Question Good price for performance for an i9 11900k

[ciprianburbulea]

I am starting a build real soon not for me and I was wondering whats a best performance for buck z590 mobo for an i9 11900k, it has to be an ATX board tho, i was looking at gigabyte aorus pro ax or msi z590 gaming edge, what are your thoughts?

 

[Aeacus]

Besides the two, here's a list (and reviews) of all Z590 chipset MoBos,
link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/16347/the-intel-z590-overview/57

Though, do note that price to performance ratio fluctuates constantly since MoBo prices change. And due to that, it's hard to say which Z590 ATX MoBo would be best, all things considered.

In one aspect, Asus Prime Z590-P would be the best budget MoBo. Has all it's needed, without flashy RGB and good price tag. On the other hand, Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero is the best Z590 chipset ATX MoBo out there (review). It has everything needed + then some. With only one con, and that is it's price.

But then again, premium components and features require premium price. Can't have good and cheap product all in one. If you want good and cheap MoBo, you have to buy two MoBos, the good one and the cheap one.

Personally, my choice would come down to between these three MSI MoBos (since i prefer MSI),
MSI comparison: https://www.msi.com/Motherboards/Pr...LUVER0UtV0lGSQ==,TVBHLVo1OTAtR0FNSU5HLVBMVVM=

All three look similar and have essentially same features. Still, the purchase price should tell which to go for. Oh, i don't need on-board wi-fi, hence why Gaming Plus is included.

 

[Why_Me]

I am starting a build real soon not for me and I was wondering whats a best performance for buck z590 mobo for an i9 11900k, it has to be an ATX board tho, i was looking at gigabyte aorus pro ax or msi z590 gaming edge, what are your thoughts?

Do you already own that cpu? If not I'd strongly suggest an Intel 12 gen board + cpu.

 

[geofelt]

If you are buying new, it probably pays to go with the latest gen product.
For example, the I9-11900K which sells for some $300 on amazon is not quite as strong as a $260 I5-12600K
You can buy a decent Z690 based motherboard for $170 or so, but the B660 versions will be even cheaper if you are not planning on overclocking.

 

[punkncat]

Do you already own that cpu? If not I'd strongly suggest an Intel 12 gen board + cpu.

I would retort that given the 11900K is commonly found right now for just over $300-ish and is still within the top 10 (or so) CPU in performance...half price is pretty darned good. With the additional price fall on the Z level mobo it is a very good performance budget alternative. @301 it's a veritable steal (Amazon Prime Day price) I think there is something to be said for those already dealing with an LGA 1200 update though and cannot discount the power and performance of 12th gen.

 

[punkncat]

If you are buying new, it probably pays to go with the latest gen product.
For example, the I9-11900K which sells for some $300 on amazon is not quite as strong as a $260 I5-12600K
You can buy a decent Z690 based motherboard for $170 or so, but the B660 versions will be even cheaper if you are not planning on overclocking.

Even Tom's own list:

CPU Benchmarks Hierarchy 2022: Processor Ranking Charts | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

does not bear that statement out consider the higher placement is with a strong OC as compared to the 11900K on stock settings. This thing is a BEAST running at +5GHz. Some (other) lists which include the i9 performance as an OC shows it variably the 5th or 6th fastest (consumer level) CPU to this day. Nothing wrong with that for $300...IF you have the power delivery and cooling to deal with it.

Another aspect is that so far as I understand, the 12th gen Intel actually needs W11 for its best performance. I do not know if this is only in reference to the ones with the efficiency cores though. Something about scheduling.

 

[Why_Me]

I would retort that given the 11900K is commonly found right now for just over $300-ish and is still within the top 10 (or so) CPU in performance...half price is pretty darned good. With the additional price fall on the Z level mobo it is a very good performance budget alternative. @301 it's a veritable steal (Amazon Prime Day price) I think there is something to be said for those already dealing with an LGA 1200 update though and cannot discount the power and performance of 12th gen.

You can get an i7 12700F atm for $312 on Amazon, Newegg, etc ...

 

[punkncat]

You can get an i7 12700F atm for $312 on Amazon, Newegg, etc ...

That IS a turn your head kind of deal. I am not personally a fan of choosing CPU without integrated graphics for troubleshooting and such, but if you are in the market to get a lot of performance for money, that certainly qualifies.

 

[KyaraM]

My thoughts are that I would avoid 11th gen in general. Go grab a 12600k or 12700(k) instead, you will have more fun with them. Thwy are both excellent.

 

[Karadjgne]

12th gen has P-cores and E-cores, one being the standard high performance cores and the other being more like HEDT slower but stronger cores.

11th gen doesn't.

Windows 11 has enabled built in scheduler to accommodate P-core and E-core differences and uses. Windows 10 has the same scheduler, but it's disabled by microcode, so can't tell the difference between the cores, doesn't take advantage of the differences.

Consequently, if there's any want or need to use Win11, 12th gen is automatically setup to take advantage, 11th gen is not.

Games very rarely have any use for E-cores, but content creation, compiling and other production work does.

So, if doing a mix of gaming and production, Win11 on 12th gen is a clear winner, if only gaming then 12th gen normally beats 11th gen 1 class higher.

12700k generally goes head to head with an 11900k, but has the production advantage under Win11.

Your choice, but I'd definitely consider a 12700 class cpu over the 11900k, since price difference is negligible, cooling is similar, board prices are close, but the 12700k can be upgraded to a 13600/13700 class and gets advantages under Win11 and future releases.

Doubt you'll still be using Win10 by the time Win12 drops etc.

 

[geofelt]

I did not intend to start a war.
My assertion was based on passmark numbers.
I9-11900K 25549/3519
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i9-11900K+@+3.50GHz&id=3904
I5-12600K 27546/3973

For single thread performance which is important for gamers, the cpu-Z bench single thread performance for the 11900K is 676 vs. 773 for the 12600K
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/bhgfiz/1

These processors are so capable that I doubt anyone would be disappointed by either.
FWIW, observing task manager using win 10, it clearly seems to be allocating heavy work only to the P cores.

 

[Karadjgne]

Yes. Win11 uses the same base code, that didn't change. Intrinsically, Win11 and Win10 are the same. The scheduler is part of that base code. Microsoft, with agreement from Intel, has purposely chosen to leave that scheduler disabled on Win10, so forcing consumers whom wish to really take advantage of all that's offered with 12th gen, must use Win11. The UI and a few menus and built in programming was all that was changed otherwise.

Using Win10 with 12th gen only really works for anything that would natively use P-cores. Anything that would be advantaged by use of the E-cores, like heavy workloads, still uses the P-cores, so it doesn't really suffer, but lacks any benefits.