[SOLVED] Long time Intel user thinking of switching to AMD

[gotcubed]

Good morning folks, this is my first post here and I'd love your guys' input. I've been building Intel based pc's for a pretty long time now (my last AMD build was a Phenom build probably about 12 years ago). Anyway I'm running an i7 6700k and am looking to upgrade. I've been kind of an intel fanboy, but with the Ryzen processors looking so promising, I'm not really sure what to do. I'd like to wait for the next generation (i9 10th gen, or Ryzen 9 4th gen) What do you guys think? I use my PC mostly for gaming and autocad, but I do dabble in graphic design and occasional video editing/rendering. Any honest input would be greatly appreciated. It looks to me like I can probably push a couple more frames in games with an i9, but everything else will run better with a Ryzen. I feel like a couple frame sacrifice is definitely justified by the gains on practically everything else. Thanks in advance guys.

 

[GarrettL]

Yes, you are spot on with everything.

The 6700k is still a good gaming cpu. It will get you through until the new cpu's and gpu's are released later this year.

You could build a Ryzen system now but then the dilemma between the older 300 and 400 series motherboards or the more expensive x570's. The B550's should be coming along in the next couple of months to provide another option.

You will see a performance increase over the 6700k but how much depends on what Ryzen cpu but nothing earth shattering.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCV9yyD8X6M

 

[sizzling]

As you are not buying now and willing to wait for next gen it is going to be best to wait for benchmarks and final pricing before making up your mind. Today I see no need for brand loyalty and the best way to get the most for your money is to look at use case and decide on the best option for your budget.

 

[geofelt]

What kinds of games do you play?

Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer tends to like many threads.

What is your graphics card?
That is what is most important for fast action games.

Sounds like you have the itch to upgrade.
Perhaps there is another upgrade option for you than cpu.

If your games are cpu centric, I see little real boost from a ryzen upgrade today.
The big value of ryzen is the many cheap threads you get.
You now have 8 threads. Do you really need more?
Perhaps yes for batch apps. But not so much for games.
Multiplayer games with many participants is one case where many threads is very good.

To see how the number of treads impacts your performance, take one away and see if it makes a noticeable difference.
You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.

Most other games depend on the performance of the single master thread.
Have you overclocked your 6700K?

As of 12/04/2016
What percent can get an overclock at a somewhat sane 1.4v Vcore.

I7-6700K
4.9 5%
4.8 21%
4.7 64%
4.6 96%

Current intel 9th gen K suffix processors will generally do 5.0. on all cores.
Ryzen does not overclock well; I might think more like 4.5.

Upcoming intel 10th gen and ryzen 4th gen can be expected to do better, but it will be an incremental jump.

If you wait for the next best thing, you are going to wait forever.
And, when you do get it, you may have buyer's remorse because something better is coming.
Can't win.
Buy what you need when you need it.

If you have the itch to spend now, consider a great monitor.
Keep your old as a side monitor which is wonderful for desktop work.

If you do not already have a ssd,at least for windows, that would be at the top of my upgrade list.
It makes everything you do quicker.

Is your case adequate?
Is it getting stake?
Cases last a long time, and we may get tired of them.

 

[gotcubed]

Yeah I have a gtx 1080 ti, games are running great right now, but autocad and after effects run kind of lousy, I do have ssd’s installed. OS is on an M.2 and my programs are installed on 2 ssd’s(set up in a Raid 0) I already have a great monitor and have a nice open case that I like a lot. I also have 32 gigs of ram. At this point I would like to get autocad and after effects to run better. And no I am not overclocking anything at the moment.

 

[gotcubed]

And thanks everybody for your replies.

 

[Kevin Walsh]

The i7-6700k is a pretty nice processor and it's only five years old, so tough decision!

I recently replaced my aging i7-970 X58 system with a 3950x X570 build. My old system was the most reliable box I've ever had, running very nearly non-stop for almost ten years. The new box is the most powerful PC I've ever had, with 64GB of ram, water cooled, 2 1TB nvme PCI ssd's. It's a beast.

It was also by far the easiest and most trouble free build I've ever done. I use it for software development and music creation and it's a joy to use. I can't really quantify the improvements in my usual workloads, but it breezes right through a lot of work that my old box stuttered and stumbled through (particularly with audio work.) I don't play games much and when I do, they tend to be turn-by-turn strategy games so frame rates are uninteresting to me.

Since I use my PC for business, financial considerations outweighed other more subjective factors. My old box was 10 years old so the expense of replacing it was easily justified.

I almost chose to wait until next year to get the next generation Ryzen processors but I was excited about the 3950x for my work, so I went ahead with the current generation. I'm very happy with the outcome. If the next generation 3950x supports the AM4 socket, I might consider upgrading.

You don't seem to be in a hurry to upgrade and since you value Intel products (as I do), you might feel better about things if you wait until Intel has something that competes well with AMD's next-gen offerings. Compare both companies' products and make your decision then.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I very much enjoy my Ryzen 3600. I've used AMD almost exclusively at home usually because of cost concerns when I was a kid/younger adult. But especially with ryzen, they've really come a long way.

I do work in IT and so I get to tinker with a lot of newer equipment but I will say I'm very much enjoying my Ryzen 3600 in my gaming rig. Sure I may upgrade to the 4000 series. But this 3600 compared even to the overclocked 1700x I had before seems like a good upgrade.

 

[GarrettL]

The i7-6700k is a pretty nice processor and it's only five years old, so tough decision!

I recently replaced my aging i7-970 X58 system with a 3950x X570 build. My old system was the most reliable box I've ever had, running very nearly non-stop for almost ten years. The new box is the most powerful PC I've ever had, with 64GB of ram, water cooled, 2 1TB nvme PCI ssd's. It's a beast.

It was also by far the easiest and most trouble free build I've ever done. I use it for software development and music creation and it's a joy to use. I can't really quantify the improvements in my usual workloads, but it breezes right through a lot of work that my old box stuttered and stumbled through (particularly with audio work.) I don't play games much and when I do, they tend to be turn-by-turn strategy games so frame rates are uninteresting to me.

Since I use my PC for business, financial considerations outweighed other more subjective factors. My old box was 10 years old so the expense of replacing it was easily justified.

I almost chose to wait until next year to get the next generation Ryzen processors but I was excited about the 3950x for my work, so I went ahead with the current generation. I'm very happy with the outcome. If the next generation 3950x supports the AM4 socket, I might consider upgrading.

You don't seem to be in a hurry to upgrade and since you value Intel products (as I do), you might feel better about things if you wait until Intel has something that competes well with AMD's next-gen offerings. Compare both companies' products and make your decision then.

I made the same jump from x58 to x570. A world of difference, no doubt. And my x58 i7 960 is still purring away but was retired from gaming. It was a great pc and I hope this AMD x570 lasts as long as the x58 did.

The x570 is just snappy fast. And it's a great gamer too!

 

[geofelt]

If you have a motherboard that is capable of overclocking, a modest OC will give you some 30% more cpu capability that is free.

I might also add that ssd in raid-0 may show well in synthetic benchmarks, but not in real app performance.
I might abandon that next time around.

 

[RecklessNova]

I very much enjoy my Ryzen 3600. I've used AMD almost exclusively at home usually because of cost concerns when I was a kid/younger adult. But especially with ryzen, they've really come a long way.

I do work in IT and so I get to tinker with a lot of newer equipment but I will say I'm very much enjoying my Ryzen 3600 in my gaming rig. Sure I may upgrade to the 4000 series. But this 3600 compared even to the overclocked 1700x I had before seems like a mycfavisit.com good upgrade.

I do have ssd’s installed. OS is on an M.2 and my programs are installed on 2 ssd’s(set up in a Raid 0) I already have a great monitor and have a nice open case that I like a lot. I also have 32 gigs of ram. At this point I would like to get autocad and after effects to run better. And no I am not overclocking anything at the moment.