Most optimal CPU to go with 3070Ti

[theoflow]

Budget (including currency): $800

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: All Games, Adobe CC Suite

Other details Nvidia 3070Ti

 

Hi all,

 

I managed to get a 3070Ti right when it was announced at retail and plopped it into my rig running an Intel i5 8500. I didn't bother upgrading the other parts because I didn't want to pay for everything else during the supply shortages.

 

Now that things are normalizing, I could use some advice to upgrade the CPU/MoBo/RAM since I am assuming my performance is now CPU bound and want the best bang for the buck.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions/resources/links to point me in the direction of what new parts I should get so I can ensure performance is adequate to a 3070Ti? I can afford 12th Gen Intel or 6-series AMD but I feel that would be a waste on this system since I don't plan on upgrading the GPU in this rig anytime soon. My next upgrade will be an entire rig purchase so I'm not worried about "future proofing" a build or having any headroom to plop in another CPU/GPU.

 

I was thinking something Intel since it has some performance advantages with Adobe CC, but I haven't really paid enough attention to see if AMD nullified QuickSync. 

 

Looking forward to the suggestions

 

 

 

[Ryuikko]

AFAIK intel perfroms better than amd In Adobe unless it's the 5950x

I'd get a 12700f, a mobo like the Asus prime b660 plus, and the cheapest kit of 32gb ram.

Like this https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WsxprD

 

[PDifolco]

I'd say a 12600K if you plan for mostly gaming, but for Adobe a 12700 will be tad faster

 

[porina]

If we assume you just want a great gaming experience and not chasing ultimate fps, you don't really need much more CPU. 6c6t of current is on the low side so could hold back more demanding games. 

 

I'd consider the easy option first: what better CPUs does your mobo support, and how are they looking on the used market where you are? Keeping in mind you can sell the old CPU to help offset that. Moving to a 6c12t i7 of same gen would be a modest increase. Better 8c16t of the refresh gen (9900k?), but I doubt they'll be cheap enough that buying new CPU/mobo would start looking more attractive.

 

I'd target an 8c16t CPU in general for gaming, more to help the lows than the average fps. Comet Lake/Rocket Lake if you can find it used at good price could be interesting too, but they will need a mobo to go with them. Alder Lake should be good but consider you may need to move to Win11 if not already. AMD side 5800X is obvious choice to me. No need to go high end mobo since OC is pretty dead. Decent mid range board for any of these will suffice.

[theoflow]

31 minutes ago, Ryuikko said:

AFAIK intel perfroms better than amd In Adobe unless it's the 5950x

I'd get a 12700f, a mobo like the Asus prime b660 plus, and the cheapest kit of 32gb ram.

Like this https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WsxprD

 

I was thinking the same, but didn't necessarily want to go 12th gen if it didn't make an appreciable difference. But with Adobe might just have to bite the bullet and go this way.

[theoflow]

7 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

I'd say a 12600K if you plan for mostly gaming, but for Adobe a 12700 will be tad faster

 

Another vote for 12th Gen. Is there any links/resources for 12600 vs. 12700?

[PDifolco]

1 minute ago, theoflow said:

Another vote for 12th Gen. Is there any links/resources for 12600 vs. 12700?

Cinebench r23 scores are pretty representative : https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-list/cinebench-scores

Note that the 12600K can be overclocked (with good cooling and a Z690 board), but neither the 12700 nor 12700F

[theoflow]

5 minutes ago, porina said:

If we assume you just want a great gaming experience and not chasing ultimate fps, you don't really need much more CPU. 6c6t of current is on the low side so could hold back more demanding games. 

 

I'd consider the easy option first: what better CPUs does your mobo support, and how are they looking on the used market where you are? Keeping in mind you can sell the old CPU to help offset that. Moving to a 6c12t i7 of same gen would be a modest increase. Better 8c16t of the refresh gen (9900k?), but I doubt they'll be cheap enough that buying new CPU/mobo would start looking more attractive.

 

I'd target an 8c16t CPU in general for gaming, more to help the lows than the average fps. Comet Lake/Rocket Lake if you can find it used at good price could be interesting too, but they will need a mobo to go with them. Alder Lake should be good but consider you may need to move to Win11 if not already. AMD side 5800X is obvious choice to me. No need to go high end mobo since OC is pretty dead. Decent mid range board for any of these will suffice.

I don't plan on selling my older parts, figure I just give them to my nephews to tinker with. 

 

I'm apprehensive about getting used parts since it involves more research and like you said the cost might not be worth it.

 

As for MoBo, I 100% agree not needing the higher end of any platform. I'm not OCing, don't need Wi-Fi nor high speed LAN.

[theoflow]

5 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Cinebench r23 scores are pretty representative : https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-list/cinebench-scores

Note that the 12600K can be overclocked (with good cooling and a Z690 board), but neither the 12700 nor 12700F

Thanks for the follow up 

[porina]

2 minutes ago, theoflow said:

I don't plan on selling my older parts, figure I just give them to my nephews to tinker with. 

Ok, that changes things a bit since I was working on the assumption a quick upgrade to CPU only might be an easy path.

 

2 minutes ago, theoflow said:

As for MoBo, I 100% agree not needing the higher end of any platform. I'm not OCing, don't need Wi-Fi nor high speed LAN.

An Alder Lake CPU with some B660 chipset mobo is probably optimal then. Older gen CPUs sold new don't tend to drop much in price.