Help Picking A New CPU - 9900ks v.s. 3900x

[Epsilon8425]

I'm looking to upgrade my Intel I7 4790k based PC, but I can't decide on a new CPU.

 

I don't upgrade my Mobo/CPU very often so I need something that will last a good 4-5 years and still be able to play games at high res/framerates (I currently game at 3440x1440 at 120hz on an RTX 2080).

 

My PC is mostly used for gaming, with some occasional handbrake video conversion. I don't stream or do 3d renders etc.

 

Price isn't an issue so I'm looking at the best from AMD and Intel, so my choices are:

 

Intel - NZD Total = $1,411

• Intel Core I9 9900ks - NZD - $1,049

• Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Pro WiFi - NZD - $362

 

AMD - NZD Total = $1,358

• AMD Ryzen 9 3900X - NZD - $934

• Gigabyte Aorus X570 Elite - NZD - $424

 

For gaming, the 9900ks seems to be the best choice, especially when some chips can achieve a ~5.2GHz all-core overclock.

 

However, the 3900x is tempting as it has a higher core count, PCI-E Gen 4 support and the potential to upgrade if AMD releases a new CPU for the socket.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[dizmo]

If you just game, Intel.

[Mateyyy]

I'd say Intel, if almost all you do is game.

 

That being said, the gap in gaming performance between AMD and Intel is constantly closing in, and in the future, since you don't plan on upgrading often, the 3900X's 12 cores might be able to stretch their legs even in gaming tasks. At the moment you could probably also just turn off SMT to make sure you don't get any latency or framerate issues that might occur in some games with the 3900X, because of SMT, and still get multi-threaded performance similar to the 9900K, even with hyper-threading. 

[Princess Luna]

i7 9700KF instead and then get a RTX 2080 Ti?

 

The i9 9900KS is not needed for a vanilla RTX 2080.

[Epsilon8425]

1 minute ago, Princess Luna said:

i7 9700KF instead and then get a RTX 2080 Ti?

 

The i9 9900KS is not needed for a vanilla RTX 2080.

You are right, both CPU's are overkill for the 2080. I bought the GPU about a year ago before I got my ultrawide monitor and I was planning to keep the 4790k for a while longer. 

 

I'll probably end up getting a new gpu next gen (the 2080ti equivalent) assuming there is a decent bump in performance. I do tend to upgrade my gpu every couple of years anyway.

[Princess Luna]

13 minutes ago, Epsilon8425 said:

.

Is the i7 4790K capable of keeping up with your needs? I would strongly suggest keeping as is until next year's release as nVidia is bringing 7nm GPUs and both Intel with 10nm or whatever and AMD with Zen 2+ will have to keep up... it might be advantageous to be patient here.

 

I have played ultrawide with a locked i7 6700 I know that you can at least keep 75fps really well most of the time on any triple A... I find that acceptable honestly... if you wanna go all in waiting is beneficial.

 

If not then I think you should go with the 9900KS, most games today already don't use all 8c/16t reason why the R5 3600 OC is about the same as the stock R9 3900X in gaming. A gaming focus rig only needs 6 cores, with preferably HT/SMT if you'll have moderate to low multi-tasking with gaming.

 

So even if by miracle the new consoles makes games more multi-threaded as everyone hopes so it still means an octa core will be the true "sweet spot" and you'll have the fastest ones with the 9900KS so yeah it's your only true pick for a full gaming focus rig.

 

If you would like to see more of the performance gaps you can watch this video:

Spoiler

 

[Epsilon8425]

35 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

Is the i7 4790K capable of keeping up with your needs? I would strongly suggest keeping as is until next year's release as nVidia is bringing 7nm GPUs and both Intel with 10nm or whatever and AMD with Zen 2+ will have to keep up... it might be advantageous to be patient here.

 

I have played ultrawide with a locked i7 6700 I know that you can at least keep 75fps really well most of the time on any triple A... I find that acceptable honestly... if you wanna go all in waiting is beneficial.

 

If not then I think you should go with the 9900KS, most games today already don't use all 8c/16t reason why the R5 3600 OC is about the same as the stock R9 3900X in gaming. A gaming focus rig only needs 6 cores, with preferably HT/SMT if you'll have moderate to low multi-tasking with gaming.

 

So even if by miracle the new consoles makes games more multi-threaded as everyone hopes so it still means an octa core will be the true "sweet spot" and you'll have the fastest ones with the 9900KS so yeah it's your only true pick for a full gaming focus rig.

 

If you would like to see more of the performance gaps you can watch this video:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Thank-you very much for this post, it is very informative.

 

My 4790k is struggling a bit, for example it hovers around 85-100% in Cod MW and it is pinned at 100% in certain moments of the campaign which is causing very visible stuttering. I have been looking to upgrade for a while but was waiting for the Zen 2 and 9900ks launch.

 

I think I should get the 9900ks, It sounds like it should be able to keep up with games for quite some time, especially with fairly regular GPU upgrades (I'll upgrade to a 7nm nVidia card next year).

 

Thanks again for your help