Question Which CPU to choose for 350-450$

[Tomas99]

Hello my budget for cpu is around 400$, i already have an rtx 2070 super but ive still not decided which cpu to choose so im still using my old overclocked 3570k at 4,2Ghz. Its not like i could not find a list of the best cpu's for money to choose from but im looking more for a list of an overclocked cpu's and comparisment becouse i think there is a lot of wasted potential if you can overclock an intel i9 series for example over 1ghz of its stock clock instead of paying less for an AMD cpu and not being able to overclock it that much. Which one would you choose?

I play alot, i dont stream but i like to record and post videos to youtube which means there is going to be some rendering. Also i would like it as a future investment so im not afraid of picking up an 8 core cpu.

At first i thought i would be fine with ryzen 3600 as most of the games does had the similar results to 9700k and its half a price. But then my budget got bigger and i want something for a longer run than a cpu that i probably would have to replace in next 3 years.

Which one would you choose? i was thinking about 9700k, 10700k, 10600k, or 3700x or 3900x but i would like to know if you would overclock every single one which one would be the beat value?

also mentioning that i live in europe so i will have to pay those ridiculous taxes and fees so for example an 400$ chip is going to cost me around 600$....

 

[velocityg4]

The best in your budget are going to be the Ryzen 3800x, Core i7-9700K and Core i7-10700K. This is based off prices in Germany. Which will be more reflective of pricing in Europe in general. Although looking at a few other EU countries the i7-10700K may be over budget. Still the 3800x and 9700K remain within budget.

As far as overclocking goes. While the Intel CPU does have more headroom. It's a bit misleading as they use a wider base clock and turbo boost spread. Actual OC headroom over turbo boost is less. You may hit 0.4/0.5Ghz beyond all core turbo boost on the 9700K. With either the 9700K or 10700K based on a quick look at results you may hit somewhere between 4.9Ghz and 5.1Ghz on all cores. If you have the choice between the two in your country and budget. I'd take the 10700K as it offers hyperthreading while the 9700K does not.

As far as the Ryzen 3800x goes. Their really doesn't seem to be a point to OC. PBO does a better job with games.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-7-3800x-review,6226-7.html

As you see from the article the 9700K and 9900K (which is basically a 10700k analog) do better for the most part at stock speeds in gaming than the Ryzen 3800x. Regardless of the 3800x being at stock, OC or PBO. Let alone if you OC the Core i7/i9. Assuming you have the GPU to handle it, sufficient cooling and don't care about the power usage. The Core 9700K or 10700K are better for high FPS gaming.

Ryzen has it's advantages for the value conscious. Also for people who want good gaming but have a primary need for a lot of cores/threads. As 12 to 16 cores are great for some professional workloads. If you are gaming at 4K it also doesn't matter. As the GPU won't max out the CPU.

While you do post videos on Youtube. You don't have the budget for 12/16 cores. So their performance advantage is moot. The 3800x may edge out an overclocked 9700K in video tasks due to more threads. But the 10700K will likely edge out the 3800x based on 9900K results from the linked article. Not enough in either way to worry about if gaming is your primary concern. Also if you encode video in the GPU. The GPU will crush any CPU in rendering times.

The only potential issue I see for the 9700K and it's longevity vs the 3800x is next gen gaming. The next XBOX and Playstation will be eight cores and sixteen threads. Which can mean more games being heavily multi-threaded. As games are generally designed first and foremost for consoles. Ultimately the 3800x may be a better choice between the two. But that is unknown. While the 10700K will likely still be the best option of the three for gaming.

 

[Tomas99]

Awesome response THANK YOU, 10700k it is then, maybe even 10700kf to save some bucks as i never used integrated gpu even on my 3570k, they goes for 550$ here in czech republic.
Also ive been looking up the whole time for the ryzen 3600 mobo so im now completely lost in an intel socket, could you give me or anybody else a suggestion which one is the best value for a flawless overclocking, has 2 nvme slots, i would also appreciate a good sound chip, newest user interface, support of 3600mhz ram modules, i doubt i need pcie 4.0... and also rgb headers would be nice, also red themed mobo would be nice as thats a color which i would like to use for the whole build.

or should i create a separate topic in a mobo section for the best answers?

 

[GarrettL]

Would you give us a complete budget that you have to assemble the pc.

Do you currently have a monitor and if so what is it?

Any old pc equipment you want to use from the old pc?

 

[velocityg4]

Awesome response THANK YOU, 10700k it is then, maybe even 10700kf to save some bucks as i never used integrated gpu even on my 3570k, they goes for 550$ here in czech republic.
Also ive been looking up the whole time for the ryzen 3600 mobo so im now completely lost in an intel socket, could you give me or anybody else a suggestion which one is the best value for a flawless overclocking, has 2 nvme slots, i would also appreciate a good sound chip, newest user interface, support of 3600mhz ram modules, i doubt i need pcie 4.0... and also rgb headers would be nice, also red themed mobo would be nice as thats a color which i would like to use for the whole build.

or should i create a separate topic in a mobo section for the best answers?

As @GarrettL says. Knowing everything you need and budget will garner better results. FYI the 10700K motherboard will also be the most expensive. As it is a new chipset and socket.

Here's sort of a form you can copy and paste. Then answer the questions.

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Tomas99]

Oh sorry it should be around 170-250$ in the US, i was looking at a b550-f asus strix for my ryzen 3600 so it should be around that price, i can build the rest no problem, probably picking noctua dh15 as a cooler but im going to try first my old 212 hyper evo. Monitor is ultrawide alienware so the resolution is 3440x1440, i already have the gpu, ram does not matter so im going to pick up some budget friendly 16gb 3200mhz lowest timing latency, just wondering about that motherboard

edit: wow they are really much more expensive than an amd ones... well in our country the most selling one is this one
MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS - Intel Z490
what do you think? It has 2 M2 slots supports 3600 frequency, is this one good for overclocking?

 

[velocityg4]

Oh sorry it should be around 170-250$ in the US, i was looking at a b550-f asus strix for my ryzen 3600 so it should be around that price, i can build the rest no problem, probably picking noctua dh15 as a cooler but im going to try first my old 212 hyper evo. Monitor is ultrawide alienware so the resolution is 3440x1440, i already have the gpu, ram does not matter so im going to pick up some budget friendly 16gb 3200mhz lowest timing latency, just wondering about that motherboard

edit: wow they are really much more expensive than an amd ones... well in our country the most selling one is this one
MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS - Intel Z490
what do you think? It has 2 M2 slots supports 3600 frequency, is this one good for overclocking?

I don't see any teardowns reviews of it. It appears to offer more robust power delivery than it's z390 predecessor. Which is needed for the 10900K. As the 10700K is only eight cores. I'd expect it to handle that CPU decently. Perhaps losing 0.1 to 0.2 Ghz off the maximum overclock your CPU can potentially handle. That's just a guess though.

Some owner reviews I found say it works fine with the 10700K and has a decent VRM. Also your PSU will need an 8pin plus a 4 pin CPU power (EPS) connector. Most PSU only offer one 4+4 Pin. Higher end typically have two.

The Hyper 212 Evo may tide you over until you decide to OC. Although I have doubts it will even maintain full turbo boost. Perhaps with good case cooling and the fan running at full speed. Those CPU run hot. Way hotter than Ryzen or your 3570K. The i7-10700K 229W PL2 is much higher than the 180W TDP of the Hyper 212 Evo. Which seems like a very generous TDP Cooler Master gave the Hyper 212. As similar units from other manufacturers have lower TDP ratings.

I'm sure Tomshardware will eventually have a review of the 10700K out. Going off reviews of the 10900K (240W max) and 10600K (175W Max). I'd expect the CPU to run in the 200W to 220W range when overclocked and stress tested. Which doesn't reflect real world usage. Typical usage even gaming should be a lot lower. The numbers for the other CPU mentioned varied a lot depending on the stress test. Those were just the worst.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9-10900k-cpu-review/2

Intel Core i5-10600K Review: The Mainstream Gaming Champ

Six cores and 12 threads serve up a gaming stunner.

www.tomshardware.com

So far you may be looking at spending more than you intended on a CPU, motherboard, heatsink and PSU. Keep in mind that the Ryzen 3800x is a huge upgrade over your current CPU.

 

[GarrettL]

At 1440p you won’t see much of an FPS difference between the 3700x and 10700.

 

[artk2219]

Oh sorry it should be around 170-250$ in the US, i was looking at a b550-f asus strix for my ryzen 3600 so it should be around that price, i can build the rest no problem, probably picking noctua dh15 as a cooler but im going to try first my old 212 hyper evo. Monitor is ultrawide alienware so the resolution is 3440x1440, i already have the gpu, ram does not matter so im going to pick up some budget friendly 16gb 3200mhz lowest timing latency, just wondering about that motherboard

edit: wow they are really much more expensive than an amd ones... well in our country the most selling one is this one
MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS - Intel Z490
what do you think? It has 2 M2 slots supports 3600 frequency, is this one good for overclocking?

You could also look at decent b450 boards instead of b550 and save a little bit, they'll also run any of the modern chips just fine so long as you make sure the bios is up to date.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3582-amd-chipset-differences-b550-vs-x570-b450-x470-zen-3

 

[Tomas99]

Thanks for the info, but one of my other aspect after gaming and ocassional rendering is a usage of the cpu in the future. For example, games are still running decent on my overclocked i5 3570k, even 8 years after ive bought it. And that is exactly what i would want to see from my next chip, i would just like to swap GPU once or twice before i would end up in a need of buying a new cpu... only problem with 3570k are those rendering times and also im losing a couple of frames in games now... And i really doubt that a 6 Core cpus last that long when we are already in this phase. I'd rather get a more expensive one and have a reserve for the future. New consoles are also going to use an 8 core cpu's too and as developers will try to use its max potentinal , its logical that the same must happen to PC chips. So having a 5ghz 8c/16t must be enough for me for atleast 5 years without a single problem, and when the games start utilizing more than 6 cores, then mine will become handy even more. Im choosing also Intel over Amd becouse of the high frequencies which you use most in the games, its also what amd cant deliver to you atm.

Second question: The turbo boost how does it exactly work?
My thinking was when a cpu is at its 100% usage it will overclock itself ? But then i've heard that those are just some kind of a short term bursts so actually im wondering if there is even a point in overclocking since the CPU can help itself running at max turbo boost frequency when it needs it... but on the other hand the overclocked versions of the mentioned cpu have better results in benchmarks than a stock one....

Can somebody give me a short explanation about it?

About the motherboard, i found a video where a guy is using the exact setup and has it overclocked to 5GHz so that should be fine...

3800x is a nice chip, not that powerful as 10700k, but the price will make it up for it as there is a 100$ difference in my country, also if i would go for amd i would probably end up with a b550 board anyway as i cant stand an outdated interface and also it would have to be one with a good vrm to handle an 8core cpu so i would probably ended up spending a same amount on mobos for both of the CPU's so it would not be much of a difference

 

[GarrettL]

The 3800x is nice but not really much faster than the 3700x. If you are going to load the cpu for work, then the Wraith cooler that comes with it will get loud. It may not handle full load temps for the period you'll be rendering. A good cooler is suggested but not required for best and quite performance.

Overclocking AMD Ryzen's is not the referred route, let it overclock itself. There's really not much headroom left on these cpu's. AMD boosts to it's max when needed, idles the cores when not needed. That simple.

For 1080p gaming the 10700K does get a few more frames. Everything else is pretty close to one another.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxx--rcElOM

 

[Tomas99]

So you are saying at 1440p as the most usage goes to GPU i would be more than fine with a 6core cpu for the next 5 years? With this fact i think 10700k would do even better job and could keep up with me for even 10 years like my 3570k

 

[klikken]

Core i7-10700K. is excellent

 

[Tomas99]

So, i've done some research and i think Z490 Gigabyte Aorus Elite might do the job for me. Do you think overclocking this kind of a cpu would be an issue on this board?
edit: it should be more than fine

View: https://youtu.be/nFNnekpGwSg

 

[DracoB0T]

Hello my budget for cpu is around 400$, i already have an rtx 2070 super but ive still not decided which cpu to choose so im still using my old overclocked 3570k at 4,2Ghz. Its not like i could not find a list of the best cpu's for money to choose from but im looking more for a list of an overclocked cpu's and comparisment becouse i think there is a lot of wasted potential if you can overclock an intel i9 series for example over 1ghz of its stock clock instead of paying less for an AMD cpu and not being able to overclock it that much. Which one would you choose?

I play alot, i dont stream but i like to record and post videos to youtube which means there is going to be some rendering. Also i would like it as a future investment so im not afraid of picking up an 8 core cpu.

At first i thought i would be fine with ryzen 3600 as most of the games does had the similar results to 9700k and its half a price. But then my budget got bigger and i want something for a longer run than a cpu that i probably would have to replace in next 3 years.

Which one would you choose? i was thinking about 9700k, 10700k, 10600k, or 3700x or 3900x but i would like to know if you would overclock every single one which one would be the beat value?

also mentioning that i live in europe so i will have to pay those ridiculous taxes and fees so for example an 400$ chip is going to cost me around 600$....

Dear User,

Hi, my name is Draco! So, about the CPU budget, $400 is an amazing price, and you could easily cop a i7-10700K. It's an amazing 10th gen version of the i7, with 8 cores and 16 threads. It also has a base speed of 3.80GHz, and a turbo boost speed of 5.20GHz, more than the i9-9900K. If your gonna play games such as Fortnite, CSGO, Valorant, then these games are mostly CPU based. So the more cores, the more smoothly the game will run. However, it will also need rendering from the GPU, and the RTX 2070 Super is an amazing GPU, so I see you don't need an upgrade on that.

However, I know you might be thinking, if the games are CPU based, then shouldn't I buy an AMD CPU as it has more cores and threads for a lower price. That's the thing, the AMD Ryzen's CPUs are cheaper, but come with more cores. These cores can't be overclocked to the GHz compared to Intel. Also, past reports have shown that Intel works faster and better then Intel. This is actually why pro gamers use Intel over AMD, they want to squeeze every last bit of performance from their CPU.

But, if you want to, you could purchase an AMD Ryzen 3900X, which is an alternative, and similar to the i7-10700K. Just saying, the CPU's with K at the end, are the ones which are the best to overclock with. Anyway, the AMD Ryzen 3900X has 12 cores and 24 threads, which is extremely amazingly. However the base clock is 3.80GHz, similar to Intel I7-10700K, but the turbo speed is 4.6GHz, compared to Intel i7-10700K which is 5.2GHz. At the end, it's all up to you and your preference. But also make sure your motherboard is compatible with the CPU. Also I would recommend using some high end thermal paste.

 

[johnsoner13]

So the more cores, the more smoothly the game will run.

Not exactly

Also, past reports have shown that Intel works faster and better then Intel.

?

This is actually why pro gamers use Intel over AMD, they want to squeeze every last bit of performance from their CPU.

1. He’s not a pro gamer
2. Pro gamers don’t play at ultrawide resolutions like he is, CPU won’t be as detrimental to performance

the CPU's with K at the end, are the ones which are the best to overclock with.

They’re the only ones that can be overclocked, really

A 3700x will be plenty, it seems, for your use case or wait until zen 3 if your 3570k can hold on a little longer. Unless you really need a CPU immediately to be pumping out videos for your channel