[SOLVED] Intel I7-9700k in 2020

[AlexRichh]

Hello I'm looking to upgrade my PC this year and was looking at the I7-9700k and was wondering if this CPU is still worth it as I do not fancy forking out for an I9.

Also what GPU would be recommended for this CPU. I currently have a 1050Ti which isn't the best.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

In order for us to give yo a yay or a nay, we will need to know the specs to your existing build. List your system's specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

Include PSU's age as well. You should also stylize your followup post with information found on this thread, to guide us in suggestions for your upgrade path.

 

[AlexRichh]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

In order for us to give yo a yay or a nay, we will need to know the specs to your existing build. List your system's specs like so:
CPU: AMD FX-8350
Motherboard: MSI 970 Gaming
Ram: HyperX Fury 1866 4x8GB
SSD/HDD: Wester digital blue 1tb & Kingston A100 128GB
GPU: MSI GTX 1050 TI
PSU: Corsair 750 RMi (nearly 4 years old)
Chassis: Corsair 760T White
OS: Windows 10 pro

I know the CPU is not great + It's a old system hence why I feel like it's time for a change and move to Intel

Include PSU's age as well. You should also stylize your followup post with information found on this thread, to guide us in suggestions for your upgrade path.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

So Newegg says the 9700k is 400 bucks. What kind of budget do you have? For 400 you could get for example a b450 motherboard, a ryzen 3600x and 16gb of ram and maybe have a few dollars left over.
To give you an idea, a 3600x hangs with last year's i7 8700k. And the 3600x is in amds mid range. According to your specs you had the fx 8350.

I will say the ryzen CPUs are not like the fx CPUs. They've really been giving Intel a run for their money the last couple of years.
Now is the 9700k worth the money in 2020? The 9700k is a good performer, but I'm going to say the i7 9700k isn't worth 400 dollars. Not to me anyway.

The 9700k is only an 8 core CPU with no hyperthreading. Games are starting to use more threads these days. Quad core cpus are pretty much gone for high end gaming. As devs learn to use more cores/threads, you gotta wonder if in 2-3 years, how relevant will your 9700k be?

The 3600 for example is a 6 core, but has hyperthreading. So it acts like 12 cores. However, AMD I think is supporting socket am4 for at least 1 more round untill their ryzen 4000 chips launch. So once advantage is you get into the AMD platform now, if their 4000 series are a decent step up, you should be able to do a bios update on your board and then drop in say a 4700x or other CPU that you want at that time. Typically Intel you are locked in to that same generation.

So at least for me, I'm passing on the 9700k. Right now for example, I've got an AMD b350 board going on 2-3 years old. But according to the support list for my ASRock board, I could update my bios and drop in a 3950x(I think) in that board today. Can't do that on Intel usually.

 

[AlexRichh]

This sounds like a really good idea!

I have heard that AMD have really upped their game with the Ryzen line but I didn't know they were as competitive as Intels CPUs.

Do you think if I went for something in the Ryzen 7 line I would be able to play games and stream simultaneously as thats what I do & one of the main reasons why I was leaning towards a 9700k as I know it could handle it

 

[ohio_buckeye]

When you get in the upper end of ryzen u or 9 you should be fine. I mostly game not stream. Here's a thread from Reddit asking about this.

View: https://amp.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/8ghqy3/need_to_upgrade_my_cpu_ryzen_2700x_or_i78700k_for/


This made me think, the ryzen 7 2700x can be had for about 150 dollars new. The value play might be pick up one of those now, then upgrade when the new chips launch. You'd still get decent gaming performance, but have the extra threads for your streaming.

 

[AlexRichh]

Hmm i'm tempted by the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Processor but I can get the 2700X for £100 less but I don't know how long it'd last before I'd need to upgrade again

 

[ohio_buckeye]

What I meant by that, was the ryzen 4000 series should release late this year or early next year. So my line of thinking there was if you got the 2700x now, you could probably swap it out for a 4000 series cpu when those launch. At that point, you could more than likely sell the 2700x second hand and recoup part of your money as well. Like me, I'm wanting to get a Ryzen 3600. I can purchase one new for 150 dollars plus tax. But on ebay, it appears the 1700x, which is the cpu I have now, is selling for between 100-120 dollars. So that being the case, I'm considering it for the upgrade.

 

[AlexRichh]

Oh right i get you now, yeah i think I'm gonna buy the 2700x then!

 

[AlexRichh]

Any mobos you can recommend for ryzen cpus?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Personally I have the b350 version of this board, and it's ok.

https://www.newegg.com/asrock-b450-pro4/p/N82E16813157841

I see this one recommended quite a bit though.

https://www.newegg.com/msi-b450-tomahawk-max/p/N82E16813144267?&quicklink=true

Other guys can give you more details. The reason I picked the board I've got now is because the person who I talked to when I bought my first ryzen setup said that the boards they'd had the least returns on were ASRock boards. But I was there recently, and another rep acted like the ASRock boards were lower end. So who knows. I hear that VRMs on my ASRock board aren't really good.

So you might look at the MSI board, or at the Gigabyte Aorus boards. Those seem nice as well.

I will say I'm contemplating though, Microcenter has the Ryzen 5 3600 for 150 dollars. Currently looking, my 1700x sells on ebay for between 100-120 dollars. So I'm thinking about heading over tonight after work and grabbing a 3600, update my board, pop in the 3600 and overclock. Used to shop there a bit more. I think they are a US chain though.

 

[AlexRichh]

I think I've narrowed my options down to this ASUS motherboard.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07C6N8...olid=296LDJGOBT9P3&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[EndeligGnist]

So Newegg says the 9700k is 400 bucks. What kind of budget do you have? For 400 you could get for example a b450 motherboard, a ryzen 3600x and 16gb of ram and maybe have a few dollars left over.
To give you an idea, a 3600x hangs with last year's i7 8700k. And the 3600x is in amds mid range. According to your specs you had the fx 8350.

I will say the ryzen CPUs are not like the fx CPUs. They've really been giving Intel a run for their money the last couple of years.
Now is the 9700k worth the money in 2020? The 9700k is a good performer, but I'm going to say the i7 9700k isn't worth 400 dollars. Not to me anyway.

The 9700k is only an 8 core CPU with no hyperthreading. Games are starting to use more threads these days. Quad core cpus are pretty much gone for high end gaming. As devs learn to use more cores/threads, you gotta wonder if in 2-3 years, how relevant will your 9700k be?

The 3600 for example is a 6 core, but has hyperthreading. So it acts like 12 cores. However, AMD I think is supporting socket am4 for at least 1 more round untill their ryzen 4000 chips launch. So once advantage is you get into the AMD platform now, if their 4000 series are a decent step up, you should be able to do a bios update on your board and then drop in say a 4700x or other CPU that you want at that time. Typically Intel you are locked in to that same generation.

So at least for me, I'm passing on the 9700k. Right now for example, I've got an AMD b350 board going on 2-3 years old. But according to the support list for my ASRock board, I could update my bios and drop in a 3950x(I think) in that board today. Can't do that on Intel usually.

No, the 3600x does not "act like a 12 core CPU." Hyperthreading absolutely does not give you double the performance. At best, it gives you about 30% more speed per core, but when it comes to gaming performance, the performance gains that you get from hyperthreading is virtually non-existent, because games are not designed to utilise it.

Like with the difference between the i7-9700k and its predecessor, the i7-8700k, the 2 additional cores are worth more than the 4 additional threads which makes the i7-9700k the better choice. If and when games start to use more cores, the 3600 will find itself being obsolete way before the 9700k does.