source video is a 720p MKV file that is 90 seconds in duration. x264 settings at the slowest.
| Processor | Time Taken (Seconds) |
| AMD FX-9370 | 200 |
| AMD FX-9590 | 185 |
| Intel Core i5-4460 | 232 |
ASUS RealBench H.264
Default settings
| Processor | Time Taken (Seconds) |
| AMD FX-9370 | 84 |
| AMD FX-9590 | 79 |
| Intel Core i5-4460 | 95 |
Power Consumption
Power Consumption measurement is based on readings taken from watt-meter. Power consumption is based on entire system, comprising of the processor, a motherboard, 2 sticks of RAM and 1 fan for cooling purpose. For this setup, the power consumption is inclusive of the R7 250 graphics card. Estimated actual draw is calculated based on 90% power efficiency of PSU, and deducting an approximate of 15W for GPU, SSD and cooling fan.
| Condition | Peak (W) |
| Idle | 121 |
| Video Conversion | 246 |
| Estimated Actual Draw | 206 |
Temperature
The FX-9370 doesn’t come with any stock cooler and with the power draw being like the FX-9590 you’ll need to get some power-house cooling, even the AMD Wraith cooler could barely handle the FX-9590 so you know what you can expect from the FX-9370.;
The Verdict
The AMD FX-9370 retails at $199.99, approximately RM 900. Looking at the price to performance ratio, it seems that the FX-9370 is just as good as the Intel Core i5-4460 but bear in mind that the i5-4460 comes with stock cooler, runs cool enough that it doesn’t even stress the stock cooler and doesn’t require high-end Intel motherboards while the FX-9370 on the other hand would work best on a board that can handle the power draw and on top of that you need to fork out for an aftermarket cooler and that blows up the cost even more.
So if you need the best FX processor in the market, that’s actually the AMD FX-8320E, solid processor that runs cool and works great out of the box. If you need one with BEST PERFORMANCE then you may go for the FX-9590 instead, what’s the point of having the FX-9370 that draws similar power and performing less?
The FX-9370 is now part of my “processors to avoid” list, and that makes a grand total of 2, and the FX-9370 now holds the crown of being the worst processor in my book.
