CPU upgrade: Intel i5 or Ryzen 5/7?

[user700]

I have been thinking about putting together a build for my son to play Fortnite but then I thought maybe I could use the opportunity to upgrade my pc and give my son the parts I replace. I am happy with my GTX1070 but my cpu would be the next thing to upgrade (even though it is running ok). I need some guidance please as to what cpu would be best for my needs.

My current pc specs:

Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 3.40GHz Kaby Lake 14nm
Motherboard: ASUS STRIX B250F GAMING ATX (LGA1151)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400
Graphics: GeForce GTX 1070 Strix
Power Supply:EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G2, 80+ GOLD 650
Monitor: Acer KG271Ub 27-inch WQHD

My main use is gaming (pubg/Witcher3/Battlefield 1/Fallout4/Doom), browsing,  emails etc but I occasionally do some video editing and in the past I have noticed performance issues trying to multi-task when editing. I have a 1440 monitor so most/all games are played at that resolution.

There are a few options (too many, which is why I am here!):

Option 1-

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor £160.00
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370P D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard £85.98
Total: £245.98

Would I see much of an improvement over my current cpu?

Option 2 -

Intel Core i5 8600K
CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor £218.79
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler £19.99
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 TOMAHAWK ATX LGA1151 Motherboard £136.79
Total: £375.57

I currently have 16gb 2400mhz ram in my system if I upgrade to any of the above Intel cpu's would I see much benefit upgrading to higher mhz ram? I may also need to upgrade to 32gb in the near future, do any of you notice current games tipping usage near or over 16gb?

I have been aiming at Intel as that is what I have always used but after reading a number of articles whilst researching this upgrade I have noticed there are a lot of good Ryzen options. It seems that Intel are always (slightly) better than their Ryzen counterpart at gaming and single core use which is my main requirement, but it was also stated that when playing at 1440 or more GPU intensive games the difference between Intel and AMD is minimal.

I am not sure what ATX motherboards are best suited to Ryzen, any suggestions? B350?

Here are the current prices on the Ryzen CPU's I am looking at:

Ryzen 5 1600 £144
Ryzen 5 1600x £145 (similar performance to i5-8400?)
Ryzen 5 2600 £153
Ryzen 5 2600x £189 (similar price & performance to i5-8400?)
Ryzen 7 1800x £222 (similar price & performance to i7-8600K?)
Ryzen 7 2700 £249
Ryzen 7 2700x £274 (similar performance to i7-8700K?)

I have done some overclocking in the past on my GTX1070 so I don't mind getting the non X variant but would probably go for the X variant if like on the 1600/x the price is the same.
Do all the Ryzen non X variants require a better cooler than the one supplied?

I assume buying the 2nd Gen Ryzen CPU 2600/2700 would provide better future proofing than the 1600/1800 cpu? Are there any other disadvantages?

Sorry for the long post!

 

[captaincharisma]

it's all about preference and price now. when ryzen 2 came out intel CPU's don't have that much of and edge anymore when it comes to gaming. between the if your only options are between an 8th gen intel i5/i7 and a 1st gen ryzen 5/7 then intel would be the way to go

 

[cryoburner]

Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 3.40GHz Kaby Lake 14nm

It sounds like that's the i5-7500? It's still a pretty good CPU, though it is only a quad-core, and processors with more cores/threads could help when video editing and multitasking. As for games, some will benefit a bit from having a processor with more than four threads, but nearly all games are still optimized to run well on quad-core processors.

Would I see much of an improvement over my current cpu?

Probably not that much in today's games, since again, most still won't make heavy use of much more than four threads. The per-core performance should be slightly faster, which could help a little, but in general, I suspect your 1070 will limit gaming performance more often at 1440p with high graphics settings in recent games. In terms of heavily multithreaded workloads, the i5-8400's 6 cores should perform relatively similar to an i7-7700's 4 hyperthreaded cores, and the 8600K would be roughly comparable to a 7700K. The K parts will be capable of overclocking for a bit more performance, but you probably won't manage much overclocking with only a 92mm tower cooler like that.

I currently have 16gb 2400mhz ram in my system if I upgrade to any of the above Intel cpu's would I see much benefit upgrading to higher mhz ram? I may also need to upgrade to 32gb in the near future, do any of you notice current games tipping usage near or over 16gb?

Games, definitely no. They're barely hitting 8GB at the moment, so it will probably be a few years before we start seeing them benefit from having more than 16GB. Any unused RAM will just be sitting there. 2400MHz should be fine too. Moving up to 3000+ shouldn't make much more than a 5% difference in CPU performance on Intel systems, though it can have more of an effect for Ryzen processors.

I have been aiming at Intel as that is what I have always used but after reading a number of articles whilst researching this upgrade I have noticed there are a lot of good Ryzen options. It seems that Intel are always (slightly) better than their Ryzen counterpart at gaming and single core use which is my main requirement, but it was also stated that when playing at 1440 or more GPU intensive games the difference between Intel and AMD is minimal.

Ryzen is good, offering additional cores/threads at any given price point, though their per-core performance is slightly behind that of Intel's processors, at least at the higher-end. The i5-7500 is more of a mid-range processor though, and is clocked a bit lower, so a 2600/2600X should still see slightly better performance in most games, and potentially even better performance as games slowly transition to utilizing more cores and threads. I wouldn't bother with the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzens though, as games are not likely to benefit from having that many cores any time soon, and it doesn't sound like you would be running heavily multithreaded workloads enough to utilize all those extra threads.

I am not sure what ATX motherboards are best suited to Ryzen, any suggestions? B350?

For the newest 2000-series processors, many first-gen Ryzen motherboards will require a BIOS update before the processor will work. To guarantee you get a motherboard that supports the processor, you might want to go with an X470 or B450 motherboard. B450 boards are just getting released right now though, so they might not be available where you are quite yet.

Do all the Ryzen non X variants require a better cooler than the one supplied?

In the case of first-gen Ryzen, the non-X variants actually came with decent coolers, while the X ones didn't come with any cooler, which seemed a bit backward. For the second generation, all Ryzen CPUs include coolers. The non-X ones come with weaker coolers though, while the X processors come with the better ones. You can technically overclock on the weaker coolers, but you might be running them to their limits, and you would likely be better off picking up a relatively cheap 120mm tower cooler for them.

I assume buying the 2nd Gen Ryzen CPU 2600/2700 would provide better future proofing than the 1600/1800 cpu? Are there any other disadvantages?

Performance is a bit higher than first gen, due to improvements in memory latency and higher clock rates. Not only do they clock higher, but their boost routines keep more cores at higher clocks simultaneously, especially on the X-parts, which arguably don't even need an overclock. The first gen processors are not too far behind, but the new ones are a bit more competitive with Intel's current offerings in terms of gaming performance.

 

[dontlistentome]

Assuming the video editing software you use will take advantage of more cores and threads, I'd go with a Ryzen 5 6 core/12 thread CPU. In most cases the limiting factor in gaming at 1440p is the videocard and you already have that taken care of with a 1070. So then non gaming use factors in, and yours, video editing, can use more cores and threads rather than faster single core performance.

 

[user700]

Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 3.40GHz Kaby Lake 14nm

It sounds like that's the i5-7500? It's still a pretty good CPU, though it is only a quad-core, and processors with more cores/threads could help when video editing and multitasking. As for games, some will benefit a bit from having a processor with more than four threads, but nearly all games are still optimized to run well on quad-core processors.

Would I see much of an improvement over my current cpu?

Probably not that much in today's games, since again, most still won't make heavy use of much more than four threads. The per-core performance should be slightly faster, which could help a little, but in general, I suspect your 1070 will limit gaming performance more often at 1440p with high graphics settings in recent games. In terms of heavily multithreaded workloads, the i5-8400's 6 cores should perform relatively similar to an i7-7700's 4 hyperthreaded cores, and the 8600K would be roughly comparable to a 7700K. The K parts will be capable of overclocking for a bit more performance, but you probably won't manage much overclocking with only a 92mm tower cooler like that.

I currently have 16gb 2400mhz ram in my system if I upgrade to any of the above Intel cpu's would I see much benefit upgrading to higher mhz ram? I may also need to upgrade to 32gb in the near future, do any of you notice current games tipping usage near or over 16gb?

Games, definitely no. They're barely hitting 8GB at the moment, so it will probably be a few years before we start seeing them benefit from having more than 16GB. Any unused RAM will just be sitting there. 2400MHz should be fine too. Moving up to 3000+ shouldn't make much more than a 5% difference in CPU performance on Intel systems, though it can have more of an effect for Ryzen processors.

I have been aiming at Intel as that is what I have always used but after reading a number of articles whilst researching this upgrade I have noticed there are a lot of good Ryzen options. It seems that Intel are always (slightly) better than their Ryzen counterpart at gaming and single core use which is my main requirement, but it was also stated that when playing at 1440 or more GPU intensive games the difference between Intel and AMD is minimal.

Ryzen is good, offering additional cores/threads at any given price point, though their per-core performance is slightly behind that of Intel's processors, at least at the higher-end. The i5-7500 is more of a mid-range processor though, and is clocked a bit lower, so a 2600/2600X should still see slightly better performance in most games, and potentially even better performance as games slowly transition to utilizing more cores and threads. I wouldn't bother with the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzens though, as games are not likely to benefit from having that many cores any time soon, and it doesn't sound like you would be running heavily multithreaded workloads enough to utilize all those extra threads.

I am not sure what ATX motherboards are best suited to Ryzen, any suggestions? B350?

For the newest 2000-series processors, many first-gen Ryzen motherboards will require a BIOS update before the processor will work. To guarantee you get a motherboard that supports the processor, you might want to go with an X470 or B450 motherboard. B450 boards are just getting released right now though, so they might not be available where you are quite yet.

Do all the Ryzen non X variants require a better cooler than the one supplied?

In the case of first-gen Ryzen, the non-X variants actually came with decent coolers, while the X ones didn't come with any cooler, which seemed a bit backward. For the second generation, all Ryzen CPUs include coolers. The non-X ones come with weaker coolers though, while the X processors come with the better ones. You can technically overclock on the weaker coolers, but you might be running them to their limits, and you would likely be better off picking up a relatively cheap 120mm tower cooler for them.

I assume buying the 2nd Gen Ryzen CPU 2600/2700 would provide better future proofing than the 1600/1800 cpu? Are there any other disadvantages?

Performance is a bit higher than first gen, due to improvements in memory latency and higher clock rates. Not only do they clock higher, but their boost routines keep more cores at higher clocks simultaneously, especially on the X-parts, which arguably don't even need an overclock. The first gen processors are not too far behind, but the new ones are a bit more competitive with Intel's current offerings in terms of gaming performance.

I wasn't expecting somebody to answer all the questions, bravo!

Sorry yes it is the i5 7500. As I said apart from the few issues when video editing I don't have any problems but I didn't like the idea of my son getting a new pc with a better cpu than me So I will look at getting something that will give me a slight boost in performance in games and a few more threads for multitasking and I am sure that as newer games come out they will make more use of more than 4 cores. I am aiming towards the i5 8400 but I will look again at the Ryzen options. Thanks for the advice on the motherboard, the B450 don't seem to readily available yet and the x470 aren't as cheap so I will put some parts together to help my decision.

I understand games don't use over 16gb of ram but with the system and other things running I am sure I've seen my ram usage get near 16gb.

So the best options seem to be either i5 8400 and a new motherboard but keeping my current ram and cooler or one of the 2nd gen Ryzen, new x470 motherboard, and having to buy higher speed ram. I will think it over thank you.

 

[captaincharisma]

Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 3.40GHz Kaby Lake 14nm

It sounds like that's the i5-7500? It's still a pretty good CPU, though it is only a quad-core, and processors with more cores/threads could help when video editing and multitasking. As for games, some will benefit a bit from having a processor with more than four threads, but nearly all games are still optimized to run well on quad-core processors.

Would I see much of an improvement over my current cpu?

Probably not that much in today's games, since again, most still won't make heavy use of much more than four threads. The per-core performance should be slightly faster, which could help a little, but in general, I suspect your 1070 will limit gaming performance more often at 1440p with high graphics settings in recent games. In terms of heavily multithreaded workloads, the i5-8400's 6 cores should perform relatively similar to an i7-7700's 4 hyperthreaded cores, and the 8600K would be roughly comparable to a 7700K. The K parts will be capable of overclocking for a bit more performance, but you probably won't manage much overclocking with only a 92mm tower cooler like that.

I currently have 16gb 2400mhz ram in my system if I upgrade to any of the above Intel cpu's would I see much benefit upgrading to higher mhz ram? I may also need to upgrade to 32gb in the near future, do any of you notice current games tipping usage near or over 16gb?

Games, definitely no. They're barely hitting 8GB at the moment, so it will probably be a few years before we start seeing them benefit from having more than 16GB. Any unused RAM will just be sitting there. 2400MHz should be fine too. Moving up to 3000+ shouldn't make much more than a 5% difference in CPU performance on Intel systems, though it can have more of an effect for Ryzen processors.

I have been aiming at Intel as that is what I have always used but after reading a number of articles whilst researching this upgrade I have noticed there are a lot of good Ryzen options. It seems that Intel are always (slightly) better than their Ryzen counterpart at gaming and single core use which is my main requirement, but it was also stated that when playing at 1440 or more GPU intensive games the difference between Intel and AMD is minimal.

Ryzen is good, offering additional cores/threads at any given price point, though their per-core performance is slightly behind that of Intel's processors, at least at the higher-end. The i5-7500 is more of a mid-range processor though, and is clocked a bit lower, so a 2600/2600X should still see slightly better performance in most games, and potentially even better performance as games slowly transition to utilizing more cores and threads. I wouldn't bother with the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzens though, as games are not likely to benefit from having that many cores any time soon, and it doesn't sound like you would be running heavily multithreaded workloads enough to utilize all those extra threads.

I am not sure what ATX motherboards are best suited to Ryzen, any suggestions? B350?

For the newest 2000-series processors, many first-gen Ryzen motherboards will require a BIOS update before the processor will work. To guarantee you get a motherboard that supports the processor, you might want to go with an X470 or B450 motherboard. B450 boards are just getting released right now though, so they might not be available where you are quite yet.

Do all the Ryzen non X variants require a better cooler than the one supplied?

In the case of first-gen Ryzen, the non-X variants actually came with decent coolers, while the X ones didn't come with any cooler, which seemed a bit backward. For the second generation, all Ryzen CPUs include coolers. The non-X ones come with weaker coolers though, while the X processors come with the better ones. You can technically overclock on the weaker coolers, but you might be running them to their limits, and you would likely be better off picking up a relatively cheap 120mm tower cooler for them.

I assume buying the 2nd Gen Ryzen CPU 2600/2700 would provide better future proofing than the 1600/1800 cpu? Are there any other disadvantages?

Performance is a bit higher than first gen, due to improvements in memory latency and higher clock rates. Not only do they clock higher, but their boost routines keep more cores at higher clocks simultaneously, especially on the X-parts, which arguably don't even need an overclock. The first gen processors are not too far behind, but the new ones are a bit more competitive with Intel's current offerings in terms of gaming performance.

I wasn't expecting somebody to answer all the questions, bravo!

Sorry yes it is the i5 7500. As I said apart from the few issues when video editing I don't have any problems but I didn't like the idea of my son getting a new pc with a better cpu than me So I will look at getting something that will give me a slight boost in performance in games and a few more threads for multitasking and I am sure that as newer games come out they will make more use of more than 4 cores. I am aiming towards the i5 8400 but I will look again at the Ryzen options. Thanks for the advice on the motherboard, the B450 don't seem to readily available yet and the x470 aren't as cheap so I will put some parts together to help my decision.

I understand games don't use over 16gb of ram but with the system and other things running I am sure I've seen my ram usage get near 16gb.

So the best options seem to be either i5 8400 and a new motherboard but keeping my current ram and cooler or one of the 2nd gen Ryzen, new x470 motherboard, and having to buy higher speed ram. I will think it over thank you.

when it comes to performance, on paper an upgrade to those CPU's would be a "slight" upgrade but in reality it would be more like a minuscule one.

 

[cryoburner]

I agree that for gaming, the performance upgrade would be quite minor in today's games. As I said above, almost all games are still designed to perform well on quad-cores, and a 7500 is arguably still "good enough" to keep up with a 1070 at 1440p.

However, if you were building a system for your son, and wished to move your existing hardware to that system, getting a 6-core processor for yourself might be a reasonable option, and might keep your system relevant longer.

 

[user700]

Thank you all for your help, I was planning to get the i5-8400 then I noticed the 8500 is only £2.50 more or the 8600 £16 more so I will probably go for one of those. I am not building this system for my son so I will check prices then.

My son will end up with the following system:

CPU - Intel - Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler - Deepcool - GAMMAXX 200T 54.2 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard - Asus - STRIX B250F GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Mass Storage - Western Digital - 1TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Video Card - Asus - GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card
Power Supply - XFX - TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Operating System - Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit

Memory - G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory £76.98
OS Storage - Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive £41.48
Wireless Network Adapter - TP-Link - TL-WN881ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter £11.99
Case - Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 5 ATX Mid Tower Case £40.82

Total (Not Yet Purchased): £171.27

And I will end up with the following upgrades:

CPU - Intel - Core i5-8500 3GHz 6-Core Processor £161.99
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler £25.98
Motherboard - Asus - ROG STRIX B360-F GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard £109.82

My Upgrades total £297.79

I also like the look of the CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler £34.99 and the Asus - TUF H370-Pro Gaming (WI-FI) £118

If I was to upgrade my system with Ryzen (1600 or 2600x) it would be more expensive as I would need to buy 16gb of 3200+ speed ram. If Ryzen was a decent amount cheaper then I would consider it but as my main use is gaming and it would probably cost me more I will stick with Intel.

 

[poopstains82]

i have to say ive had a few intel chips and ive switched over to AMD Ryzen series, which now i have 2 of there chips ..ill be getting another one again soon and i would say AMD is a lil better ..i have Ryzen 5 1600 and the Ryzen 7 2700x ..so ima get another 2700x ..AMD seems to be my better choice for an overall CPU ..but to each is own and its all bout preference ..

 

[user700]

I agree that for gaming, the performance upgrade would be quite minor in today's games. As I said above, almost all games are still designed to perform well on quad-cores, and a 7500 is arguably still "good enough" to keep up with a 1070 at 1440p.

However, if you were building a system for your son, and wished to move your existing hardware to that system, getting a 6-core processor for yourself might be a reasonable option, and might keep your system relevant longer.

Due to increase in intel prices since I posted this thread I have gone for a Ryzen build:


CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£170 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard (£116.59 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£117.59 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Kingston - A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£28.79 @ Aria PC)
Case: Phanteks - Eclipse P350X (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£63.50 @ CCL Computers)


The i5 8400 was £160 when I first priced the system it is now £200 and £30-40 more for the 8500/8600. So Ryzen was the way to go I think.


The only part I haven't bought yet is the motherboard, I am trying to choose between the three following B450 boards:

-MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 £90 but I can get another £10 off if I order from a Ebuyer
-Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 £118
-MSI - B450 GAMING PRO CARBON £125-130

I know the Pro Carbon is probably one of the best B450 boards and the Tomahawk is 'best bang for the buck', but is the pro carbon worth the extra £35-50?

I never plan on having a SLI setup and don't need loads of lanes for storage etc. Just a standard gaming rig with a 2x mechanical, 1x ssd, 1x m.2 hardrives. Paired with a Strix 1070 to play at 1440. I have the 2600x variant so might not need to overclock but will probably still play around with overclocking at some point (maybe when I get a better cooler down the line).

 

[cryoburner]

I think all those boards are pretty high-end as far as B450 goes. I'm not familiar enough with them to make a proper recommendation, but I believe the Carbon has integrated Wireless AC networking. That adds to the cost, which might be worth considering, depending on whether or not you intend to use a wired or wireless connection.