What CPU to Buy - Late 2018

[Emily Young]

It’s that time of year again – You know the one. The one you celebrate. With tech. So now that 2018’s nearly over, which CPU should you buy?

 

 

Buy a Ryzen 3 2200G (Budget Gaming Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/kW2Svg

On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSn

 

Buy a Core i3 8100 (Budget Gaming Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/Wfrf
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSk

 

Buy a Ryzen 5 2600 (Budget All-Rounder + Budget Gaming + Budget Workstation Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/GfuoK
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSy

 

Buy a Ryzen 7 2700X (Midrange All-Rounder + Midrange Workstation Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/1heCCYv
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSs

 

Buy a Core i5 8500 (Midrange Gaming Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/5u1r
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVr8

 

Buy a Core i5 8600K (High-end Gaming Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/rKPUi
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVS7

 

Buy a Core i7 8700K (Midrange All-Rounder + High-end Gaming Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/69m4UtB
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSt

 

Buy a Core i7 9700K (Would be a recommendation in multiple categories if you could find one…):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/iMmJ
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSC

 

Buy a Threadripper 1920X (High-end Workstation Honorable mention):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/93kB1
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSF

 

Buy a Threadripper 2920X (High-end Workstation Recommendation):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/2eHR1Q
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVSf

 

Buy a Threadripper 2950X (Best-Value High-end Workstation CPU):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/tyWE4AL
On Newegg: https://lmg.gg/8KVS2

[Enderman]

THANK YOU for calculating value the proper way, taking into account the entire cost of the system and not just the component.

 

I've had so many arguments with people including LMG employees about why you don't divide the performance by the component's cost...

[Princess Luna]

As always the locked i7 8700 gets no spotlight when it's arguably the best value for money Coffee Lake CPU.

[Si3Rra_7]

What memory did they test the Ryzens on? Intel CPUs perform much better on slower ram(cheaper) compared to Ryzen on slower ram which might skew the value.

[ignaloidas]

Quote

HMS Campbeltown ship

You mean " Her Majesty's Ship Campbeltown ship"? Yea...

[Streetguru]

You guys really shouldn't have ignored first gen ryzen, which is ultra cheap right now.

[Daniel644]

Ryzen 5 1600's are going for $125 USD at Microcenter, just saying price to performance that shit is on FIRE (in a good way, not like that RTX card from WAN Show).

[HimymCZe]

good work, kinda expect some rant in the end about how Intel 9000 series completely bomb and miss the performance/price mark. Maybe part II coming?

[Kalman81]

Hi everyone, need your help with what should I buy for a workstation PC with a $2000 budget, considering I would use a Threadripper 2920X? how do I know if I will be needing a quadro card?

[Hierax]

Thank you for gathering all this data, that is super helpful. I have one suggestion: Could you make a spreadsheet, where we can see your performance metric and can calculate the value ourselves with different prices? That would make choosing the best bang for the buck easier, especially with pricing being different outside the US and Canada and some special deals that might come up. Greetings from Germany!

[Canada EH]

Quote

which CPU should you buy?

Which ever suits your needs right now, and your future potential requirements later on.

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

As always the locked i7 8700 gets no spotlight when it's arguably the best value for money Coffee Lake CPU.

It does not fit into the formula of making cash for clicks.

 

1 hour ago, Streetguru said:

You guys really shouldn't have ignored first gen ryzen, which is ultra cheap right now.

I agree

1 hour ago, Daniel644 said:

Ryzen 5 1600's are going for $125 USD at Microcenter, just saying price to performance that shit is on FIRE (in a good way, not like that RTX card from WAN Show).

I agree but again, above read same

[Streetguru]

41 minutes ago, Kalman81 said:

Hi everyone, need your help with what should I buy for a workstation PC with a $2000 budget, considering I would use a Threadripper 2920X? how do I know if I will be needing a quadro card?

You have to check if your software can use workstation cards.

If it's not CUDA exclusive you may just want a used $400 Vega FE card since it has some workstation enhancements without being expensive.

[Emily Young]

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

As always the locked i7 8700 gets no spotlight when it's arguably the best value for money Coffee Lake CPU.

The 8700 is going for $314 - $319 right now at a 3.2 GHz base clock. The 8700K is $339 at 3.7 GHz, and is unlocked with a 100MHz higher boost, making the non-K's value proposition much worse. At the time I compiled the data, the prices were $339 and $379 - A 9% premium for a 16% base clock bump, still worth the extra $40 spend even in terms of "raw" value, much less in terms of value-add.

 

1 hour ago, Streetguru said:

You guys really shouldn't have ignored first gen ryzen, which is ultra cheap right now.

I thought about it, but you have to draw the line somewhere... At those prices, I don't expect first-gen Ryzen to be widely available for too much longer, so being a generation old, it was excluded per the rules. Threadripper, meanwhile, had its second generation slot in next to the previous generation rather than replace it outright, so the 19x0 is still represented. The only reason the 8000 series is still there is because Intel's still in the process of trying to launch the 9000 series and you can't easily buy them.

[Streetguru]

2 minutes ago, GabenJr said:

 

And intel didn't release an 8700K successor on purpose so they could keep selling 8700Ks and 8086Ks.

But it was probably good to at least mention cheap first gen ryzen even if it didn't make the charts.

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, GabenJr said:

making the non-K's value proposition much worse

Yes because being able to grab a much cheaper mATX b360 and stock cooler/cheap for a CPU configuration that can keep up with a RTX 2080 Ti is awful value proposition.

 

2 minutes ago, GabenJr said:

3.2 GHz base clock. The 8700K is $339 at 3.7 GHz, and is unlocked with a 100MHz higher boost,

Please this is LTT Forum, one would hope you to know people here can go past the basic spec sheet in a CPU, both have Identical all core turbo boost of 4.3ghz displaying the very same performance comparing stock for stock.

[Velcade]

Why no 9600k love?  It is not better than the 8600k?

[mariushm]

4 minutes ago, GabenJr said:

I thought about it, but you have to draw the line somewhere... At those prices, I don't expect first-gen Ryzen to be widely available for too much longer, so being a generation old, it was excluded per the rules. Threadripper, meanwhile, had its second generation slot in next to the previous generation rather than replace it outright, so the 19x0 is still represented. The only reason the 8000 series is still there is because Intel's still in the process of trying to launch the 9000 series and you can't easily buy them.

 

IMHO they should have been included at least as a honorable mention.

In general, processors are safe purchases so even if they're not in retail stores, they can be safely bought from eBay.

 

Ryzen cpus in particular are even better deals because of backwards compatibility, you may find discounted B350 boards for example at cheap prices. On Intel's side, you have to be careful about what motherboard and what chipset to buy if you want to overclock and all that crap.

 

 

[Zando_]

Just now, Velcade said:

Why no 9600k love?  It is not better than the 8600k?

I think it's a bit better but costs more. I haven't looked into the 9600K, but my 8600K at 5.1Ghz stomps 1080p, 1440p, and 4K with my SLI 1080s and, so if a 9600K costs more, it's pointless. Wouldn't notice the benefit even if it is faster because I can already push 200fps at 1440p in games that scale well, and 120-144 in 4K. This was in Battlefront 2015 at ultra settings with no AA, but it should push 1440p no problem with a 1080 Ti or something in games that don't scale well with SLI. 

[Rickster]

I'm in the market to buy a CPU this black friday, but im stuck between a rock an a hard place...

 

Do i go with the i7-8700k or the i7-9700k.

 

6 cores 12 threads vs 8 cores and 8 threads.

 

My mind is telling me to get the 8700k but im just not 100% sure, also the 9700k has solder under the HS whereas the 8700k doesn't.

 

[Shreyas1]

Perfect timing ( for me at least ). I was just looking at cpu upgrades.

[Streetguru]

48 minutes ago, Rickster said:

 

The R5 1600 at $120

the entire 9th gen is a joke.

[Canada EH]

Love the non currency references, its prime!

Professional

 

Is it that or that, 30% difference.

[xshaak]

Any reason why the core i5 9600k isn't mentioned? I recently bought one, hope I didn't wastey money.

[mariushm]

29 minutes ago, xshaak said:

Any reason why the core i5 9600k isn't mentioned? I recently bought one, hope I didn't wastey money.

I would guess because it's hard to buy (limited availability) or has bad price for performance compared to others.

[QXC]

Thanks for the video and the hard work that went into making it!

For things that this that involve a spreadsheet full of info, why not publish a cleaned up version of it? Could be useful for those who want to take the effort to go in and plug in updated and/or used prices as a comparison for their purchases.

 

That is assuming people that industrious don't already have an entire handmade spreadsheet.