[SOLVED] what mb for i5 9600k or i5 9400?

Apr 26, 2020
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has to be 1151 socket and would be nice if it could support 3600 MHz if someone knows a board cheaper than 125$ please leave a comment

this is the best one yet : MSI z390-a pro
RAM (if someone knows this brand and knows it can be trusted please tell me because 16gb ddr4 3600 MHz for 77$ is weird) : XPG
 
Solution
If you are buying new, buy the latest generation product.
New products are not introduced if they do not perform better than what they replace.

9600K is a good gamer, particularly because of the good single thread performance.
Few games can make effective use of more than the 6 threads it has.
To get full performance out of a 9600K, you will need a Z490 based motherboard so you can overclock as the K was intended to do. They are about $150.
You will also need to budget for a decent air cooler. Plan on $50-$80 for that.
The 9600K has 6 threads and a passmark rating of 10899. That is when all 6 threads are fully utilized.
The single thread rating is 2790 which is most important for games.
A 9600K is about $200 and does not come with a...

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
If going with a K suffix processor, you should look at the Z370/390. If you're looking at a non K suffix processor, you should be good with a B360 chipset motherboard. Preferred site for purchase? If you get the Z series, you should pick DDR4-3200MHz rams at the least. If the B series, you should not go beyond DDR4-2666MHz.

FYI, both your links show the same item, i.e, the ram.
 
has to be 1151 socket and would be nice if it could support 3600 MHz if someone knows a board cheaper than 125$ please leave a comment

this is the best one yet : MSI z390-a pro
Why not get an i5-10400 or 10600(K) instead? Are they available to you? What is the overall cost of a 10600K and Z490 compared to the 9600K and Z390? 6cores/12threads with hyper threading will make either CPU last far longer than an i5-9600K with only 6 cores/6threads.
 
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Apr 26, 2020
29
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Why not get an i5-10400 or 10600(K) instead? Are they available to you? What is the overall cost of a 10600K and Z490 compared to the 9600K and Z390? 6cores/12threads with hyper threading will make either CPU last far longer than an i5-9600K with only 6 cores/6threads.

I have looked at 10400 and it seems pretty good for 180$ but the 10600k is 80$ more than my cpu budget
is it better to go with the 10th gen even thought the 9th gen one is ~6% better (according to userbenchmark)?
 
Apr 26, 2020
29
1
35
If going with a K suffix processor, you should look at the Z370/390. If you're looking at a non K suffix processor, you should be good with a B360 chipset motherboard. Preferred site for purchase? If you get the Z series, you should pick DDR4-3200MHz rams at the least. If the B series, you should not go beyond DDR4-2666MHz.

FYI, both your links show the same item, i.e, the ram.
Oh yeah I did accidently link the ram twice thanks
preferred site would be either amazon newegg or b&h
I think I am set on buying that ram because of the price and the looks
also what would ur CPU recommendation be at that price range(below 200$ max 210$ if it's worth it)
 
Apr 26, 2020
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Why do you need a lga1151 motherboard?
Do you already own a 9600K or a 9400f?

Why 3600 speed ram?
Intel does not much care about ram speeds.

If you are buying new, I think there are better options in the 10th gen line.

I don't own the CPUs yet but I thought I would be buying 9th gens until posting here. the new recommendations were 10 gens specifically 10400 but for 20$ more wouldn't the 9600k make a better choice?

also the RAM is 3600MHz for future-proofing and because I found it at an affordable price
 
I personally would avoid 9th gen i5’s. Only having 6 threads is a big negative in my view. While the 9600k can do very well for gaming today we are already seeing it be pushed very hard in some games with the 6 threads running at or near 100%. There are a few games where the average FPS is still very good but the minimums are lower than CPU’s with more threads. If me I would go either 10th gen that is 6 core 12 thread or AMD. Normally I’d say 3600/3600X but with 5000 series due to be announced on the 8th October I’d wait and see what these offer.
 
Apr 26, 2020
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Userbenchmark is a trash site. Either go with an AMD Ryzen 3600/3700x, or an i5 10600k, if buying now. I personally would wait for 4th gen Ryzen, if you can. It is to be announced Oct. 8.
Yeah I wondered in a previous reply if it was a trusted site waiting for oct 8th to come around seems to be the best choice thanks
 
Apr 26, 2020
29
1
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I personally would avoid 9th gen i5’s. Only having 6 threads is a big negative in my view. While the 9600k can do very well for gaming today we are already seeing it be pushed very hard in some games with the 6 threads running at or near 100%. There are a few games where the average FPS is still very good but the minimums are lower than CPU’s with more threads. If me I would go either 10th gen that is 6 core 12 thread or AMD. Normally I’d say 3600/3600X but with 5000 series due to be announced on the 8th October I’d wait and see what these offer.
Thanks I think I will take the advice and wait
 
If you are buying new, buy the latest generation product.
New products are not introduced if they do not perform better than what they replace.

9600K is a good gamer, particularly because of the good single thread performance.
Few games can make effective use of more than the 6 threads it has.
To get full performance out of a 9600K, you will need a Z490 based motherboard so you can overclock as the K was intended to do. They are about $150.
You will also need to budget for a decent air cooler. Plan on $50-$80 for that.
The 9600K has 6 threads and a passmark rating of 10899. That is when all 6 threads are fully utilized.
The single thread rating is 2790 which is most important for games.
A 9600K is about $200 and does not come with a cpu cooler.

The alternative i5-10400 has 12 threads and a passmark rating of 12702 with a single thread rating of 2609.
It costs about $180. It includes a perfectly good cpu cooler.
A B460 based motherboard will be about $75

Intel does not depend much on fast ram for performance.
The difference between 3600 and 2666 speed is in the low single digit percentage.
If you found a 3600 speed kit that you like at a good price, you can use it with either processor.
It will run at 3600 speed on a X490 motherboard.
On the B460 motherboard it will default to 2666 speed. No problem there.

Here is a review of the i5-10400:

Of note, they compared using 3200 speed ram using a Z490 motherboard with 2666 speed.
About a 4% difference.
The processor was a i5-10400F. The f suffix denotes no integrated graphics, it is otherwise identical to the i5-10400. For whatever reason, the i5-10400F versions are more expensive which does not make any sense.
 
Last edited:
Solution
Apr 26, 2020
29
1
35
If you are buying new, buy the latest generation product.
New products are not introduced if they do not perform better than what they replace.

9600K is a good gamer, particularly because of the good single thread performance.
Few games can make effective use of more than the 6 threads it has.
To get full performance out of a 9600K, you will need a Z490 based motherboard so you can overclock as the K was intended to do. They are about $150.
You will also need to budget for a decent air cooler. Plan on $50-$80 for that.
The 9600K has 6 threads and a passmark rating of 10899. That is when all 6 threads are fully utilized.
The single thread rating is 2790 which is most important for games.
A 9600K is about $200 and does not come with a cpu cooler.

The alternative i5-10400 has 12 threads and a passmark rating of 12702 with a single thread rating of 1609.
It costs about $180. It includes a perfectly good cpu cooler.
A B460 based motherboard will be about $75

Intel does not depend much on fast ram for performance.
The difference between 3600 and 2666 speed is in the low single digit percentage.
If you found a 3600 speed kit that you like at a good price, you can use it with either processor.
It will run at 3600 speed on a X490 motherboard.
On the B460 motherboard it will default to 2666 speed. No problem there.

Here is a review of the i5-10400:

Of note, they compared using 3200 speed ram using a Z490 motherboard with 2666 speed.
About a 4% difference.
The processor was a i5-10400F. The f suffix denotes no integrated graphics, it is otherwise identical to the i5-10400. For whatever reason, the i5-10400F versions are more expensive which does not make any sense.



thank you for a very detailed explanation did help clear up couple of things that I was confused by.
made me reconsider thank you again