6850k to Ryzen 2 - UPDATE 1

[Insomniator]

UPDATE 1

Made the switch -- sold my Intel stuff and picked up a 2700X and Gigabyte AB350M Gaming from Microcenter for $352 after tax/rebate.

So am I the only doofus that didn't know 'Ryzen 2000 ready' on the box means its ONLY FOR THE APU's? Apparently the 2700X doesn't count for that label. After messing around for lets say 3 hours I gave up and went back to return the board. Guy there explains to me that its the BIOS and the label on the box is only for the new APU's (different guy told me differently yesterday). I don't blame anyone because that label is.... completely misleading.

Quick note -- Pins on the CPU and the AM4 clip/flip bracket is like stepping back into the stone age compared to X99. The wraith prism is mesmerizing though

The Gigabyte ab350m... is pretty chincy compared to the x99 edition (weighs about half) but whatever it will do for now. Probably won't be overclocking anyway.

Anyway got the BIOS updated and am installing Windows now.

I did some basic benchmarks with the 6850k at 4.2 before dismantling and will repeat them with the 2700X if anyone is interested in seeing.

--

Running a 6850k I bought not even a year ago -- no problems all good.

Being near a microcenter however, I can get a 2700x with a motherboard for 390 bucks. I have to imagine I could still get ~$300 for my 6850k and board. Looks like 6850's alone go for 300 on ebay (not that I want to sell there).

So lets say 90 bucks to switch over? I almost want to do it just for the fun of re-building my system.

 

[krumme]

Running a 6850k I bought not even a year ago -- no problems all good.

Being near a microcenter however, I can get a 2700x with a motherboard for 390 bucks. I have to imagine I could still get ~$300 for my 6850k and board. Looks like 6850's alone go for 300 on ebay (not that I want to sell there).

So lets say 90 bucks to switch over? I almost want to do it just for the fun of re-building my system.

I guess you have a need for the mt power since you got the 6850? Do you need the pci lanes of the 6850 or the mem bandwith?
If you dont need them why not? You get a faster system unless you have loads of wide fpu code. And i doubt that...

 

[Gikaseixas]

So lets say 90 bucks to switch over?

For $90 i would. You'll be getting an updated platform and better performance overall

 

[epsilon84]

For $90 i would. You'll be getting an updated platform and better performance overall

Agreed, for that price it's a no brainer for me. For some reason Intel i7s have very good resale value even when they have been superseded by better and cheaper products, now would be a perfect time for the OP to take advantage of this

 

[moonbogg]

I believe the 6850k@4.2ghz will still game better than a 2700X, if that matters to you. The mesh still puts it behind comparable ring bus designed chips.

 

[eek2121]

Not really: https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1728?vs=2110

 

[epsilon84]

Not really: https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1728?vs=2110

At this stage I'm going to have to take Anandtechs results with a grain of salt, unless you actually believe their test results and that a 2700X is ~17% faster than a 8700K in gaming...

That being said, I think a 2700X should beat a 6850K in gaming, seeing how it beats Skylake X chips in gaming, which in turn shouldn't be any slower than Broadwell E, and all use the mesh bus which impacts gaming performance greatly

 

[dark zero]

For gaming? Mmm.. think it well.

For Virtual machines or editing videos?
HELL YES!

 

[ZGR]

How much are used 6950x's? What kind of DDR4 are you using? (Speed and timings).

I would stay on X99 if you have slow RAM and don't mind cheap used CPU's.

 

[Markfw]

How much are used 6950x's? What kind of DDR4 are you using? (Speed and timings).

I would stay on X99 if you have slow RAM and don't mind cheap used CPU's.

The cheapest one on ebay was $800 just now. For that you could almost get a threadripper..

No thanks.

 

[whm1974]

The cheapest one on ebay was $800 just now. For that you could almost get a threadripper..

No thanks.

I agree, I myself rather have the Threadripper.

 

[moonbogg]

At this stage I'm going to have to take Anandtechs results with a grain of salt, unless you actually believe their test results and that a 2700X is ~17% faster than a 8700K in gaming...

That being said, I think a 2700X should beat a 6850K in gaming, seeing how it beats Skylake X chips in gaming, which in turn shouldn't be any slower than Broadwell E, and all use the mesh bus which impacts gaming performance greatly

Broadwell-E has ring bus. Its my personal belief that a 6850K@4.2 with that nice ring bus will be at least as fast and usually faster than any Ryzen in gaming. The new Ryzen is better at gaming than the last gen, but its still behind clock for clock than modern ring bus designed Intel chips. Also, a new Ryzen won't go past 4.2 typically, so that makes it the same clock speed as the 6850K, leaving the ring bus to pull ahead in gaming.
Its hard to make an immediate comparison because no one tests the older X99 chips any more. You have to look at the initial Ryzen reviews and existing benchmarks to compare to the new Ryzen stuff. Anyway, its not like 2700X is slow. It still kicks ass. Its just not worth buying for gaming over a 6850K and might even be a downgrade.

 

[whm1974]

Broadwell-E has ring bus. Its my personal belief that a 6850K@4.2 with that nice ring bus will be at least as fast and usually faster than any Ryzen in gaming. The new Ryzen is better at gaming than the last gen, but its still behind clock for clock than modern ring bus designed Intel chips. Also, a new Ryzen won't go past 4.2 typically, so that makes it the same clock speed as the 6850K, leaving the ring bus to pull ahead in gaming.
Its hard to make an immediate comparison because no one tests the older X99 chips any more. You have to look at the initial Ryzen reviews and existing benchmarks to compare to the new Ryzen stuff. Anyway, its not like 2700X is slow. It still kicks ass. Its just not worth buying for gaming over a 6850K and might even be a downgrade.

I would save the $90 and wait until I really need to upgrade. Or at least wait until AMD and Intel releases something that is compelling enough to bother anyway.

 

[krumme]

Broadwell-E has ring bus. Its my personal belief that a 6850K@4.2 with that nice ring bus will be at least as fast and usually faster than any Ryzen in gaming. The new Ryzen is better at gaming than the last gen, but its still behind clock for clock than modern ring bus designed Intel chips. Also, a new Ryzen won't go past 4.2 typically, so that makes it the same clock speed as the 6850K, leaving the ring bus to pull ahead in gaming.
Its hard to make an immediate comparison because no one tests the older X99 chips any more. You have to look at the initial Ryzen reviews and existing benchmarks to compare to the new Ryzen stuff. Anyway, its not like 2700X is slow. It still kicks ass. Its just not worth buying for gaming over a 6850K and might even be a downgrade.

I think some of you guys here look the wrong places.
We are past meltdown spectra time now. Cant use old scores. And frankly what matters is more modern engines.
Go to computerbase and H.
Actually looking at H results i dont find them any less different than AT. For gaming as well as productivity. Not the same result but basickly paints the same picture as AT.
The idea of AT review beeing outlier is debunked by now btw.
Sure a bwe at 4.2 is probably within 6% of a 8700k at gaming but still. It its slower.
And btw. Bwe at 4.2 is a fermi as thg test shows. Its like running 2700x at 4.4. Its past the wall. Bwe is not a 4.2 chip.

 

[krumme]

I would save the $90 and wait until I really need to upgrade. Or at least wait until AMD and Intel releases something that is compelling enough to bother anyway.

In a year everyone and his brother knows bwe is outdated.

It just takes some time for it to enter the brain. They have a skl x mesh between the ears and the frontal lopes.

Then you wont get 300usd second hand. "Saving" 90 usd?

Now is the time. A 2700x gets you a good deal more punch.

90usd ffs when a 6850 is the budget class. Guys. Ofc. How can we discuss it?

 

[epsilon84]

Broadwell-E has ring bus. Its my personal belief that a 6850K@4.2 with that nice ring bus will be at least as fast and usually faster than any Ryzen in gaming. The new Ryzen is better at gaming than the last gen, but its still behind clock for clock than modern ring bus designed Intel chips. Also, a new Ryzen won't go past 4.2 typically, so that makes it the same clock speed as the 6850K, leaving the ring bus to pull ahead in gaming.
Its hard to make an immediate comparison because no one tests the older X99 chips any more. You have to look at the initial Ryzen reviews and existing benchmarks to compare to the new Ryzen stuff. Anyway, its not like 2700X is slow. It still kicks ass. Its just not worth buying for gaming over a 6850K and might even be a downgrade.

My mistake, since Broadwell E is on the ringbus it will perform similarly to Haswell, which is about on par with Ryzen IPC wise. Don't think there will be much in it, especially if you get fast DDR4 for Ryzen. The OP is basically paying $90 for an extra 2 cores and a more modern, upgradeable platform. Id say that's worth it.

 

[moonbogg]

I'm waiting to see Intel's 8 core chips. They will be better (but cost more) and probably require me to rip the lid off and direct die cool the stupid thing, but hey that kind of thing is fun, right? Warranties are for noobs anyway. I won't even test the thing to see if it works first. I'll just open the box, rip the lid off and shove some water through it and hope it works. That's enthusiast.

 

[whm1974]

My mistake, since Broadwell E is on the ringbus it will perform similarly to Haswell, which is about on par with Ryzen IPC wise. Don't think there will be much in it, especially if you get fast DDR4 for Ryzen. The OP is basically paying $90 for an extra 2 cores and a more modern, upgradeable platform. Id say that's worth it.

Maybe wait for Ryzen Gen 3 instead? Should have higher IPC and clockspeeds.

 

[krumme]

My mistake, since Broadwell E is on the ringbus it will perform similarly to Haswell, which is about on par with Ryzen IPC wise. Don't think there will be much in it, especially if you get fast DDR4 for Ryzen. The OP is basically paying $90 for an extra 2 cores and a more modern, upgradeable platform. Id say that's worth it.

Its 2 cores and far more fmax stock for 90usd. The 2700x pwrforms more like a 7820x.
In one year its 2 more cores 10% more ipc and 15% more fmax for 300 usd.
I think the cost benefit advantage to upgrading now is best.
Go from 6850 to 7820x performance for 90 usd.
If the label was Intel everyone would say go for it.

 

[moonbogg]

7820X overclocks like a beast though and the mesh can be OC'd to help compensate some for gaming performance, but that takes time and patience I think. The 7820X can't be touched by Ryzen once OC is taken into account. Its in a different league really and everyone knows it. No point in lying about stuff just to hop on the Ryzen bandwagon. I got no stake in either company or chip or whatever. I don't care what people buy. I'm just telling the truth here.
7820X is the best and fastest 8 core chip available, it overclocks almost like a 7700K which is just insane, and mesh can be tweaked to help gaming performance, although not fix it completely. Its about $150 more than a 2700X plus the boards will cost more, but you also get quite a lot more performance for productivity. Gaming is just meh for all the mesh based chips. 8700K or bust there.
I don't think 6850K to Ryzen is a good upgrade, but hey, 2 cores are 2 cores and $90 isn't much, so whatevs.

 

[epsilon84]

Its 2 cores and far more fmax stock for 90usd. The 2700x pwrforms more like a 7820x.
In one year its 2 more cores 10% more ipc and 15% more fmax for 300 usd.
I think the cost benefit advantage to upgrading now is best.
Go from 6850 to 7820x performance for 90 usd.
If the label was Intel everyone would say go for it.

I don't disagree with you, though if the OP overclocks (like most K owners do) then the stock fMax benefit means nothing.

I think a 6850K to a 2700X for a $90 net difference is a decent upgrade, this has nothing to do with AMD vs Intel so not sure why you needed to bring that into the discussion.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Here is the

I think some of you guys here look the wrong places.
We are past meltdown spectra time now. Cant use old scores. And frankly what matters is more modern engines.
Go to computerbase and H.
Actually looking at H results i dont find them any less different than AT. For gaming as well as productivity. Not the same result but basickly paints the same picture as AT.
The idea of AT review beeing outlier is debunked by now btw.
Sure a bwe at 4.2 is probably within 6% of a 8700k at gaming but still. It its slower.
And btw. Bwe at 4.2 is a fermi as thg test shows. Its like running 2700x at 4.4. Its past the wall. Bwe is not a 4.2 chip.

Computer base test: link . Still shows 8700k ahead overall. Definitely no where near what AT is showing. So AT results *are* definitely outliers. And dont forget there is basically zero overclocking headroom with ryzen while you have at least 15 to 20 percent with an 8700k unless you get incredibly unlucky with the chip you get. (Silicon Lottery says > 50% of 8700k can reach 5,1 ghz.)

Edit: Back on topic, in response to the original question, "upgrading" to the 2700X would be essentially a sidegrade for gaming, but of course an improvement in productivity apps that can use the extra cores.

 

[epsilon84]

Here is the

Computer base test: link . Still shows 8700k ahead overall. Definitely no where near what AT is showing. So AT results *are* definitely outliers. And dont forget there is basically zero overclocking headroom with ryzen while you have at least 15 to 20 percent with an 8700k unless you get incredibly unlucky with the chip you get. (Silicon Lottery says > 50% of 8700k can reach 5,1 ghz.)

That is true, and whilst a stock 2700X can come close to a stock 8700K, especially with tuned DDR4-3466 memory as computerbase shows, overclocking puts the 8700K well back in front, assuming the game is actually CPU bound and can benefit from the overclock.

If only the 2700X had more overclocking headroom... It seems like 4.0 - 4.1GHz would be more of your 'daily overclock' for these chips, yeah reviewers can get 4.2GHz stable but you're adding 25% more power and heat for a 100MHz bump, it's not really worth it. Frankly, I wouldn't bother overclocking a 2700X, I would just let XFR and PB2 do its thing and call it a day.

 

[tamz_msc]

If I were in your position, I'd wait for Zen 2.

 

[Mopetar]

If I were in your position, I'd wait for Zen 2.

I’ve been telling myself to wait until GPU prices are reasonable again, but we may see consumer quantum computers before that happens.

I’d probably wait for Zen 2 as well though in this situation.