Which CPU should I go with?

[Kenpachi]

Hey everyone,

After long, I decided to give an upgrade to my current pc running an i7 2600k. I am going to go for a 3070 FE card.
 

I was going to go for a Ryzen 3900x in the start of the year but waited for the 5000 series to launch. Now I am more confused than ever due to the prices of CPU where I live.
 

These are the prices of the CPUs where I live :
 

1. Intel i7 10850k        - $516
2. AMD Ryzen 3900X  - $537
3. AMD Ryzen 5800X  - $550
4. Intel i7 10900k        - $571
5. AMD Ryzen 5900x   - $721
 

What seems the best value to you all?
 

I generally upgrade after a long period of time, so I wanted a CPU that makes me future-proof for a good amount of time like the 2600k did.

I am really tempted to buy the 5900X but at it's current price, I am not sure if it's worth it, as for Intel processors, they are still 14nm and lack of support of PCI Gen 4 in the corresponding motherboards and also the benchmarks showed Ryzen processors almost overwhelming them in all aspects but still 10900k felt considerable after I saw it's benchmarks when compared with 5800x, 3900x (i.e., the CPUs which are priced almost equivalent to it)
 

Please let me know your opinions.

Thank you!

[Coolmaster]

What are you going to be using this for?

[Stahlmann]

Also look out for the 5600X, as it's the same performance as the 5800X in games for cheaper. If you don't need the extra cores, it's the best option for a gaming focused build.

[Kenpachi]

7 minutes ago, Coolmaster said:

What are you going to be using this for?

I am going to be using it for gaming, photoshop, after effects, and occasionally, blender, machine learning and parallel processing

3 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Also look out for the 5600X, as it's the same performance as the 5800X in games for cheaper. If you don't need the extra cores, it's the best option for a gaming focused build.

I can get a Ryzen 5600x for $330, how future proof would it be?

[Stahlmann]

1 minute ago, Kenpachi said:

I am going to be using it for gaming, photoshop, after effects, and occasionally, blender, machine learning and parallel processing

5600X should still handle most of it no problem if your old CPU did it.

 

9 minutes ago, Kenpachi said:

I can get a Ryzen 5600x for $330, how future proof would it be?

It's impossible to tell how future proof anything is in PC space. But if it does what you want now, there is nothing that will make it bad all of a sudden in a few years.

[igormp]

4 hours ago, Kenpachi said:

photoshop, after effects, and occasionally, blender, machine learning and parallel processing

I'd go for a 3900x in this case. More core is always better, specially when you want to go with stuff that can actually make use of those cores.

[Kenpachi]

6 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

5600X should still handle most of it no problem if your old CPU did it.

 

It's impossible to tell how future proof anything is in PC space. But if it does what you want now, there is nothing that will make it bad all of a sudden in a few years.

Yeah, I know 5600x is a great CPU and has great improvements in all aspects but I am a tad bit skeptical about 6 cores and if it would suffice 2-3 years from now.

 

2 hours ago, igormp said:

I'd go for a 3900x in this case. More core is always better, specially when you want to go with stuff that can actually make use of those cores.

I saw the benchmarks of it when compared to the Intel 10850k and I found the 10850k a really great offering as it was ahead of the 3900x in almost all benchmarks and costs cheaper. Please let me know your opinions

[Stahlmann]

1 minute ago, Kenpachi said:

Yeah, I know 5600x is a great CPU and has great improvements in all aspects but I am a tad bit skeptical about 6 cores and if it would suffice 2-3 years from now.

 

I saw the benchmarks of it when compared to the Intel 10850k and I found the 10850k a really great offering as it was ahead of the 3900x in almost all benchmarks and costs cheaper. Please let me know your opinions

When gaming it's not about cores, but the general gaming performance. If the 5600X is better in games now, it will also be better in 2-3 years.

But if you're set on getting 10+ cores i won't press you any further now.

[Nakedpeanut]

I've been considering a CPU/mobo upgrade quite a bit lately coming from i5 7600k which is 4c/4t - in hindsight I should have just bought the i7 7700k (4c/8t).

The way I see it; since Ryzen introduced affordable 6c/12t a few years ago, application and game development have really starting making use of it, and no doubt this trend will only increase into the future. Since your use case includes more than just games I'd highly recommend getting more cores/threads than what the 5600x offers.

 

Both LGA1200 and AM4 are likely dead after 2021, as DDR5 systems should be release in 2022. So buying now, I'd focus on getting 18-24t as that would be the best future proofing you can do.

 

Looking at your options:

I would opt for the Intel i7 10850k assuming you'll OC it (no point in getting Intel i7 10900k really but it's not that much more expensive so up to you).

- These beat out the 3900x due to their IPC and the core/thread count should be sufficient until your next upgrade.

- You have the 11th gen chips releasing in a couple months which look hot but promising performance wise, however they seem to be core limited, so although you at least have an upgrade option on LGA 1200, I highly doubt you would.

 

Your AMD parts however seem very overpriced, at least ~$150 more than what you should be paying and I'm not convinced AM4 will support any more CPU's beyond the 5000 series.

The 5900x would be your best future proofing, but at >$700 It's hard to recommend over intel.

 

 

[Kenpachi]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

When gaming it's not about cores, but the general gaming performance. If the 5600X is better in games now, it will also be better in 2-3 years.

But if you're set on getting 10+ cores i won't press you any further now.

I see, but I wanted to know if it would be equally as good in productivity after 2-3 years as gaming is not primary for me. I was thinking of going with AMD Ryzen 5600 along with a B550 motherboard (or x570 in rare case), so that I have PCIE-4 tech which enables some future-proofing + I get upgradability to 5900x or 5950x in the future. (Update : That the Ryzen 5600x would cost approx $390) Do you think it's worth to go with a 3900x/5800x/10850k build if it costs $160 more than the 5600x build?

+ (Do you think $50 gap between GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO WIFI and MSI Tomahawk Wifi X570 / ASUS TUF Gaming Plus Wifi, worth? if I go AMD?)

1 hour ago, Nakedpeanut said:

I've been considering a CPU/mobo upgrade quite a bit lately coming from i5 7600k which is 4c/4t - in hindsight I should have just bought the i7 7700k (4c/8t).

The way I see it; since Ryzen introduced affordable 6c/12t a few years ago, application and game development have really starting making use of it, and no doubt this trend will only increase into the future. Since your use case includes more than just games I'd highly recommend getting more cores/threads than what the 5600x offers.

 

Both LGA1200 and AM4 are likely dead after 2021, as DDR5 systems should be release in 2022. So buying now, I'd focus on getting 18-24t as that would be the best future proofing you can do.

 

Looking at your options:

I would opt for the Intel i7 10850k assuming you'll OC it (no point in getting Intel i7 10900k really but it's not that much more expensive so up to you).

- These beat out the 3900x due to their IPC and the core/thread count should be sufficient until your next upgrade.

- You have the 11th gen chips releasing in a couple months which look hot but promising performance wise, however they seem to be core limited, so although you at least have an upgrade option on LGA 1200, I highly doubt you would.

 

Your AMD parts however seem very overpriced, at least ~$150 more than what you should be paying and I'm not convinced AM4 will support any more CPU's beyond the 5000 series.

The 5900x would be your best future proofing, but at >$700 It's hard to recommend over intel.

 

 

Yeah. I won't be overclocking any time soon though as I don't have any experience in overclocking and also I would overclock it when it's performance starts to lag behind. The 3900x/10850k/5800x setup would cost $160-$170 more than the 5600x setup (factoring the cpu price, motherboard price and the cooler price). So I am pretty confused if I should again, wait for Rocket Lake, go with 10850k or go with Ryzen 5600x.

[Nakedpeanut]

28 minutes ago, Kenpachi said:

I see, but I wanted to know if it would be equally as good in productivity after 2-3 years as gaming is not primary for me. I was thinking of going with AMD Ryzen 5600 along with a B550 motherboard (or x570 in rare case), so that I have PCIE-4 tech which enables some future-proofing + I get upgradability to 5900x or 5950x in the future. (Update : That the Ryzen 5600x would cost approx $390) Do you think it's worth to go with a 3900x/5800x/10850k build if it costs $160 more than the 5600x build?

+ (Do you think $50 gap between GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO WIFI and MSI Tomahawk Wifi X570 / ASUS TUF Gaming Plus Wifi, worth? if I go AMD?)

Yeah. I won't be overclocking any time soon though as I don't have any experience in overclocking and also I would overclock it when it's performance starts to lag behind. The 3900x/10850k/5800x setup would cost $160-$170 more than the 5600x setup (factoring the cpu price, motherboard price and the cooler price). So I am pretty confused if I should again, wait for Rocket Lake, go with 10850k or go with Ryzen 5600x.

I suppose only you will know how much productivity type applications you use and their importance. Are you just hobbyist or making living from them, i.e. you can spare waiting an extra 20seconds for something to render vs paying more upfront now? 

 

We assume AMD will drop non x variants of the 5000 series and these will most likely become recommendations over the current 5000x CPU's assuming better price/performance like the current 3600 vs 3600x. But who knows.

 

Any reason you are not considering the i7 10700k? What price can you get it for? In the US it's only ~$20-30 more than 5600x.

 

In full disclosure I only game and overclock so I'm considering the i7 10700k, I have a 5600x on order and plan to pair it with a MSI Tomahawk B550; but debating if I should cancel  for the safety net of extra threads. I have a full custom hard tubing water cooling setup for my current intel. So changing to AMD means new mounting bracket and likely new tubes to be bent which makes the cost comparable for me.

 

[igormp]

2 hours ago, Kenpachi said:

I saw the benchmarks of it when compared to the Intel 10850k and I found the 10850k a really great offering as it was ahead of the 3900x in almost all benchmarks and costs cheaper. Please let me know your opinions

I personally prefer the AMD option due to their current platform having all the features I need, while also offering better multi core performance since I don't care about games whatsoever.

 

However, in your case the i9 is cheaper, so you'll need to see the total price when adding up the mobo and cpu together.

 

1 hour ago, Kenpachi said:

+ (Do you think $50 gap between GIGABYTE B550 AORUS PRO WIFI and MSI Tomahawk Wifi X570 / ASUS TUF Gaming Plus Wifi, worth? if I go AMD?)

I'd rather go with B550, those are usually really good in terms of VRM, don't have that chipset fan. I'd only recommend x570 if one needs the extra PCIe features. (I paid more for my B550 steel legend than a x570 TUF would've costed).

 

1 hour ago, Kenpachi said:

The 3900x/10850k/5800x setup would cost $160-$170 more than the 5600x setup (factoring the cpu price, motherboard price and the cooler price)

IMO, the 5600x is not worth it for productivity. The extra IPC benefit is almost moot, specially when it comes to ML. Going for a 3900x would be more than enough for you for a solid 3 years, or 5~8 if you're not that exigent about having the latest and greatest. It'd also allow you to upgrade later on to a 5950x (or a possible refresh next year) as long as you go with a good enough mobo (such as the ones you mentioned already).

[Kenpachi]

@Nakedpeanut
 I'm a hobbyist. Thanks for recommending the 10700k, just checked it out and it's available for $50 more than Ryzen 5600x, seems like a good option. Will look into it!

 

@igormp
Thanks for the descriptive reply! Cleared a lot of my misconceptions about the x570 vs B550 scenario and also made me reconsider 3900x.