Ryzen 9 5900X vs i9 10900K

[timtimie]

Budget (including currency): not limited but don't want to waste money

Country: Netherlands

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: HOI4

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

 

Ok so Im building a much needed new pc as my old i7 4790k with GTX770's in SLI is finally slow enough to justify it.

 

The problem I'm having is choosing my new CPU. If there was no cost difference then I know the 5800X is the clear winner vs i9 10900k, looking at benchmarks its got better gaming performance and PCIe 4 support.

However due to low stocks on Ryzen 5xxx series the price has gone up a lot so right now I have two options.

 

1. Ryzen 9 5900X for 750e

2. i9 10900k for 530e

 

So the question is, Ryzen 9 5800x is better but is is 200e better?

Looking for any advice or opinions on this, basically in 2 years time would you be happier with the extra performance of the Ryzen CPU or is the difference so small that you'd be happier with the 200e in your pocket?

Are there any features that Ryzen has that I would really be missing out on?

For GPU I've already gotten an RTX 3080, will PCIe 4 make much difference for this card or is PCIe 3.0 enough bandwidth anyway?

WIll the extra two cores on the Ryzen matter much?

 

Any help is much appreciated.

*if not totally clear, e = euro

[Stahlmann]

First you should ask yourself if you need all those cores. Depending on what you do you could get the exact same performance with a 5600X for example and save even more money. Especially since you stated you play HOI4 (hearts of Iron 4?), there won't be a noticeable difference between the 5600X, 10900K, and 5900X, so why spend all this extra money?

[Aragorn-]

that price seems waay off.

 

Here a 5900x is £540 and a 10900k is £500.

If its for gaming, i dont think either chip makes much sense. 10 or 12 cores is well into the "too many" point of deminishing returns.

A 5600x will match a 10900k in many games for instance, because the games simply dont need all those extra cores. 

If your doing something that DOES need the cores, then yeah, by all means go 5900x, but get one at the correct price, not at 750euro.

 

[timtimie]

Thanks for the reply (I should have mentioned, I know the CPU's are way beyond my normal usage, I will also be doing some image editing for 3D printing and protein folding but indeed the overkill on this is mostly for bragging rights).

 

Do you have any links for those prices? Im assuming its UK, here in NL we use a price comparison site called tweakers and anyone with the 5900x in stock is charging 750 (and up to 850 depending on the store).

 

https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1618232/amd-ryzen-9-5900x-boxed.html

 

I agree with what your saying completely tho, if I could find the ryzen at the correct price then the answer is clearly AMD.

[Stahlmann]

6 minutes ago, timtimie said:

Thanks for the reply (I should have mentioned, I know the CPU's are way beyond my normal usage, I will also be doing some image editing for 3D printing and protein folding but indeed the overkill on this is mostly for bragging rights).

You clearly care about value to some degree as you talk about saving 200€ in the OP. So i see no reason to go any higher than a 5600X and bag the rest of the money. It will also comfortably to some hobbyist grade 3D work aswell. You'd still have the bragging rights because it's still a Zen3 CPU und people know they're gaming beasts!

 

 

[timtimie]

Yeah its mainly HOI4 (I play other games but thats the most CPU intensive), however I also do CAD, 3D printing, protein folding etc and I just kinda want an OTT build this time, Im doing this once and hoping to get 8-10 years out of the system, also money isn't a huge issue but not irrelevant either.

 

Basically I don't mind paying a couple of hundred extra for say the 5900x over the 5600x since I am getting more cores and a genuinely more powerful system but I don't wanna pay 200 more to just get the AMD CPU due to low stocks price gouging when the intel equivelant is almost as good. Im liking the AMD comeback and it would be nice to build an AMD system after so long with Intel in the lead but nice to build and 200e are two different things.

Edited January 18, 2021 by timtimie

[timtimie]

4 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

You clearly care about value to some degree as you talk about saving 200€ in the OP. So i see no reason to go any higher than a 5600X and bag the rest of the money. It will also comfortably to some hobbyist grade 3D work aswell. You'd still have the bragging rights because it's still a Zen3 CPU und people know they're gaming beasts!

 

 

Its not that I don't care about money but it is as you say I care about value for money. with 5900x vs 5600x, I understand that 90% of the time I wont see a difference but there is a real difference that I will notice (probably should have mentioned that im also using this for VR but I figured thats more GPU intensive). 

 

Basically I am happy to pay the difference between 5600x and 5900x but for 200e i dont think im happy to go from 10900k to 5900x. I suppose im asking,

 

We know 5900x beats 10900k but does it beat it with a 200e price difference.

[timtimie]

6 minutes ago, WikiForce said:

for that minuscule performance difference, i would probably look to save those extra 220 euros and also even a 3090 doesn't fully saturate a pcie 3.0 x16 slot so you don't have to worry about that

Yeah I was thinking the same thing, are there any other features (bells or whistles) im missing out on with AMD vs Intel tho. I know the same mobo for intel will cost a little more since i like to play with overclocking so ill need a Z series chipset but 200e gives a lot of wiggle room on the mobo

[gal-m]

22 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

i see no reason to go any higher than a 5600X

Here's an unpopular thought: To this day I have had a 3930k on an X79 Rampage IV Formula board. It has 6 cores and 12 threads with quad channel memory (same bandwidth as today's platforms). 

 

I'd NEVER pick a 5600X, because while 6 cores is great for gaming I think 8 or 10 cores is just a really nice upgrade for general computing.

6 cores is the standard option, or you could kind of say minimum/budget option (in 2021) and 8 cores is a nice option if you want your computer to last a bit longer and just overall have a better, smoother computing experience (maybe 6 years)..

 

Of course it all depends on the price, etc. + I'm being SUPER general here...

[igormp]

33 minutes ago, timtimie said:

1. Ryzen 9 5900X for 750e

2. i9 10900k for 530e

At that price difference it should be a no-brainer, go for the i9. If you manage to find an i9-10850k, that would be an ever better deal.

 

The lack of PCIe 4.0 is also not a problem at this moment, and won't be for the next 5 years, unless you need really fast storage.

[timtimie]

3 minutes ago, gal-m said:

Here's an unpopular thought: To this day I have had a 3930k on an X79 Rampage IV Formula board. It has 6 cores and 12 threads with quad channel memory (same bandwidth as today's platforms). 

 

I'd NEVER pick a 5600X, because while 6 cores is great for gaming I think 8 or 10 cores is just a really nice upgrade for general computing.

6 cores is the standard option, or you could kind of say minimum/budget option (in 2021) and 8 cores is a nice option if you want your computer to last a bit longer and just overall have a better, smoother computing experience (maybe 6 years)..

Indeed, this was where my head is at. When I was younger I used to tinker and constantly upgrade my rig but now I honestly just wanna go all in on a build at this time and then basically never need to worry about any upgrades or performance issues for the guts of 10 years, a bit overkill now is fine

[gal-m]

7 minutes ago, timtimie said:

and then basically never need to worry about any upgrades or performance issues

While I understand with what you're trying to say, that, sadly is not possible. It was possible in my situation, because the X79 platform has quad channel memory, which is why programs/games that need a lot of bandwidth still run fantastic on it today (at higher resolutions). I am missing out on single core performance though.

 

I think a 10850K should be your CPU of choice here, assuming the price is similar to the 5800X. You're still going to need to upgrade in aprox. 6-8 years from now.

[timtimie]

4 minutes ago, igormp said:

At that price difference it should be a no-brainer, go for the i9. If you manage to find an i9-10850k, that would be an ever better deal.

 

The lack of PCIe 4.0 is also not a problem at this moment, and won't be for the next 5 years, unless you need really fast storage.

Hadn't thought of that, the 10850k is 400e here so 130e cheaper, that could be the best option all right. To be honest Im just so surprised, before I was looking into this closely, with all the AMD news I was sure I would end up with and AMD build this time but it seems the scalpers have the price up so high that its taken the good out of the new AMD CPU's

 

I think PCIe 4 is not important then, if I need more speed in storage I can always go back to RAID 0

[timtimie]

2 minutes ago, gal-m said:

While I understand with what you're trying to say, that, sadly is not possible. It was possible in my situation, because the X79 platform has quad channel memory, which is why programs/games that need a lot of bandwidth still run fantastic on it today (at higher resolutions). I am missing out on single core performance.

 

I think a 10850K should be your CPU of choice here, assuming the price is similar to the 5800X. You're still going to need to upgrade in aprox. 6-8 years from now.

I get ya, although my 7 year old i7 4790k was still working fine with newer games on dual channel with DDR3 (It took a bad fall when I moved house and that screwed it up, gonna try fix it and make it as a media/gaming rig for the sitting room)

 

I think the 10850k is the winner tho, current pricing in NL has the 10850k at 400e and the 5800x at 490e which puts it closer to the 10900k on price at 520e. thats what was pushing me to consider the 10900k initially.

 

Its a shame tho, I think I kinda wanted an AMD build, not a fanboy, I always go for best performance/price. I just thought  it would end up AMD since they have been killing it so much lately

[gal-m]

Also @timtimie people on this forum always like to tell other people what they DON'T NEED.

The first question should always be: what do you want your computer to do for you best? Followed up by: What is your budget?

 

If you don't care about the budget that much, then by all means, go for a 5900X even if you "don't need it". It's a FANTASTIC product. The only time you shouldn't go for a 5900X over a 10850/10900 or 5800X is if you're at a point where you'd want to downgrade your GPU, while still wanting your computer to perform best at games, specifically.

[gal-m]

@timtimie 

Prices in Slovenia:

 

5900X: https://www.funtech.si/si/vsi-oddelki/komp/procesorji-cpu/amd-am4/ryzen/76490/

10850K: https://www.funtech.si/si/vsi-oddelki/komp/procesorji-cpu/intel-1200/core-i9/76105/

5800X: https://www.funtech.si/si/vsi-oddelki/komp/procesorji-cpu/amd-am4/ryzen/76488/

 

All in stock.

[timtimie]

1 minute ago, gal-m said:

Also @timtimie people on this forum always like to tell other people what they DON'T NEED.

The first question should always be: what do you want your computer to do for you best? Followed up by: What is your budget?

 

If you don't care about the budget that much, then by all means, go for a 5900X even if you "don't need it". It's a FANTASTIC product. The only time you shouldn't go for a 5900X over a 10850/10900 or 5800X is if you're at a point where you'd want to downgrade your GPU, while still wanting your computer to perform best at games, specifically.

Yeah thats a good way of doing it, I suppose to answer the two questions you gave honestly I'd say:

 

1. I want it to still be a beast of a machine in 5-6 years

2. Budget is ~2500-3000e (Already spent 800e on an RTX3080).

 

dont care about budget too much but if 10900k and 5900x are almost the same but 5900x is 200e more (due to low stock), then the 10900k seems the winner (although ill be looking at the 10850k now too and probably laughing at myself when I have the same question if the 5800x is worth 80e more than the 10850k  )

[timtimie]

5 minutes ago, gal-m said:

@timtimie 

Prices in Slovenia:

 

5900X: https://www.funtech.si/si/vsi-oddelki/komp/procesorji-cpu/amd-am4/ryzen/76490/

10850K: https://www.funtech.si/si/vsi-oddelki/komp/procesorji-cpu/intel-1200/core-i9/76105/

5800X: https://www.funtech.si/si/vsi-oddelki/komp/procesorji-cpu/amd-am4/ryzen/76488/

 

All in stock.

Ok then I think im gonna say YOLO and grab the 5900X from slovenia so long as they deliver to NL, thanks man

[gal-m]

4 minutes ago, timtimie said:

Budget is ~2500-3000e

Okay, so:

 

GPU: 880e

PSU: ~150e (RM850x, etc.)

Cooler: Preference? Let's say it's going to cost around 100e

Motherboard: let's say you're going to be spending around 250e on that

RAM: 32GB 3600Mhz - around 150-200e

Storage: Samsung 970 evo plus 2TB around 300e

Case: ~150e

--------------------------

CPU: leaves you a LOT of money for the cpu  

[timtimie]

1 minute ago, gal-m said:

Okay, so:

 

GPU: 880e

PSU: ~150e (RM850x, etc.)

Cooler: Preference? Let's say it's going to cost around 100e

Motherboard: let's say you're going to be spending around 250e on that

RAM: 32GB 3600Mhz - around 150-200e

Storage: Samsung 970 evo plus 2TB around 300e

Case: ~150e

--------------------------

CPU: leaves you a LOT of money for the cpu  

Oh yeah for sure, Im gonna spend this budget!! Like I say, build only once every 7-10 years but then build big.

 

Although I was looking closer to 150-200 on the cooler for the 10900k, with that TPD I wanted something beefier.

 

Still if you add up what you listed there you get 2030e, so with a CPU between 500-700e Im right in budget! 

To be fair I thought the GPU would cost over 1000e but got lucky on a business trip to Taiwan, they have them all in stock and no price gouging

[igormp]

30 minutes ago, timtimie said:

I was looking into this closely, with all the AMD news I was sure I would end up with and AMD build this time but it seems the scalpers have the price up so high that its taken the good out of the new AMD CPU's

At normal pricing, or at a small price difference, then surely AMD would be a better option, but paying 40% (87% when talking about the 8500k!) more for a small performance gain? that's hard to swallow.

[gal-m]

38 minutes ago, timtimie said:

I thought the GPU would cost over 1000e but got lucky on a business trip to Taiwan

That is indeed EXTREMELY lucky.

 

Listen @timtimie I've read a bit more through this thread and noticed you did some protein folding as well? Are you a bioinformatician by any chance?

[timtimie]

19 minutes ago, gal-m said:

That is indeed EXTREMELY lucky.

 

Listen @timtimie I've read a bit more through this thread and noticed you did some protein folding as well? Are you a bioinformatician by any chance?

Yeah but just for fun and left my pc running when I was away on trips since I payed a fixed electricity cost. Not in bioinformation tho, I never had the head for biology, I'm in semiconductors (photolitography)

[gal-m]

21 minutes ago, timtimie said:

I'm in semiconductors (photolitography)

That's awesome man!

 

I'm trying to get in bioinformatics next year

 

Either way, at a decent price, a 5900X is an AWESOME CPU.

[timtimie]

5 minutes ago, gal-m said:

That's awesome man!

 

I'm trying to get in bioinformatics next year

 

Either way, at a decent price, a 5900X is an AWESOME CPU.

I think im going for the 10850k in the end, its basically a much cheaper 10900k.

Good luck with bioinformatics man, that would be good fun to work in, check out ireland when your jobhunting, place is covered with pharmaceutical jobs