Question Considering an Intel system, 10850K $399 usd, need a motherboard too

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I'm currently waiting for the supplies of the Ryzen 5k series chips to fill. I'm more less going with a 5950X for my gaming rig. When that happens I'll have a 3800X that I can either allocate to a new X570 motherboard (Dark Hero possibly) or I can sell it to absorb the cost of the new AMD CPU. I have everything needed, except the motherboard, if I continue using the 3800X to replace my X58 daily rig. One thing, I do not want an X570 board with a chip-set fan, so currently that only leaves me with the Dark Hero option ($399), I already spent enough on the other choice.

I've had an interest with the Intel side for either purpose, gaming or a daily rig. Either build route I go, both machines will be capable of either purpose. What intrigues me with the Intel side, for one point, is simply to try it out, however the only things I can think of that go against this route is the exploit mitigations, heat/cooling, security vulnerabilities (last I read Intel had 2x as much as AMD with the previous gen) Not deal breakers. If there's any others someone can think if let me know.

Currently my local Micro Center has the 10850K for $399. I also would have to buy a board. I could use my old RAM kit, 4133 cl19 1.35v For the board I'm not sure. I don't mind spending up to around $400 for a board but something cheaper isn't out of the option. Anandtech's Best Intel Motherboards 2020 lists the Z490 Aorus Ultra as the middle of the road option or as they say 'Clean Mix of Price/Features'' I also see the Aorus Master as an option, however, I'm open to suggestions.


Another point of trying an Intel system would be comparing gaming performance for myself.

Financially:
Intel Route would be around $6-700 and can be purchased right now.
AMD Route would be the cost of a motherboard, which in this case $399, not considering the 5950X upgrade. And I have to wait for both the 5950X replacement CPU, and this motherboard, to come in stock.

I feel a little urgency as my X58 main/daily rig just crashed again and needed a reinstall. This is the second time within a year on the same board. Was updating Windows to 202H and had a catastrophic failure. Could not get it to repair or boot into Windows. So a little pressure is on as I hold my breath with my X58 rig.


If I went with the 10850K I could compare the 3800X & the 5950X to it, hmmm.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Another point of trying an Intel system would be comparing gaming performance for myself.

I say go for it. I can't see how you would be unhappy with a 10850k system, especially at that price. And unless you are a competitive high refresh 1080p gamer, every CPU you listed will be hard to tell a part, even then, I am not so sure I or most other people could. Concerning exploits, with my x79 system I used InSpectre to turn off mitigations; home users have little to worry about anytime soon, if ever.

No advice on boards since I have not used any of the new Intel stuff, and you can read the reviews as well as I can. Hopefully owners will reply with their experiences with a particular board that is fan free.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, perhaps a high/higher-end Intel would be alright, but I've been running Ryzen CPUs (6C/12T pretty-much exclusively) since release of both Zen and Zen2, and I recently assembled a Pentium Gold G6400 2C/4T 4.0Ghz Intel rig.

I thought that 2C/4T 4.0Ghz Intel Skylake++++++ might perform fairly well, but apparently I was wrong. Even with a 256GB Team Group MP33 M.2 NVMe PCI-E x4 SSD, it's still not as noticeably snappy as my Ryzen R5 3600 CPU, even while mining altcoins on all 12 threads. And I have a "slow" 1TB Intel 660p M.2 NVMe in the 3600 rig, which is topped out at 1800/1800. (Broke the RAID-0, not running RAID any more.)

I don't even see the point of Intel at the lower-end any more. Not worth it. At least for extreme budget builds. IMHO, Renoir for desktop can't get here soon enough!

 

[Shmee]

The 10850k seems to be a pretty good value. Not a bad deal if you have the money.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I think if my hand is forced before parts for the AMD route are available I will go ahead with the 10850K.

I have a question about my OEM Windows 7 Pro. I also have a spare P45 Q9650 full rig just sitting and I was going to get it running for a spare. It just needs an OS. The OEM W7Pro is linked to this X58 motherboard, can I install the same copy to the P45 rig and run the windows update, or will that cause a conflict? I went to Micro Center with the intention of picking up the retail version of W10 64b Pro and the sales kid told me that the retail is only good for one active/online machine, also.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

You should not have any issue with moving 7 pro and then converting it to 10 pro. And I am not certain from the wording that the sales kid is wrong, just an incomplete answer? Yes, it can only be used on 1 system at a time, but because it is retail, you can move it to another system or mobo.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

There is a lot more than just the CPU worth considering. For instance, for me, I like PCIe 4.0 but for Intel we are talking Q1'21?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You should not have any issue with moving 7 pro and then converting it to 10 pro. And I am not certain from the wording that the sales kid is wrong, just an incomplete answer? Yes, it can only be used on 1 system at a time, but because it is retail, you can move it to another system or mobo.

What I don't understand is that it's the same thing with OEM. I've transferred my OEM Win7 Pro key, with a media creation USB stick, from one X58 mobo to the next at an only 1 active/online rig at a time... with upgrading to W10 Pro 64bit. E.G. when my Asrock X58 sata ports died, i installed this EVGA X58 board, with all the same hardware, except switching from an X5690 to a W3690 into the same box as my daily rig. I don't know why I have it stuck in my head that the retail version can be installed on several different computers at once and be activated online for windows updates etc. And if it comes down to a simple call in to MS to have the key activated on another machine it further makes less sense with retail. Help me understand what I'm not understanding with this if I am wrong. Btw, the OEM W10 Pro 64b is $149 disc, VS Retail W10 Pro 64b & 32b USB stick. Essentially all you need is the key if you have a media creation stick? wtf

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I don't know why I have it stuck in my head that the retail version can be installed on several different computers at once and be activated online for windows updates etc. And if it comes down to a simple call in to MS to have the key activated on another machine it further makes less sense with retail. Help me understand what I'm not understanding with this if I am wrong. Btw, the OEM W10 Pro 64b is $149 disc, VS Retail W10 Pro 64b & 32b USB stick. Essentially all you need is the key if you have a media creation stick? wtf

Each retail key is only good for one system at a time. You are violating the EULA if it is on more than one system. Retail lets you move your copy to another system or mobo. Where as OEM is usually tied to the mobo it is installed on. Though it seems like MS has been very lenient about that the last few years.

As to the expense: Our sister site Tom's Hardware has an article explaining why it is cool to use cheap online keys, and that it is not gray market if you pick the right vendor. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/get-windows-10-free-or-cheap,5717.html

I pay less than $15 a copy for win 10 pro and they are all retail channel and legit. As pointed out in the comments, you can type "slmgr -dli" on the command prompt to verify which version you have. And I always use a USB for install so I can grab the latest version and minimize the number of needed updates as much as possible.

 

[aigomorla]

Just note unless its an enthusiast tier, you will be gimp'd on the PCI-E lanes.
Honestly any modern cpu will not be bottlenecked with any AAA game titles today unless you running it at 640x480.

However you will want that PCI-E 4.0, and you want lots of PCI-E lanes for other stuff like nVME.

This is why i can not go down from that tier, because each nVME you add eats up 4x lanes, and i also have a 8xpci-e 10gbe sfp+ card, and im running 2 dedicated GPU's.

So yeah, before you decide what to do, plan out your pci-e lane requirements carefully, and if your a holder, meaning you dont change every flipping tech, you probably want to make sure you have some excess incase you want addon cards.

X58 to modern is gonna be a game changer because of that limited PCI-E lanes we got gimped on.
Sigh.... its no longer a i have x slots, i can populate everything with.... its more like 1 nvme... 2 nvme... oh crap... my gpu is running @ 8X and not 16x

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Just picked up a 5800X. I'm feeling pretty good about just buying a board for the 3800X and calling it a day.
I have the board I'm looking for on auto notify, and bookmarked.

EDIT: Later on down the road I will pick up the 5950X

 

[KentState]

I’ve been trying to snag a 5950X but gave up and purchased a 3900X until supply picks up.
So right now I have these three builds

10700K on an Asus Z490-I
9900K on an Asus Hero
3900x on an Asus Formula
3970x on an Asus Zenith 2

From a pure gaming perspective, the first three as indistinguishable in performance when using a 3090 at 4K. The only one that’s sketchy is the Threadripper build due to some games struggling with high core count. The two Intel builds however are the most stable. The 9900k has just worked with a 5.1 all core overclock for years.
Guess my point is that they are all viable gaming platforms with the exception of TR. Initially I was also concerned about PCIe lanes and speed but even with a 40Gbe card installed and RAID 0 NVMe 4.0 drives being used, I don’t see a bit of difference. I also like experimenting with the different platforms but it’s hard to see a difference unless I purposely look for it.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I’ve been trying to snag a 5950X but gave up and purchased a 3900X until supply picks up.
So right now I have these three builds

10700K on an Asus Z490-I
9900K on an Asus Hero
3900x on an Asus Formula
3970x on an Asus Zenith 2

From a pure gaming perspective, the first three as indistinguishable in performance when using a 3090 at 4K. The only one that’s sketchy is the Threadripper build due to some games struggling with high core count. The two Intel builds however are the most stable. The 9900k has just worked with a 5.1 all core overclock for years.
Guess my point is that they are all viable gaming platforms with the exception of TR. Initially I was also concerned about PCIe lanes and speed but even with a 40Gbe card installed and RAID 0 NVMe 4.0 drives being used, I don’t see a bit of difference. I also like experimenting with the different platforms but it’s hard to see a difference unless I purposely look for it.

Thank you for that helpful post. From a gaming perspective I often wonder about how the memory latencies play a factor and what metric indicates a difference. Can't rely too much on fps these days.