[SOLVED] I9 9900k or Third Gen Ryzen?

[EmptyCoconut]

I am debating on what processor to buy. I have a budget of about $1500. I plan on selling my current pc as well as some other things which should give me about
$1200. I'm not a "hardcore gamer" so even if the i9 9900k is the best for gaming, I'm looking for the best price to performance cpu. Although Ryzen may seem like the obvious choice, I calculated the Ryzen system (when subtracting $1200) to come down to $200 of my personal work money. I calculated the Ryzen system (unsure of which Ryzen cpu atm) to cost about $400. If I go with Ryzen I will purchase an X570 board and a PCI-e 4.0 SSD.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

What's your current PC specs? And what is your intended use for this PC?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

It depends on your workload

 

[EmptyCoconut]

What's your current PC specs? And what is your intended use for this PC?

I currently use an i7-4770, 8 gigabytes of ddr3, and an rx 570. Like I said I will be using it to play games but not exclusively for games. Occasionally I'll upload large (private) video files. I would, however, like to "future proof" the system. A couple years from now if I'm using my computer for large scale college projects I'd like to be free of issues.

 

[hftvhftv]

I currently use an i7-4770, 8 gigabytes of ddr3, and an rx 570. Like I said I will be using it to play games but not exclusively for games. Occasionally I'll upload large (private) video files. I would, however, like to "future proof" the system. A couple years from now if I'm using my computer for large scale college projects I'd like to be free of issues.

If you want "future proof" hardware go with AMD, you'll get PCIe 4.0 (with an X570 mobo), 4 extra cores (than the 9900K) for the same price, and the ability to upgrade to at least a 16 core CPU in the future. That is in contrast to Intel's platform, in which the 9900KS will be the best chip you can buy for Z390.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor ($499.00 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg Business)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ B&H)
Total: $953.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-23 11:38 EDT-0400
Also, you can swap out the 12 core 3900X with a Ryzen 5 3600, you'll still get i7 8700K performance for a $200 chip.

 

[EmptyCoconut]

If I go with Ryzen I'll likely go with the 3700x or 3600x. In my opinion the 3900x simply is not worth the extra $170.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

3600x isn't worth the extra cost over 3600,


The 9900k and 3600 arent even close price-wise tho.

 

[jeremyj_83]

The 3700X is within 5% of the 9900K in 1080p gaming with ultra highend GPUs but faster than the 9900K in more other applications than it is slower. Not to mention it uses 60% less power to get that level or performance.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

A lower end ryzen 5 or 7 would be less future proof than a 9900k.

The 3900x extra cores are what makes it future proof. The lower end ryzen chips lack this advantage

 

[jeremyj_83]

A lower end ryzen 5 or 7 would be less future proof than a 9900k.

The 3900x extra cores are what makes it future proof. The lower end ryzen chips lack this advantage

3700X & 9900K are equally future proof.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Nope. No core count advantage and less single threaded performance.
Id say slightly less for gaming.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Nope. No core count advantage and less single threaded performance.
Id say slightly less for gaming.

IPC is higher on Zen2 and single threaded performance is within 1-2% of each other, despite the 9900K having a 600MHz higher boost clock. In multi threaded application the 3700X is usually more than 2% faster than the 9900K and more and more software is getting multi threaded. Gaming the difference is less than 5% with top end graphics cards.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Id still say 9900k is more future proof, but thats until you consider the ZEN2 upgrade path.

This is really comparing apples to oranges pricing wise tho.