Should I wait for intel 8th gen?

markfanter1

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Aug 24, 2017
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So, just two days ago I was asking this community about an upgrade.

I currently have 4GB of ram, i5-2500 (non-k) and 550 Ti gpu...


My computer has been giving me issues in general, many times the CPU goes to 100% and gets completely stuck - in gaming or otherwise.

Formatting & wiping the computer clean didn' help in the past, the performance issues are definitely because the card is simply getting old.(That being said, the benchmarks on cpu.benchmark show my rig is over-performing)

I was going to buy a whole new rig, with the 1600... but I feel like the 1600 isn't going to give me much more performance than before, and I really want to be blown away with smooth desktop work and occasional gaming.

I've read some articles stating that the 8th gen i3 might outperform a i7-7700k! Buying a ryzen 1600 feels like I'm not really buying anything better, just wasting money.

What do you guys think, should I upgrade my old Sandy Bridge or should I just wait for 8th gen to be released? I use my computer mainly for desktop work, and moderate amount of gaming.

 
Solution


If you're that desperate, maybe get Ryzen. Like I said, it's just a few FPS behind in most games. If you don't mind getting 130 FPS instead of 140 FPS, I think Ryzen is still a solid choice. Coffee Lake will be...


Wait for 8th gen. Competition with ryzen has helped everyone.
 
The rule of thumb is that if you need to upgrade now due to failing hardware or hardware that no longer meets your performance demands, then upgrade. With that said, based on Intel's rather horrid thermal performance on Kaby Lake, especially the 7700K, I'd wait to see how Coffee Lake turns out. We're only a couple of months away from their release. Also, the main i7 8800Ks are going to have 6 cores just like their AMD counterparts. Another reason to wait if you can.
 
Here's the real question - is the 1600 going to last me the next few years?

I feel like the performance increase from 2500 to 1600 is... so small. Looking at benchmarks
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Ryzen-5-1600-vs-Intel-Core-i5-2500/3919vsm517

I see only ~20% increase in effective speed. That's something I would expect from one generation not 5 and a half years.

For comparison, the 1060 shows almost 500% increase over the 550 Ti
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-550-Ti-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB/3161vs3639

and if we're going by release date, the 1080 Ti has 1150% some effective speed than the 550 Ti

a 20% increase feels like I'm getting scammed.
 


I'm waiting. As much as I appreciate what AMD has done with Ryzen, Kaby Lake is still superior for pretty much every gaming application, especially since I play at 1080p/144hz. Coffee Lake is just going to be even better, PLUS will take away the one superior aspect of Ryzen: more cores. I'll be getting the new i7, which looks like it'll perform like the current gen i7 + have 2 extra cores and 4 extra threads. So basically a chip with the gaming performance of the i7-7700k (still the king of the hill by far) plus the multithreading of the R5 series. Perfect combo for me and for future proofing for a bit.

I'm not so sure about the i3 for you... yes those initial benchmarks show it is outperforming a KL i7 in some specific non-gaming benchmarks, but it still has less cores than the R5 1600 you were considering previously. I do like having >4 cores at this juncture. Maybe look at the Coffee Lake i5s which have 6 cores but no HT? IF I were on a budget and my only choices were coffee lake i3 or Ryzen 5 1600, I'd probably pick the slightly slower Ryzen just to have 6 cores. No proof, but I think that'll be important moving forward. I historically have gone a long time between CPU upgrades. (On an i5-3470 right now)

Also while it looks like the i7s and i5s will come out in October, it is less likely the i3s will be out that early.

Regardless, the R5 1600 will probably do you just fine. But if you want to focus on pure gaming performance then I don't see why you wouldn't wait just one more month for a 6 core Coffee Lake.
 
That user benchmark website is really meaningless in the real world. For gaming, Intel wins. For productivity apps, Ryzen wins. The Ryzen is the better well rounded CPU if you do both. However, as stated, that may change with the 8th generation 6-core Coffee Lake i7s. Even the i5s will be getting six cores but like previous i5s, neutered with no hyperthreading (why would Intel shoot down their more expensive flagship i7 HT lineup?). If you can hold out, I'd recommend it.

Ryzen 1600 video rendering score (you have to look quite a ways down to find a 2500K....they do not have a non-K tested here):

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_5_1600_review,12.html

And a game benchmark showing it significantly behind all the 4-core i7 Intels (no i5s compared here):

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_5_1600_review,19.html

FYI I am still running my i5 2500K build dating from 2011 as a backup gaming and general office use PC. It still performs well enough to keep around and is still powerful enough for my nephew to play current Steam games at 1080p when he visits.

 


Vega is already out, what are you talking about?

My suggestion would be to wait for Coffee Lake. However, a major deciding factor here is - what refresh rate is your monitor?
 
I was going to buy 144hz monitor with the new build. I was fine with it not always being 100% use.
(r5 1600, 1060 wf2)

You can check the thread I made w/ the full build somewhere down in the answers.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3504267/opinion-budget-buy-compatibility-monitor-psu.html



When is the Kaby Lake refresh / coffee lake coming out? Approximately. I know they're actually manufactured where I live but I'm not sure when they'll hit the market and what their price is going to be like.

Also, I wasn't going to go for the i3 for the person who asked, just mentioning that even an i3(which shouldbe inferior to the i5 and i7) is beating the i7-7700k.
 


Intel still has not released an official date yet. Just a few days ago they made the official model and price list. But considering there have been leaked benchmarks already, you can bet sooner rather than later. Also keep in mind however that it requires a new motherboard chipset (Z370??) and will not be backward compatible with Z270. So it's not just Intel we are waiting on, but motherboard vendors as well.

And as such, I'd wait a month or so before upgrading to Coffee Lake build just to make sure there are no unforeseen bugs that need a BIOS update. Let the early adopters be the test pilots. That's always a risk with a new chipset (see: Ryzen's memory compatibility issues early on).
 
I think I'll just buy the ryzen 1600 and be fine with it. I can't wait another 2 months with the terrible computer I have... I just want to be blown away because I am buying a PC for 1200 dollars(at least that's the cost where I live for this rig) and I worry about being completely disappointed.

Anyone know how well ryzen 1600 + 1060 works on CS:GO, League of legends and other low-requirement games of the such?
 


Yuh know, I would honestly wait and not get bit on the bum by impatience.

https://www.almanac.com/sites/default/files/images/photo_13714.jpg

Like impatiens, but spelled differently. 😀

You will see a boost in performance. Will it be a $200 boost in performance? No, it won't. Do you do a LOT of video editing/rendering, CAD and other types of productivity work? Go ahead to the Hex side. Just a multi-tasking gamer? Please wait so you can invest money. That is one of your concerns right? You want to invest this money and don't feel like spending even a dime(depending on your reqion). Unless you Twitch, and upload and stream a LOT the 1600 just doesn't offer enough for me to recommend it to you.


 


Yuh know, I would honestly wait and not get bit on the bum by impatience.

photo_13714.jpg

Like impatiens, but spelled differently. 😀

You will see a boost in performance. Will it be a $200 boost in performance? No, it won't. Do you do a LOT of video editing/rendering, CAD and other types of productivity work? Go ahead to the Hex side. Just a multi-tasking gamer? Please wait so you can invest money. That is one of your concerns right? You want to invest this money and don't feel like spending even a dime(depending on your reqion). Unless you Twitch, and upload and stream a LOT the 1600 just doesn't offer enough for me to recommend it to you.


 
I have not seen CS:GO benchmarks with a Ryzen 1600 and GTX 1060 setup. People have them in Youtube videos, but take anything there with a grain of salt. They can make up anything they want in what their hardware is in the PC you are seeing them run the game at. However, CS:GO is optimized for fewer faster cores than more slower cores. So an Intel i7 8700K will be faster than a Ryzen 1700X, let alone a 1600.

But being this close to a new chipset release, I really would wait instead of succumbing to gotta-have-it-now mentality. Anything you build will be an improvement, but the question is how happy would you be with it two years from now? Would you get buyer's remorse building a 1600 rig and then two months from now seeing the 8700K smoke it in gaming? Your call.
 
Damn. I don't know what to do anymore. My computer barely runs - I don't think I ever have it not get stuck on something while doing it and it's driving me crazy... but on the other hand, wait a few months you say? I mean, I can deal with waiting until September but I'll have significantly less time to game during October and onwards as I'm going to start studying as well.

Maybe I should just enjoy smooth computing for at least a few months even if the new-gen is going to kick ass. I'll get it next year if it's amazing.
 


If you're that desperate, maybe get Ryzen. Like I said, it's just a few FPS behind in most games. If you don't mind getting 130 FPS instead of 140 FPS, I think Ryzen is still a solid choice. Coffee Lake will be good according to almost everyone, but who knows for sure xD. But if you really can't wait(because Coffee Lake will take time, at least a month or two), then get Ryzen.
 
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