Question CPU upgrade - new build

[marika1234]

I'm planning to upgrade my CPU as now my system is struggling, and as GPU prices are going down want to pair it with a 3080 later

Current setup is: i5 - 8400, B360M PRO MB, 16gb 3200 (2x8), 2060 6gb

I was looking into 12600k but with the expensive MOBO its just too much.

Currently I'm looking to buy a 12400 and interested in the DDR5 vs DDR4, and what MOBO to buy for it (Z type or the 660 is enough)
Also 16gb or 32gb ram is a must?

MW2, Warzone, OW2 etc. are the targets and some future AAA titles. I play in 1080p so 4k is not an interest

Thanks!

 

[Lafong]

I'm planning to upgrade my CPU as now my system is struggling, and as GPU prices are going down want to pair it with a 3080 later

Current setup is: i5 - 8400, B360M PRO MB, 16gb 3200 (2x8), 2060 6gb

I was looking into 12600k but with the expensive MOBO its just too much.

Currently I'm looking to buy a 12400 and interested in the DDR5 vs DDR4, and what MOBO to buy for it (Z type or the 660 is enough)
Also 16gb or 32gb ram is a must?

MW2, Warzone, OW2 etc. are the targets and some future AAA titles. I play in 1080p so 4k is not an interest

Thanks!

Standard advice is B660 is fine if not overclocking unless you have some unusual need for Z690 features. Possible but not probable.

Maybe even micro ATX rather than full ATX.

RAM: I guess it's budget driven.....do you spend the last 75 bucks on 32 rather than 16, or is that 75 better spent on another component? Judgement call. Do you suffer from RAM envy? Do you lay awake at night worrying about RAM? If yes to either, probably 32.

I'd go for 12600K/16 RAM rather than 12400/32 RAM. Every time. I'd guess you could concoct a use scenario where the latter would be better. Not sure what the price differential on those 2 combos might be in your neighborhood.

 

[geofelt]

What is your budget?
Do you play multiplayer with many participants?
Your i5-8400 has 6 processing threads. Multiplayer likes many threads.
Single player games will not usually make effective use of more than 6-8 threads.
The passmark rating of your I5-8400 is 9210. That is when all 6 threads are 100% busy. Of more importance for gaming is the single thread rating of 2410.
Run the cpu-Z bench on your 8400.
You should get a number around 451.
Here is what other processors can do:
http://valid.x86.fr/bench/0gt9vb/1
The 12400 with 12 threads is an excellent choice.
I suggest 12400, not 12400F. The extra $25 or so for integrated graphics is cheap insurance for graphics issues.
12400 will come with a better stock cooler that will do the job up to a point.
I would consider a better cooler to reduce noise under load, and to make it easier to reach higher turbo levels.
Be aware that lga1700 cooler mounting is different.

Today, DDR4 performs about the same as DDR5 and is less expensive.
I would buy a B660 MATX DDR4 motherboard and plan on reusing your 16gb of ddr4 ram.
Ram speed means little for Intel.
Unless you are multitasking while gaming, 16gb is usually plenty.
You will at least see how you do.
Ram can always be upgraded to 32gb later.

At 1080P I suspect your 2060 6gb may well be sufficient.

 

[sizzling]

I'm planning to upgrade my CPU as now my system is struggling, and as GPU prices are going down want to pair it with a 3080 later

Current setup is: i5 - 8400, B360M PRO MB, 16gb 3200 (2x8), 2060 6gb

I was looking into 12600k but with the expensive MOBO its just too much.

Currently I'm looking to buy a 12400 and interested in the DDR5 vs DDR4, and what MOBO to buy for it (Z type or the 660 is enough)
Also 16gb or 32gb ram is a must?

MW2, Warzone, OW2 etc. are the targets and some future AAA titles. I play in 1080p so 4k is not an interest

Thanks!

Why a 3080 if planning to game at 1080p? The 3080 is better suited to 1440p and above, very few games will be able to fully utilise a 3080 at 1080p.

 

[marika1234]

Why a 3080 if planning to game at 1080p? The 3080 is better suited to 1440p and above, very few games will be able to fully utilise a 3080 at 1080p.

Hi!

Currently my 2060 seems to struggle as it is constantly at 100% usage, and I have big FPS drops in multi. (might be a CPU bottleneck as well)
For most upcoming games mentioned in my description a 8gb GPU is already recommended at least

 

[marika1234]

Standard advice is B660 is fine if not overclocking unless you have some unusual need for Z690 features. Possible but not probable.

Maybe even micro ATX rather than full ATX.

RAM: I guess it's budget driven.....do you spend the last 75 bucks on 32 rather than 16, or is that 75 better spent on another component? Judgement call. Do you suffer from RAM envy? Do you lay awake at night worrying about RAM? If yes to either, probably 32.

I'd go for 12600K/16 RAM rather than 12400/32 RAM. Every time. I'd guess you could concoct a use scenario where the latter would be better. Not sure what the price differential on those 2 combos might be in your neighborhood.

Thank you!

Well TBH if I consider the full setup for a 12600k I am close to 1,7x the budget of the 12400 build as I see currently, and not sure if it brings that much more to the table.
It comes with stock cooler and my current RAM is okay for it, so I can always chip in a little extra than go for the GPU which is also a massive upgrade

 

[marika1234]

What is your budget?
Do you play multiplayer with many participants?
Your i5-8400 has 6 processing threads. Multiplayer likes many threads.
Single player games will not usually make effective use of more than 6-8 threads.
The passmark rating of your I5-8400 is 9210. That is when all 6 threads are 100% busy. Of more importance for gaming is the single thread rating of 2410.
Run the cpu-Z bench on your 8400.
You should get a number around 451.
Here is what other processors can do:
http://valid.x86.fr/bench/0gt9vb/1
The 12400 with 12 threads is an excellent choice.
I suggest 12400, not 12400F. The extra $25 or so for integrated graphics is cheap insurance for graphics issues.
12400 will come with a better stock cooler that will do the job up to a point.
I would consider a better cooler to reduce noise under load, and to make it easier to reach higher turbo levels.
Be aware that lga1700 cooler mounting is different.

Today, DDR4 performs about the same as DDR5 and is less expensive.
I would buy a B660 MATX DDR4 motherboard and plan on reusing your 16gb of ddr4 ram.
Ram speed means little for Intel.
Unless you are multitasking while gaming, 16gb is usually plenty.
You will at least see how you do.
Ram can always be upgraded to 32gb later.

At 1080P I suspect your 2060 6gb may well be sufficient.

Thank you!

Yes I play mostly multiplayer and my PC struggles quite a bit.
Going with your suggestion I might just buy it, and later replace stock cooler (need a strong one, dont mind noise as I play with headset) and buy a new set of RAM as well.

After the CPU is upped I will see about my little 2060 as it seems to be burdened quite a lot