AMD A6 9500E 2-core AM4

The A6-9500 is the cheapest ticket onto AM4, and it performs exactly like you'd expect a 2016 dual-core to perform. Buy it for grandma's email machine, not for anything you actually care about.

The PassMark scores tell the story pretty clearly. 1713 multi-core and 1372 single-core put this chip in the bottom quarter of our database, and that's being generous. The 3.4GHz boost clock sounds okay on paper until you realize it's only got two threads to work with. The integrated Radeon R5 graphics are fine for pushing pixels on a 1080p monitor, but don't expect to game on anything made after 2015. What surprised us? The affordability ranking. At 95th percentile, this thing is genuinely one of the cheapest ways to get onto AM4, even if the platform ranking itself is middling.

Putting this against an Intel Core i7-4790K feels almost unfair, but that's what the market does. The 4790K is a quad-core monster from the same era that absolutely demolishes the A6-9500 in every metric that matters, and you can often find it for similar money on the used market. The Dell Xeon E5-2637 V2 is another interesting alternative if you need more threads for server-ish tasks. But if you're dead set on AM4 and want something that won't make you cry, save up for a used Ryzen 3 instead. The A6-9500 only makes sense when your budget is absolutely rock bottom and you need AM4 compatibility right now.

Value depends on the price you find. If you can snag this for around CAD 30 or GBP 37, it's a no-brainer for a basic office PC or a cheap AM4 test bench. But the EUR pricing is all over the place, ranging from EUR 65 to EUR 93 depending on the vendor. At the low end of that spread, it's tolerable. At EUR 93, you're getting fleeced. Shop around and don't pay more than the cheapest listing you can find.

The AMD A6-9500 is a budget dual-core APU that still clings to Socket AM4, which is honestly its biggest selling point. It's cheap, it sips power at 35W, and it'll get you into a basic desktop without breaking the bank. But make no mistake, this is a 2016-era chip built on an aging 28nm process, and it feels every bit its age in 2024. The one thing to know? It's a placeholder processor, not a daily driver for anything beyond web browsing and office work.

If you're looking for a CPU that can handle gaming, video editing, or any kind of heavy multitasking, this isn't it. Go grab a used Ryzen 3 or an older Intel quad-core instead. You'll spend a bit more, but you'll get a chip that doesn't make you want to throw your PC out the window every time you open more than three tabs.

The AMD A6-9500 is a stopgap, not a solution. It'll boot Windows, run a browser, and handle spreadsheets without complaining too much. But the moment you try to do anything remotely demanding, those two cores and 1MB of cache will remind you exactly why this chip costs less than a decent pizza. If you need the cheapest possible AM4 chip and your expectations are set to 'basic office duty,' go for it. Otherwise, save your money for something with at least four cores.