[SOLVED] Would a 3700x bottleneck a 2070S?

Stocky1984

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According to this article (https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/AMD-Ryzen-7-3700X/Rating/4043) it does bottleneck. "The 3700X severely bottlenecks a 2070S: gamers should investigate the 9600K, which is both cheaper and faster."

I'm taking my time to think about a possible new build. Still not sure to go for AMD or Intel, both have their good and not so good points. It would be mostly for gaming at 1080p 144hz (no video editing or streaming) so in this case Intel might be the better choice I guess but it has more power consumption. I recently bought a 650W PSU and I'm not sure if that would be even enough for a overclocked 10700K+2070S. So if I'd go Intel I probably need to buy like a new 750W PSU as well as I have my doubts that my 650W PSU would be enough with overclocking. The thing I like about the AMD is the lower power consumption and the PCI 4.0 which Intel does not have but I'm not sure if it would make a huge difference gaming wise as 3.0 is probably more than enough.

So my final choice would most likely be between 10700K+2070S or 3700X+2070S, for now I'd still go for the Intel build however it would be $300 more than the AMD build. There's no rush for building this new build so maybe I'd just wait for the Nvidia Ampere and AMD 4000 series release to see if that would be even a better choice.

Current build: 6700K(@4.6)+1070 and a Corsair H115i watercooler.
 
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https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/AMD-Ryzen-7-3700X-vs-Intel-i5-9600K/3485vs3337

Strangely the 3700x stomps the 9600k into the mud, seriously in every way except single thread, where it looses out by a measly 100 points. Passmark, the 3700x score is double that of the 9600k.

Not entirely sure exactly how the 8c/16t 3700x is such a huge bottleneck, vrs a 6c/6t cpu that barely beats it in 1 catagory.

Userbenchmark has been banned from certain Reddit (yes, Reddit!) sites totally, posts even mentioning the name get deleted, warnings given by Reddit mod team etc, simply because it's asinine, usually wrong, taken out of context, taken as gospel truth and incites mass flaming arguments over its findings, facts and...
Yeah do what userstupidcoughintelcoughbenchmark said and get a 9600K CPU with only 6 cores/6 threads, from a dead platform, instead of the Ryzen 7 3700X with 8 cores and 16 threads. It does makes sense and usercoughintelcoughbenchmark said so what could go wrong, right?

Sorry, every time someone comes with userbenchmark "info" I get this way.

As InvalidError pointed out, if you can wait you should, why? well new hardware should be launched before the end of the year, and also current prices and availability of current hardware is a mess.

Having said that, if I was in your place and I need ti to buy now I would do one of the following in no particular order:

1. Get the Ryzen 7 3700X + B550 or X570 mobo + 2x8GB DDR4 3200/3600MHz CL16 (if you wana get a better cooler than the stock one, then either Arctic Freezer 34 esport Duo or Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black should work very nice; don't OC Ryzen 3rd gen, just leave it alone and with a good cooler).

or

2. Get the Intel Core I5 10600K + Z490 + 2x8GB DDR4 3200/3600MHz CL16 + a nice cooler (if you don't plan to overclock Noctuas NH-U12S chromax.black should do the trick; if you wana OC, then go a bit bigger or even go with a 280mm aio liquid cooler).

For me the Core i7 10700K is a waste of money, considering the 10600K exist and with a little effort you can make it work pretty close to the performance of the Core i9 10900K. Not that it need it anyways, as its a beast for gaming on stock settings already.

As for your question about the power supply you should provide us with the brand and model, saying only 650Watts does not tell the whole story.

I just realized you have a Corsair H115i, in that case forget about my cooler recommendation.

Anyways everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so pick the one you like more.
 
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Karadjgne

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https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/AMD-Ryzen-7-3700X-vs-Intel-i5-9600K/3485vs3337

Strangely the 3700x stomps the 9600k into the mud, seriously in every way except single thread, where it looses out by a measly 100 points. Passmark, the 3700x score is double that of the 9600k.

Not entirely sure exactly how the 8c/16t 3700x is such a huge bottleneck, vrs a 6c/6t cpu that barely beats it in 1 catagory.

Userbenchmark has been banned from certain Reddit (yes, Reddit!) sites totally, posts even mentioning the name get deleted, warnings given by Reddit mod team etc, simply because it's asinine, usually wrong, taken out of context, taken as gospel truth and incites mass flaming arguments over its findings, facts and reliability.

View: https://youtu.be/Ll8c0yk0L7I


Funny, but I just don't see this huge bottleneck. Realistically, the 2 cpus are very similar for gaming, sometimes amd wins, sometimes Intel wins, totally depends on the game itself. It's doing anything other than pure gaming, like simulcast, streaming etc that the i5 is going to drop out, sometimes pretty hard, 6 threads being it's downfall, it has nothing extra to give.

And that's mostly single player. Get into mmo's where you have 16-24man boss fights, the 6c i5 is going to suffer hard from overwhelming AI. You'll see fps tank, stutters, freezes etc.

Just for example, I play an mmo, with all features enabled and ultra, running single player I get well over 90fps on my i7-3770K @ 4.6GHz. 8man team I disable floating damage and nameplates to keep fps @ 60ish. 16man Op's, disable all features, shadows, etc just to keep above 30fps. 24man world-boss fights, everything disabled and graphics at lowest settings and I average 5-15fps. The IPC on a 9600k isn't that much better at similar clock speeds that it will be enough bonus to account for the loss of 2 threads.

3700x bottleneck. That's just plain funny....
 
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Stocky1984

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Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm gonna wait for the new CPU+GPU releases but I think the 3070 will be released a pretty long while after 3080 and 3090. Maybe summer '21?

As for your question about the power supply you should provide us with the brand and model, saying only 650Watts does not tell the whole story.


Yeah my bad, it's a Corsair TX650M.
 

King_V

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Also, pro-tip: ANY online "tool" that alleges to calculate some kind of "bottleneck" between the CPU and GPU is utter garbage. Worse than useless.

It all boils down to:
  • What is your monitor's resolution?
  • What is your monitor's refresh rate?
  • Does your monitor have FreeSync, GSync, or neither?
  • What specific games are you playing.
I don't even like using "bottleneck" anymore, because misuse of that term has rendered it meaningless.

In one game, the GPU might be the weak link, in another, the CPU might be the weak link. If you've got a 1920x1080 monitor that maxes out at 60Hz refresh, then that, by far, is your weak link.
 
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Stocky1984

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I decided to just wait for the Nvidia 3070 which appears to be released around August/September along with the 3080 and 3090, way sooner than I expected. Plenty of time to decide to go Intel or AMD in the end. Thanks for the input all 👊