Best combo for Cities Skylines ($500)

[KDC2000]

Ive recently been thinking about upgrading my desktop, which is currently running an AMD FX-8350 which is really lagging behind in most games. I mostly play Cities Skylines (Over 1300h) so i really need a new CPU to be able to use more assets and mods without being down on 10fps in a 40k city. I have around $500 USD to spend on a new combo and really unsure which CPU i should choose. i5-8400, R5 2600, R5 2600X, R7 2700, i5-9600K, i7-8700 and R7 2700X is the processors im trying to compare, but theres not enough benchmarks for Cities skylines and im really unsure if i should go for more cores vs threads. i prefer ATX motherboards as i like having more expansion slots. RAM has to be 16GB as i need it for Cities.  

 

 

[NunoLava1998]

Ryzen 7 2700.

[Fasauceome]

Ryzen 5 2600 has incredible value, you can spend a lot less than $500 on that as well as a quality X470 motherboard and some DDR4 3000, with USD anyways.

[NunoLava1998]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($247.89 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler  ($59.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($114.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($88.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $511.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-26 13:41 EDT-0400

[KDC2000]

5 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

Ryzen 5 2600 has incredible value, you can spend a lot less than $500 on that as well as a quality X470 motherboard and some DDR4 3000, with USD anyways.

What about the 2600X? 

[Fasauceome]

1 minute ago, KDC2000 said:

What about the 2600X? 

2600x isn't as good a value because the 2600 can be overclocked to be quite similar in performance, whereas the 2600x doesn't have as much overclock potential, it comes with higher clocks out of the box.

[KDC2000]

Just now, fasauceome said:

2600x isn't as good a value because the 2600 can be overclocked to be quite similar in performance, whereas the 2600x doesn't have as much overclock potential, it comes with higher clocks out of the box.

So the optimal thing would buying a 2600, a cooler and overclocking it? 

[Fasauceome]

7 minutes ago, KDC2000 said:

So the optimal thing would buying a 2600, a cooler and overclocking it? 

Yes, and fairly inexpensive coolers like a Cryorig H7 or something will do the job. However, if you want a nice cooler for the time being, like a dark rock 4, and then you want a higher tier CPU later, it would service it greatly down the line. Since your budget is pretty high, you can likely work that in there.

 

Edit: such as

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$164.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	be quiet! - Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler	$69.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard	Gigabyte - X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard	$137.90 @ OutletPC
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$95.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$488.77
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$468.77
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-26 13:58 EDT-0400

 

[dizmo]

Personally I'd get 32GB of RAM.

[KDC2000]

13 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Personally I'd get 32GB of RAM.

Dont think thats in my budget

[Vejnemojnen]

TLDR:

- MSI B450M Mortar ~ 110USD

- 2x8 GB 3000-3200 Mhz RAM kit CL16 timing ~ 100 USD

- Ryzen 2600 ~ 180 USD

 

16GB ram is all you need for gaming.

 

If you plan to OC manually, 2600 is the best value. If you want your cpu to be overclocked "right out of the box", then 2600x.

 

Btw, 2600 has better 1core&1thread performance than 2700, and a tons cheaper, therefore highly recommended for gaming (most titles don't really benefit from the extra 2core-4thread of 2700)

 

I'd get a solid B450 motherboard (X470 is generally not a neccessity, good B450 platforms provide fine tuning potential...ie.: MSI B450M Mortar, Gaming Plus or Tomahawk) with some 3000-3200Mhz CL16 memory kit (2x8GB) and crown it with Ryzen 2600&a better cooler . Another point worth mentioning (if you care...) : undervolting (cc. 0.05V offset) Ryzen 2600 will reduce CPU temperatures ~ roughly 12-15°C, without detrimental effect on performance...