5900x or 12700kf I can't decide

[wildgg]

I was looking to buy a 12700kf and z690 motherboard(DDR4), but then AMD dropped their CPU prices and now i don't know which way to go.

I want to carry over my DDR4 32GB 3200Mhz ram kit and Noctua D15 cooler, both newer platforms need new cooler mounting hardware which is easy to get.
Currently running a 8700k but i'm looking for something with more cores, i've looked up many benchmarks and these 2 CPUs seem to be trading blows.
I Game casually at 1440p 
PSU is not an issue
I'm comfortable with overclocking on either platforms

Currently using sata SSD's 500/500 speeds

 

going with the AMD route i can spend 15euros more for a fast M.2 ssd over the Intel route

 

Intel 12700KF / MSI PRO Z690-P DDR4 For 610 euros
AMD 5900x / GIGABYTE X570S UD / SAMSUNG 980 500GB M.2 For 625 euros

If you guys could vote in the Poll that would be helpfull and if you have any other motherboard suggestions around the same price let me know which one and why!

Thx

[Origami Cactus]

As you said, the 2 are going head to head, but you can get a basically free 500GB m.2 with the ryzen build, I would go for that.

Ryzen also keeps your power bill way lower, and room cooler in the summer.

[Brooksie359]

I would personally go for ryzen as they can run just fine without windows 11 while with the 12th gen i7 you would want windows 11 to allow for proper scheduling but again windows 11 is a shit show atm and I would stay away from it as much as I could. 

[freeagent]

I would probably go with the 12th gen if I were building right now. As much as I like my 5900X.. 12th gen is faster.

[Paul17]

Are those 2 combos you have an option of buying or parts you just put together as a combo?   If you already had AMD parts - it would be a no brainer but Alder Lake is a bit faster - although, yes, AMD processors have gone down in price, making it a bit more difficult to decide between.   I think the Intel LGA 1700 motherboards are more recent - so, all (or most of) the M.2 slots are PCIe 4.0 x 4 (compared to AMD AM4 - you might get one PCIe 4.0 x 4 slot) and there's less M.2 slots on current AM4 boards - I think.  

So, it's not a big deal but it's still something.  

Imho, it's a coin flip.   There's adv/disadv. or pros/cons for either choice.  

[wildgg]

17 minutes ago, Paul17 said:

Are those 2 combos you have an option of buying or parts you just put together as a combo?   If you already had AMD parts - it would be a no brainer but Alder Lake is a bit faster - although, yes, AMD processors have gone down in price, making it a bit more difficult to decide between.   I think the Intel LGA 1700 motherboards are more recent - so, all (or most of) the M.2 slots are PCIe 4.0 x 4 (compared to AMD AM4 - you might get one PCIe 4.0 x 4 slot) and there's less M.2 slots on current AM4 boards - I think.  

So, it's not a big deal but it's still something.  

Imho, it's a coin flip.   There's adv/disadv. or pros/cons for either choice.  

I put these together as a combo my self, currently i'm on Z370 so i'll have to switch motherboard anyways.
I'm not to concerned about M.2 slots, althought the x570 has 3 regardles.

 

It's a coin flip indeed, but currently i'm leaning to AMD because the money i save on the cpu/mobo i can use for a nice M.2 ssd.
 

[KaitouX]

You didn't really mention what you do that would benefit from a CPU upgrade, but for most people the Intel option will be better, as it is similar in MT workloads while being faster in ST ones.

If you're willing to sacrifice OC on the Intel side, you can drop the CPU to the 12700F and save 50 EUR there, depending on the features you want/need from the MB you can also drop the motherboard to a B660 if you go with the 12700F. You can also drop the X570 board to a B550 one depending on the features you want/need if you decide to go with the 5900X.

OC probably isn't really worth on either CPUs, on Intel it's a bit better, but you still would be increasing the power consumption in 50%+ for a ~5% performance increase.

The 12700F uses about the same amount of power as the 5900X, while the 12700K uses ~30W more at stock, if you want to tweak for better efficiency, the 5900X is the better option, as it loses less performance when power limited below 100W.

[Paul17]

13 minutes ago, KaitouX said:

You didn't really mention what you do that would benefit from a CPU upgrade, but for most people the Intel option will be better, as it is similar in MT workloads while being faster in ST ones.

If you're willing to sacrifice OC on the Intel side, you can drop the CPU to the 12700F and save 50 EUR there, depending on the features you want/need from the MB you can also drop the motherboard to a B660 if you go with the 12700F. You can also drop the X570 board to a B550 one depending on the features you want/need if you decide to go with the 5900X.

OC probably isn't really worth on either CPUs, on Intel it's a bit better, but you still would be increasing the power consumption in 50%+ for a ~5% performance increase.

The 12700F uses about the same amount of power as the 5900X, while the 12700K uses ~30W more at stock, if you want to tweak for better efficiency, the 5900X is the better option, as it loses less performance when power limited below 100W.

Not sure - but, I think with the B550 - you lose some pcie lanes - if you have a lot of storage drives?  With Alderlake/1700 - if you go with Z690 - you don't have that issue.   Sounds like he's leaning AMD, anyway. 

[Alcarin]

I'd go with the 12700KF any day of the week. 12th gen is superior to Ryzen 5000 series as of now.

 

SSD's are cheap enough that you can probably buy a comparable 1TB drive a bit later on and slap it in. There's many other SSDs that are very comparable to the Samsung 980's out there, for a lot better of a price.

[Jeppes]

12700f with b660 or 5900X with b550. Overclocking not really worth the extra cost on 12th gen.

[Brooksie359]

3 hours ago, Alcarin said:

I'd go with the 12700KF any day of the week. 12th gen is superior to Ryzen 5000 series as of now.

 

SSD's are cheap enough that you can probably buy a comparable 1TB drive a bit later on and slap it in. There's many other SSDs that are very comparable to the Samsung 980's out there, for a lot better of a price.

Idk as far as I could tell based on benchmarks the 12700k wasn't significantly faster than ryzen 5000 especially when running on windows 10. The 5900x is a fantastic cpu regardless and is more cpu than most people need tbh. Personally I would save the money on the 5900x as again you are still getting top of the line cpu performance regardless. 

[Mister Woof]

12700KF will perform better most of the time, and since it's cheaper, it's the safe bet. You game casually and there's no other special system requirements that I see here, so it doesn't really matter tbh. Which is a win for "cheaper." If the SSD included is worth $15 then go for it.

[SirShanova]

You say you want more cores so maybe 5900X. The 12700F is better in single core performance, but if you do want more cores, it seems as if AMD would be better.

[Mister Woof]

4 minutes ago, SirShanova said:

You say you want more cores so maybe 5900X. The 12700F is better in single core performance, but if you do want more cores, it seems as if AMD would be better.

Unless you have a specific need for a number of cores (virtualization, etc) the cores in the 12700KF are just faster. It performs on par, despite only having 8 P-cores with HT, and 4 E-cores without.

 

 

OP: If you get the 500GB SSD for $15 more and it has value to you, the 5900x probably is more worthwhile, but personally I would not want to bother wasting a slot with a 500gb drive.

[wildgg]

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions.

I've been probably watching to many benchmarks/videos at this point but i pulled the trigger on the Intel CPU.
Mainly because it seems to edge out the 5900x by a little bit and I found a combo ''deal'' for the 12700KF and Gigabyte Z690 GAMING X DDR4 for 578euros.

I saw a few suggestions that i should go 12700/b660 and i fully understand that from a value standpoint but i do like to do some overclocking and tinker with hardware.

thx again