Should I buy the I5 9600k or Ryzen 7 2700x for gaming?

Oct 27, 2018
8
0
10
Heya!

I'm new here. I am going to buy a brand new computer. I will mount it myself and it's gonna be a gaming computer. But here is my question : which of those CPUs should I buy for gaming purpose only? By that, I mean : which will give me better performance AND will still be up to the challenge that will be the 2022 games? If possible, I want a good processor that will still be able to handle futur games, and since I have some money issue I can't go and buy anything that cost more than a 9600k or a 2700x.

Please, help me. I have no knowledge whatsoever concerning CPUs. I have a 60hz 1080x1920 screen and I chose a GTX 1070 Ti as a GPU.

What should I do? Thanks in advance!
 
Solution
If a lower price and/or multi-core stuff is what you want,the 2700x. For a start, you can use the (decent) stock cooler, while you have to buy a cooler for the Intel chip.

Where I am, the Intel chip is 10% more expensive, and with a cooler, the Intel chip could be 25%-50% more expensive. Considering you're on 60hz 1080p monitor, the extra FPS that the Intel could give you on single or quad core performance would be wasted anyway, unless you're expecting future games below 60 FPS where the CPU speed is an issue.

It's 10%-15% faster in some scenarios for 25%-50% more cash, and that's assuming the Ryzen struggles in 3-5 years time and the Intel does not. Which is not very likely.

Edited for clarity. See text in red.
There is no such thing as future proof. CPUs that can handle games fine now will likely be holding back the rest of the hardware in three to four years just like CPUs from three to four years ago are going to restrict performance on current 2000 series cards in some situations.

It is what it is. Ryzen is a lot less expensive and the performance in gaming is very mimimal. Also, these 9th gen Intel CPUs have been found to not have the kind of overclocking headroom that was hoped for due to thicker silicon on the die despite using solder.

Plus, if you buy a Ryzen now it will be supported on whatever motherboard you buy, though 2021 for all new AMD CPU releases, which gets you closer to you wanted to be with future proofing since future CPUs that are AM4 will be compatible. Intel most likely will not have a compatible socket after this current generation.
 
If a lower price and/or multi-core stuff is what you want,the 2700x. For a start, you can use the (decent) stock cooler, while you have to buy a cooler for the Intel chip.

Where I am, the Intel chip is 10% more expensive, and with a cooler, the Intel chip could be 25%-50% more expensive. Considering you're on 60hz 1080p monitor, the extra FPS that the Intel could give you on single or quad core performance would be wasted anyway, unless you're expecting future games below 60 FPS where the CPU speed is an issue.

It's 10%-15% faster in some scenarios for 25%-50% more cash, and that's assuming the Ryzen struggles in 3-5 years time and the Intel does not. Which is not very likely.

Edited for clarity. See text in red.
 
Solution
Oct 27, 2018
8
0
10
Thank you for your answer. So you think I should go for the 2700x since it would cost me less in the futur to upgrade? I see...

And I don't mind playing the games of 2021+ in medium/low, as long as I can play them at all. So, I suppose I should go for either the 9600k or the 2700x based on the money at hand now? If yes, which one will definitely give me better performances?
 
Oct 27, 2018
8
0
10
I believe I should buy the Ryzen 7 2700x then. While it is true that this is going to be a gaming axed setup, it is also true that I want to save money, and AMD's CPU is a good jack of all trade. And as you said, I'm limited by my monitor. Therefore, going any further beyond that would be overkill, just like buying a 1080 TI and a 9900K to play on a 1080 monitor.

I thank you for your precious advices! I shall sail on the AMD boat! :D
 


Where do you get the Ryzen will be struggling in 3-5 years and the Intel chip, which is barely improved over Coffee or Kaby, won't be?

At least with Ryzen, which is unlikely to be doing any struggling anytime soon if you pick the right CPU model for your purpose and hardware, you can swap the CPU out for a newer one in two to three years. You WILL NOT be doing that with any Intel build using the 8th or 9th gen CPUs.

That means your platform is going to be a lot MORE likely to fall behind if you're going to go with the current Intel gen, than by going with Ryzen, at least if you factor in the fact that you'll be able to pop a much newer CPU in there with one in a couple of years and with the other you'll need an entirely new platform.

Plus, ALL of the reviews of the 9th gen chips, unfortunately, as I was looking forward to a chip with some good overclocking overhead, have been strictly UN-impressive and not only don't have the performance gains you'd hope to see from gen to gen, but also don't have the thermal improvements that were hoped for from switching back to solder. Not going there, especially not at those ridiculous prices.

Not sure where you live, but here there's a lot more than a 10% difference in price between Intel and AMD on any comparable chips. There's a HUNDRED dollar difference, more like 25% difference in price, between the 9700k, which has only 8 cores, NO hyperthreading, and the 2700x, which has 8 cores AND hyperthreading.

If it sounds like I'm on the AMD bandwagon, I'm not, because if you want the best single core performance, then Intel is still the winner, but there are getting to be fewer and fewer instances where single core performance nets an overall win these days.
 
Ok...calm down. :)

I was saying that IF the Intel chip has an advantage, it's a small one, and in single-core scenarios, and in 3-5 years time it's unlikely that a situation will arise where the 2700x will be slower than the 9600K to the point that he'll regret it.

For what it's worth I have a new system sitting here waiting for one last part to arrive. Everything else is assembled, including the 2700x. :D
 
Games are already more multithreaded. There are more AAA titles out now that are well optimized for multi-threaded processing then there are of those that only benefit from strong single core muscle, unlike even two years ago. Certainly there are still some that only shine with a single strong core, but even those don't have enough of a major difference in performance between a Ryzen and Intel core to make all that much difference anyhow, if we're talking stock cores. Overclocked cores, somewhat different story once you get past a point.
 
Why do you need a 2700X for this? Get a decent motherboard and a 2600X instead (it's just as fast in gaming), use some of the money you save towards a better monitor. There's really no use in having a GTX 1070 ti if all you can see is 1080p 60hz, you'd have almost exactly the same experience with a GTX 1060 6GB. The AMD socket will be good for a long time, so there's no problem with buying hardware that you might not use for the next 4 years, you can just upgrade to Zen 3 or whatever they end up calling it in 2020 and use the same mobo.