Question Worth upgrading from an i5-6500?

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Jan 25, 2016
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Right now I have an i5-6500 with a non-super RTX 2070 and with all the hype around the new Ryzen releases, I'm thinking of upgrading. I use my PC mostly for games.

I've been looking at the Ryzen 3600, 3700X and the i7-9700K, which is being offered for the same price as the 3700X for some reason. But while the reviews provide a lot of information on how these stack up against each other, I'm not really sure how much of an improvement over my current setup each would be. Looks like the 6500 didn't get a lot of reviews or benchmarks to begin with.

Sure, the 3600 sounds like excellent value for a new build, but if it ends up just a modest improvement over my current setup, then there's not much point. The 9700K seems to have a solid 10-15% performance lead in games over the other two... with a 2080 Ti. Does that work the same with a lower-tier card like mine?

Maybe I should just hold off and wait for the next generation?
 
Yes, you will see some improvements. Probably more in some games than others, but I'd say all games will improve.

I happen to have an i5-6500 laying around, and I have a Ryzen 7 3700X along with a 1080 Ti. I also have a YouTube channel with gaming hardware comparisons and benchmarks. Tell me what games you want to see and maybe I can get you some videos up that show each's performance. I have most games, but my internet is slow. If I don't' have it installed, I'd have to wait some time for it to download. Just a thought. I'm busy enough as it is, but YouTube is something I'm working on and I did buy a used i5-6500 a while ago for that specific purpose.

The 9700K is a nice option, it doesn't have hyper-threading but performs considerably well even though.
 

Karadjgne

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Which 9700. There's 2. There's the i9 9700k which is CoffeeLake refresh, and the i7-9700 which is an 8 core CoffeeLake version of the 6 core 8700. One is overclockable, the other isn't. I'd not be surprised if it's the i7-9700 that's the same price as the Ryzen, not the i9 9700k.
 

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I happen to have an i5-6500 laying around, and I have a Ryzen 7 3700X along with a 1080 Ti. I also have a YouTube channel with gaming hardware comparisons and benchmarks. Tell me what games you want to see and maybe I can get you some videos up that show each's performance. I have most games, but my internet is slow. If I don't' have it installed, I'd have to wait some time for it to download. Just a thought. I'm busy enough as it is, but YouTube is something I'm working on and I did buy a used i5-6500 a while ago for that specific purpose.

That's nice of you to offer, if you can find the time. I don't want to rush this decision. Do you have Control, or one of the newer Total War games, like Warhammer 2 or Three Kingdoms?

Which 9700. There's 2. There's the i9 9700k which is CoffeeLake refresh, and the i7-9700 which is an 8 core CoffeeLake version of the 6 core 8700. One is overclockable, the other isn't. I'd not be surprised if it's the i7-9700 that's the same price as the Ryzen, not the i9 9700k.

Pretty sure it's the 9700K (BX80684I79700K) - I think they're just selling the 3700X at a high price.
 
There might be the odd older game where an i5-6500 is 'enough', but, such games will be increasingly fewer and far in between, especially with Win10...

The 'hot choice' these days among the 'must have good rig now'-crowd seems to be the well performing R5-3600 or 3700X these days, which makes sense given their price points...(although newegg has lowered it's price on 9900KF to $419, reportedly)

I'd not upgrade on my or anyone else's opinion..you decide whether you are happy with current performance. The fact that something faster is available should not drive it alone, something is always faster within 3-5 months)
 

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That's good advice, but I'd like to learn a bit more about how much of a step up the current fast thing would be over what I have, in the areas I care about. Helps decide whether or not to wait for the next fast thing in 3-5 months.
 

Timbs

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Jun 24, 2015
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Sorry to hijack your thread but I am in a similar situation and would be interested in the outcome.

I have an i5-6600 & recently upgraded both my monitor & GPU. Now game in 2k ultrawide with a 5700XT.

I play mostly MMO's (Warcraft) city builder type games (Anno, Cities Skylines, Satisfactory, Planet Coaster)

I like eye candy and have my graphics set to ultra where I can.

I'm really happy with my new GPU but notice that my CPU is hitting 100% often and I have had it recently when playing Anno 1800 that youtube stutters. (16GB Ram)

Getting the itch to upgrade my CPU. When I built the system nearing 4 years ago, I kinda hoped that I could just upgrade the CPU.. but the cost of anything better that fits in the socket is not worth it.

So I am toying with the idea of moving to the 3600X. But with that I understand that I would need a new MB.

Thinking I should hold off as not sure if it is worth upgrading at this time. Maybe next year :confused_old: