What cpu to choose? i7 7700 vs ryzen 1600

[batmanisblue]

I am planning to get a new cpu and motherboard (some ddr 4 ram as well). My current cpu is fx 6300 and gpu is gtx 960. I am planning to get a 1080p 144 hz monitor, one of either benq xl2411 or lg 24gm79. I will be upgrading my gpu next year as well. 

 

I had decided to purchase a i7 7700 and a b250 mobo. It was simply a better deal than an i5 7600k. However, this got much more complex when I started considering ryzen. I've spent more than a week going back and forth between the i7 7700 and ryzen r5 1600. I want to purchase a cpu mainly for gaming and want one which is capable enough to not bottleneck gpus for the next 4-5 years, or in other words last a long time. My argument is that if a budget fx 6300 could last this long, an i7 surely can. 

 

I live in India. The following are links to the prices of the said processors and motherboards that I chose. 

 

• R5 1600 - Rs 16,300 = $ 253.05 (USD)
• R5 1600x - Rs 18,950 = $ 294.19
• R7 1700 - Rs 25,100 = $ 389.66
• i7 7700  - Rs.23,500 = $ 364.82
• i5 7600k - Rs 20,070 = $ 311.57
• b350  amd - Rs 8500 = $ 131.96
• b250 intel - Rs 7800 = $ 121.09
• z270 intel - Rs 11,520 = $ 178.840

 

 

 

The motherboards cost roughly the same. My budget is somewhat flexible but not flexible enough to fit an i7 7700k and I'd rather not spend more than I have to as I'm buying this for a college student. r5 1600 clears up room for additional stuff like ssd as well, but I'd like to emphasize that the processor is the priority here. 

 

 

 

Note on overclocking and why I didn't consider r5 1600x- I have no problems with overclocking and might as well do it if I can. I chose an i7 over an i5 because the i7 didn't need any overclocking to perform better than the i5. As far as aftermarket coolers are concerned, I already have a cooler master hyper 212x but I have no way of getting a compatible bracket for the am4 motherboards here in India. For this reason alone, I'm never going to purchase anything from cooler master again. This is why I didn't give much thought to the 1600x. It doesn't come with a cooler and I don't want to buy another. I was hoping to find some way of importing a stupid bracket from abroad in the future (please tell me if you know a way) or not deal with this complication entirely by getting the i7. I will only purchase a new cooler if it is absolutely worth it.

 

PS My psu is a Cooler Master Thunder 600w. Any suggestions regarding anything from ram recommendations to opinion on monitors (would free sync be worth it) are welcome. Please  don't hold back from what's in your mind. It might help me out. 

 

[The Sloth]

i would get the ryzen 1600, you can easily overclock it to 4.0 ghz. 

[mapegl]

I agree. I actually just had the same decision to make. I wanted more cores due to a shift in workload on my pc and thus wanted to upgrade to an i7. It was just a price to performance decision for me. Buy a 6 core + new mainboard or for the same price just an i7....obviously I already had the mainboard for the i7, but I sold that now so...yeah.

And you have to consider that the first few updates to the ryzen microcode actually had some significant impact on performance in games. So single core performance ia catching up a bit as well. In addition to that, game developers (at least some for the time being) are starting to optimize games for ryzen

 That shows us again: AMD ages well. 

[Mooshi]

8 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

i would get the ryzen 1600, you can easily overclock it to 4.0 ghz. 

It's not that simple. In theory you could reach anywhere with enough voltage. I say a more realistic everyday OC to reach for the majority is 3.7-3.8ghz with anything higher (with reasonable voltage) being a nicer piece of silicon.

[The Sloth]

Just now, Mooshi said:

It's not that simple. In theory you could reach anywhere with enough voltage. I say a more realistic everyday OC to reach for the majority is 3.7-3.8ghz with anything higher (with reasonable voltage) being a nicer piece of silicon.

6c/12t clocked 3.8ghz still would be nice. 

[Coaxialgamer]

definitely ryzen . No point in getting a 7700 . By going with that chip , you're effectively missing out on kaby lake's only real strength vs ryzen  : single core perf .

 

 

[RadiatingLight]

14 minutes ago, Mooshi said:

It's not that simple. In theory you could reach anywhere with enough voltage. I say a more realistic everyday OC to reach for the majority is 3.7-3.8ghz with anything higher (with reasonable voltage) being a nicer piece of silicon.

nah.

people get 3.8 on the stock cooler, but anything nicer than a stock cooler can get to 4.0

[ImNotThere]

If you can stretch the budget a bit more, fit the 1700 in, i have a 1600 but i wish i had saved for a 1700 now 

[Mooshi]

4 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

nah.

people get 3.8 on the stock cooler, but anything nicer than a stock cooler can get to 4.0

I used both stock and aftermarket, temps are not the issue. There is a limit to Ryzen where at some point you can only throw so much voltage for little gain in return.

 

Edit: Or more often how much higher the user wants to throw at the processor. Not a fan of 1.4v+ ocs lol

[batmanisblue]

The general consensus seems to be that ryzen 1600 is hands down better than the i7 7700, at least for my purposes. Thank you for clearing it out and thanks for the replies. Is there any benefit of getting a 1600x over 1600. In this case, I'll have to waste my money on a brand new cooler because I do not have any way of getting a am4 bracket for my Hyper 212x. I wouldn't overclock the CPU right off the bat.

41 minutes ago, mapegl said:

That shows us again: AMD ages well. 

How is the new ryzen working out for you?

 

22 minutes ago, ImNotThere said:

If you can stretch the budget a bit more, fit the 1700 in, i have a 1600 but i wish i had saved for a 1700 now 

Is the 1700 really that much better over 1600? How has your experience been so far?
 

Edit - Do you think that there will be any upgrade paths on the am4 motherboard? I have read all over the internet that amd is going to release compatible processors till 2020. Also, what motherboard do you suggest? Is the one I selected good enough?

Edited June 2, 2017 by batmanisblue

[jjohnthedon1]

1 hour ago, nerdslayer1 said:

i would get the ryzen 1600, you can easily overclock it to 4.0 ghz. 

Not easily at all 1.4v ish is required for 4ghz

[mapegl]

6 hours ago, batmanisblue said:

 

How is the new ryzen working out for you?

I haven't gotten it yet.  Sorry.  Buy I have put a lot of time into research.  Sure the 1700 odds better.  There is always a "better" cpu.100$ extra for the two extra cores isn't bad, but only if you need them. 

I can tell you more at the beginning of next week.  I hope I have my new system then. 

[batmanisblue]

15 hours ago, mapegl said:

I haven't gotten it yet.  Sorry.  Buy I have put a lot of time into research.  Sure the 1700 odds better.  There is always a "better" cpu.100$ extra for the two extra cores isn't bad, but only if you need them. 

I can tell you more at the beginning of next week.  I hope I have my new system then. 

 

Please post when you get your hands on it. I'm at the crossroads too. 

[mapegl]

10 hours ago, batmanisblue said:

 

Please post when you get your hands on it. I'm at the crossroads too. 

Sure thing. 

[mapegl]

On 3.6.2017 at 11:23 PM, batmanisblue said:

 

Please post when you get your hands on it. I'm at the crossroads too. 

Just fyi, I haven't forgotten you, but the first 1600 and mainboard combo I got was DOA.......well it didn't post.
A new motherboard and CPU will be here tomorrow and I will let you know how it "feels" to play on a ryzen system.

[mapegl]

On 3.6.2017 at 11:23 PM, batmanisblue said:

 

Please post when you get your hands on it. I'm at the crossroads too. 

Amazing performance. However, I can only compare with a 6600k with a hefty oc. I had some stutter every once in a while and now it is buttery smooth. 

So cool to see 12 threads in my overlay while gaming.  

[batmanisblue]

43 minutes ago, mapegl said:

Amazing performance. However, I can only compare with a 6600k with a hefty oc. I had some stutter every once in a while and now it is buttery smooth. 

So cool to see 12 threads in my overlay while gaming.  

Great man. Thanks for the update. I'll post my experience as well when I get my hands on the ryzen. I am aiming to get 144 fps with this processor and hope that it doesn't bottleneck the gpus in the coming generations.