i5 8400 vs Ryzen 5 2600/2600x for non-gaming use

[logiclxm]

Hi,

I am looking into building a non-gaming rig that will hopefully perform fast for the next 5+ years.
Main usage would be regular internet browsing and streaming media and Youtube in HD.

My budget is around $1000 for the PC and I wanted to pick a CPU that will be "future proof" for my purposes.

The i5 8400 and the Ryzen 5 2600 seem to fit my budget. Which of the two would be better for non-gaming tasks?

Thank you.

 

[guanyu210379]

what else do you plan to do, if you are not gaming?
If you just need browsing, watching youtube, watching FHD or UHD movies, etc.
Either of those are lot too much for your need.
You can take ryzen 3 2400g or i3 8100 without any extra dedicated GPU with ease.
Those daily usages are considered as quite basic and you do not need Ryzen 5 or I5 class processors.

 

[PdxPetmonster]

Define "non-gaming tasks". Anything that's heavily multithreaded will favor the Ryzen most likely, as that's where they really excel. Also, with the AM4 socket, you're good for at least a couple years, maybe a bit longer since the AMD roadmap shows Zen 2, 2+, and possibly 3 all being made for the AM4 socket.

 

[mgallo848]

For nothing but regular PC use/YouTube/streaming, both of those systems are actually overkill. At this point it's more of about which setup you can get a better deal on.

 

[captaincharisma]

either CPU will be good for 5+ years. an old quad core would also be good for 5+ years if its just going to be used for non gaming tasks like as an office PC so go for whichever one is cheaper

keep in mind the ryzen 2600/2600x CPU's do not have a graphics core unlike the 8400 so you will need to get a GPU if you go for any of those ryzen CPU's you mentioned

 

[gingerrankin]

Don't worry. You can not go wrong with these CPUs.

For the tasks that you indicate, both CPUs are much more powerful than you need. You will not notice difference between them. Of course they will continue to be worth in 5 years for these tasks.

As information I will tell you that for Games it is better I5-8400, but this difference is only noticed with a GTX 1070 ti graphic card or higher. For lower graphic cards you will not notice the difference. For editing and rendering of video, Ryzen 5 2600 / 2600x is somewhat better. Understand that this means that if in Ryzen a task takes 1 minute in I5-8400 it can take 1 minute and 5 seconds (it's an example do not take it to the letter).


A very important point to keep in mind is that I5-8400 has an integrated graphics card that has little use for games but is perfectly valid for the tasks indicated.
In contrast Ryzen 5 2600 / 2600x do not have integrated graphics card and it is mandatory to buy a graphics card.

 

[Rdslw]

I dont like to talk in air so I assume you want something like this:


CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($219.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte - X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($127.36 @ Newegg Business)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($106.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GAMING X 4G Video Card ($189.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 275R (Black w/Tempered Glass) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *EVGA - 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ B&H)
Total: $994.18

this kind of build will handle even heavy work-related stuff, will have no problem running multiple things at once. Fast samsung 970 storage will handle OS and programs, while you will not fill the 3 TB drive (I dare you to try). GPU will be able to do light gaming for next 5 years, and currently its around high settings.
We mostly tweak for your needs, if you don't do gaming at all, GTX 1030 GPU will work just fine, and you can get ryzen 2700X CPU for even more horsepower or bigger SSD/HDD. you have a lot of budget so think what you want to do.

 

[Rdslw]

BTW SOLID PC for just youtube and internet browsing will cost ~500$. I would recommend ryzen 2400G for low cost and 16 GB of ram (maybe even 32GB if you like to keep 100+ open tabs in chrome. A lot of things can change in 5 years, but baseline of internet will not move much.

 

[captaincharisma]

I dont like to talk in air so I assume you want something like this:


CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($219.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte - X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($127.36 @ Newegg Business)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($106.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GAMING X 4G Video Card ($189.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 275R (Black w/Tempered Glass) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *EVGA - 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ B&H)
Total: $994.18

this kind of build will handle even heavy work-related stuff, will have no problem running multiple things at once. Fast samsung 970 storage will handle OS and programs, while you will not fill the 3 TB drive (I dare you to try). GPU will be able to do light gaming for next 5 years, and currently its around high settings.
We mostly tweak for your needs, if you don't do gaming at all, GTX 1030 GPU will work just fine, and you can get ryzen 2700X CPU for even more horsepower or bigger SSD/HDD. you have a lot of budget so think what you want to do.

if you are going to be doing anything like video editing in 4K, photoshop, or CAD thenthis would be the kind of PC to get.

if this is only going to be used for office apps like word processing excel spreadsheets or just surfing the web then a PC like this will be beyond overkill. you could build a PC with a ryzen 3 or Pentium CPU for things like that and it would last you a decade or more

 

[logiclxm]

Thank you all so much for all the replies. Since I will not be using the PC for gaming, I guess that you guys are right that Ryzen 2600x will be an overkill.
Somehow my brain foolishly believes that the more I spend on a CPU, the more "future proof" my build will be, that somehow I will it will perform better in the future. But from reading the replies, I guess it is not the case for someone like me, who is not a gamer and just wants a PC for regular usage and enhanced video streaming (4k, HDR) down the line.
I justify paying a bit more on a CPU because I know that I will not upgrade it for at least 5-7+ years. Should I really save my money and opt out for the Ryzen 3 1200 for instance, which is $150 cheaper?
I am planning to get 16gb DDR4 RAM for my build.

I would just hate having a slow computer in 5 years due to me picking a lower end CPU

 

[captaincharisma]

Thank you all so much for all the replies. Since I will not be using the PC for gaming, I guess that you guys are right that Ryzen 2600x will be an overkill.
Somehow my brain foolishly believes that the more I spend on a CPU, the more "future proof" my build will be, that somehow I will it will perform better in the future. But from reading the replies, I guess it is not the case for someone like me, who is not a gamer and just wants a PC for regular usage and enhanced video streaming (4k, HDR) down the line.
I justify paying a bit more on a CPU because I know that I will not upgrade it for at least 5-7+ years. Should I really save my money and opt out for the Ryzen 3 1200 for instance, which is $150 cheaper?
I am planning to get 16gb DDR4 RAM for my build.

I would just hate having a slow computer in 5 years due to me picking a lower end CPU

as long as you get an SSD drive for your computer build you will likely never notice your PC slowing down.
for a CPU, look into a current gen intel pentium or I3 intel CPU and for AMD go with a G series ryzen CPU if you don't have room for a GPU in your budget

 

[Karadjgne]

If streaming, go with a Ryzen R5 1600. More often than not, streaming makes good use of multiple threads and the Intel's can suffer if multitasking. The Ryzen is also better at production apps such as win zip and other compile apps as a result.

Being AM4, that 1st gen Ryzen is also supported for any future cpu upgrades until at least 2020,possibly further. Intel is a toss of the dice as seen with 1st gen lga1151 (skylake/kabylake) which doesn't work with 2nd Gen lga1151 (CoffeeLake) so future upgrades could very well be limited.

The Ryzen R5 1600 does not, however, have onboard igpu, so a dedicated gpu such as a GT 1030 would be necessary, but will still outperform a 2400G by some margin.

 

[mgallo848]

@Karadjgne,

He's not gaming. He's not streaming.

He's surfing the internet, watching HD movies and You Tube. He won't need any of that.

A Ryzen 3 1200 is more than enough.

A Ryzen 3 2200G may be an even better deal for him since it already has built in graphics (He won't need to buy a video card.

 

[Karadjgne]

@ mgallo848

Quote Op:

 I guess it is not the case for someone like me, who is not a gamer and just wants a PC for regular usage and enhanced video streaming (4k, HDR) down the line. 

End quote:

Please read the actual posts before commenting and correcting ppl.

 

[captaincharisma]

I guess it is not the case for someone like me, who is not a gamer and just wants a PC for regular usage and enhanced video streaming (4k, HDR) down the line.

if looking for 4K the graphics core in 8th gen intel CPUs does 4K UHD. i am sure the vega graphics in the ryzen G series CPU's do 4K but i am unsure if they will also support UHD

 

[mgallo848]

@ mgallo848

Quote Op:

 I guess it is not the case for someone like me, who is not a gamer and just wants a PC for regular usage and enhanced video streaming (4k, HDR) down the line. 

End quote:

Please read the actual posts before commenting and correcting ppl.

I did read your post. You suggested a Ryzen 1600 and a gt 1030 for streaming. That's crazy overkill for what he's looking for. You're giving him suggestions which is more like building a gaming PC.

I have a home theater PC that streams 4K perfectly and it's an old dual core AMD processor.

 

[nikoli707]

ryzen has no gpu so a $30 gt 730 or equivalent is required. this puts the cost for cpu+mobo+ram about the same for a i5 8400 or an r5 1600+gt730. for the sake of simplicity the i5 8400 is better.

you can spend a $1000 now, but spending $500 now and $500 in 3 years is going to be a much better bet. no such thing as future proof. anything $500 will get you now will easily last 3 years... and $500 in 3 years will be noticeably better overall than a $1000 system built now. you also dont need 16gb unless you run adode suite or something like that. just buy another 8gb down the road when ram prices fall back down to sane levels.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - XPG SX6000 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - BQ 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $471.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-12 02:15 EDT-0400

or you can go amd, though i would suggest the 2400g apu since you wont need the extra cpu horsepower the ryzen 1600/2600 has right now. in maybe 2-3 years just upgrade the cpu to the best available that will fit in the socket, possibly an 8 core 16 thread apu that has an igpu with rx470 class performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($154.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M GAMING PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - XPG SX6000 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - BQ 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($33.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $441.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-12 02:18 EDT-0400

 

[hdgaming]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/vy4cMZ

Here ya go, a pc that will last a long time.

Ive added a random case, you can change it ofcourse since that comes to personal preference.

Ive also added a optical drive, not sure if you need one, but it can be handy. if not you can remove it.