[SOLVED] Upgrading from a i5-6400

[shyam.mora]

My current specs are i5-6400 / GTX 1060 3GB / 16GB RAM. I was planning on upgrading just the GPU so finalized GTX 1660Ti as it is in budget at ₹23500. My initial plan was to get a RTX 2060 which costs ₹29000 but I dropped to a 1660Ti as now I am planning to upgrade CPU as well. I have 2 option in my budget. A Ryzen 5 3500 or an i5-9400F. Both require a new motherboard. Pricing as follows (in INR).

Ryzen 5 3500 is ₹12000 and new mobo is ₹4500
i5-9400F is ₹13000 and new mobo is ₹4500

My requirement is mainly 1080p gaming at 60FPS (I lock most of my games at 60 as I prefer stable FPS) with High to Ultra settings. My next upgrade will be only after 5 years or so. So longevity is also required. Kindly suggest.

 

[sizzling]

Are the Ryzen 2600 or 3600 an option? Both of these are 12 thread CPU’s, the CPU’s you listed have 6 threads. As you want this system to last 5 years I’d strongly recommend a 12 thread cpu over 6. We are already seeing 6 thread CPU’s working very hard in some games so they have little headroom for the future.

 

[shyam.mora]

Are the Ryzen 2600 or 3600 an option?

2600 is ₹13000. Expensive than 3500. 3600 is ₹17500. Very expensive than 3500.
In terms of performance, is a 2600 better than 3500 and i5-9400 ?

 

[Juan_Bijero]

You will have other expenses such as new RAM sticks - especially if you go with Ryzen. This means that you will need to check you motherboard manufacturer's QVL (Qualified Vendor List) to make sure that your new ram is supported. Since you are a gamer, you will need at least 16GB of RAM. You may also need a new PSU. I am assuming that you have Windows 10 running. If not there will be problems - especially if you go with Ryzen. Ryzen 5 will require that you have the most recent version of Windows 10. It is currently version 2004.

 

[Rdslw]

Ryzen 5 3500 is a limited support chip, you will might see issues on some boards.
if possible go for 3600. it should not be much pricier and you will have better fps in most AAA & future.
3600 should be ~ 13500

 

[shyam.mora]

You will have other expenses such as new RAM sticks - especially if you go with Ryzen. This means that you will need to check you motherboard manufacturer's QVL (Qualified Vendor List) to make sure that your new ram is supported. Since you are a gamer, you will need at least 16GB of RAM. You may also need a new PSU. I am assuming that you have Windows 10 running. If not there will be problems - especially if you go with Ryzen. Ryzen 5 will require that you have the most recent version of Windows 10. It is currently version 2004.

I have 16gigs of HyperX Fury DDR4 2133Mhz RAM. I am using Windows 10 Pro genuine version. So no issues of update. My PSU is a 500W one and has 2X4 PIN 12v socket.

 

[shyam.mora]

Ryzen 5 3500 is a limited support chip, you will might see issues on some boards.
if possible go for 3600. it should not be much pricier and you will have better fps in most AAA & future.
3600 should be ~ 13500

3600 is ₹17000. Thats ₹6000 more than 3500.

 

[Juan_Bijero]

I have 16gigs of HyperX Fury DDR4 2133Mhz RAM. I am using Windows 10 Pro genuine version. So no issues of update. My PSU is a 500W one and has 2X4 PIN 12v socket.

Have you checked your HyperX Fury RAM against the motherboard manufacturer's QVL? Since I do not know which motherboard you have chosen I cannot tell you whether it will work.

 

[shyam.mora]

Have you checked your HyperX Fury RAM against the motherboard manufacturer's QVL? Since I do not know which motherboard you have chosen I cannot tell you whether it will work.

Apologies. This is the mobo I chose. MSI A320M-A PRO MAX

https://www.amazon.in/MSI-PRO-MAX-M...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1RRZ9R1G3QT0ESKFBMZ6

 

[sizzling]

2600 is ₹13000. Expensive than 3500. 3600 is ₹17500. Very expensive than 3500.
In terms of performance, is a 2600 better than 3500 and i5-9400 ?

The 3600 has slightly faster cores than 2600 but that only helps with high fps and you are only aiming 60fps. I really believe the 2600 with 6 cores and 12 threads is a much better long term buy than a 6 core 6 thread cpu. Games are using more threads and higher thread count CPU’s give more stable FPS even if not higher but arguably stable FPS is a better experience.

 

[shyam.mora]

Have you checked your HyperX Fury RAM against the motherboard manufacturer's QVL?

I just checked and it is in the list. Model Number of RAM is HX421C14FB/8

 

[shyam.mora]

The 3600 has slightly faster cores than 2600 but that only helps with high fps and you are only aiming 60fps. I really believe the 2600 with 6 cores and 12 threads is a much better long term buy than a 6 core 6 thread cpu. Games are using more threads and higher thread count CPU’s give more stable FPS even if not higher but arguably stable FPS is a better experience.

To be honest, I was inclined towards 2600 first. But then I watched a couple of benchmarking videos on Youtube where 3500 performed better. And reviews said that 2600 is good if you are streaming and all else, 3500 is good. So I got confused.

 

[Juan_Bijero]

Apologies. This is the mobo I chose. MSI A320M-A PRO MAX

https://www.amazon.in/MSI-PRO-MAX-M...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1RRZ9R1G3QT0ESKFBMZ6

Your choice of motherboard is really limited - even given the name "Pro MAX." It only supports 2 sticks of RAM. Is there any possibility of affording an X570 board? Gigabyte makes some inexpensive boards even in X570. Gigabyte-X570UD-motherboard

 

[Juan_Bijero]

I just looked up X570UD and it is way too expensive compared to your choice.

 

[shyam.mora]

Your choice of motherboard is really limited - even given the name "Pro MAX." It only supports 2 sticks of RAM. Is there any possibility of affording an X570 board? Gigabyte makes some inexpensive boards even in X570. Gigabyte-X570UD-motherboard

This costs more than the processor itself 🤣 and totally out of budget.

 

[sizzling]

To be honest, I was inclined towards 2600 first. But then I watched a couple of benchmarking videos on Youtube where 3500 performed better. And reviews said that 2600 is good if you are streaming and all else, 3500 is good. So I got confused.

Those comparisons are usually done with a top end gpu and pushing the highest average FPS. We have seen a couple of games where 6 thread CPU’s with faster cores can achieve higher average but lower minimums and to me the lower minimums have a bigger impact on gameplay over the difference in average. I have several games that will use 8-12 threads of my 3700x. At the end of the day none of us know the future, but if I was in your position I would choose the 2600 over the 3500.