Ryzen or i5

[JackM3]

So I am looking to upgrade my CPU for my system. I currently have a FX 6300. Im looking at the Ryzen 5 1600 or the i5 6500. I mainly use it for gaming. Please let me know what CPU and mobo combo would be best for me. Looking to try to stay on the low price side so nothing to expensive. Want the best bang for the buck that will last me a few years. Also will my 750ti be bottlenecking the CPU should I also upgrade that.

 

[WildCard999]

What is your total budget for upgrading?

I would go with this for Ryzen as the stock cooler is good enough to overclock it to around 3.8ghz or higher.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($197.65 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $356.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-20 19:37 EDT-0400

For Intel I would go with this however I think the Ryzen 1600 is a better choice as it better for multi-tasking and can be overclocked.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-7500 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.89 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-B250-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $310.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-20 19:40 EDT-0400


Either system would be fine with that GTX 750 ti as long as your happy with the graphic settings that card will do.

 

[rhysiam]

I just posted this in another thread, but it's relevant here: Intel's next gen desktop CPU lineup, called "Coffee Lake" launches tomorrow/today (depending on your timezone). All signs point to a pure paper launch, with leaks suggesting CPUs won't hit the shelves until 4 weeks away at least. But unless you're desperate for a gaming rig right this very instant, you'd be well-advised to wait at least the day, if not the month, to get confirmation of pricing and specs. We're expecting this gen of i5s and i7 to all be six core CPUs, with the i7s being hyperthreaded. That's potentially game-changing in terms of longevity.

 

[mdd1963]

The i5 occasionally has an edge in gaming framerates some of the time, but, this varies from game to game, and, I expect this slight edge to disappear as newer games come out in 12-24 months time.

Short of winning a bet on who might win an average framerate competition, wIth the advent of R5-1600, I can see few scenarios where I'd intentionally choose any i5 over the R5-1600..

(7700k is another story entirely....)

 

[Mohan_27]

So I am looking to upgrade my CPU for my system. I currently have a FX 6300. Im looking at the Ryzen 5 1600 or the i5 6500. I mainly use it for gaming. Please let me know what CPU and mobo combo would be best for me. Looking to try to stay on the low price side so nothing to expensive. Want the best bang for the buck that will last me a few years. Also will my 750ti be bottlenecking the CPU should I also upgrade that.

Ryzen by far, it has more cores and is cheaper for its efficiency. If your looking for a cheap CPU, go for the rzuen 3. But I would recommend the ryzen 160 6 core processor which is really good.

 

[KirbysHammer]

I just posted this in another thread, but it's relevant here: Intel's next gen desktop CPU lineup, called "Coffee Lake" launches tomorrow/today (depending on your timezone). All signs point to a pure paper launch, with leaks suggesting CPUs won't hit the shelves until 4 weeks away at least. But unless you're desperate for a gaming rig right this very instant, you'd be well-advised to wait at least the day, if not the month, to get confirmation of pricing and specs. We're expecting this gen of i5s and i7 to all be six core CPUs, with the i7s being hyperthreaded. That's potentially game-changing in terms of longevity.

I'm going to second this. Depending on the clocks coffee lake i5s could compete with Ryzen again, right now I would say go with an ryzen, but I think we should all hold out a few more weeks for the launch of coffee lake before making our choice.

 

[JackM3]

Thanks to all who posted and helped me out. I dont think that I will have that much to spend on the new Intel CPU's as they will be expensive but hopefully they will drop prices soon on some older CPU's. So if I would get a Ryzen 5 1600 or a Intel i5 would my GTX 750ti bottleneck. Should I upgrade to a 1050 as well. Thanks for all the support.

 

[rhysiam]

Thanks to all who posted and helped me out. I dont think that I will have that much to spend on the new Intel CPU's as they will be expensive but hopefully they will drop prices soon on some older CPU's. So if I would get a Ryzen 5 1600 or a Intel i5 would my GTX 750ti bottleneck. Should I upgrade to a 1050 as well. Thanks for all the support.

Well first up the rumours were wrong, Intel announced 8th Gen 15W (ultrabook/ultraportable) parts, not the desktop CPUs that most people (myself included) were expecting. So that doesn't help you. They said the new desktop CPUs (6 core parts) are coming in "Autumn", which is a pretty broad window.

Secondly: If you are prepared to wait Intel 6 core 8th Gen i5 parts should be price competitive with the Ryzen 5 you're considering. So if you can afford one, you can afford the other.

Third: a 750ti is a pretty entry level card these days. I'd be very surprised if your current FX6300 is going to be holding back that GPU in any tangible way at all. If you're upgrading to a Ryzen 5/i5 and hoping to see better frame rates on your 750ti, I think you'll be extremely disappointed. Your current rig, while oldish/entry level, is nicely balanced so upgrading only the GPU or CPU doesn't make a lot of sense.

You could go to a 1050, but that's still pretty entry level. Is there a problem with your current setup? Are there games you want to play that you really can't? The reason I ask is because waiting a little while longer and saving more money would probably be a good idea. If you can get the budget together for a nice midrange CPU (i5 or Ryzen 5) along with a midrange GPU (GTX 1060, RX 580 or equivalent), particularly once GPU prices settle down post-mining craze, you'll set yourself up much better for the future. Going entry level actually probably costs you more in the long run, because it become obsolete quicker.

To be clear, a Ryzen 5 & 1050 would be a significant upgrade if you want to jump now. But if I had the choice of that or sticking with your current rig for another few months to save up a bit extra and then getting a Ryzen 5 + 1060 (or equivalent), that would be much more enticing.

 

[JackM3]

Alright thanks. The only reason I want to upgrade is to get better performance. I want to get one or the other right now then save up for the additional one I need.

 

[KirbysHammer]

Alright thanks. The only reason I want to upgrade is to get better performance. I want to get one or the other right now then save up for the additional one I need.

Go for a new graphics card first, as you will likely get more out of that than a new processor. However, save up for a new CPU to alleviate the newly formed bottleneck. By then coffee lake desktop or even cannon lake will be out and that changes the math a lot.

 

[rhysiam]

Alright thanks. The only reason I want to upgrade is to get better performance. I want to get one or the other right now then save up for the additional one I need.

I agree with @Kirbys that you'd normally be better starting with a GPU, and that's fine if you're looking at a 1050 or 1050ti. However 1060/RX 570/580 cards, which are usually offer better price/performance ratios and will last longer, are still selling with inflated pricing due to demand from mining. That's the only reason that getting a GPU right now is perhaps not the best idea. If you've only got the budget for a 1050 or 1050ti anyway, then it doesn't really matter. But then in that case, there's not a huge gain upgrading your CPU either, because an FX6300 should be able to keep those entry level cards plenty busy in most titles. That's why I was suggesting you wait.

Here's your options as I see them:
1) Get 1050/1050ti now -> fairly cheap and sizeable bump in gaming performance. No need for CPU upgrade. But these entry level cards will start showing their age before too long.
2) Get a 1060 now -> you'll be paying over-and-above for a midrange card because of inflated pricing, and your GPU will be held back a bit by your CPU in poorly threaded CPU heavy titles. So you'd want to try and upgrade the CPU+Mobo+RAM before too long. Then you'd have a great mid-range system that will last a long time, but you'd have a spent a lot of money.
3) Upgrade your CPU only (this is pointless with your 750ti, or even if you upgrade to a 1050/1050ti it's not worth it IMHO).
4) Put up with your current system and save your pennies until GPU prices drop and then upgrade everything in one go. This will likely be the cheapest and best long-term option, but means you have to live with your current system for longer.

 

[KirbysHammer]

Alright thanks. The only reason I want to upgrade is to get better performance. I want to get one or the other right now then save up for the additional one I need.

I agree with @Kirbys that you'd normally be better starting with a GPU, and that's fine if you're looking at a 1050 or 1050ti. However 1060/RX 570/580 cards, which are usually offer better price/performance ratios and will last longer, are still selling with inflated pricing due to demand from mining. That's the only reason that getting a GPU right now is perhaps not the best idea. If you've only got the budget for a 1050 or 1050ti anyway, then it doesn't really matter. But then in that case, there's not a huge gain upgrading your CPU either, because an FX6300 should be able to keep those entry level cards plenty busy in most titles. That's why I was suggesting you wait.

Here's your options as I see them:
1) Get 1050/1050ti now -> fairly cheap and sizeable bump in gaming performance. No need for CPU upgrade. But these entry level cards will start showing their age before too long.
2) Get a 1060 now -> you'll be paying over-and-above for a midrange card because of inflated pricing, and your GPU will be held back a bit by your CPU in poorly threaded CPU heavy titles. So you'd want to try and upgrade the CPU+Mobo+RAM before too long. Then you'd have a great mid-range system that will last a long time, but you'd have a spent a lot of money.
3) Upgrade your CPU only (this is pointless with your 750ti, or even if you upgrade to a 1050/1050ti it's not worth it IMHO).
4) Put up with your current system and save your pennies until GPU prices drop and then upgrade everything in one go. This will likely be the cheapest and best long-term option, but means you have to live with your current system for longer.

If OP can afford an R5 1600 they can likely afford a 1060. The 1060 will be mildly bottlenecked by a 6300 but there will still be a significant increase in performance. OP will probably have a little money left over ($100?) and they can start saving for new CPU/mobo/ram, then when they think they're ready to buy a new processor they can examine the options then.

The cheapest 1060s are about at msrp right now. The nvidia side of the coin hasn't been affected so much.