AMD FX-9590 Video Editing Build

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1

So, I am in the research stage of an FX - 9590 Work Station build. My last AMD experience was with the Athlon 64 so I'm running into some issues. The PC will be for the UK and the only vendor used will be Amazon thru their Prime Service.

Budget is not a very big issue. However, if it gets very near a similarly performing Intel system...

What I need:
- Possibly a case. I have a Cosmos S and a HALF X which will not be used. I prefer something minimalist but with good air-flow since I hate water cooling (full tower preference due to more volume of air resulting in better cooling). I know a case is a personal thing but would like your opinions (please just answer if you have lived/used the parts).

  • A good Motherboard... This is the part I with which I have been struggling the most. Very little info, very old reviews. Even the official pages of the main builders are confusing and without realizing it I'm suddenly looking a Z87 or X99.
    I still haven't figured out which mobos can handle the power/heat requirements of the 9590. Also have many doubts on the power phase design and capacity. Also, seen very conflicting information (most from 2012/13) on everything relating to RAM.
    I would like all the recent features seen on the Intel mobos, but have no real need for USB 3.1

The best place to start is by describing the storage configuration:
- 1 500GB SSD for whatever OEM Windows is on sale + Adobe CS5 + Cyberlink Power Director 13 and the likes (not too sure since the PC isn't for me) + I'm assuming Steam/Origin/GOG. Two questions here:
a) Are there any mobos with M.2 support?
b) I'm assuming no AM3+ will support the Intel SSD 750 Series NVMe, am I right? Are there alternatives?

  • 2X 1TB SSD Media Drive in RAID 0 (Footage/Music/Graphics/Project Files)

  • 2X 1TB SSD as a Scratch Disk in Raid 0 (Media Cache/Preview Files/Desktop and other files)
    Backups will always be available on my system and on two eSata 4 bay external HDD enclosures.

  • 1X 4TB HDD (anything but Seagate... Sorry DeathStar 2.0)... Maybe. What do you guys think? Would it be useful, or should I remove all drive cages for better air flow?

PSU not needed. I have a bequiet 850W Dark Power Pro Platinum and a Corsair AX1200 Gold. Which do you think would be best? I know PSUs are at their prime when working between 40% to 60% of their capacity... So maybe the Corsair?

Overclocking > Like I said haven't touched an AMD in ages. Would really appreciate a lesson or two on the subject... I am assuming it is very different from the X79/Z97/X99 platforms to which I am used to. This being mainly a Video Editing PC... Minutes turn into hours, the more time at the PC the less time for shooting....

CPU Cooler > Nor needed, but I'm not dogmatic. The PC will run at between 17 and 20 degrees Centigrades Ambient. I have a Noctua NH-D14, a Silver Arrow and a bequiet Dark Rock Pro. However, I was considering the Fractal Kelvin S36 but between free and $200... Her budget would get a serious issue with this cost. Anyway, your suggestions would be much appreciated... I have no idea what can keep the 9590 cool for around 16/18 hours.

GPU > Also not needed since I got an MSI R9 290X Lightning collecting dust on a shelf (bopught for 120 Euros with less than a month of usage).

RAM > I know nothing about RAM on the AM3+ motherboards, I'm thinking of 18 of 32GB in 8GB sticks. Is heat a consideration? Which motherboards support more RAM? Will there be an issue with RAM clearance using a CPU cooling tower?

Again, thank you so much for your attention and considerations. I would urge that only people which have used/lived with these parts respond... I do not wish to enter into debates with "PC Part Picker Jockeys" which have no real-life experience in actually building a PC.
I was very surprised to see that most reviews regarding this platform where from 2012/13, also by the fact that information on official pages is so scarce and confusing.
Awaiting your responses and all your knowledgeable advice.
Cheers.

1 Like
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Asus crosshair V formula Z, Asus sabertooth, and the top tier boards from gigabyte and asrock handle a 9590 just fine. Ram is supported up to 1866 I think.

3 Likes
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I would stay away from the sabertooth as it's not true 8+2 its 4+1 doubled... Though the crosshair is a great board.. The highest tier gigabyte board is good

RAM at 1.5 V 1866 is the most stable on the am3+ memory controller.. If you get this type of ram heat isn't usually an issue especially with low profile ihs's

Cooler... Hmm a 9590 will do a lot better with dual 120 or 140 rad aios and/or custom loops because it just puts out so much heat..

SSD's well unfortunately I'd say go with the 850 pros here and raid them... 850 evo for OS or mx200 for is to save money..
HDD look for a NAS hgst drive they are good or the se drives or WD blacks.. All fantastic fast drives for 4tb.. Yeah seagates are death stars hahahaah..

Overall I think this will work well.. PS go with the crosshair.. Its the best am3+ mono if I do say so myself.. Asus has a lot of addons cards for that additional functionality your talking about

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Just a few points:

  • As a word of caution Premiere's performance takes a bit of a hit with AMD, the various versions of PPBM keep saying its something to do with proper SSE 4.x support and judging by the older and current(requires free account) benchmarks that might still hold true.
  • Are you sure you need to RAID your scratch? One SSD can be sufficient depending the codec+resolution. Do you know what the source material and output will be?
  • To keep the build simple why not include a prebuilt NAS from a company like Synology for your media files? In this manner the workstation stores only the essentials locally improving heat and airflow while keeping your project files safe should your power supply reenact a fireworks display. Alternatively you can check out the NAS builds from Wendell and other Tek Syndicate users.
  • From the size of this build it sounds like it should be a 32GB minimum.
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Why are you looking for an AMD FX9590 build wenn budget is not realy an issue?
I mean an intel Xeon E3-1231-V3 will be a cheaper but better solution in allot of tasks.

FX9590 is realy in-efficient, as far as price to performance goes realy.
It needs an more expensive AM3+ 990FX board like the Asrock Extreme 9 or Asus Crosshair V Formula Z, to run it properly, and next to that, you need an damm good cooling solution to keep it cool.

If you count all that money for a more expensive 990FX board + decent cooling, then intel has simply better solutions to offer.

For example Xeon e3-1231-V3 can be paired with a cheaper cooler, or even the stock cooler.
And in terms of performance per core, its still way better then a FX9590.

But if budget realy isnt an issue, then why not look at a 5820k? 6 core 12 threads? that would be the jack of all trades.
Or if a 5820K is to expensive, then maybe the 4790k.

FX9590 realy doesnt make any sense.

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It's going to perform pretty well, obviously just not as well as intel on performance or energy efficiency.

Really the 9590 isn't really worth it, the CPUs to go for are probably going to be the E series they recently released as they're a fair bit more efficient and promising overclocking has been shown on them. It'll be much better as well if you really want your CPU that cool.

Mainly getting the lower cost CPU(compared to an i7) is going to give you more to spend on your RAM, though I don't know how big of a difference that would make.

As for M.2 I don't know how wide spread it is on AM3+, but a small addon card seems like it would be cheap.

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A FX-9590 really Isn't the right heart for a video editing build. I love AMD, I'm typing this on a system with a 9590, to be blunt the 9590 is horrible for the money, it runs so hot that the VRMs on my Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z overheat and throttle down the system. It's not as fast as an i7 4790k and costs nearly as much. If you insist on using this chipset good for you, but, as word of warning you need to water cool your VRM and the CPU adding more cost and complexity.
Now on to your questions!
Cases:
I'm using a NZXT H440 with my 9590 build, It has good water cooling support was decent to build in and is quiet; The cross flow of air in this case is fairly low not because of its size but just the soundproofing really kills airflow. I really like and use a Corsair air 540 It's the best case I've ever owned easy to do anything in and has huge airflow. Other then that NZXT has a full tower workstation the H630 which looks excellent for a serious build like this.
Motherboards:
As I stated I have the Asus Formula Z (8 phase) It is considered the best AM3+ Mobo there is. Realistically your choices are few, ASRock Extreme 9 (12 phase) supports the 9590, and the Gigibyte UD7. The real problem lies with the VRMs and CPU power delivery systems, that is the 9590 was never mainstream and thus no Mobo was ever really made to handle the loads. I maintain that if you want to let a 9590 run to render or do anything full load for any extended period of time you are going to have to upgrade the cooling on the Mobo.
Storage:
As far as your question regarding storage I wouldn't hold out for NVMe support nor are these boards designed for M.2, as a practical matter you will be unable to attain the full speed of Sata 6 on AM3+ platform as a limitation of the chipset. I have a Raid setup on this rig but, it was a pain; AMD did not make it easy to do and Asus did not go out of their way to make using Raid easy. Be prepared for a fight.
PSU:
PSU wise as long as you have good voltage regulation and sufficient wattage it shouldn't be an issue.
Overclocking:
This is why we buy AMD, it is excellent, and I had a great time with my 9590. While I wouldn't expect anything over 5.1 who knows! with better cooling and a Mobo water block the sky could be the limit. As far as guides go really you can use one for the 8350 and just smile knowing that at stock you have already beat 90% of them.
CPU Cooler:
Bottom line the coolers you have are very good, they won't cut it if you plan on overclocking. I have a Thermaltake water 3.0 Ultimate, which likely is the best AIO money can buy. It barely works. This CPU when the voltage is increased becomes . . . well lets put it this way it's not cars causing global warming. I cannot stress the importance of both improved VRM/power delivery cooling and CPU cooling if you want to use this chip.
Nice buy on the lightning!
Ram:
Like with storage AMD has problems, unlike storage they are not as big and shouldn't really affect you in your intended usage. The best Mobos only officially support DDR3 speeds up to 2400mhz. No EEC memory (who cares). duel channel no quads =( Basically you have a Max ram amount of 32GBs you have a max speed of 2400+ strap overclocking if you want to do that. Heat from the Dimms is a non issue you may or may not have clearance issues depending on what CPU cooler and which Mobo.
Best of Luck, it will be much less painful to go Intel on this one!

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In case you wanted to see what I have here is the link, keep in mind due to the lack of air flow I upgraded all the case fans my 9590 is at 5.1Ghz at 1.524 volts and is fully stable so long as I keep the panels off my case and ghetto rig a fan to blow down onto the VRMs.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2W9Xqs

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Thanks for the reply... Today, while looking around, I was appalled to realize that most mobos go out of their way to state they do not support the FX990X... At least those you mentioned do, and I'm happy to have seen that ASRock clearly state their support with the Extreme 11 (I think) which is sort of newish and has some new BIOS updates on their site...
Cheers.

1 Like
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Are you really set on the 9590?

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Yeah, this platform is very strange... I also read that there were some issues with the power phases to the PCIe lanes.
The Crosshair will support 32GB of RAM, right?
Do you know if these mobos support CUDA (such as Tesla cards)?
Cheers.

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There should not be any reason they should not.

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I'm telling you man, just got for an 8370e and OC it. there's almost no reason to go for the 9590 unless you really like playing with overclocking.

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Thanks for the suggestions. Now to your points:
- I'm starting to realize this build will be a nightmare... thinking of giving her the extra money for an X99 (I'll trick her).
- Well, the scratch has so many different formats from so many different sources... RAID 0 can only help, especially with RAW and 4K. We also do a lot of RAW from my GoPros.
- I hate NAS. Will have two external 4x HDD cases in RAID 1 + RAID 0 (RAID 10), connected thru SATA. No NAS software nightmares.
- Yes, 32GB will be the minimum (have now realized it will be the maximum) :(
This build is looking less likely by the minute... What a pain, and so many limitations.
Cheers.

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Nah, this is for a girl who works for me... She was the one who told me about an FX9590 someone had told her was really cheap and affordable for her (she is not employed by me, just does some work and is the daughter of an old friend). When she told me the price I was incredulous (remembered them being launched at about $900) and since I hadn't built an AMD system since the Athalon... I love assembling PCs...
Now I realize why it is so selling so cheap. Thought it would be a normal build like with Intel... You pick good parts put them into a nice looking case and MAGIC... How wrong I was.
Didn't know it was considered a "Dead System" until now.

Yeah, Intel seems the best option... Budget wouldn't be a problem if it were for me (Intel i7 5960X which unfortunately still doesn't have a proper mobo like the venerable MSI BigBang-Xpower II X79 platform). On the other hand, the extreme edition of this generation makes a huge impact, unlike in the X79. The initial investment would be more than $1200 more for the Intel X99.
But, you are right, I'll probably end up "tricking her" and building an X99 with the i7-5820K (more than enough for her needs).
Thanks for all your suggestions and observations.
Cheers.

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Nah, saw those subpar CPUs on Anantech (I think) due to an article on the new MSI Kreit and Gaming AM3 mobos... And no, they might have a market somewhere but not for a Video Editing PC (with a relatively high work-load). And, just on account of my principles, I would never buy a half-baked solution (to say the least). Since the RAM continues to be limited to 32GB that wouldn't even be an issue.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions and the link.
Guess I will "sponsor" an Intel build for her and lie about the cost.
Cheers.

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Pretty sure they perform on the same level as the 8350, and are simply more energy efficient.

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Thanks so much for your reply, I was starting to think that nobody owned this CPU.
In a previous reply to another post I stated that this build wouldn't be for me, but for an enthusiastic young lass who wants to do some work for me (she's the daughter of a former great friend and I liked her portfolio... We really don't need or do publicity but have tons of footage which I'm starting to think should be preserved and some publicity wouldn't hurt, besides I am starting to lament the fact we didn't do a better job at recording our previous work). So she tells me about this great CPU which only costs around £150 and she could work from home... I liked the idea of refreshing my AMD experience, and above all helping a young talented girl who is starting off. All seemed good, I had the research time between Memorial Day/ Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans... So why not?

Your first paragraph sums up the sensation I have been having... Not only would it be a nightmare but I would probably have to also become a "system manager" and probably a "fire-fighter" ;)
Besides, it really annoys me the lack of support which AMD gives to this platform.
I don't need the money or the hassle, so I'll just probably build her an X99 platform and overcharge myself on the first projects ("London Ramadam Feaver" Auction on the first week of July). This AMD build would probably take me that long just to research (

Anyway, really appreciate all your suggestions but, like you say, the limitations and constant issues are just too much... What was I thinking? I wasn't!
Cheers.

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Looks like a very solid build and the price is just phenomenal... Must of been something like this which she saw.
Really love that 360mm radiator, will probably give it a go in a future build.

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No more... Never thought a product with such limitations, lack of support and so many issues would exist. I knew it would be a bit slower than Intel but never thought it would actually be such a nightmare to build/maintain.
Intel X99. I'll preserve my sanity.
Besides, this computer would be in the UK while I am generally in Long Island... Probably would have to pay some other person to be a system maintainer.