I7-9700k vs Ryzen 7 2700x

[Big Head Tech]

So here is the dealio despite having built 670 PC's to date, authoring a buying/building guide and have advised thousands of people, it is always tough to advise yourself.  My wife needs some overhauling done on her system.  We've made a few mistakes when Ryzen 1 came out and I am looking to rectifying them.  Below is her specs

 

AMD Ryzen 7 1700

NZXT X61 Cooler

Gigabyte AB350 Motherboard

2x8GB Gskill Aegis Memory @ 2133MHz (I forget if we ever set the speed or not)

EVGA GTX 1080 FTW

Crucial MX300 1TB SSD

Corsair 460x Case

4xSP120 Red LED Fans

EVGA G2 550W 80+ Gold PSU

 

Here is the problem.  Her monitor is an Acer 3440x1440 75Hz Freesync Ultrawide monitor, but the Ryzen 7 1700 at it's 3.0GHz base speed definitely is not helping her.  I also want to go RX Vega 64 to be able to push Freesync.  I currently have an Ryzen 7 2700x + RX Vega 64 myself.  I would stay with the 1080 but freesync makes a huge difference.  The question is, I feel that a Ryzen 7 2700x might be a good idea as it will cost quite a bit less and not really factor into the FPS.  There's no doubt an I7-9700k/I7-8700k game better and have better single threaded performance.  But from my testing outside of WoW/SC2 and 1080p 144Hz Gaming, the added performance is lost due to refresh rate limitations.

 

So with that said, given the bigger GPU bottleneck potential rather than CPU bottleneck, I am debating which route to go.  She plays most games that are cross platform with her Xbox, usually FPS and such.

[FadedCrown]

Are you willing to pony up some more cash for marginal performance gains? If not go AMD.

[FloRolf]

I highly doubt the switch from 1700 to 2700X will give you more than 3fps. 

 

You are better of with either a Vega card OR a Ryzen 2400G and use the freesync 'hack' but probably lose a few fps. 

[FadedCrown]

3 minutes ago, FloRolf said:

I highly doubt the switch from 1700 to 2700X will give you more than 3fps. 

 

You are better of with either a Vega card OR a Ryzen 2400G and use the freesync 'hack' but probably lose a few fps. 

He has a 1080 already, why would he use Vega 11.

[Sakkura]

Speaking as a 2700X owner: Just overclock the 1700. It is not a big difference. If you want to buy something to help out CPU performance, faster memory might be a better investment.

 

Or you could go Intel if you really must have that higher singlethreaded performance. But it shouldn't really be much of a difference on a 75Hz monitor, and it's a LOT of money when you also have to change motherboard.

[knightslugger]

1 minute ago, FadedCrown said:

He has a 1080 already, why would he use Vega 11.

you don't need to use the onboard GPU. you buy it for the CPU.

 

Considering you'd need a new MB to go with the 9700k CPU, you're talking a pretty HEFTY price tag. I'd just stuck with what you've got. 1440p gaming isn't bad on a 1700, just overclock it. you've got the cooler for it...

[FloRolf]

1 minute ago, FadedCrown said:

He has a 1080 already, why would he use Vega 11.

Vega 64. 

 

There's an "OR" in that sentence.

[FadedCrown]

1 minute ago, Sakkura said:

Speaking as a 2700X owner: Just overclock the 1700. It is not a big difference. If you want to buy something to help out CPU performance, faster memory might be a better investment.

 

Or you could go Intel if you really must have that higher singlethreaded performance. But it shouldn't really be much of a difference on a 75Hz monitor, and it's a LOT of money when you also have to change motherboard.

Yeah, OP we need an update on the speed of that RAM, 3000+ for Ryzen is good.

Edited October 17, 2018 by FadedCrown

[FadedCrown]

Just now, FloRolf said:

Vega 64. 

 

There's an "OR" in that sentence.

My bad, I misread.

[knightslugger]

2 minutes ago, FadedCrown said:

Yeah, OP we need an update on the speed of that RAM, 3000+ for Ryzen is good.

i have a SLIGHTLY overclocked 1700x, with RAM clocked at 3200MHz (it's actually Corsair 3466MHz ram, but there is no multi for that so i run what i can) and i'm REALLY happy with my gaming performance.

[Big Head Tech]

10 minutes ago, FadedCrown said:

Are you willing to pony up some more cash for marginal performance gains? If not go AMD.

We possibly are, haven't decided yet.  Will sell the older pieces to make up the difference.

10 minutes ago, FloRolf said:

I highly doubt the switch from 1700 to 2700X will give you more than 3fps. 

 

You are better of with either a Vega card OR a Ryzen 2400G and use the freesync 'hack' but probably lose a few fps. 

Well, precision boost 2.0 has worked wonders for me.  In games like WoW I am consistently at 4.1-4.2GHz.

5 minutes ago, FadedCrown said:

He has a 1080 already, why would he use Vega 11.

Indeed

4 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

Speaking as a 2700X owner: Just overclock the 1700. It is not a big difference. If you want to buy something to help out CPU performance, faster memory might be a better investment.

 

Or you could go Intel if you really must have that higher singlethreaded performance. But it shouldn't really be much of a difference on a 75Hz monitor, and it's a LOT of money when you also have to change motherboard.

Well, I did that and capped out around 3.7GHz 1.45V Core 1.2V SOC and it was not very stable.

4 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

you don't need to use the onboard GPU. you buy it for the CPU.

 

Considering you'd need a new MB to go with the 9700k CPU, you're talking a pretty HEFTY price tag. I'd just stuck with what you've got. 1440p gaming isn't bad on a 1700, just overclock it. you've got the cooler for it...

Well, I did that and capped out around 3.7GHz 1.45V Core 1.2V SOC and it was not very stable.  I kept getting yelled at for crashes and didn't want to go any higher on the volts.

4 minutes ago, FloRolf said:

Vega 64. 

 

There's an "OR" in that sentence.

 

3 minutes ago, FadedCrown said:

Yeah, OP we need an update on the speed of that RAM, 3000+ for Ryzen is good.

I think it's at 2933MHz atm

3 minutes ago, FadedCrown said:

My bad, I misread.

 

[knightslugger]

1 hour ago, Snaeb said:

I think it's at 2933MHz atm

considering there is no multi for 3000MHz on ryzen (i think, IIRC), that 67MHz you'll never notice or miss.

 

but a C14 timing from C16 or C18 would make a very noticeable improvement.

[Big Head Tech]

2 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

considering there is no multi for 3000MHz on ryzen (i think, IIRC), that 67MHz you'll never notice or miss.

 

but a C14 timing from C16 or C18 would make a very noticeable improvement.

CL16

[Cigano]

I personally thinks buying a different GPU just for free-sync is pretty crazy. I didn't even really notice not having free-sync when I changed gpu's. The 1080 will get more than 75hz anyways so it shouldn't matter at all