Core count or clock speed

[Guest]

Currently in the process of upgrading my PC and was wandering if core count or clock speed matter more for gaming? I tend to buy high-end graphics cards and was wandering what to look for when buying the CPU

[minibois]

Don't focus on those numbers.

Just look up benchmarks for the programs/games applicable to you and see what is more important.

 

Personally I do like going for a couple more cores, just for that ease of use; knowing my PC can easily multitask.

This makes CPU's like the Ryzen 5 3600 make a lot of sense to me.

[Fasauceome]

adding another dimension to the performance is IPC (instructions per clock). Intel has a higher clock speed, but AMD has a higher IPC, so current gen AMD processors have caught up in gaming performance to Intel.

 

So instead of just clock speed, just be aware that third gen Ryzen largely matches Intel in performance for games, and is cheaper. That will give you the best value.

[Radium_Angel]

10 minutes ago, minibois said:

Ryzen 5 3600

Amateur

 

twin Xeon CPU workstations for life! (20 cores, 40 threads) 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, minibois said:

Don't focus on those numbers.

Just look up benchmarks for the programs/games applicable to you and see what is more important.

 

Personally I do like going for a couple more cores, just for that ease of use; knowing my PC can easily multitask.

This makes CPU's like the Ryzen 5 3600 make a lot of sense to me.

I looked at benchmarks for the games I play, and in most cases Intel is faster by about 2 - 5 frames. I have no allegiance to either company so I'm looking for the best I can get

 

Some people I talked to who tell me to get AMD mention the backwards compatibility, but if I upgrade my CPU then I upgrade the motherboard with it

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

adding another dimension to the performance is IPC (instructions per clock). Intel has a higher clock speed, but AMD has a higher IPC, so current gen AMD processors have caught up in gaming performance to Intel.

 

So instead of just clock speed, just be aware that third gen Ryzen largely matches Intel in performance for games, and is cheaper. That will give you the best value.

AMD has definitely caught up. If I was planning on streaming I would get the Ryzen chip. But for the games I play Intel generally comes out on top (albeit by about 2-5 frames).

[minibois]

1 minute ago, prostrike33 said:

I looked at benchmarks for the games I play, and in most cases Intel is faster by about 2 - 5 frames. I have no allegiance to either company so I'm looking for the best I can get

 

Some people I talked to who tell me to get AMD mention the backwards compatibility, but if I upgrade my CPU then I upgrade the motherboard with it

Usually I try to put these 2-5 frames in context before drawing a conclusion.

2-5 frames on 120 vs 125fps? Not much as much as 30 vs 35 fps.

 

Sure Intel is a bit faster in single core speed, but depending on your usage, the extra threads could help.

But that is why I implore everyone to do their own research, to see for your usage, which of the options is the best.

[Fasauceome]

2 minutes ago, prostrike33 said:

AMD has definitely caught up. If I was planning on streaming I would get the Ryzen chip. But for the games I play Intel generally comes out on top (albeit by about 2-5 frames).

I'd sacrifice 5 frames for good streaming performance. The Ryzen 7 3700X is the best gaming/streaming CPU in terms of value, it's basically an i9 9900K. If that fits your budget, it's worth it. 

What is your performance target in games?

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, minibois said:

Usually I try to put these 2-5 frames in context before drawing a conclusion.

2-5 frames on 120 vs 125fps? Not much as much as 30 vs 35 fps.

 

Sure Intel is a bit faster in single core speed, but depending on your usage, the extra threads could help.

But that is why I implore everyone to do their own research, to see for your usage, which of the options is the best.

Yeah, I'll definitely be doing some more research. Just looking for some opinions. For context, some of the games I play are witcher 3, R6S, Overwatch, diablo, and hopefully the upcoming cyberpunk 2077.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

I'd sacrifice 5 frames for good streaming performance. The Ryzen 7 3700X is the best gaming/streaming CPU in terms of value, it's basically an i9 9900K. If that fits your budget, it's worth it. 

What is your performance target in games?

I don't plan on streaming. My target is to get over 120 fps when playing multiplayer and over 60 when playing single-player (since I crank up the graphics when playing SP).

[Fasauceome]

5 minutes ago, prostrike33 said:

I don't plan on streaming. My target is to get over 120 fps when playing multiplayer and over 60 when playing single-player (since I crank up the graphics when playing SP).

Then the Ryzen 5 3600 should suit you very well. Any affordable B450 board will support it, but for out of box support without a bios update the ASRock B450M/AC is a really good choice

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kcCFf7/asrock-b450mac-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-b450mac

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Then the Ryzen 5 3600 should suit you very well. Any affordable B450 board will support it, but for out of box support without a bios update the ASRock B450M/AC is a really good choice

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kcCFf7/asrock-b450mac-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-b450mac

I do plan on overclocking later on though.

[Fasauceome]

15 minutes ago, prostrike33 said:

I do plan on overclocking later on though.

If you've got a 6 core processor like the 3600, the B450 pro4 overclocks really well. It's in the "maxed out 6 core" tier in our tier list, which you can check out by clicking my motherboard in my signature

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

If you've got a 6 core processor like the 3600, the B450 pro4 overclocks really well. It's in the "maxed out 6 core" tier in our tier list, which you can check out by clicking my motherboard in my signature

I see @Tristerin already agreed with you, but yeah IIRC he's pushing some pretty OP settings on a 1700X (8c/16t) with a Pro4, it should handle a 3600 pretty easily. Worst case you just point a fan at the VRM heatsink and call it a day, lol. 

[Mister Woof]

Need both

 

Get a 3700x

 

Reassess CPUs in 5 years

 

Imo

[Mark Kaine]

Unpopular opinion :

I think more cores are more important and will keep getting even more important as time goes on. 

 

Background: when I bought my Ryzen 2200G (4 core processor)  everyone said it's fine, games don't need many cores and never will. 

 

 

Well.  These people were wrong.  The CPU has been much too weak from the get go for demanding games - waste of money really. 

 

Game programmers will use multi threading more and more in the future because that's what makes the most sense and people finally have the hardware to run the optimized code. 

 

Tldr:  more cores = more future proof 

 

Sadly I didn't listen to my own advice and bought a R5 3600, and while it's pretty strong,  it's also kinda underwhelming,  not much faster than the 2200 for video processing for example, and I think it will be outdated very soon,  much sooner than comparable 8 core processors.