How the heck do i choose a cpu?

[MogMcPog]

I'm trying to build a pc (plus monitor and peripherals) that won't exceed my budget of £1900 and i'm not sure what cpu to get.

[Tan3l6]

https://linustechtips.com/forum/18-new-builds-and-planning/

[YoungBlade]

Given that both AMD and Intel are about to announce new CPUs, right now is not the best time to be buying, but if it helps, either company is offering solid performance at fairly reasonable prices right now.

 

What do you want to do with your computer?

[Tan3l6]

Yeah, AMD just announced Ryzen 7 5800X3D 

First "3d cache" CPU... might be worth waiting for benchmark results.

[HWythwew]

Id just wait untill intel amd and maybe nvidia release they're new cpu and graphics card

[Chris Pratt]

What types of things do you need it to do? Is it just for gaming, productivity, or both? What types of games? What types of applications? 

[Mister Woof]

If it IS just for gaming, acquire a GPU first.

Then come back and figure out which CPU to use with it.

 

Maybe by the time you find one, the new CPUs will be out anyway.

[Heliian]

4 minutes ago, HWythwew said:

Id just wait untill intel amd and maybe nvidia release they're new cpu and graphics card

Don't wait, just buy something in your budget.  

 

There is nothing wrong with any of the current or even last Gen components.

 

The gpu shortage has made getting one impossible, so waiting won't help either.  

 

Monitors aren't cheap either. 

 

[MogMcPog]

28 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

Given that both AMD and Intel are about to announce new CPUs, right now is not the best time to be buying, but if it helps, either company is offering solid performance at fairly reasonable prices right now.

 

What do you want to do with your computer?

I mostly want to game on it and maybe some light editing and possibly streaming

[MogMcPog]

16 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

If it IS just for gaming, acquire a GPU first.

Then come back and figure out which CPU to use with it.

 

Maybe by the time you find one, the new CPUs will be out anyway.

Ok i was thinking something between an rtx 3070 and 3080 but prices are too high rn for me to buy anything without compensating with cheaper components elsewhere. Thanks for the advice i will keep that in mind.

[YoungBlade]

1 hour ago, MogMcPog said:

I mostly want to game on it and maybe some light editing and possibly streaming

That sounds like a good use case for a 12600K from Intel. You could also consider a 12700K or 5800X/5900X from AMD. If you need more room in the budget to compensate for the insane GPU pricing, the upcoming i5 12400 is probably the way to, or a previous generation i5 10400/11400 or i7 10700/11700 could make sense. All of this depends on the pricing at the time, which has unfortunately been a bit volatile.

[MogMcPog]

14 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

That sounds like a good use case for a 12600K from Intel. You could also consider a 12700K or 5800X/5900X from AMD. If you need more room in the budget to compensate for the insane GPU pricing, the upcoming i5 12400 is probably the way to, or a previous generation i5 10400/11400 or i7 10700/11700 could make sense. All of this depends on the pricing at the time, which has unfortunately been a bit volatile.

Thanks, i will probably go with the i7 12700k just to make sure my build is a bit more future proof.

[Chris Pratt]

1 hour ago, MogMcPog said:

I mostly want to game on it and maybe some light editing and possibly streaming

For gaming alone, you'll be fine with most any 4-6 core CPU. If the particular game is CPU heavy or an eSports title or something you're going to be pushing at an exceptionally high frame rate with, you'll want something more top of the line. Not necessarily more cores, but 11th/12th gen Intel or Ryzen 5000 series.

 

[MogMcPog]

1 hour ago, Chris Pratt said:

For gaming alone, you'll be fine with most any 4-6 core CPU. If the particular game is CPU heavy or an eSports title or something you're going to be pushing at an exceptionally high frame rate with, you'll want something more top of the line. Not necessarily more cores, but 11th/12th gen Intel or Ryzen 5000 series.

 

Ok i'll keep that in mind, do you think that i should save a bit more and go with a ryzen 7 3800x?

[YoungBlade]

29 minutes ago, MogMcPog said:

Ok i'll keep that in mind, do you think that i should save a bit more and go with a ryzen 7 3800x?

If the 3800X is more expensive than a 12700K, don't touch it. The 5800X isn't even as good as the 12700K, let alone the 3800X.

[MogMcPog]

1 hour ago, YoungBlade said:

If the 3800X is more expensive than a 12700K, don't touch it. The 5800X isn't even as good as the 12700K, let alone the 3800X.

It's slightly cheaper in uk but i'll stick with the 12700k since thats a more future proof option.

[Chris Pratt]

3 hours ago, MogMcPog said:

Ok i'll keep that in mind, do you think that i should save a bit more and go with a ryzen 7 3800x?

Was that supposed to be "5800X"? If you literally meant 3800X, then no. I wouldn't get that particular chip at all. If 5800X, perhaps. The extra cores may come in handy if you eventually need to do heavier productivity workloads, or for things like streaming. It's not strictly necessary for what you're going to be doing with it, though.