[SOLVED] Is Intel Core i7 9700F a good option from price/performance p.o.v.?

El_Scorpio

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TL;DR - Core i7 9700F for 205 euro (250 USD with tax already). Is it a good deal?

Hi guys. Currently I am using i5 6400, 8 GB RAM and RX 470 for my 1080p gaming. This is system from late 2016. I was thinking about upgrading it. I was always leaned towards good price-to-performance ratio and since Ryzen was announced I was pretty sure that that will be my next CPU. I was always thinking about Ryzen 5... But then next-gen consoles were released, both have 8 cores and I think this will be the new standard. I found out that Intel is selling i7 9700F from 2019 for 205 euro. For example R7 3700X goes for 275 euro. I think it is great price for Core i7. Because I always bought Core i5 for around 180 euro and now I can have Core i7 for similar price. I realize it is CPU from 2019. But the difference between that and current Core i7 11700 is basicallay just 200 MHz in boost. That does not justify 120 euro difference.

I need your point of view on this. Should I go into this? My vision is to pair it with 16 GB of RAM and once prices normalize with something like RX 6700XT / RTX 3070 at max. I won't go into hi-end segment. So far I am still using 1080p which I might upgrade to 1440p in two years... And I little behind with new games. Have huge backlog and for example did not buy Resident Evil 2 yet. I am planning to play games like RDR2, Tales of Arise, Gotham Knights, Elders Scrolls VI...

Few additional questions. Does i7 9700 use liquid metal? Is meltdown/spectre still a thing to consider? Computer will be purely for gaming. No work, no rendering, no video editing.

Thank you for your comments in advance.
 
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TL;DR - Core i7 9700F for 205 euro (250 USD with tax already). Is it a good deal?

Hi guys. Currently I am using i5 6400, 8 GB RAM and RX 470 for my 1080p gaming. This is system from late 2016. I was thinking about upgrading it. I was always leaned towards good price-to-performance ratio and since Ryzen was announced I was pretty sure that that will be my next CPU. I was always thinking about Ryzen 5... But then next-gen consoles were released, both have 8 cores and I think this will be the new standard. I found out that Intel is selling i7 9700F from 2019 for 205 euro. For example R7 3700X goes for 275 euro. I think it is great price for Core i7. Because I always bought Core i5 for around 180 euro and now I can have Core i7...
TL;DR - Core i7 9700F for 205 euro (250 USD with tax already). Is it a good deal?

Hi guys. Currently I am using i5 6400, 8 GB RAM and RX 470 for my 1080p gaming. This is system from late 2016. I was thinking about upgrading it. I was always leaned towards good price-to-performance ratio and since Ryzen was announced I was pretty sure that that will be my next CPU. I was always thinking about Ryzen 5... But then next-gen consoles were released, both have 8 cores and I think this will be the new standard. I found out that Intel is selling i7 9700F from 2019 for 205 euro. For example R7 3700X goes for 275 euro. I think it is great price for Core i7. Because I always bought Core i5 for around 180 euro and now I can have Core i7 for similar price. I realize it is CPU from 2019. But the difference between that and current Core i7 11700 is basicallay just 200 MHz in boost. That does not justify 120 euro difference.

I need your point of view on this. Should I go into this? My vision is to pair it with 16 GB of RAM and once prices normalize with something like RX 6700XT / RTX 3070 at max. I won't go into hi-end segment. So far I am still using 1080p which I might upgrade to 1440p in two years... And I little behind with new games. Have huge backlog and for example did not buy Resident Evil 2 yet. I am planning to play games like RDR2, Tales of Arise, Gotham Knights, Elders Scrolls VI...

Few additional questions. Does i7 9700 use liquid metal? Is meltdown/spectre still a thing to consider? Computer will be purely for gaming. No work, no rendering, no video editing.

Thank you for your comments in advance.

There is a bigger difference between the i7 9700 and the 11700 than you might think... firstly, the 9700 is 8 cores, 8 threads whereas the 11700 is 8 cores 16 threads (which can make quite a difference in some situations), also the 11700 is based on a new cpu core which is much faster per clock so the two aren't really equivalent. That said the 9700 would be a huge jump from your current 6400 cpu.

If you are looking at the consoles, also be aware, they use a version of the R7 3700X, which is also 8 core, 16 thread like the newer i7.

If you are looking for good value gaming performance though the cpu's to look at right now are the i5 11400F (6 cores, 12 threads) or R5 5600X (also 6 cores / 12 threads). The extra threads mean either will outpace the 8 threaded i7 9700. The previous gen Ryzen 3000 and Intel 10,000 cpu's are also worth looking at on a tight budget as again these all offer multi-threading (R5 3600, R7 3700X, I5 10400 / 600 or i7 10700 series parts all worth a look).

Liquid metal is something you can buy to put between the cpu heat spreader and the base of the cooler to improve thermal efficiency, it's not something any cpu 'uses' from the factory. The difference it makes is fairly small and only really relvant if doing extreme overclocking, it can also be corrosive so personally I would avoid it. Meltdown / Spectre are still there however Intel and AMD have released various updates (either to Windows or through bioses) which mitigate them. I would also say they aren't really much concern for a purely gaming machine - it was more of an issue of hackers being able to get into corporate machines to steal info.
 
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Eximo

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Hi guys. Currently I am using i5 6400, 8 GB RAM and RX 470 for my 1080p gaming.

If you are planning to place an i7-9700F into this system, it will not work.

LGA1151 v1 applies to 6th and 7th generation Intel CPUs. 100 and 200 series chipsets
LGA1151 v2 applies to 8th and 9th generation Intel CPUs. 300 series chipsets
LGA1200 for 10th and 11th gen. 400 and 500 series chipsets

Best you could do after a BIOS update to your system would be an i7-7700 or 7700k

You would be better off with something like an i5-11600k or Ryzen 5600X and a new motherboard. Ryzen would mean new memory as well, for best results. Though 8GB is a little low anyway, even the consoles have a shared 16GB pool.
 

Eximo

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I believe you might be remembering Intel switching from using soldered CPU heatspreaders to using only paste. They stopped soldering consumer grade chips at 3rd generation, and resumed soldering high end consumer CPUs with 9th generation.
 
Your motherboard will not support a 9th gen processor.

Your i5-6400 has 4 threads and a passmark rating of 5155. That is when all 4 threads are 100% busy.
The single thread rating is 1974. single thread performance is more important for most games.
I7-9700F has 8 threads and a rating of 13567/2815.
A very good performance upgrade.
But, it will need a new motherboard with a 300 series chipset.
I would be reluctant to buy into old gen unless you are buying used at a very good price.
New,
I think today, the i3-11400(0r f) processors are the best budget gamers.
i3-11400 has 12 threads and a rating of 17760/3052
You should be able to buy it new for <200 euros
Any lga1200 motherboard will do.
Here is a review:
 

El_Scorpio

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Jul 24, 2016
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Sorry guys, yes I am fully aware that I will need new MB, I already found one (TUF B365M) which might suit me. Didn't mention it because it didn't come to my mind. I am completely aware of MB and RAM stuff. I just need to know if it isn't a stupid idea to buy Core i7 from 2019 (new) for 200 euro. Because to me it looks as a good deal and I need someone neutral who might help me to come back to earth if necessary.

This upgrade would be CPU + MB + RAM + M.2 SSD. I have two computers actually, the one where is i5-6400 will stay as it is (except for GPU for time being), I would put these new components to the other case.
 
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El_Scorpio

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Alright, after a bit of research I think I let it be for now. 9th generation is cca 20% IPC slower than 11th but that one has problems to sustain performance on most affordable B560 MBs. Game performance varies from 8 - 14% depending on game. It is not a huge deal, but I don't like when MB is limiting my CPU power like this.