[SOLVED] i5 or i7? 8gb or 16gb?

[alexe277]

I'm just about to buy my computer but just trying to decide on some final specs. I'll start off by saying what exactly i'll be using this computer for. I'm going to be doing a bit of gaming at 1440p 60fps. My monitor only supports 60fps so I don't need anything above that, but I would like to be able to play in 1440p, i'm okay if my fps goes down under 60 for some of the more demanding games, but as long as I can get stable framerates at 1440p i'm good. I'm also going to be doing a bit of typing and watching occasional videos and that type of thing, but generally speaking only have like 3 windows open at once. My question is if I should opt for an i5 9600k or the i7 9700k based on my needs, as well as if I should opt for 8gb of memory or 16gb. I don't want to spend a ton of extra money on specs I don't need of course, so if an i7 or 16gb of ram won't benefit me at all then I won't get them, but if i'll get noticeable increases from upgrading then I will. Sidenote, i'm planning on getting an RTX 2060 super for the graphics card, is this sufficient for my needs? Or is it not powerful enough/ too powerful, cause if I can get a lower end graphics card that will suffice for what i'm doing then I will. Just trying to get the specs that will best suit me without paying extra money for higher specs than I need!



One last thing, will the specs change if I want to add a second monitor? (also 1440p 60hz) Would I need a higher end graphics card or cpu or anything to do this, or would my current specs already be enough to support this? I've considered adding a second monitor but not sure yet, but I think I want my machine to be powerful enough to support it if I do decide to!



Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[WildCard999]

AMD Ryzen would easily give you those 60 FPS @1440P when paired with the 2060S and be considerably cheaper.

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $391.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-03 16:53 EDT-0400

 

[geofelt]

A balanced gamer will budget about 2x the cost of the cpu for the processor.
You are spot on there with 9600K.
Unless your need is urgent, I might suggest that you wait a bit because rumor is that intel will launch the next gen processors and chipsets soon, perhaps April.
Intel is not going to let amd eat their lunch so I expect price/performance to be very competitive.

On ram, it seems to me that prices are low enough to warrant a 2 x 8gb kit regardless

 

[alexe277]

A balanced gamer will budget about 2x the cost of the cpu for the processor.
You are spot on there with 9600K.
Unless your need is urgent, I might suggest that you wait a bit because rumor is that intel will launch the next gen processors and chipsets soon, perhaps April.
Intel is not going to let amd eat their lunch so I expect price/performance to be very competitive.

On ram, it seems to me that prices are low enough to warrant a 2 x 8gb kit regardless

So i'd be better off with the 9600k i5 rather than the 9700 i7? That's the main thing I was indecisive about was the processor.

 

[VictorGamer072YT]

First, of course it is up to you, you probably will want an i5, or a Ryzen 5, I would go with the Ryzen as it is cheaper

 

[geofelt]

You mentioned i7-9700K, not i7-9700.
The difference is that the 9600K has 6 threads, the 9700K and 9700 have 8.
If you play multiplayer games with many participants, more threads is good.
Today, for those games, ryzen is a good option. The 3600X mentioned above has 12.
The upcoming intel processors will be adding hyperthreading, doubling the thread count.
Most other types of games such as sims, mmo and strategy games rely on fast single thread speeds.
For that, the K suffix processors are better, they will usually run at 5.0 on all cores.
You might get a single core turbo of 4.7 from a non K processor.
The ryzen processors top out lower. Perhaps 4.3 on all cores.

 

[alexe277]

You mentioned i7-9700K, not i7-9700.
The difference is that the 9600K has 6 threads, the 9700K and 9700 have 8.
If you play multiplayer games with many participants, more threads is good.
Today, for those games, ryzen is a good option. The 3600X mentioned above has 12.
The upcoming intel processors will be adding hyperthreading, doubling the thread count.
Most other types of games such as sims, mmo and strategy games rely on fast single thread speeds.
For that, the K suffix processors are better, they will usually run at 5.0 on all cores.
You might get a single core turbo of 4.7 from a non K processor.
The ryzen processors top out lower. Perhaps 4.3 on all cores.

Just to clarify I don't play any online games at all, just offline singleplayer games. So i'm not sure i'll need those extra cores or threads by the sound of things. With that being said should I just opt for the i5?

 

[geofelt]

FWIW
Check my sig.
The 8600K is essentially a i5-9600K
I primarily play the civilization series(4/5/6) using a 4k monitor and a GTX1080ti.
The monitor max is 60hz, ant that is exactly what I get all the time.