AMD FX 9590 – initial Centurion price performance analysis

Quoting the physical speed of a processor is about as useful measure of performance as telling us that a car has a 5 litre engine. While there is an overall correlation, the winning-losing match-up is much more subtle. KitGuru scans the interwibble and finds an interesting Cinebench claim. With a handful of caution, we approach the bang-per-buck calculator app on our smartphones.

UPDATE: Read the fill KitGuru review and analysis of the AMD FX 9590 over here.

One car has a 5 litre engine and the next has a 2.4 – which one will win on a standard race track?

If they are both saloons, then the 5 litre might have a chance, but if the 2.4GHz is sitting under the carbon fibre of a Red Bull F1 car, then the race is over before it starts.

AMD has done a great job of capturing the imagination with the world's first production CPU capable of hitting 5GHz – straight from the box – with just a ‘standard turbo boost'. The FX-9590 quotes some impressive numbers, but can the FX-team's latest centurion beat off Intel's gladiators?

Over on Facebook, Elric Phares has picked up on a Cinebench number from VR-Zone's forum.

That number is a Cinebench score of 8.61 when the FX-9590 appears to be running at a full 5GHz.

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Now it has to be said that, if proven correct, this is a stonking number for an AMD processor. In KitGuru Labs testing, the AMD FX-8150 managed only 5.97 – which leaves the new processor around 44% faster.

But where does that 8.61 leave the FX-9590 when scored against Intel processors?

Well it's the kind of score you get with an Intel Core i7 4770k without overclocking. When you overclock the Intel chip to 4.5GHz, then it manages 9.81 and the daddy of the Intel Core pack, the Core i7 3960X manages 14.1 when overclocked.

So if the pricing being quoted for the AMD processor proves accurate (reported online to be just under £600), then that allows us to create this kind of bang-per-buck chart:-

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KitGuru says: AMD's FX 9590 looks destined to be more successful capturing the imagination than the flag. If the FX 9590 can be forced past 5GHz without risking life/limb/cores, then the calculation will be more favourable – but nowhere near the 4770K.

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