Is it worth to buy the 2700x over the 2600x if gaming is all I'm doing?

[ProPlayerGR]

Hey guys. So I have an amd fx 9370 and a gtx 1070 and I want to upgrade my rig but I can't decide between the 2600x and the 2700x. I'm gaming at 1080 60hz and all I'm doing is gaming. Money is a bit of a problem for me so I don't want to pay 100€ more for 5 fps. Also if I buy one of these will I need to reinstall windows, because I do not have oem windows I have just downloaded them. I will also buy 3200mhz ram and asus prime x470 pro. So what do you recommend?

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

I would say that going with the 2600X is the smarter deal. Chances are that whatever game you are playing won't be able to take advantage of the extra resources that the 2700X has. In many benchmarks the 2600X will match or exceed the 2700X, so if you are just pure gaming the 2600X is as good as it gets on the AMD side. You'll even be able to do other things in the background, like streaming, or rocking some tunes.

The 2600X will be plenty for whatever you need to do.

 

[ProPlayerGR]

I've seen benchmarks and the difference is small for 100€ more expensive. Are you sure the 2600x will be okay for gaming for the next 5 years?

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

I would expect that this system should run well for at least 5 years. If I'm wrong, and software suddenly surpasses hardware (which it hasn't done since Crysis) you'll be a drop in CPU from being relevant again. With the AM4 platform being supported till 2020, the only upgrade you should need, if this doesn't by some disaster turn out to be enough (which I find unlikely), is a Ryzen gen 3 or 4 chip to drop into the socket. That said, I don't see anything on the horizon that makes me think that a 6 core/12 thread 4 GHz CPU would suddenly not be enough when an i5 2500K released 7 years ago is still a good gaming CPU.

 

[cryoburner]

Money is a bit of a problem for me so I don't want to pay 100€ more for 5 fps...
...I will also buy 3200mhz ram and asus prime x470 pro. So what do you recommend?

If price is a concern, I would recommend going with a B450 motherboard rather than X470, since there should be no real difference in performance, and they cost significantly less. Both allow for overclocking as well. The only real notable differences are that X470 allows for multi-card setups through SLI/Crossfire, and allows for a few more USB 3.1 ports. If you only intend on using a single graphics card, as most people do, then you probably don't need an X470 board, and extra USB connectivity can always be added later using a PCIe card.

As for the CPUs, the 2600X will likely be fine, as today's games won't really utilize all of the 2700X's cores, so gaming performance will be quite similar between the two. Also, if you intend on overclocking, another good option might be the 2600 (non-X), which is pretty much the same processor, only with lower stock clocks and a somewhat less capable stock cooler. An overclocked 2600 will perform similar to a 2600X, though you will probably want to replace its stock cooler with an AM4-compatible tower cooler for overclocking.

 

[Onus]

For just gaming, I don't think you'd see a difference; not one worth 100 euros anyway.
You will need to re-install Windows, since the motherboard will be entirely different, with different chipset and component drivers needed. If you need to save money, get a B450 motherboard instead of X470.

Edit: that's what I get for posting after getting busy at work. Cryoburner has a much more detailed answer.