[SOLVED] Need help choosing - difficult choices..

huseyin1990

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Feb 13, 2018
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I am going to upgrade for streaming + gaming but cannot decide. I will not be upgrading for the next 5 years. I have 5 options:

  1. 3700x, motherboard and a 2060 super - stream using NVENC or x264 (normal settings) = £900
  2. 3900x and motherboard only and stream using x264 (normal settings) = £700
  3. Buy a 9900k and 2060 super - stream using NVENC = £900
  4. Buy a 9900k only = £480
  5. Buy a 3700x and motherboard & continue to stream with NVENC or x264 (normal settings) = £500
I currently own a 1060 and am streaming via NVENC on this, is it worth moving to x264 medium for improved quality?

Current setup:
  • Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z370 HD3P
  • Processor: 8th Gen Core i5-8400
  • PSU: Corsair 850 W 80 Plus Gold Modular
  • Case: Obsidian Series 450D
  • RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB DDR4 3000 MHz
  • GFX: Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1060 WF2 6GB GDDR5
  • Internet Connection: 350MB Download & 36MB Upload
This has been extremely difficult so I appreciate all help!
 
Solution
I don't recall any numbers for streaming in the 3700x review, but a quick check shows it is slightly behind the 9900k in x264 encoding in handbrake. I think the amd for streaming came from before the 9900k was released where AMD had more cores, allowing for the workload to be split more evenly across the processor with less sharing. (if that makes sense)

M.AGamer

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Feb 19, 2019
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I am going to upgrade for streaming + gaming but cannot decide. I will not be upgrading for the next 5 years. I have 5 options:

  1. 3700x, motherboard and a 2060 super - stream using NVENC or x264 (normal settings) = £900
  2. 3900x and motherboard only and stream using x264 (normal settings) = £700
  3. Buy a 9900k and 2060 super - stream using NVENC = £900
  4. Buy a 9900k only = £480
  5. Buy a 3700x and motherboard & continue to stream with NVENC or x264 (normal settings) = £500
I currently own a 1060 and am streaming via NVENC on this, is it worth moving to x264 medium for improved quality?

Current setup:
  • Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z370 HD3P
  • Processor: 8th Gen Core i5-8400
  • PSU: Corsair 850 W 80 Plus Gold Modular
  • Case: Obsidian Series 450D
  • RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB DDR4 3000 MHz
  • GFX: Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1060 WF2 6GB GDDR5
  • Internet Connection: 350MB Download & 36MB Upload
This has been extremely difficult so I appreciate all help!
Ryzen 3700X and RTX 2060 super
8C 12T is really enough for more than 5 years ,RTX 2060 super is really good 8gb vram will be enough but what res you play at?
 

CRITICALThinker

Distinguished
Seeing as you already have a 9900k (or 9900KF if you don't plan on using quick sync) compatible motherboard, platform swaps aren't usually the best option. As much of a supporter of AMD as I am the 9700 and 9900 are where Intel still manages to lead (though you will need good cooling since the K series chips don't come with coolers.)

In my opinion even though you said you don't plan on upgrading, I'd drop the new chip in, sell off the 8400, and see what happens with the graphics card market. If your 1060 is handling what you want now I wouldn't bother with changing it. Generally upgrading to the same tier card after only 1 generation (ignoring the 16 series being the actual successors) isn't worth it.
 

huseyin1990

Prominent
Feb 13, 2018
32
0
530
Seeing as you already have a 9900k (or 9900KF if you don't plan on using quick sync) compatible motherboard, platform swaps aren't usually the best option. As much of a supporter of AMD as I am the 9700 and 9900 are where Intel still manages to lead (though you will need good cooling since the K series chips don't come with coolers.)

In my opinion even though you said you don't plan on upgrading, I'd drop the new chip in, sell off the 8400, and see what happens with the graphics card market. If your 1060 is handling what you want now I wouldn't bother with changing it. Generally upgrading to the same tier card after only 1 generation (ignoring the 16 series being the actual successors) isn't worth it.


The only problem I have is with streaming. I cannot do both withou my computer struggling. My GPU sometimes overloads too and starts lagging me.

Hence why I wanted to swap to x264 and get a good cpu for it. I have heard amd are better for streaming?

Also if I want to make the swap to amd now is the perfect time for it due to costs, moving to 3700x will cost me the same as buying a 9900k.
 
Last edited:

CRITICALThinker

Distinguished
I don't recall any numbers for streaming in the 3700x review, but a quick check shows it is slightly behind the 9900k in x264 encoding in handbrake. I think the amd for streaming came from before the 9900k was released where AMD had more cores, allowing for the workload to be split more evenly across the processor with less sharing. (if that makes sense)
 
Solution