[SOLVED] Would you upgrade your CPU in this situation?

[PewterScreaminMach]

In January 2018, I put together my current build with the intention of having a computer that would last many years. My first son was born a month after that and now, two and a half years later, we have another newborn.

Due to the (planned) kid situation severely limiting my budget, I likely won't be building a completely new computer any time in the next five years or so, maybe longer, which is why I went high end at the time.

Current build:
8700K
1080 Ti
32GB RAM
SSD main drive
6TB 7200 RPM storage drive
Z370M Pro4 LGA 11510 (300 Series)

The majority of my usage is a combination of high requirement games (Fortnite, Total War series, etc.) and 4k video editing in Premiere Pro. Two and a half years later, it's still handling this stuff like a champ, though I'm always aware that a couple more years can make a significant difference with new technology, files sizes/quality, and gaming requirements.

I also recently noticed that the "best" CPU this motherboard can handle is the i9-9900K, which goes new for around $400 right now. Knowing that I won't be building an entirely new computer for half a decade or more and considering my usage, would you personally consider it a smart purchase to sell the 8700K (I'd probably get a little money for it) and upgrade to the 9900K if I could swing the few hundred dollars?

Benchmarks do seem to show a significant overall improvement and knowing how much Premiere Pro taxes the CPU, it seems like a few hundred dollars might give me a couple extra years of noticeably better performance. Of course, the GPU could be upgraded any time budget allows for the gaming aspect whether it's an entirely new build or not, so I'm more concerned about the CPU.

Just window shopping because it's fun.

 

[beorn]

Personally I would never upgrade a CPU unless it was 50-100% faster than my current one and it was actually needed at the time. Just OC that sucker if you haven't already. I just finally changed from my old i7 2600K to an AMD 3900X last month

 

[Phaaze88]

No.
You don't have an upgrade path with that motherboard, unfortunately: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-z370m-pro4-micro-atx-lga-1151-motherboard,5711.html

Stick with what you have either until it's no longer satisfactory for what you do, or the budget opens up for a new platform(cpu/mobo/etc.) upgrade.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I tend to agree. It's not as if your current processor won't be able to do whatever you ask it to do. It just may be a tiny bit slower at it. In my opinion, that $400 would be wasted on the newer processor.

-Wolf sends

 

[dorsai]

That 8700k is plenty fast and will be for years...yeah the 9900k may be faster in a few apps but how much time do you spend running those apps ? 400 dollars worth of time ? I ran a 2500k system for 6 years...the 8700k is like the new 2500k in my mind...it'll still be boxing above its weight a couple years down the road.

 

[PewterScreaminMach]

That 8700k is plenty fast and will be for years...yeah the 9900k may be faster in a few apps but how much time do you spend running those apps ? 400 dollars worth of time ? I ran a 2500k system for 6 years...the 8700k is like the new 2500k in my mind...it'll still be boxing above its weight a couple years down the road.

I do spend quite a bit of time editing 4K in Premiere Pro these days and will be doing even more going forward. That's what got me thinking about it, knowing that I won't be able to upgrade the system as a whole for many years. I could probably net $150 for the 8700K, which would make the 9900K well under $300. And there's a big difference between "finding" $300 vs $1500 or more for an entirely new system when you have two young kids. At that $300 ish or less price point, it seemed worth considering for my purposes since Premiere Pro is so CPU-heavy, particularly for Live Preview as you're working (render time is less important).

But understood on all points made above. I know it's not typically worth upgrading the CPU, which is why I always start with the best available at the time when I build a system. In this case, I just noticed the 9900K had noticeably better benchmarks and wanted to talk through it.

 

[PewterScreaminMach]

No.
You don't have an upgrade path with that motherboard, unfortunately: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-z370m-pro4-micro-atx-lga-1151-motherboard,5711.html

Stick with what you have either until it's no longer satisfactory for what you do, or the budget opens up for a new platform(cpu/mobo/etc.) upgrade.

Did I miss something on this one? Are you saying the 9900K will not work with my motherboard even though it's an LGA 1151 300 Series? Or that it's less worth it because it's not a significant upgrade and there's nowhere to go after that?

Thanks for the input!

 

[Phaaze88]

Did I miss something on this one? Are you saying the 9900K will not work with my motherboard even though it's an LGA 1151 300 Series? Or that it's less worth it because it's not a significant upgrade and there's nowhere to go after that?

The VRMs on that board are weak. You'll end up running into VRM throttling scenarios, making the swap not worth it.
The test build in that review used an 8700K, and the reviewer was able to make the Z370M Pro4 power throttle with the 8700K on DEFAULT SETTINGS.
It would be even worse with the 9900K; cheaper boards just can't deal with the thing.

 

[PewterScreaminMach]

The VRMs on that board are weak. You'll end up running into VRM throttling scenarios, making the swap not worth it.
The test build in that review used an 8700K, and the reviewer was able to make the Z370M Pro4 power throttle with the 8700K on DEFAULT SETTINGS.
It would be even worse with the 9900K; cheaper boards just can't deal with the thing.

Ah, thanks for the heads up. Have not noticed issues like that with my current setup but good to be aware of it. What I can say is that in Performance Mode (in Windows' Power Settings), it will stay pegged at 4.4 GHz 100% of the time. And when it's in Balanced Mode (or whatever it's called), it stays very low at idle, then throttles right up to as high as 4.4 GHz whenever necessary. In either mode, I've never seen it drop from 4.4 (Performance Mode) or not hit 4.4 (Balanced Mode) when being pushed by a program due to power issues that I can tell.

Then again, I know it's technically rated to 4.7 GHz Turbo, so would it potentially come closer to that on a better board or is it likely just this particular chip maxing out (I know every one is unique to a degree on how high it will go).

Regardless, I understand what you're saying about the 9900K.

 

[Phaaze88]

It depends on how many threads are active: https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/core_i7/i7-8700k#Frequencies

 

[SamirD]

The benchmark I've used for decades on if something needs an upgrade--is it waiting on you or are you waiting on it? And how much can you tolerate waiting on it? Answer these and you know what to do.