[SOLVED] New recommendation with new price? 3700x vs 9700k

omnilicious

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Looking at building a new gaming PC. From everything I've read/watched/etc. 9700k is better than 3700x. Everyone recommends the 3700x anyway because it's "so much cheaper". I think timing was key for me, because the 9700K isn't $410 right not, it's $362. If I plan to water cool, the savings from the fan isn't a factor either.

So question is... for an extra $30, is there any reason not to go for the 9700K? With a 10-13% performance advantage in gaming I think the price is negligible when it's just 10%.

Again, this PC will be used to game 99% of the time. Web-surf and other not-power-hungry stuff. I don't make a living off it, I don't do any rendering or live streaming.

I'll likely spring for a 2080TI, or just a 2080 if I don't need the extra power. The rest will be built around that.

3700X - $329 - https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Ryzen-37...eywords=3700X&qid=1563643054&s=gateway&sr=8-2

9700K - $362 - https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-970...eywords=9700K&qid=1563643081&s=gateway&sr=8-1
 
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So $360 for 9700k, better off with cheaper 2080.
$420 for 9900kf, go for 2080ti - some future proofing with the extra 8 threads? (Also saw a video of step-by-step OC for 9900KF to 5.3Ghz so that's exciting).
If it's a $60 difference don't even consider the 9700k IMO. All CPU's are different when it comes to overclocking. Most won't reach 5.3 at safe voltage with reasonable cooling. Speaking of cooling....I'd go for a 360 AIO, Noctua D-15, or custom loop. These suckers get hot. Get a good motherboard too. The VRM is critical, Z390 Aorus boards from Gigabyte have the best price to performance in this regard IMO.

rigg42

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It sounds like you might be someone who Intel makes sense for. You won't get 10-13% unless playing 1080p at which point you wouldn't be fully utilizing a 2080ti. At 1440p it will be more like 5%. If you can buy a 2080ti then you can afford the 9900k. You may or may not get more mileage out of it. Why skimp on the CPU for a PC that's going to end up costing as much as $2500? If you go 2080 super the 9700k seems a bit more appropriate IMO.
 
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omnilicious

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It sounds like you might be someone who Intel makes sense for. You won't get 10-13% unless playing 1080p at which point you wouldn't be fully utilizing a 2080ti. At 1440p it will be more like 5%. If you can buy a 2080ti then you can afford the 9900k. You may or may not get more mileage out of it. Why skimp on the CPU for a PC that's going to end up costing as much as $2500? If you go 2080 super the 9700k seems a bit more appropriate IMO.

In most of the research I did showed little to no difference in gaming between 9700K and 990K. But even so, looking at the 9900K's, any reason to get the K over the KF (the one without onboard graphics)? Since I'll have a GPU I assume there's no reason to have the onboard graphics.
 

rigg42

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In most of the research I did showed little to no difference in gaming between 9700K and 990K. But even so, looking at the 9900K's, any reason to get the K over the KF (the one without onboard graphics)? Since I'll have a GPU I assume there's no reason to have the onboard graphics.
Yes this is true today. It might not be in the near future. New games are getting more thread intensive all the time. Things can turn into a stuttering mess when you come up short on threads.
 

omnilicious

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Yes this is true today. It might not be in the near future. New games are getting more thread intensive all the time. Things can turn into a stuttering mess when you come up short on threads.

So $360 for 9700k, better off with cheaper 2080.
$420 for 9900kf, go for 2080ti - some future proofing with the extra 8 threads? (Also saw a video of step-by-step OC for 9900KF to 5.3Ghz so that's exciting).
 

simsim86

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Looking at building a new gaming PC. From everything I've read/watched/etc. 9700k is better than 3700x. Everyone recommends the 3700x anyway because it's "so much cheaper". I think timing was key for me, because the 9700K isn't $410 right not, it's $362. If I plan to water cool, the savings from the fan isn't a factor either.

So question is... for an extra $30, is there any reason not to go for the 9700K? With a 10-13% performance advantage in gaming I think the price is negligible when it's just 10%.

Again, this PC will be used to game 99% of the time. Web-surf and other not-power-hungry stuff. I don't make a living off it, I don't do any rendering or live streaming.

I'll likely spring for a 2080TI, or just a 2080 if I don't need the extra power. The rest will be built around that.

3700X - $329 - https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Ryzen-37...eywords=3700X&qid=1563643054&s=gateway&sr=8-2

9700K - $362 - https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-970...eywords=9700K&qid=1563643081&s=gateway&sr=8-1
asked myself the same question. i had already ordered a 9700k but canceled and now have a 9900k on the way. also went for a 2080ti. the system is just used for gaming and vr.
 
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rigg42

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So $360 for 9700k, better off with cheaper 2080.
$420 for 9900kf, go for 2080ti - some future proofing with the extra 8 threads? (Also saw a video of step-by-step OC for 9900KF to 5.3Ghz so that's exciting).
If it's a $60 difference don't even consider the 9700k IMO. All CPU's are different when it comes to overclocking. Most won't reach 5.3 at safe voltage with reasonable cooling. Speaking of cooling....I'd go for a 360 AIO, Noctua D-15, or custom loop. These suckers get hot. Get a good motherboard too. The VRM is critical, Z390 Aorus boards from Gigabyte have the best price to performance in this regard IMO.
 
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omnilicious

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If it's a $60 difference don't even consider the 9700k IMO. All CPU's are different when it comes to overclocking. Most won't reach 5.3 at safe voltage with reasonable cooling. Speaking of cooling....I'd go for a 360 AIO, Noctua D-15, or custom loop. These suckers get hot. Get a good motherboard too. The VRM is critical, Z390 Aorus boards from Gigabyte have the best price to performance in this regard IMO.

Definitely planned on another custom loop. All my previous builds died when the video card blew, never the CPU, so I like to include them. My current machine is i5 2500k and liquid cooled. Runs at 30C the highest when I put it under my heaviest load to date. GPU's something like 36C max.

I haven't gotten around to researching mobos (or even which 2080TI) to get, but I wasn't planning on getting a bargain one. My current ASRock has been a dream though. I'll likely be making a post in the Mobo section soon to narrow down my mobo choices (currently looking through the sticky mobo list in the mobo forum).

9900KF it is, $420 seems like a good price for it.

And thanks everyone for the help.
 
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rigg42

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$420 is a good price for that CPU.

You are still paying a $100 premium over the 3700x while removing the stock cooler, getting less efficiency, but higher clockes
I think it's a no brainier for him honestly. $100 more isn't very much in the context of this build. With a custom loop to keep that thing cool that's going to be a pretty awesome gaming system that should hold its own for years to come. I had a similar rig I moved about a month ago. It had a 360 AIO and 1080 ti though. Not quite as awe inspiring.
 

rigg42

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Definitely planned on another custom loop. All my previous builds died when the video card blew, never the CPU, so I like to include them. My current machine is i5 2500k and liquid cooled. Runs at 30C the highest when I put it under my heaviest load to date. GPU's something like 36C max.

I haven't gotten around to researching mobos (or even which 2080TI) to get, but I wasn't planning on getting a bargain one. My current ASRock has been a dream though. I'll likely be making a post in the Mobo section soon to narrow down my mobo choices (currently looking through the sticky mobo list in the mobo forum).

9900KF it is, $420 seems like a good price for it.

And thanks everyone for the help.
2080 super is around the corner. Should fall somewhere between the 2080 and 2080 TI. I had the Maximus XI hero and the Gigabyte z390 Aorus Ultra. The Ultra had a better VRM on paper but the Max XI got better overclocks at lower voltages. I still think the gigabyte boards are a better deal but my anecdotal experience indicates that the 9900k likes good transient response. A hi current but lower phase count VRM that doesn't use doublers might be preferable. I'm not aware of any boards beside the Max XI that do this but it might be worth looking into. While the VRM in that board works really good and handles plenty of current it uses fairly cheap components for a $300 motherboard. It runs a bit hot when cranking up the switching frequency as well. Mine did fine with an exhaust fan at the top of the case.
 
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omnilicious

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I think it's a no brainier for him honestly. $100 more isn't very much in the context of this build. With a custom loop to keep that thing cool that's going to be a pretty awesome gaming system that should hold its own for years to come. I had a similar rig I moved about a month ago. It had a 360 AIO and 1080 ti though. Not quite as awe inspiring.

My current system is 5 years old with a custom loop. i5 2500k OC'd to 4.5ghz (just using ASRocks fatility app) and 2 GPU's (770's i found for nada). The liquid cool system was more expensive than my build tbh, but I haven't changed the water in 5 years and it's still going (Totally, purposefully stress-testing - definitely not lazy).


2080 super is around the corner. Should fall somewhere between the 2080 and 2080 TI. I had the Maximus XI hero and the Gigabyte z390 Aorus Ultra. The Ultra had a better VRM on paper but the Max XI got better overclocks at lower voltages. I still think the gigabyte boards are a better deal but my anecdotal experience indicates that the 9900k likes good transient response. A hi current but lower phase count VRM that doesn't use doublers might be preferable. I'm not aware of any boards beside the Max XI that do this but it might be worth looking into. While the VRM in that board works really good and handles plenty of current it uses fairly cheap components for a $300 motherboard. It runs a bit hot when cranking up the switching frequency as well. Mine did fine with an exhaust fan at the top of the case.

I heard the Aorus was noisy somewhere. Whatever case I get will be big and have lots of 'silent' fans, so I'm not too worried about the heat. Radiator will likely be top mounted with 3 fans, 3 in front, biggest one I can get out the side too.

I just posted https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/mobo-for-9900kf-gaming.3502804/ the list of Mobos that stood out to me.


ASRock Phantom 9
MSI Godlike (if I can find a cheaper one)
ASUS ROG Maximus XI
Gigabyte Aorus Ultra

Godlike is more than I'm willing to spend on a Mobo, but the ASRock is looking really good feature-wise. ASUS has easy-to-do OC as well if I don't feel like playing around with voltages.
 
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