[SOLVED] Ryzen 7 3700x vs Core i5-10600k

[Khachig Gabriel]

Hi folks. I am going to build a gaming PC and I can't choose between 3700x and 10600k. The prices are almost the same on Amazon, I know that 10600K is better for gaming, however, I am not entirely sure that it's the better choice. It has fewer cores and threads than 3700x and the difference in gaming might not be noticeable.
So, what would you recommend?

 

[Flayed]

Hi folks. I am going to build a gaming PC and I can't choose between 3700x and 10600k. The prices are almost the same on Amazon, I know that 10600K is better for gaming, however, I am not entirely sure that it's the better choice. It has fewer cores and threads than 3700x and the difference in gaming might not be noticeable.
So, what would you recommend?

I think they are both good options, Intel slightly better at gaming and AMD better at productivity. I would pick AMD personally as they seem to value their consumers more.

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

I think they are both good options, Intel slightly better at gaming and AMD better at productivity. I would pick AMD personally as they seem to value their consumers more.

I am leaning towards AMD as well. I checked the prices of the both CPUs recently and found out they're almost the same and it got me thinking. Thanks for your advice!

 

[Flayed]

I am leaning towards AMD as well. I checked the prices of the both CPUs recently and found out they're almost the same and it got me thinking. Thanks for your advice!

If you go Intel you have to buy a z490 board to run fast memory as they disabled it in the more budget-friendly boards. This is a real d$%k move by Intel as a b450 or b550 will allow for memory overclocking for AMD

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

Oh right, I totally forgot that I have to pay extra for the motherboard if I go with intel. As you said, AMD values its customers, unlike intel.

 

[vMax]

You still have to pay for a motherboard for the 3700X, sadly there is now way around that. On the Z490 $140 for motherboard, B550 $114, X570 $149 not the hugest difference in the world...

Also depends on resolution so 1080P high refresh then 10600K, for 1440p or 4K even the Ryzen 3600 will do the job as the GPU will be the more important factor..

Oh right, I totally forgot that I have to pay extra for the motherboard if I go with intel. As you said, AMD values its customers, unlike intel.

 

[GarrettL]

The 3700x and 10600k trade blows for gaming. Basically, almost the exact gaming performance, usually within just a few frames of one another. In that case, for the same price I'll take the extra two cores.

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

 

[ocer9999]

Intel has the gaming lead, even if its closer it will overclock way better compared to the Ryzen.
Now, to notice any gaming performance difference you need to use a 2080+...

Conclusion, better more cores. And decent B550 motherboards are available for just 110$.

 

[Karadjgne]

Don't forget cooling. The 10600k runs significantly warmer than the 3700X, especially when overclocked.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5-10600k-cpu-review/2
10600k might sound small since it's an i5, but it works out very similar to a 9700k with better performance. 5.0GHz OC pulling 208w with 85°C on a Corsair H115i is toasty.

Regardless of cpu price, just to put the Intel into operation is going to cost an extra $100ish or more, just in mobo and cooling. You'll get slightly better overall performance, but it's going to be at a premium.

The question isn't as much 3700x vs 10600k, it's more of 10600k worth it over the 3700x. And that's a personal decision.

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

Don't forget cooling. The 10600k runs significantly warmer than the 3700X, especially when overclocked.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5-10600k-cpu-review/2
10600k might sound small since it's an i5, but it works out very similar to a 9700k with better performance. 5.0GHz OC pulling 208w with 85°C on a Corsair H115i is toasty.

Regardless of cpu price, just to put the Intel into operation is going to cost an extra $100ish or more, just in mobo and cooling. You'll get slightly better overall performance, but it's going to be at a premium.

The question isn't as much 3700x vs 10600k, it's more of 10600k worth it over the 3700x. And that's a personal decision.

Intel has the gaming lead, even if its closer it will overclock way better compared to the Ryzen.
Now, to notice any gaming performance difference you need to use a 2080+...

Conclusion, better more cores. And decent B550 motherboards are available for just 110$.

I might get Noctua cooler for 3700x as well since I'm not sure that the cooler that comes with Ryzen 7 is enough. So, basically it's the same price-wise.

You still have to pay for a motherboard for the 3700X, sadly there is now way around that. On the Z490 $140 for motherboard, B550 $114, X570 $149 not the hugest difference in the world...

Also depends on resolution so 1080P high refresh then 10600K, for 1440p or 4K even the Ryzen 3600 will do the job as the GPU will be the more important factor..

Right, I am not trying to cut

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

Intel has the gaming lead, even if its closer it will overclock way better compared to the Ryzen.
Now, to notice any gaming performance difference you need to use a 2080+...

Conclusion, better more cores. And decent B550 motherboards are available for just 110$.

I am going to install RTX 2070 Super, which means I won't notice any gaming performance.

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

The 3700x and 10600k trade blows for gaming. Basically, almost the exact gaming performance, usually within just a few frames of one another. In that case, for the same price I'll take the extra two cores.

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

Same here and it's faster thank 10600K in any other task than gaming.

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

You still have to pay for a motherboard for the 3700X, sadly there is now way around that. On the Z490 $140 for motherboard, B550 $114, X570 $149 not the hugest difference in the world...

Also depends on resolution so 1080P high refresh then 10600K, for 1440p or 4K even the Ryzen 3600 will do the job as the GPU will be the more important factor..

Yeah I checked the prices and there's not much difference there. So, 3700x is more than enough.

 

[Karadjgne]

I am building mITX with 3700x and 2070S, best bang for the money by a good margin. I could have afforded bigger or gone Intel, but would need to update monitors as well and there's not enough gains from a $400 2070S to a $600 2080S to warrant the price difference, and a $1000 2080ti is pointless for anything less than 4k.

Sometimes 'Good Enough' is simply that, good enough.

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

I am building mITX with 3700x and 2070S, best bang for the money by a good margin. I could have afforded bigger or gone Intel, but would need to update monitors as well and there's not enough gains from a $400 2070S to a $600 2080S to warrant the price difference, and a $1000 2080ti is pointless for anything less than 4k.

Sometimes 'Good Enough' is simply that, good enough.

I am building 3700x and 2070S as well, however, I haven't decided what motherboard to get.
The thing is there are many brands offering the same motherboards as B550m or b450m, Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, etc. I'd prefer to have PCI-E 4.0

 

[Flayed]

MSI B550A pro or Gigabyte Aorus Elite look pretty good. ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING looks very nice but is a bit expensive

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

I am building mITX with 3700x and 2070S, best bang for the money by a good margin. I could have afforded bigger or gone Intel, but would need to update monitors as well and there's not enough gains from a $400 2070S to a $600 2080S to warrant the price difference, and a $1000 2080ti is pointless for anything less than 4k.

Sometimes 'Good Enough' is simply that, good enough.

yeah, $1000 2080ti is pointless, you're gonna have to pay extra for a 4K monitor too.
Couldn't agree more sometimes 'Good Enough' is simply good enough.

 

[Khachig Gabriel]

MSI B550A pro or Gigabyte Aorus Elite look pretty good. ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING looks very nice but is a bit expensive

I checked the prices and the MSI B550A pro is within my price range. I don't want to pay more than $170 for a motherboard. The other 2 started at $200. I guess there's no point to get an expensive motherboard.

 

[Karadjgne]

Write down exactly what's needed in your build. How many fans, how many headers, how much storage and their exact requirements. Usb internal headers, all that stuff. Pick a motherboard. Doesn't matter which, B550 or X570. Ignore the hype on the first page, skip right to the detailed list. Compare that to what you wrote. Does it cover or even exceed your wants/needs, is it reliable and worth the outlay of cash. If not, is it a chipset limitation or brand limitation. Find out by choosing another board from another brand. Make the comparisons.

By the time you are done weeding out the useless fluff, you'll end up with 3 or 4 mobo's that fit. Then look at any extras, gimmicks etc like faster Lan or better audio or better software etc. You'll find your board in the end, based on what you wanted and what's of value to you, not what someone else says is good or ok. Might just include time spent on figuring out the differences between B550 and X570 and whether that'll be of benefit and value for the price difference.

It's quite a bit of research, but worth it in the end.

 

[vMax]

The Gamers Nexus review is much better to look at as they test it properly against pretty much all CPU's including the 3600/3700X/3800X/3900X and it shows quiet a difference not just a few frames and in some instances as much as 20 + frames.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3592-intel-i5-10600k-cpu-review-benchmarks-ryzen-5-3600-et-al

The 3700x and 10600k trade blows for gaming. Basically, almost the exact gaming performance, usually within just a few frames of one another. In that case, for the same price I'll take the extra two cores.

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

 

[Karadjgne]

Ahh, but also consider the motherboard. That can and will change performance settings, especially with PL1 and Tau etc. GN deliberately sets everything to amd/Intel guidelines. Users do not. Mobo manufacturers for the most part do not. GN might be a pure 'as it's supposed to be' test, but that's not always real world. Taken as a whole, the 10600k/3700x trade blows ±. Depends on whose review you look at.

For just pure gaming, yes the Intel has the lead, but comes at a cost, needs pretty serious cooling and a decent Z490 motherboard or what can be done with OC/PBO for free on the 3700x can all but eliminate that lead.

 

[Turtle Rig]

I wouldn't waste your money on a new cooler The AMD chip pretty much already comes at its overclocked speed there's no headroom with AMD to overclock so the wraith prism will do just fine. Also don't forget to go to Nvidia panel and turn everything on and turn all the AA methods on and you can game at high quality settings enjoy your new rig and personally I will just get a x570 motherboard so you get all the bells and whistles.
😉

 

[Math Geek]

i went 3700x. was about 30 seconds of consideration for intel. pretty much same performance in game with amd taking a good multitasking lead which is what i do more than anything.

throw in the high priced mobo for intel as well as top notch cooling for them and it was a no brainer.

spedning the premium for a few extra fps and all the fun cooling issues is not worth it in any way right now.