Question CPU upgrade for gaming ryzen 5 2600 vs i5 8400

marika1234

Honorable
Dec 19, 2016
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10,510
Hey guys!

Im looking to upgrade my pc to one of the following options (or to an even better suggestion) but some info beforehand:

  • I only game on the pc
  • got 144hz monitor and mostly play OW and dota2, but would like to play some upcoming AAA titles
  • my GPU is a rx480 4gb, the next step will be upgrading that also

so option 1: i5 8400 with some b360 motherboard and 16gb ddr4 2666 ram (I think it cant use more mhz?)

option2: ryzen 5 2600 with b450 tomahawk and 16 gb 3000mhz cl15 or cl16


Which option is solely better for gaming?

Thanks for your input in advance!
 
2600 is a lot more future proof, as you got 6c and 12 threads. Software only advances, so you effectively have twice the processing power than 8400. More cores/threads = more future proof, as nowadays 4 core machines are struggling a bit
CL15 3000 is as good as CL16 3200
AMD all the way, since by the end of t his year, INTEL will be changing motherboards... again!
 

marika1234

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Dec 19, 2016
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2600 is a lot more future proof, as you got 6c and 12 threads. Software only advances, so you effectively have twice the processing power than 8400. More cores/threads = more future proof, as nowadays 4 core machines are struggling a bit
CL15 3000 is as good as CL16 3200
AMD all the way, since by the end of t his year, INTEL will be changing motherboards... again!

Isnt 8400 6 cores?
So its more future proof thats a good thing, but is it just plain better or it WILL be better with more hardware upgrades in the future?
 
If you get the AMD Ryzen R5 2600 you will be able to upgrade later to the AMD 3000 series when you feel you need to or when prices are low. The 3000 series is rumored to be launched in June with limited availability in July of 2019 but the 2600 will be a useful processor for quite a while and an upgrade to the 3000 series will not be needed right away.

With the Intel i5-8400 there are very few meaningful upgrade options and availability of new parts maybe more limited when you go to upgrade in a few years.
 

marika1234

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Dec 19, 2016
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If you get the AMD Ryzen R5 2600 you will be able to upgrade later to the AMD 3000 series when you feel you need to or when prices are low. The 3000 series is rumored to be launched in June with limited availability in July of 2019 but the 2600 will be a useful processor for quite a while and an upgrade to the 3000 series will not be needed right away.

With the Intel i5-8400 there are very few meaningful upgrade options and availability of new parts maybe more limited when you go to upgrade in a few years.

What is the difference in upgrade path? I mean usually if I upgrade CPU I'll most likely have to upgrade mobo too, or maybe ram also?
I'm kinda leaning towards i5 a little atm
 
The Intel 9400F would be less expensive than the 8400 and better than both the 8400 and Ryzen 5 2600. This would be nice MB with it, though we could go less expensive:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($169.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty B360 Gaming K4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($115.51 @ OutletPC)
Total: $285.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-08 16:38 EDT-0400


YOu would have to make sure the board has been flashed with the most current bios to use 9th gen Intel chips.
 
What is the difference in upgrade path? I mean usually if I upgrade CPU I'll most likely have to upgrade mobo too, or maybe ram also?
I'm kinda leaning towards i5 a little atm

To upgrade the AMD system you would not need new RAM or a Motherboard, they would be optional.
To upgrade from the Intel system you would be able to keep your RAM most likely but you would need to upgrade your motherboard.
 

M.AGamer

Reputable
Feb 19, 2019
387
33
4,740
Hey guys!

Im looking to upgrade my pc to one of the following options (or to an even better suggestion) but some info beforehand:

  • I only game on the pc
  • got 144hz monitor and mostly play OW and dota2, but would like to play some upcoming AAA titles
  • my GPU is a rx480 4gb, the next step will be upgrading that also
so option 1: i5 8400 with some b360 motherboard and 16gb ddr4 2666 ram (I think it cant use more mhz?)

option2: ryzen 5 2600 with b450 tomahawk and 16 gb 3000mhz cl15 or cl16


Which option is solely better for gaming?

Thanks for your input in advance!
i think you will get the same preformance because rx 480 isn't that strong so both cpu can handle it (i mean you will get full preformance from the gpu) maybe intel is 5% faster go with ryzen unless you will upgrade to a strong gpu like (rtx 2060 and better) go with intel +ryzen got more future proof you can upgrade to next generation with the same board until 2021 intel not
 

boju

Titan
Ambassador
Op is planning on upgrading gpu and wants 150fps+.

Before spending money on intel, do a lot of research on the relationship between cpu, gpu and frame rates so you're best informed which cpu to go for.

The misconception around how cpu/gpu handle resolution workloads is slowly going away. It's not about offloading work to one component to another depending on resolution. Cpu sets the fps cap, if running say 720p, will the cpu be able to prepare the gpu ie 300fps without struggling? 4k, a resolution that puts a gpu through the ringer, fps output generally isn't as high so this gives the impression cpu is doing less work. It is in a way because cpu isn't pre-rendering so much but this will eventually change when gpus are able to drive 4k over 120fps and 8k will probably continue this nonsense argument higher resolutions offload cpu work.

With your fps endeavour (150+), i wouldn't spend any money on an 8400/9400 right upto 9600k for either 1080p or 1440p.

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/7vwuwo/8600k_100_cpu_usage_while_gaming_please_help/


If want to go Intel and avoid potential 100% cpu usage problems and stutters at these fps levels then 9700k is a better pick for it's stronger IPC or 8700k for the extra threads. Then theres the 9900k.

Ryzen's 3rd gen IPC (instructions per clock) is also rumoured to be majorly improved and with this allows for higher frame preparation along with enough resources left for other game physic calculations, similar or better to 9900k. Ryzen 2nd gen (2600/2700x) are decent too but IPC is slightly weaker vs 9600k so 5~10fps less but both Ryzen's won't hit a cpu usage wall.

If budget and performance is a priority go Ryzen.

Keep in mind, not all games will run high cpu usages due to frame rates. It depends how cpu intensive, how involved Ai/physics/multiplayer a game is where too high fps can cause problems if cpu isn't able to cope.
 
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