[SOLVED] PC upgrade advice/opinions

bennylava77

Commendable
Aug 12, 2017
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1,510
Hiya everyone, I finally decided to upgrade after around 6/7 years but I'm not sure which route to take. I would like some input on the pros/cons of my parts choices, thanks.

note : I don't need any other parts other than what is listed. the 9600kf is actually only $200 not 300. I've only ever built with Intel before,so I don't know a lot about AMD. This is my all rounder pc, gaming, media centre etc.all in one.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/bennx42/saved/#view=HB9Jf7


https://pcpartpicker.com/user/bennx42/saved/#view=jZHht6
 
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I would most certainly choose AMD. In fact that's what is in my gaming PC now.

Here's the deal on the i5. The i5 is 6 cores. No hyperthreading. Also, their socket is likely going to be a dead platform as they tend to change sockets a lot. So you'll probably have limited upgrade options later on.

For AMD, Intel is very very slightly better in gaming. But not much. Maybe 5-10% tops. However the last couple of years, AMD has pretty much pulled even with Intel.

For example, you can get an AMD ryzen 3600x that is 6 cores with hyperthreading, meaning it will act like 12 cores when needed.

Newer games are going to start being programmed towards that. For example, battlefield 1, a lot of guys with quad core systems had a hard...

sdedu77

Respectable
Dec 9, 2018
325
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2,040
Intel vs AMD in a nutshell: Intel=better gaming (fewer, faster cores); AMD=better overall value (more cores for the buck).
Overclocking: only Z chips on Intel; B and X chips on AMD.
Physical differences: Intel cpus has the pins on the socket, while at AMD they are on the processor (except for the Threadripper series).

  • SSD's are much quicker than hard drives; get one as a system drive if you don't have one already.
  • Ryzen processors take advantage of faster RAM, but Intel's not really. If you go Intel, feel free to get slower memory.
  • check if the power supply can power all the components
Overall, I'd go for the AMD build and save some good cash.
 

bennylava77

Commendable
Aug 12, 2017
11
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1,510
While I appreciate your response, it does seem like a very general reply, not really specific to the questions about the parts I had chosen. The cost for the parts I have chosen are both around $800 so one is not more or less than the other, given that, would you still choose AMD?
 
I would most certainly choose AMD. In fact that's what is in my gaming PC now.

Here's the deal on the i5. The i5 is 6 cores. No hyperthreading. Also, their socket is likely going to be a dead platform as they tend to change sockets a lot. So you'll probably have limited upgrade options later on.

For AMD, Intel is very very slightly better in gaming. But not much. Maybe 5-10% tops. However the last couple of years, AMD has pretty much pulled even with Intel.

For example, you can get an AMD ryzen 3600x that is 6 cores with hyperthreading, meaning it will act like 12 cores when needed.

Newer games are going to start being programmed towards that. For example, battlefield 1, a lot of guys with quad core systems had a hard time running that. Which is a lot of the i5 quad cores. My question is, how long does it take before the 6 core i5s are there?

As well as AMD should have at least one more release of CPUs on socket am4. Their last release, the AMD 3000 series was a good jump in performance. I would suspect that the 4000 series which is supposed to come out I think late this year will be another good improvement.

The other thing, if you are someone who wants to tinker and overclock to get extra performance for free, just about every AMD CPU is unlocked and set up for that. Whereas Intel chips are usually locked unless you buy the k version.

You mention doing a lot of things besides just gaming, the AMD will be a better all around chip and will game just fine when paired with a good graphics card. Really, unless you are just running benchmarks, you would probably not feel the difference between them if how close they are for gaming. But if you get into a lot of other things, the extra threads on the AMD cpus can give it an advantage.
 
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bennylava77

Commendable
Aug 12, 2017
11
0
1,510
I would most certainly choose AMD. In fact that's what is in my gaming PC now.

Here's the deal on the i5. The i5 is 6 cores. No hyperthreading. Also, their socket is likely going to be a dead platform as they tend to change sockets a lot. So you'll probably have limited upgrade options later on.

For AMD, Intel is very very slightly better in gaming. But not much. Maybe 5-10% tops. However the last couple of years, AMD has pretty much pulled even with Intel.

For example, you can get an AMD ryzen 3600x that is 6 cores with hyperthreading, meaning it will act like 12 cores when needed.

Newer games are going to start being programmed towards that. For example, battlefield 1, a lot of guys with quad core systems had a hard time running that. Which is a lot of the i5 quad cores. My question is, how long does it take before the 6 core i5s are there?

As well as AMD should have at least one more release of CPUs on socket am4. Their last release, the AMD 3000 series was a good jump in performance. I would suspect that the 4000 series which is supposed to come out I think late this year will be another good improvement.

The other thing, if you are someone who wants to tinker and overclock to get extra performance for free, just about every AMD CPU is unlocked and set up for that. Whereas Intel chips are usually locked unless you buy the k version.

You mention doing a lot of things besides just gaming, the AMD will be a better all around chip and will game just fine when paired with a good graphics card. Really, unless you are just running benchmarks, you would probably not feel the difference between them if how close they are for gaming. But if you get into a lot of other things, the extra threads on the AMD cpus can give it an advantage.
Thank you very much for your detailed reply it has helped me a lot.
 
AMD build looks ok. 2 things. Look at the msi b450 tomahawk max. Those are supposed to work out of the box with the 3000 series CPUs.

Second thing, the 3600 is a good chip. But if you are someone who's not going to overclock, I would suggest getting the 3600x. Should be higher clock speeds out of the box and boost higher as well. Other than that looks good.
 
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bennylava77

Commendable
Aug 12, 2017
11
0
1,510
AMD build looks ok. 2 things. Look at the msi b450 tomahawk max. Those are supposed to work out of the box with the 3000 series CPUs.

Second thing, the 3600 is a good chip. But if you are someone who's not going to overclock, I would suggest getting the 3600x. Should be higher clock speeds out of the box and boost higher as well. Other than that looks good.
The tomahawk looks good, unfortunately my case only supports micro ATX. Any suggestions for that?