Time to buy a new CPU at a given price point for gaming.. too many choices!

[glytch5]

Thank you taking the time to read this post!
I am currently running an AMD 8350, and it is just not quite cutting it for me. I am gaming at 1080p and while this CPU is acceptable. I want to upgrade to something bigger n better.
I would like to spend around 400 bucks on a CPU, i'm looking at either intel or AMD.
I am somewhat worried about the 1080p gaming issues associated with AM4 at the moment. I am also not sure if its really worth it to get a ryzen 7 over a ryzen 5. I am sure both CPUS will greatly outperform what I have in here right now.

I am very unfamiliar with Intel chips, as I have never owned one going all the way back to the mide 90s when I had my first computers as a kid. My father and I always went AMD as long as I can remember.

Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? I know I will need to upgrade to DDR4, so it would be nice to know what rams will work well with ryzen, as I hear not all of them do. I am primarily concerned with gaming performance!

-Sold my 40k Necron army! Got some cash for a new CPU!

 

[Gon Freecss]

What's your current graphics card?

 

[Alexander_104]

i would get the I7-6700K or the I7-7700K neither one can do you wrong

 

[ARICH5]

any way you go you will need a new windows 10 license.

 

[ARICH5]

am3+ is end of life

you require new mobo, cpu, ram, win10. so 400$ for a upgrade aint getting you much.

 

[glytch5]

I'm talking 400 for the CPU alone!

I have a retail windows 10... I switched motherboards recently and it was no problem, microsoft tech just switched it for me. Is it tied to the CPU as well?

 

[synphul]

You should be able to reuse your win10 since it's retail but yes you'll have to switch again. Windows is tied to the motherboard, you said you just switched motherboards. You'll have to do so again regardless if you go intel or amd with lga1151 or am4.

If you do other tasks like video editing, streaming of your gameplay etc you might be better off with a ryzen 1600 6c/12t cpu. Otherwise for strictly gaming at 1080p an i7 would be a better choice at that price range. I7's have the hyper threading for more games that makes use of additional threads like bf1 while having the clock speed and ipc to power through games like hitman, gtav, rise of the tomb raider, project cars etc where ryzen cpu's like even the 1700 fall behind.

Here's some game bench's with ryzen 1600x (stock and oc'd) vs others like the ryzen 1700 and i5's. The i5 fell behind a bit in dues x mankind divided but it also lacks hyper threading that an i7 has which improves performance. Look through the various pages and graphs, especially for dues x. They show frame time variances and compare the ryzen cpu's to the i5 with ryzen's smt (amd hyper threading) turned off and it brings them closer to i5 performance showing ht of the i7 will be an improvement.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-1600x-cpu-review,5014-5.html

Ryzen does well in certain gaming scenarios, overall intel performs better in games across the board. Especially if you have no real need for additional cores for streaming or video encoding/rendering. Don't forget to budget for a solid gpu, not sure what your overall budget is or what gpu you currently have. That will have a large impact on games also. In other words don't spend $400 on a cpu and tie the cpu to that budget if it means slacking on a gpu and hurting overall performance. Usually people have a budget for the entire upgrade rather than a hard budget for one component.

 

[James Mason]

If you have a microsoft account, your windows 10 key is tied to it, which is nice because it means all you have to do is login with your email address (microsoft account) when you install it.

 

[glytch5]

I have an rx 480 GPU, but I am waiting to see what vega has to offer before I bother upgrading. I am coming off from a very old system, phenom II x4 and a r9 280 series card. Just got the 8350 and rx 480 a few months back and realized, I am on where near where I want to be. I feel like my CPU is my biggest bottleneck right now.
So the intel 7700k kaby lake is the way to go? What do you recommend for a cooler since they do not come with one?

I rarely do rendering or game streaming... not saying I will not do that, but I am primarily gaming alone in 1080p!

 

[Gon Freecss]

I have an rx 480 GPU, but I am waiting to see what vega has to offer before I bother upgrading. I am coming off from a very old system, phenom II x4 and a r9 280 series card. Just got the 8350 and rx 480 a few months back and realized, I am on where near where I want to be. I feel like my CPU is my biggest bottleneck right now.
So the intel 7700k kaby lake is the way to go? What do you recommend for a cooler since they do not come with one?

I rarely do rendering or game streaming... not saying I will not do that, but I am primarily gaming alone in 1080p!

The FX chip should be decent with an RX 480, especially if you overclock it. I would recommend you to wait for Vega to drop before making any move.

If you still want to upgrade your processor now, then go with either the 1600X or the 1600. It will easily handle your graphics card. It's the best value processor on the market right now.

 

[glytch5]

1600x... that is quite a bit below budget! I am hoping to not have to upgrade my CPU again for a couple few years!

Am I going to see a big hit in performance with the 1080p gaming with ryzen? that is my biggest problem right now with that chip. No idea if that is going to change later on... I just got a 1080p gaming monitor so that is not going to change for quite some time! I generally do not have the money to upgrade often, so I want this CPU upgrade to have some good longevity.

for about 100 bucks more, I can get same motherboard, same memory, but the kaby lake with an aftermarket cooler... 100 bucks is 100 bucks but that seems like a lot more for the money.

$636 kaby lake with aftermarket cooler (needed)
or $544 AM4 1600x stock cooler... hmmmm its hard to say!

 

[Gon Freecss]

1600x... that is quite a bit below budget! I am hoping to not have to upgrade my CPU again for a couple few years!

Am I going to see a big hit in performance with the 1080p gaming with ryzen? that is my biggest problem right now with that chip. No idea if that is going to change later on... I just got a 1080p gaming monitor so that is not going to change for quite some time! I generally do not have the money to upgrade often, so I want this CPU upgrade to have some good longevity.

for about 100 bucks more, I can get same motherboard, same memory, but the kaby lake with an aftermarket cooler... 100 bucks is 100 bucks but that seems like a lot more for the money.

$636 kaby lake with aftermarket cooler (needed)
or $544 AM4 1600x stock cooler... hmmmm its hard to say!

With the RX 480, you're not going to see much of a difference, and you're gonna get more cores and a lot more threads! The AM4 platform will be supported for a long time. So, in a couple years, if you wanted to upgrade, it's going to be as simple as just removing the processor and installing the new one.

The 1600X doesn't come with a cooler, at least most 1600X models, so you'll need to grab an aftermarket cooler as well. The 1600X can reach higher clocks at lower voltages on average, but doesn't come with a cooler. The 1600 comes with a cooler however, and is a bit cheaper.

Just get a motherboard you think you'll be content with.

 

[glytch5]

oh crazy... I have never bought am AMD cpu that did not have a cooler! Companies just keep getting skimpier and more expensive!
I'm picking the same board for each chip... depending on which I get.
What are you using right now Gon Freecss?

The reason I want to go big with CPU is, later on when vega comes out, and I drop cash on an awesome card, I don't even wanna think about having a slow CPU. I wanna be set to go ya know what i'm sayin?

 

[madmatt30]

If you were going ryzen you'd go with the ryzen 5 1600 or ryzen 7 1700.

The x versions without coolers are not worth the money.

The ryzen 1600 is without a doubt the best value CPU on the market today.
I would argue its more future proof than Intel now because the am4 socket has at least a 4 year lifetime.
Intel will change sockets well within 18 months.

1080p gaming issues with ryzen ?? There aren't any .

 

[glytch5]

I have seen a few videos showing ryzen lagging behind in 1080p gaming compared to the intel, but not in 1444p or 4k.
Not sure what that is about, but I am a 1080p guy, I love this monitor and I just got it!
Why are the x versions not worth the extra money? its only 30 bucks in the case of the 1600 I believe. THANKS FOR THE IMPUT DUDES!

 

[Gon Freecss]

oh crazy... I have never bought am AMD cpu that did not have a cooler! Companies just keep getting skimpier and more expensive!
I'm picking the same board for each chip... depending on which I get.
What are you using right now Gon Freecss?

The reason I want to go big with CPU is, later on when vega comes out, and I drop cash on an awesome card, I don't even wanna think about having a slow CPU. I wanna be set to go ya know what i'm sayin?

You can't really blame AMD for doing that. Mainstream unlocked Intel processors began shipping with no stock coolers since Skylake.

Which board are you thinking about getting for AMD?

I'm on a laptop right now.

Well, Ryzen is really great for gaming, even at 1080p. While it certainly lags behind Intel, the more cores and threads really help with 1% and 0.1% frames. Also, the platform will last for a long time, so it's even more future proof.

If you're worried about Vega, then you can go ahead and get either the Ryzen 7 1700 or the 1700X. Both are within your budget. But if you won't upgrade your graphics card for sometime, then totally go with either the 1600 or the 1600X. They'll be more than enough, and you'll enjoy a smooth experience due to all of those threads.

If you were going ryzen you'd go with the ryzen 5 1600 or ryzen 7 1700.

The x versions without coolers are not worth the money.

The ryzen 1600 is without a doubt the best value CPU on the market today.
I would argue its more future proof than Intel now because the am4 socket has at least a 4 year lifetime.
Intel will change sockets well within 18 months.

1080p gaming issues with ryzen ?? There aren't any .

They certainly are worth the money. On average, they overclock higher/as high with lower voltages thus lower temperatures.

Ryzen doesn't have gaming issues at 1080p per se. It lags behind Intel because of some issues with the architecture that doesn't let it harness its full potential in gaming (although optimizations will really help), and the fact that its IPC is quite a bit lower than Intel's current offerings.

 

[madmatt30]

I disagree

$30 between the 1600 & 1600x , add another $30 minimum for a cooler for the 1600x & that difference is $60.
The 1600 will do 3.8ghz on the stock cooler on decent voltage & with decent temps.

Difference between the 1700 & 1700x works out to about $80 - same scenario.
1800x is crazily priced.

 

[glytch5]

Man I wish I knew a thing or two about over clocking a CPU... that is something I never bothered with. I think I would feel a lot more comfortable with a 1600series if I knew how.
Perhaps I should practice on this FX chip before I get in the new one haha.

 

[synphul]

I don't see the socket change as an issue, how often do you upgrade your cpu? Especially if you've got an i7, they've lasted plenty of users 5yrs + without need for an upgrade. Usually in 5yrs time in the tech industry it means new features, newer connectivity, usb, m.2, various features and functions are added. If buying solid hardware to begin with there should be no need to upgrade every 1-2yrs unless buying low end.

Currently for gaming the i7 7700k is still top of the heap and that includes with the release of ryzen. Aftermarket coolers for a 7700k don't have to be expensive, a $35 cryorig h7 would suffice. If looking for max overclocks maybe consider something a bit more substantial in the $50-60 range. Hard to recommend a cooler without knowing which case, which ram (ram height and air cooler compatibility comes into play) or if you're planning to go aio cooling though it's rarely worth the additional cost. The case would need to support a radiator so again case choice comes into play.

There's no real 'practicing' when it comes to overclocking, you either enter values manually or you don't. Each cpu is different and reacts different in terms of how much vcore is needed for stability, how much heat is produced and so on so it's trial and error. Small increases in values for a couple different settings depending whether intel or amd, stress tests for temp and cooling efficiency, stress tests for stability and a bit of fine tuning so as not to run more vcore than necessary (which will add extra heat). There are guides for overclocking either system that can help if/when you get there.

 

[glytch5]

My case is an Azza solano 1000.
I will be buying new ddr4 with either new chip.
synphul that is exactly why I was thinking of something powerful as possible. I'm not going to be upgraded this CPU in a couple years. My last CPU stayed with me for nearly 7 years! Video cards do get upgraded slightly more often...

 

[glytch5]

Still can't decide... 7700k kaby lake in 4.2GZ is about 25 bucks cheaper than ryzen 7 1700x....
ryzen has more threads... and bunch of other stuff. and bla bla blaaaa.
I think I need someone to just tell me what to do haha

 

[Gon Freecss]

Still can't decide... 7700k kaby lake in 4.2GZ is about 25 bucks cheaper than ryzen 7 1700x....
ryzen has more threads... and bunch of other stuff. and bla bla blaaaa.
I think I need someone to just tell me what to do haha

This claim may not contain any truth, but I heard Vega will compliment Ryzen very well. If you think you'll upgrade to Vega, then there's no reason not to go with Ryzen. Also, as I said, if you went with Ryzen, you'll be set for the next ~4 years. In however many years, you could just upgrade the CPU by just taking the current one and installing the new one. However, with the Z270 motherboard, you probably won't be able to upgrade to anything beyond Coffee Lake, if that's even possible.

So, just go with whatever you feel you wouldn't regret buying.

 

[glytch5]

I have never owned intel anything so I just have noooo idea what to do here.
I know intel is generally considered a higher end company, firmware and updates work better but stuff is usually a lot more money.
I guess 1700x is what i'm ganna do! I would go 1700, but I am really not into over clocking CPUs, and right now the X is on sale. If anyone wants to say anything else about the chips please chime in! It is the final hours of purchase!

 

[Gon Freecss]

I have never owned intel anything so I just have noooo idea what to do here.
I know intel is generally considered a higher end company, firmware and updates work better but stuff is usually a lot more money.
I guess 1700x is what i'm ganna do! I would go 1700, but I am really not into over clocking CPUs, and right now the X is on sale. If anyone wants to say anything else about the chips please chime in! It is the final hours of purchase!

Thank you for your selection of best answer!

And, to be honest, you should wait a bit and upgrade your processor later when you upgrade your graphics card. Reason is because the process node matures with time. You might be able to achieve higher clocks if you bought later, but it's not guaranteed. If you want to get the processor now, then by no means go ahead and do so.

 

[glytch5]

Yeah I can't hold onto money like that, just sold my 40k army. If I dont' do this now, i'll spend it on something else! You know how it is...

Plus who knows how long that wait will really be!

So noctua cooler? They seem to be the only brand that the big store has with out of the box am4 support...