Question Suggestions for CPU

[Shoreguy2008]

I'm building my first system (have used prebuilts so far), and am not sure what CPU to get.

I'm going to be doing some video/photo editing, using it for school, and gaming.

My GPU is a 4080 Super, and I'll be using an Alienware 38" 1600p display.

I was thinking about the 13600k/14600k, but I'm not sure if I should get something else. I don't have a MB yet, because I don't know if I should go Intel or AMD.

I'm able to fit up to the 14900k/7950x3d into my budget (CPU/MB/RAM is all I have left to get).

What would be my best choice?

 

[Lafong]

You should get the closest to the top of the line that you can afford.............assuming you are indifferent to the diminishing returns of the last steps up the budget ladder. Maybe you are anything but indifferent.

Maybe you have no qualms about paying 500 for a 1 percent difference on some benchmark. Maybe you think that would be ridiculous.

"Best" is always personal and we can't know the finer points of how you would evaluate that as your finger hovers over the "buy now" button.

 

[thestryker]

I think it mostly depends on what your primary use case is for the system. If it's primarily gaming something like the 7800X3D is the smart choice, but if it's all around/multithreaded Intel is going to typically end up being a better choice as their gaming performance is better than the non-X3D parts and multithreaded is equal or better at each price point.

 

[Shoreguy2008]

You should get the closest to the top of the line that you can afford.............assuming you are indifferent to the diminishing returns of the last steps up the budget ladder. Maybe you are anything but indifferent.

Maybe you have no qualms about paying 500 for a 1 percent difference on some benchmark. Maybe you think that would be ridiculous.

"Best" is always personal and we can't know the finer points of how you would evaluate that as your finger hovers over the "buy now" button.

I can afford pretty much anything, and I don't pay much attention to benchmarks.

I don't want to spend money I don't have to. I'm going to be using it equally for school, video/photo editing and gaming (4080 Super at 1600p).

For example, does it make sense to buy a 14900k if I would see comparable performance for my use case (a few % difference) with a 13600k?

 

[geofelt]

If the ONLY thing you do is gaming, the X3d versions are very good.
Past that, The i9-14900K is as good as it gets.
If you get anything lesser you will forever be second guessing yourself.

FWIW. I updated a 12900K to 14900K because I had the funds.
No regrets.
I noticed the difference even on normal desktop operations.

 

[Lafong]

For example, does it make sense to buy a 14900k if I would see comparable performance for my use case (a few % difference) with a 13600k?

Single thread advantage to the 14900K versus the 13600K is 14.7% on a common benchmark that you wouldn't pay much attention to. Multi-thread advantage is 59.8%.

Price difference is about 260 for the CPU alone. You might have to spend a bit more on cooling on the 14900K if you did not de-tune it.

Maybe the 260 could be better spent on other components....monitor; 64 RAM rather than 32; great cooler rather than good cooler; motherboard with a few more features you might use, etc.

"make sense" and "comparable" are in the eyes of the beholder.......you. No one else.

You can afford "pretty much anything" but "don't want to spend money I don't have to." Not sure where that ultimately places you on the price-sensitivity spectrum. You'd be evaluating that as only you could in the last minutes before you commit.

If you had 3 machines in front of you.....2400 dollars; 2600, and 2800....it's entirely possible you couldn't tell which was which doing your basket of tasks unless you are prone to using a stopwatch.

How do you experience buyer's remorse (if at all)? "I wish I had spent that extra 200 to get a bit more speed; I could have afforded it, but it's too late now" or "Why in the world did I spend that extra 200 that I could have used to pay my power bill?"

Can't really help you further.

 

[Why_Me]

I'm building my first system (have used prebuilts so far), and am not sure what CPU to get.

I'm going to be doing some video/photo editing, using it for school, and gaming.

My GPU is a 4080 Super, and I'll be using an Alienware 38" 1600p display.

I was thinking about the 13600k/14600k, but I'm not sure if I should get something else. I don't have a MB yet, because I don't know if I should go Intel or AMD.

I'm able to fit up to the 14900k/7950x3d into my budget (CPU/MB/RAM is all I have left to get).

What would be my best choice?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($359.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A720 BLACK 98.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($221.94 @ Amazon)
Total: $650.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-15 20:35 EDT-0400

 

[dos_box]

Biggest disadvantage of going Intel is that you will lose the opportunity to upgrade the CPU later. AMD sockets usually can be used over several generations of CPUs whereas Intel usually releases a new socket with every new series; or at least much more often. So if you want upgradability maybe AMD with its AM5-Socket would be an option as it will be used for future Zen 5 Architecture as well:

https://www.extremetech.com/computi...will-extend-to-2026-zen-5-to-use-rnda-35-gpus

 

[geofelt]

Biggest disadvantage of going Intel is that you will lose the opportunity to upgrade the CPU later. AMD sockets usually can be used over several generations of CPUs whereas Intel usually releases a new socket with every new series; or at least much more often. So if you want upgradability maybe AMD with its AM5-Socket would be an option as it will be used for future Zen 5 Architecture as well:

https://www.extremetech.com/computi...will-extend-to-2026-zen-5-to-use-rnda-35-gpus

Not exactly right.
With a lga1700 motherboard, you can upgrade all the way to the i9-14900KS, a $600 processor.

If you had bought a AM4 motherboard, yes, you could have upgraded, but not to the 7000 series which were much stronger.

As a practical matter, most who make a big cpu upgrade will also buy a new motherboard that can take advantage of the better processor.

 

[dos_box]

Not exactly right.
With a lga1700 motherboard, you can upgrade all the way to the i9-14900KS, a $600 processor.

If you had bought a AM4 motherboard, yes, you could have upgraded, but not to the 7000 series which were much stronger.

As a practical matter, most who make a big cpu upgrade will also buy a new motherboard that can take advantage of the better processor.

Just saying that AMD sockets usually last alot longer than Intel sockets. And this is true in this case as well. Because the lga1700 is going to be discontinued for next 15th gen Arrow Lake (the new socket will be LGA1851). So if he choses the i9 14900k he/she will be stuck with it. Whereas the AM5 will last until at least 2026 and the upcoming 9000 series, maybe even longer, who knows.

 

[TheHerald]

I'm building my first system (have used prebuilts so far), and am not sure what CPU to get.

I'm going to be doing some video/photo editing, using it for school, and gaming.

My GPU is a 4080 Super, and I'll be using an Alienware 38" 1600p display.

I was thinking about the 13600k/14600k, but I'm not sure if I should get something else. I don't have a MB yet, because I don't know if I should go Intel or AMD.

I'm able to fit up to the 14900k/7950x3d into my budget (CPU/MB/RAM is all I have left to get).

What would be my best choice?

A 13600kf can be had for around 270€, it's hard to beat at that price.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Though you could say the 12700kf at about 226 is a great deal as well. I’m in the USA though.

AMD has some great equipment right now but on a budget Intel using ddr4 is hard to beat imo.