cpu help Need help figuring out CPU!

[CookieTheMonsta]

Hello everybody. I need your help on what to do. My current build is i5 2500 (non K version), 8 GB DDR3, GTX 680, 650W 80+ bronze, Samsung EVO 850 500 GB.

Most of the time I play games ( Rocket league, Fortnite, some newer AAA games that I can run), do some programming (unity, android studio, visual studio). But usually what I like to do is run a twitch stream on the secondary monitor, and play games or do work on the primary. Now I haven't followed lastest that AMD or Intel has to offer since I didn't want to upgrade, but lately, I've felt slight hiccups and slowness. I still prefer Intel and would like to stay on it, but if you can convince me otherwise, I'm willing to listen. 

What I'm looking for is around i5 8500 budget for a CPU. The problem is I don't know if it's worth getting i5 8500 or should I get something else like older 6000,7000 series, or wait maybe for 9000 series!? Also, I'm not sure if I should look for more cores or better clock speed with fewer cores for what I do. I haven't done any overclocking in my life, and I'll do it if I have to, so overclocking is not something new CPU has to have.

 I don't have to buy anything right now, I'm not in the hurry. If I missed some info, please tell me, I'll answer. 

[EnergyEclipse]

26 minutes ago, CookieTheMonsta said:

-snip-

Hello!
What is your budget for your upgrade?

 

You also have to consider that if you only want a new CPU, that might mean new RAM, and a new motherboard. 

 

You report that you are getting hiccups and slowness, I'd likely blame that to you having two HDDs rather than SSDs - so you might not really need to get a new CPU at all, just upgrade to quicker storage. 

(If I am not mistaken you have 3 drives, "Storage: WD Blue 500 GB, WD Black 1 TB & a Samsung EVO 850 500 GB" - but if your operating system is on a HDD, things will slow down overtime with use and installing ect)

[jiyeon]

6 minutes ago, CookieTheMonsta said:

What I'm looking for is around i5 8500 budget for a CPU. The problem is I don't know if it's worth getting i5 8500 or should I get something else like older 6000,7000 series, or wait maybe for 9000 series!? Also, I'm not sure if I should look for more cores or better clock speed with fewer cores for what I do.

You'd be a fool to get anything other than 8000 series when the core counts are what they are on it. 9000 series is hardly an upgrade.

 

Regarding more cores versus better clock speeds, it depends on your case usage. I'll list some reasons you'd want to choose one CPU over the other

Intel i5-8500:

• Higher single-core performance ie higher core clock speed - good for gaming

• Your preference for Intel

• Path to go to the 8700K, the greatest gaming CPU ever

 

Ryzen CPU:
• More cores dependent on CPU - good for streaming and multitasking
• Cheaper pricepoint

• Futureproofing to future Ryzen CPUs

[Eastman51]

15 minutes ago, CookieTheMonsta said:

Most of the time I play games ( Rocket league, Fortnite, some newer AAA games that I can run), do some programming (unity, android studio, visual studio). I still prefer Intel and would like to stay on it, but if you can convince me otherwise, I'm willing to listen. 

I used to be an Intel fanboy, but with my i5 falling behind and needing to get on the DDR4 train; I switched to Ryzen. 

Intel builds are more expensive right now. And thats even more apparent if you want the upper tier i5s or the i7s. Ryzen builds are cheap, especially if you get the Ryzen 5 2600 (which when OC'ed is equal to or better than an i5-8400 in gaming). 

 

Since you like to watch streams while you game, and like to program; I recommend getting a Ryzen 5 2600(x) or a Ryzen 7 1700x (or 1800x). They're priced pretty good right now, and the only big cost is RAM. 

[CookieTheMonsta]

@EnergyEclipse I listed that I have an SSD and everything from OS, to programmes and games that I play are on it, so I doubt it's connected to storage. And yes I know it means getting new motherboard and Ram, I'm prepared for that.

 

@seoz thanks man

@Eastman51 I know Intel is more expensive, always has been, but I'm not that big of an heavy user that I would need high end CPU, hence me looking at i5 8500. I'm still not sure about ryzen, since I've been looking around and seen that it's worse in games. Does it really do that much better for programming and multitasking? 

 

[Firewrath9]

i5-8400 is better value, the x500 were for last gens. now the best value is x400.

ryzen isn't bad for gaming as you can overclock and it saves money by having a decent air cooler, a 8400+aftermarket cooler will not beat a 2600X overclocked.

If you are just gaming, a i3-8100 or 8350k with a good cooler are pretty good.

if you want to keep your ram, mabye look at used i7-4770k or 4790ketc.

[Eastman51]

2 minutes ago, CookieTheMonsta said:

@Eastman51 I know Intel is more expensive, always has been, but I'm not that big of an heavy user that I would need high end CPU, hence me looking at i5 8500. I'm still not sure about ryzen, since I've been looking around and seen that it's worse in games. Does it really do that much better for programming and multitasking? 

Ryzen is far and away better at multitasking. Programming it probably wouldn't matter much. With Ryzen you get more cores, especially with Ryzen 7. 

Ryzen at stock clocks IS worse at gaming, but they are all unlocked and kind of meant to by OC'ed. Again, an OC 2600 is equivalent to an i5-8400

[jiyeon]

3 minutes ago, CookieTheMonsta said:

I'm still not sure about ryzen, since I've been looking around and seen that it's worse in games. Does it really do that much better for programming and multitasking?

It's worse in games because core clock speed counts more generally in games. But with Coffee Lake, and six cores being the norm for the i5 now, it's a weighted competition. Look up some performance differences to see for yourself which would be a better option.

 

I tried streaming on my 8600K once to Twitch 1080p 60FPS playing Rocket League on max settings, it handled it like a boss. OBS, Rocket League, and Chrome open simultaneously and not a single hiccup ever. Six-core Intel CPUs are the future and the future is now.

 

With all that being said, Ryzen 7 is an exceptionally good choice for multitasking in particular.

[CookieTheMonsta]

Thank you all for helping me decide. I realize that Ryzen is far better at multitasking, but I don't want to buy better board and cooler just so I can overclock and have on par gaming performance as Intel. I guess I'll go with Intel 8500, just because it's 5 dollars more expensive than i5 8400.