Haswell to Alder lake upgrade help

[Gingercan]

Budget (including currency): 4000-7000 SEK/ €400-700 (ideally at lower end but I can stretch)

Country: Sweden

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Studio one 3 Professional, Forza Horizon 5, Sea of Thieves, GTA V, CSGO, Valorant, Doom Eternal, Witcher 3. Gaming at 1440p144hz

Other details:

 

I'll be upgrading from the following rig. Parts I plan to keep are bolded. 

• MOBO: MSI B85M-E45
• RAM: Kingston DDR3 1600mHz
• CPU: Intel i7-4771
• Cooler: BeQuiet PureRock Slim 
• Storage: 3 x 1tb Samsung 870 EVO
• GPU: MSI Mech OC Radeon RX5700
• PSU: Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
• Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C

 

Naturally, I've been looking at the i5-12600 and i7-12700. I've decided against the K-versions as I'm not really interested in overclocking. Additionally, I'd have to buy an aftermarket cooler just to get the system up and running, which would hurt the value proposition considerably. Instead, I'll be using the included RM1-cooler until I can't stand the noise or if the thermals are unacceptable. At that point, more affordable coolers will be available for the 1700-socket. 

 

So here's the question: would the ~50% price increase from the 12600 to the 12700 be worth it? I'd like to be able to use the parts for at least 4-5 years with my current resolution and at least 100ish fps. These are my current options: 

 

 

 

I've already purchased the RAM. What would you do in my position? 

 

 

[RONOTHAN##]

Personally, I'd look at the 12600k. I get you're not overclocking, but with that chip you get 4 extra E-cores and no turbo timer. It should be right in the middle price wise, and performance wise probably better than the 12700 for gaming since it maintains higher clockspeeds for longer. Honestly, the -k variant of that chip should be the i6 or something, since it's got more cores than every other i5 yet not as much as the i7.

 

The thing I'd be concerned about for this build is the motherboard. ASUS's TUF series of boards on LGA 1700 so far has been way too expensive for what you get. At least in the US market (where I am, I don't know where you're looking at prices so I can't check for myself) the TUF board is within $20 of the MSI Z690-A Pro DDR4, a board that does everything that one does and a lot more. I'd either wait for other board manufacturers to release pricing for DDR4 B660 boards (the B660-A Pro DDR4 looks very promising if they price it right) or go for one of the boards from their prime lineup. Their prime boards like the H670-Plus D4 will have most of the same features as the TUF but won't step on the toes of good, low end Z690 boards. 

[Gingercan]

12 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Personally, I'd look at the 12600k. I get you're not overclocking, but with that chip you get 4 extra E-cores and no turbo timer. It should be right in the middle price wise, and performance wise probably better than the 12700 for gaming since it maintains higher clockspeeds for longer. Honestly, the -k variant of that chip should be the i6 or something, since it's got more cores than every other i5 yet not as much as the i7.

 

The thing I'd be concerned about for this build is the motherboard. ASUS's TUF series of boards on LGA 1700 so far has been way too expensive for what you get. At least in the US market (where I am, I don't know where you're looking at prices so I can't check for myself) the TUF board is within $20 of the MSI Z690-A Pro DDR4, a board that does everything that one does and a lot more. I'd either wait for other board manufacturers to release pricing for DDR4 B660 boards (the B660-A Pro DDR4 looks very promising if they price it right) or go for one of the boards from their prime lineup. Their prime boards like the H670-Plus D4 will have most of the same features as the TUF but won't step on the toes of good, low end Z690 boards. 

Hey thanks for the insight. Problem with the 12600k is that I'll need to get an aftermarket cooler for it, which will set me back another ~€100, seeing what's available right now (I'm looking at AIO solutions, as it's rated at 125w base). That would make it the same price as the 12700 with 2 cores fewer. 

 

I've also looked at the MSI board but problem is that it's an ATX board and my case only supports mATX. So that's my rationale for the (expensive) B660 linked above.

[RONOTHAN##]

6 minutes ago, Gingercan said:

I'm looking at AIO solutions, as it's rated at 125w base

Don't, cheap AIOs are usually more expensive than budget air coolers and perform worse. The Vetroo V5 should keep a 12600k cool and only costs $25 US (so whatever the conversion rate is). Either way it's way cheaper than even the cheapest AIOs. 

 

8 minutes ago, Gingercan said:

've also looked at the MSI board but problem is that it's an ATX board and my case only supports mATX. So that's my rationale for the (expensive) B660 linked above.

OK, that makes a bit more sense, but I'd still argue you should go for a cheaper B660 motherboard. The Prime B660M-Plus D4 is the much less expensive and has almost the exact same features, just looks a little more plain, and the Prime Z690M Plus D4 is also the same price as that B660 TUF board. 

 

Also I'm pretty sure MSI is coming out with an mATX B660 board, so it's probably worth waiting for and checking that out once it releases. 

[Gingercan]

3 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Don't, cheap AIOs are usually more expensive than budget air coolers and perform worse. The Vetroo V5 should keep a 12600k cool and only costs $25 US (so whatever the conversion rate is). Either way it's way cheaper than even the cheapest AIOs. 

Hmmm, all right. I just ruled air coolers out but I may need to reconsider. In that case, the 12600k may be a good shout, as you said. 

3 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

OK, that makes a bit more sense, but I'd still argue you should go for a cheaper B660 motherboard. The Prime B660M-Plus D4 is the much less expensive and has almost the exact same features, just looks a little more plain, and the Prime Z690M Plus D4 is also the same price as that B660 TUF board. 

So, regional pricing is a bit odd here and the Prime B660M-Plus D4 is basically the exact same as the TUF one I linked. But, your point still stands; there are much cheaper B660 options available here in Sweden so it may be worth it for me to save a few bucks there as well. 

 

5 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Also I'm pretty sure MSI is coming out with an mATX B660 board, so it's probably worth waiting for and checking that out once it releases. 

You cannot imagine how impatient I am at the moment.