Question What CPU should I use in my next PC build?

[Sulerium]

So I built this computer a little over 2 years ago in an attempt to build a good gaming PC with a $1000 dollar range. This resulted in me buying these components:
CPU: I7-4790K
GPU: GTX 1060
RAM: 16GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 MHz
Motherboard: ASRock h97m pro4
PSU: 550 Watt (EVGA I believe)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Storage: 3TB WD Black HD 7200 RPM
OS: Windows 10
Monitor: Asus mg28uq (4K Monitor 60 Hz)

Although I've been content with this build, it's becoming more and more out of date by the day and the gameplay shows as games are becoming increasingly advanced. Games such as Assassins Creed Odyssey and Far Cry 5 struggle with keeping consistent frames, even Fortnite inconsistently dips down into the 20 fps mark, making it really hard to be competitive on top of my internet not being the best. The motherboard can't be overclocked and when I do bottleneck tests it says both my CPU and GPU are perfect for each other. At this point, I'm just done and want to build a new PC but I'm unsure which CPU I should get. Right now with an ideal $1500 dollar budget, I'm considering the following:
-RYZEN 7 2700X
-RYZEN 5 2600X
-I7 8700K
-I7 9700K
-I7 8600K

I plan on pairing these CPU's with:
-RTX 2070
-16GB G.Skill DDR4 3000 MHz
-650 or 750 watt PSU
Cooler Master 120mm Water Cooler
1 TB SSD
MSI MPG Z390 GAMING EDGE AC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard for Intel
ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard for AMD
1440p 144hz monitor

I don't completely care about going over the budget but I don't plan on building something with an I9 and a 2080 ti with my budget. I play competitive and graphically challenging games (AC Odyssey) mostly with friends. Ethernet is not an option due to the wiring of the house being outdated hence the reason why the motherboards have onboard wi-fi. I plan on possibly using the build for streaming or videos but gaming will ultimately be its main use. I just want a good recommendation for which I should buy and whether Intel's price premium is worth what I'm trying to use the PC for. Also, I would like this PC to last much longer than my current one, so please take recency and longevity into consideration before giving a recommendation. Thank you so much!!!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

2700X

 

[cryoburner]

In my opinion, none of the above. Your CPU is still reasonably good, and I would probably hold out at least until the 7nm and 10nm CPUs from AMD and Intel start coming out.

GPU: GTX 1060

Monitor: Asus mg28uq (4K Monitor 60 Hz)

...and when I do bottleneck tests it says both my CPU and GPU are perfect for each other.

"Bottleneck tests" tend to be terrible in general, and they typically assume that you are gaming at 1080p resolution. Seeing as you have a 4K monitor, and are reporting dips down to 20fps in Fortnite, I assume you are likely running your games at 4K resolution, meaning your graphics card needs to render 4 times the number of pixels as at 1080p. A GTX 1060 is good for 1080p, but abysmal at 4K. At that resolution, you really need a high-end graphics card, while your choice of CPU isn't likely to impact performance much. If you are gaming at 4K, try turning the resolution in your games down to 1920x1080, and see what that does for performance. If performance is fine, then all you really need to improve your gaming performance at 4K would be a high-end graphics card, like a 2080 or maybe 2070. Or simply run games at a lower resolution than what your monitor is capable of, like at 1080p.

Personally, I would go for a 144Hz 1440p screen over a 60Hz 4K one to pair with a high-end card though, as the graphics hardware demands to achieve a given frame rate at 4K just don't seem worth it yet.

 

[Sulerium]

In my opinion, none of the above. Your CPU is still reasonably good, and I would probably hold out at least until the 7nm and 10nm CPUs from AMD and Intel start coming out.



"Bottleneck tests" tend to be terrible in general, and they typically assume that you are gaming at 1080p resolution. Seeing as you have a 4K monitor, and are reporting dips down to 20fps in Fortnite, I assume you are likely running your games at 4K resolution, meaning your graphics card needs to render 4 times the number of pixels as at 1080p. A GTX 1060 is good for 1080p, but abysmal at 4K. At that resolution, you really need a high-end graphics card, while your choice of CPU isn't likely to impact performance much. If you are gaming at 4K, try turning the resolution in your games down to 1920x1080, and see what that does for performance. If performance is fine, then all you really need to improve your gaming performance at 4K would be a high-end graphics card, like a 2080 or maybe 2070. Or simply run games at a lower resolution than what your monitor is capable of, like at 1080p.

Personally, I would go for a 144Hz 1440p screen over a 60Hz 4K one to pair with a high-end card though, as the graphics hardware demands to achieve a given frame rate at 4K just don't seem worth it yet.

I already play games at 1080p and 1440p, I can play them at their lowest setting and they’ll dip down which is making me think it’s an optimization issue. I’ve seen the same issues with games like Far Cry 5 where the CPU’s aren’t being used completely even though they’re paired with a 1080 TI. With more recent titles, older hardware such as mine isn’t being supported with drivers like it used to and it seriously sucks namely with my CPU.

I appreciate your input and I have thought of just getting a new GPU, but I really do think I should get a new processor for the sake of getting more cores due to games starting to turn towards core count as well as running and managing more programs because just opening programs can be a pain if the CPU if somehow being overflowed with high usage background tasks. I just think getting a better CPU would lead to more consistent gameplay.

 

[Sulerium]

In my opinion, none of the above. Your CPU is still reasonably good, and I would probably hold out at least until the 7nm and 10nm CPUs from AMD and Intel start coming out.



"Bottleneck tests" tend to be terrible in general, and they typically assume that you are gaming at 1080p resolution. Seeing as you have a 4K monitor, and are reporting dips down to 20fps in Fortnite, I assume you are likely running your games at 4K resolution, meaning your graphics card needs to render 4 times the number of pixels as at 1080p. A GTX 1060 is good for 1080p, but abysmal at 4K. At that resolution, you really need a high-end graphics card, while your choice of CPU isn't likely to impact performance much. If you are gaming at 4K, try turning the resolution in your games down to 1920x1080, and see what that does for performance. If performance is fine, then all you really need to improve your gaming performance at 4K would be a high-end graphics card, like a 2080 or maybe 2070. Or simply run games at a lower resolution than what your monitor is capable of, like at 1080p.

Personally, I would go for a 144Hz 1440p screen over a 60Hz 4K one to pair with a high-end card though, as the graphics hardware demands to achieve a given frame rate at 4K just don't seem worth it yet.
[/QUOTE

Also please elaborate on the 7nm and 10 nm, I’ve heard of this as of lately but don’t completely understand what it is and i’ve Only heard referencing to the Radeon 7.

 

[Orb3ro]

Just wait some months for AMD 3000 series, it's the best thing that you can do.

 

[Sulerium]

Just wait some months for AMD 3000 series, it's the best thing that you can do.

Just wait some months for AMD 3000 series, it's the best thing that you can do.

Just wait some months for AMD 3000 series, it's the best thing that you can do.

I just might, possibility of 12 cores with clock speeds higher than before? That might be just what I want if they’re able to deliver it. Are you an AMD fan?

 

[Rodrigodrt]

the wiser option would be wait for amd 3k, or a possible intel 10th gen. if you cant, 9700k no doubt, for gaming intel triumphs over amd

 

[Sulerium]

the wiser option would be wait for amd 3k, or a possible intel 10th gen. if you cant, 9700k no doubt, for gaming intel triumphs over amd

I’ll just wait and see which one has better price to performance and Whether that performance is competitive to the other.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

https://www.techspot.com/news/78452-amd-next-12-core-cpu-appears-benchmark-database.html

 

[1LiquidPC]

I can vouch for both AMD and Intel being great choices. Have my current Intel build, recently sold i7 8700k setup, and have 2700X daily driver build as well as I wanted to try a modern AMD setup. They all have one thing in common overall....fast Like being mentioned, the 3000 series is shaping up to be great from AMD likely in 4 months or so, but still 2000 series is still a great choice. This said, currently, even Ryzen 2000 series trails Intel across all gaming resolutions, though gap at 4k is quite small in most cases, and a bit wider at 1440P.

 

[Sulerium]

I can vouch for both AMD and Intel being great choices. Have my current Intel build, recently sold i7 8700k setup, and have 2700X daily driver build as well as I wanted to try a modern AMD setup. They all have one thing in common overall....fast Like being mentioned, the 3000 series is shaping up to be great from AMD likely in 4 months or so, but still 2000 series is still a great choice. This said, currently, even Ryzen 2000 series trails Intel across all gaming resolutions, though gap at 4k is quite small in most cases, and a bit wider at 1440P.

I sorta plan on purchasing and building this PC next December and take advantage of Black Friday sales, obviously AMD will be cheaper but if the 9700K was possibly price dropped to say $300-$350, would you say that’s worth it.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

See whats available at that point. I7s dont depreciate like that. If its current gen it wont be more than a small discount. I would see if 3rd gen ryzen is a good option.

 

[1LiquidPC]

If you are planning that far out, I would wait a bit to see what happens mid-year or so. AMD will be launching 3000 series, and Intel's rumored to launch Comet Lake series at some point, including a 10-Core for mainstream and possibly changing more CPUs in their lineup and shuffling prices. No solid details at this point. A 9700k is a great choice if the price was lowered to that, but unlikely to happen anytime soon. Even at that price, it's at 2700X territory and waters get muddy depending on overall usage.

 

[Karadjgne]

When you say 'planning on pairing' do you already own the parts? Because that's a mess. Sorry.
That build is all over the place.

3000MHz ram is fine for Intel. It's short changing Ryzen 2nd Gen.

Not a cpu in your list will do anything but stock or mild oc with a CM 120mm AIO.

1Tb SSD, NVMe or Sata? Kingston or Samsung?

2070 is decent for 1440p, a 2080 would be better

650w or 750w. So you are cluess.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($184.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: EVGA - CLC 280 113.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($112.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime X470-Pro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($161.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3466 Memory ($145.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($99.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($167.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB VENTUS OC Video Card ($725.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C White TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1746.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-16 14:09 EDT-0400

 

[Sulerium]

When you say 'planning on pairing' do you already own the parts? Because that's a mess. Sorry.
That build is all over the place.

3000MHz ram is fine for Intel. It's short changing Ryzen 2nd Gen.

Not a cpu in your list will do anything but stock or mild oc with a CM 120mm AIO.

1Tb SSD, NVMe or Sata? Kingston or Samsung?

2070 is decent for 1440p, a 2080 would be better

650w or 750w. So you are cluess.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($184.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: EVGA - CLC 280 113.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($112.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime X470-Pro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($161.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3466 Memory ($145.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($99.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($167.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB VENTUS OC Video Card ($725.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C White TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($86.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1746.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-16 14:09 EDT-0400

I don’t own the parts yet and I don’t wanna say things for certain because it completely depends on what I end up going for the CPU due to budget and performance requirements as well as future proofing. What I said was just a baseline of what I plan on. The system you put together looks interesting and out of curiosity what's so important about M.2 SSD's? I understand that they're faster but from the tests and performances I've seen it tends only to be faster by a few seconds, I don't believe they're worth the extra cash. But could you possibly explain to me how their performance is worth spending an extra $100 towards storage and how that might translate into loading the OS system or possibly games?