Help me choose a new CPU/platform

[nathanddrews]

Primary gaming/productivity rig:
3570K @ 4.2GHz air
Z77 ASRock Extreme4
32GB DDR3
GTX 1080 Ti Aorus Xtreme Edition
SSDs, etc.

Most important goals by order of importance:
1. Destiny 2 over 120fps - right now my frame rate can hit above 120fps at virtually any resolution, but through testing at lower settings/resolutions I can confirm that my CPU hits 100% across all four cores even when the GPU has breathing room, which results in my frame rate dipping down into the 70-90fps range. I understand that some MMO-style games are typically like this in hubs, but I'd like to be over 120fps most of the time when in the world as well.

2. Moar korz! - the more I get into video editing/encoding, the more I notice how slow my CPU really is relative to all the new ones. Basically, I want to have a faster/smoother 4K editing/encoding experience using a mix of Adobe CS and Resolve. I'm not a streamer, but I would like the option. My current setup really misses the mark in this regard, having too few cores to dedicate to both functions and I don't care much for the GPU encoding.

Probably the worst mistake that I made before was starting with Z77+3570K - I had nowhere to go but to get a 3770K and there isn't a lot of performance improvement to be had between the two. I'd rather dedicate that money toward a new platform that doesn't keep me locked down for so long.

 

[LTC8K6]

9700K

 

[ZGR]

I game at 180hz for Destiny 2, and I will get dips below 100 when there are lots of AI. Purely CPU limited. I would like to see benchmarks that are not GPU limited for D2. I am not sure what it will take.

Definitely go for 8 cores, I mean why not? For streaming, using your GPU is still the way to go, as it will hammer your CPU. But maybe the 2700X and i9 9900k can do it.

But honestly, I would wait and see how cheap the 3770k would be for you. If under $50, do it. (Good luck)

If the 9900k was cheaper, and there weren't so many questionable Z370/Z390 boards with iffy VRMs, it would be a no brainer. I am sure there is a list of good motherboards that will guarantee a 5 GHz ACT.

2700X is probably a safe choice as well, but I want to see some D2 CPU benchmarks with fast DDR4. Both Intel and AMD need fast and tight ddr4 to really pull ahead of older DDR3 platforms.

 

[ttechf]

I feel the i7-9700k would be a good choice for you. Yeah you don't get hyper threading for your editing but you get 8 insanely powerful cores that can do 5.2Ghz across all 8 of them without much issue with a good cooling system.

If you don't want to spend that kind of money for the processor and motherboard, then go with AMD's Ryzen 7 2700X, overclock it to 4.2Ghz across all 8 cores [16 threads] and call it a day.

Just note that when it comes to AMD, Ryzen 2 [3000 series] probably releases in April or May of next year 2019.

Good luck.

 

[Markfw]

You did not say budget, or how long until you build. The 9700/9900k are not available, and maybe for a while, and are quite a bit more expensive. I voted 2700x

 

[Arkaign]

Buy a 2700k or 3770k used (or potentially a Xeon E3-1275 v2), sell the i5, and hold tight for another 4-6 months. Not only will Intel 9th gen supply shape up, but you can get a look at AMDs Ryzen 3700/3800 products.

From what is available at present, 8700k/9700k/9900k are the best for high refresh gaming, easily. Ryzen is more than fine for 4k/60 and GPU limited scenarios of course. A bit of a wash encoding wise, 9900k dominates, followed by bang/buck 2700X, followed by 9700k, followed by 8700k.

But to be honest I really think as long as you have waited, it's absolutely worth seeing what Ryzen2 brings. Ryzen and Ryzen+ really woke fat lazy Intel up, and now that they've responded with very fast Coffee Lake and Core i9 9900k, I expect another solid leap up from AMD, probably 9900k performance for $300 if it goes well enough, and more importantly for you, perhaps solving the gaming weakness of Zen so far. Again, in a lot of situations Ryzen is just fine for gaming, but in cases where you are chasing 100+ with fantastic minimums, Intel is the way to go until the 3000 series hopefully comes and knocks our socks off.

Waiting also should shake up some better deals, reviews, and models for 9th gen CPU support. Will Gigabyte's bios updates for Z370 boards make them a bargain? Will someone make a good Z390 for under $200? Etc.

 

[Jimzz]

I would go with AMD Ryzen 2700x. Great bang for the buck right now and if you get a good 470 or 450 chipset motherboard you can upgrade later.

 

[DooKey]

9700K

 

[Kenmitch]

After Intels years of stagnation and being forced to semi innovate I personally wouldn't reward them with a new build.

Good luck on your quest is all I can offer.

 

[tamz_msc]

9700K when availability improves.

 

[UsandThem]

If buying at today's prices, the 2700X.

Otherwise, wait for Intel's CPU prices to fall to near MSRP (or grab a 8700k / 8086k) if you catch a good sale. For example, I saw Frys had the 8086k for $375 in store only recently.

Otherwise, I'd personally wait to AMD's next CPUs are released in the spring before dropping all of that money on a new setup you intend on keeping for a while.

 

[TheGiant]

the techreport destiny 2 benchmarks show quite big dependence on CPU power
with your request of 120FPS+ today only 9700(preferred)/9900K

 

[IEC]

the techreport destiny 2 benchmarks show quite big dependence on CPU power
with your request of 120FPS+ today only 9700(preferred)/9900K

Link? Every benchmark I've seen at 1440p and especially at 4K show very little difference between anything 4c/8t and up.

 

[krumme]

The 9 series is factory oc. At 4.2 for a 3570k you clearly do it yourself fine. No need to pay Intel for it.
8700k.
Oc it within avg 100MHz of a oc 9900k. So approx 5GHz.
Get ht and added efficiency for the encoding.
Get big st for those oldies engine type games at 144.
Can run of a robust air cooler if needed. Not a Fermi.
Cheap 370 plus 8700k vs expensive robust 390 and 9900k is funding for the next gpu or a new bike whatever

 

[Zucker2k]

You seem to keep your hardware longer than most, and for the tasks you mentioned, 9900k is the chip for you; with a little bit of patience, of course.

 

[Mopetar]

I’m in a similar boat where I need an upgrade. Personally I decided to hold out for Zen 2 as even if it isn’t the best, it will probably be close enough to it that Intel has to cut prices.

If you don’t want to wait, I’d just get the 9900K. I know others are saying 9700K, but I think you’ll benefit from the extra threads. It will probably be worth it in the long run. Unless you have something else to spend the difference on, you may as well get the best.

 

[epsilon84]

For high fps Destiny 2, any Intel CPU will do well, especially at 5GHz. It's not really thread heavy but loves clockspeed.

In terms of editing/encoding the 9900K would be the best but costly. 2700X would be the best value here.

Overall, if you can afford it, the 9900K is the best of both worlds, but I wouldn't buy it at the current inflated price. The 9700K is a good option also but a tier below in terms of encoding and rendering. A 2700X will be great bang for buck for productivity but is a bit slower for high refresh gaming. It probably won't do 120fps all the time but should be good for 100fps+ still.

 

[Rifter]

No budget 9900k, have a budget then 2700x.

 

[DrMrLordX]

How soon does it have to be?

If you want Intel, you have to wait maybe a month or more to get a 9900k or 9700k. If you go AMD today, you are buying a 2700x maybe six months out from their new Zen2/Matisse-based CPUs. Today is not a great time to buy.

 

[nathanddrews]

Thanks for the input, everyone. When I titled the poll "What CPU is best for me right now?", I thought that the new Intel CPUs were available now due to all the reviews that came out. This will likely be a Christmas present for myself as deals present themselves over the next couple months (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc.). What I didn't detail is that I'll have to buy two of them - my wife and I have the same exact builds (just different cases) so any upgrade that I get she also gets. From a pure benefit/cost ratio the 2700X is definitely the frontrunner.

I have to remember that even though the 9900K will deliver up to 20% higher minimum frame rates in some games, any of those choices will absolutely obliterate my 3570K in just about every single metric. Not only that, but I'll finally be able to join the NVME Master Race without modding my BIOS and dealing with driver headaches.

As @Zucker2k mentioned, I do keep my hardware for a long time, but in this particular case it was because the only upgrade available to me was the 3770K because the platform was on its way out. Ice Lake is going to be Intel's next line, right? Am I putting myself into the same dead end by going with a 9900K - with no upgrades on the same motherboard? Or will Ice Lake be compatible with Z370/90 boards?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Nobody knows if IceLake will work on Z390. Nobody knows if IceLake-S - or whatever they call the desktop IceLake for diy buyers - will be out in 2019 or 2020, or if it will ever see the light of day. There's a lot of uncertainty about future Intel desktop products.

If you're looking for Black Friday deals, rest assured that the vast majority of CPUs sold will be those that retailers are trying to push out of the channel. Due to supply constraints, that basically means the 2700x is the most likely candidate for a black Friday special (or cyber Monday or overwrought capitalism Thursday or whateverthehell). Intel is having supply problems on all 14nm CPUs right now - even 8700ks are in short supply in some places. The 9-series has been mostly a paper launch up to this point. Supplies are extremely short, pre-orders are being delayed, and retail availability in some markets may be in late December. You are not going to get Black Friday deals except in very small quantities as loss leaders.

If you really do have to buy now, the 2700x looks like your best choice. If what you are looking for is a true buyer's market, that's probably not going to happen until April . . . or whenever Matisse really hits the streets.

Also, look for RAM deals. You want DDR4-3200 CAS/CL14 minimum, regardless of what you buy.

 

[PotatoWithEarsOnSide]

Intel likes a good socket change, and when it has two generations that are compatible, like right now, you might find that any new CPU is gimped on whatever motherboard you already had. In other words, whilst drop-in upgrades are sometimes available, like the 9900k in the Z370 board you may have got for an 8700k, you can't guarantee that you'll get optimum performance out of it.
With Intel you are almost always going to be buying a new motherboard when you buy a new CPU.
AMD tend to favour some backwards compatibility, but even then you could be buying near the end of a socket's shelf-life. That being said, AM4 should still be in use for the next 2 generations of AMD processors. At that point in time, it's likely that DDR5 and PCIe5 comes into play, so it'll be new systems all round at that stage I guess. IMO, that's late 2020 to mid 2021.

 

[Arkaign]

I'm not super sure you're going to see the gains you want with the 2700 in gaming. I had a 4790k OC, now my older sons rig, and my 1700X was definitely a step down for gaming. Anything outside of gaming it is superb though. I don't think Haswell was much better than Ivy, a few % at best. Of course a handful of games can use the extra threads, but not overwhelmingly so.

 

[IEC]

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I'm not super sure you're going to see the gains you want with the 2700 in gaming. I had a 4790k OC, now my older sons rig, and my 1700X was definitely a step down for gaming. Anything outside of gaming it is superb though. I don't think Haswell was much better than Ivy, a few % at best. Of course a handful of games can use the extra threads, but not overwhelmingly so.

He has a 4c/4t 3570K. Having had a Z77+3570K combo previously, a Ryzen 2700X is an upgrade over the 3570K in every way. Single/lightly threaded workloads included. A 4790K OC'd is still a very capable gaming processor.

 

[epsilon84]

He has a 4c/4t 3570K. Having had a Z77+3570K combo previously, a Ryzen 2700X is an upgrade over the 3570K in every way. Single/lightly threaded workloads included. A 4790K OC'd is still a very capable gaming processor.

Normally I'd agree with you, but Destiny 2 (which the OP specifically mentioned) doesnt really scale beyond 4C/4T:

I'm not exactly sure how how a 3570K @ 4.2GHz compares to a stock 7600K but it shouldnt be that far off. The stock 7600K is about 10% ahead of a 1700 @ 3.9GHz, so a 2700X should just about draw equal.

It would be a HUGE productivity upgrade, but if the OP is looking for a big improvement in 120fps+ gaming in Destiny 2 he may be a bit disappointed in the gains compared to his 3570K.