Discussion Upgrade conundrum, insight needed

[GothAmKing]

Hey folks. I'll get straight to the point. The PC I use is only for gaming and media consumption. At the moment I only play one game regularly - CoD Warzone at 1080p 144hz. Rarely I play the free games that Epic Games store gives out or titles like Among Us, Fall Guys which are fun to play with friends. Specs are:

• Intel i5 8600K @ 4.7GHz all core oc
• ASRock Z370 Taichi
• Corsair Vengeance 8x2 GB 3000MHz CL16
• Gigabyte AORUS GTX 1080 Ti
• Corsair HX750 Platinum PSU
• Noctua NH-D15S with twin fan
• LG 1080p 144Hz TN 24GL600
• LG 4K 60Hz IPS 27UK650

In the recent months pc is really struggling to give fps above 110 even at low settings on 1080p. My build was never meant for 1080p 144Hz as I bought 8600K for casual games at 60Hz only. Given the current silicon shortage scenario, the upgrade paths I could think of:

1. Get 9900K and use the same mobo. Try to sell 8600K.
2. Get 5600X+B550 motherboard and sell 8600K+Taichi.
3. Get better GPU(I highly doubt is gonna happen anytime soon this year)

I don't stay in the US, so selling stuff on second hand basis would be quite the trouble for me. As of now option 1 seems the easiest but option 2 seems like the better suited one. But I can't seem to pull myself together into buying another hexacore processor. My thoughts are that I can keep the 9900K for the coming 2-3 years at least and then jump to whatever platform gives me the best benefit. Since I know I have to get a new GPU next year, I want to hold on to my current Intel platform to minimize expenses.

Please help me folks with your insights and valuable suggestions. One thing though, I don't want to shift to consoles in order to game.

TL;DR - PC not giving enough fps at 1080p. Instead of GPU upgrade, want to upgrade CPU for better fps.

 

[coercitiv]

Get the 9900 non-K (if considerably cheaper in your area) and use the savings to upgrade the RAM as well. The lower latency of 3600 C16 (or better) versus 3000 C16 will help more than a slightly faster CPU with slower RAM. You can even upgrade gradually, first the CPU then maybe the RAM.

The AMD path doesn't look convincing enough for you, the 5600X isn't that much of an upgrade over the 9900(K) option and the 5800X is too expensive for what it would offer you. The only benefit I can think of would be the strong possibility of having an upgrade path for the CPU in the form of an upcoming refresh with 3D cache. However, nothing is clear & certain atm, so it makes little sense to bet on this horse.

 

[GothAmKing]

Get the 9900 non-K (if considerably cheaper in your area) and use the savings to upgrade the RAM as well. The lower latency of 3600 C16 (or better) versus 3000 C16 will help more than a slightly faster CPU with slower RAM. You can even upgrade gradually, first the CPU then maybe the RAM.

The AMD path doesn't look convincing enough for you, the 5600X isn't that much of an upgrade over the 9900(K) option and the 5800X is too expensive for what it would offer you. The only benefit I can think of would be the strong possibility of having an upgrade path for the CPU in the form of an upcoming refresh with 3D cache. However, nothing is clear & certain atm, so it makes little sense to bet on this horse.

9900K is available for USD 300, non-K version is not available. KF version is available for 30 dollars less. But what startled me was 10850K available for 75 dollars more at USD 375. Now seeing that I'm feeling not quite sure about spending 300 dollars to get an older 8 core processor when one can buy a 10 core one with 75 dollars more. Obviously the catch here is the motherboard upgrade.

Should I wait for prices to come down to normal? I think that would be too long, specially for GPUs.

 

[moinmoin]

But what startled me was 10850K available for 75 dollars more at USD 375. Now seeing that I'm feeling not quite sure about spending 300 dollars to get an older 8 core processor when one can buy a 10 core one with 75 dollars more.

It's exactly the same value per core. What startled you about that?

 

[GothAmKing]

It's exactly the same value per core. What startled you about that?

Well the 9900K is older so I thought maybe it would have been priced lower now or the 10850K is priced extremely well to counteract AMD 5800X

 

[blckgrffn]

9900K is available for USD 300, non-K version is not available. KF version is available for 30 dollars less. But what startled me was 10850K available for 75 dollars more at USD 375. Now seeing that I'm feeling not quite sure about spending 300 dollars to get an older 8 core processor when one can buy a 10 core one with 75 dollars more. Obviously the catch here is the motherboard upgrade.

Should I wait for prices to come down to normal? I think that would be too long, specially for GPUs.

I'd just get the 9900K and the ram if possible. The only better CPU is the latest Ryzen's, and even then the upcoming/maybe versions to get in your case are the extra cache ones which are months out. The 9900K is a beast properly configured for gaming.

The 10850K is basically the same per core speed, it's a lot of hassle (might need a serious cooler too!) to get basically a little better performance on full all core loads. You mentioned WarZone, not cinebench

Warzone is also known to be a pig. I would get more and faster ram too.

 

[solidsnake1298]

Out of curiosity, what games are you struggling to run at 144fps+? I have a GTX 1070 with a Ryzen 2700X and the only recent game that has really pushed my system is Cyberpunk 2077 (30-70fps on medium settings). Destiny 2 (high-very high @ 150-190fps), R6 Siege (medium-high @ 220-240fps on the Vulkan client), Apex Legends (medium-high 160-180fps). And your 1080ti is about ~50% faster than my 1070. I have two more cores, but the gaming performance of a 8600K is definitely superior by 10-20%.

A 9900K is not an architecture upgrade from the 8600K. Its still Skylake. Sure you get an extra two cores and that will definitely measurably improve things a bit. But not significantly or noticeably. You've already got a nice all core OC.

As you stated, you are almost certainly not going to be able to get a GPU this year. IMHO, option 2, a Ryzen 5600X + B550 motherboard, would be the only worth while upgrade choice.

 

[blckgrffn]

@solidsnake1298 I think Warzone is harder on a PC than the games you mentioned.

Also, I think that his CPU being 6C/6T could be part of the problem. Moving to a 9900K not only gets you 2 more cores and more L2 cache but also a huge increase in threads. If it is ever blocking out (and if there is a game that would, Warzone would be right there) on thread availability that could help a lot.

My cousin is big on playing Warzone and struggled with an 8600K, which is why that CPU is in my Plex PC now and he has a 3900x.

 

[lyonwonder]

I

Out of curiosity, what games are you struggling to run at 144fps+? I have a GTX 1070 with a Ryzen 2700X and the only recent game that has really pushed my system is Cyberpunk 2077 (30-70fps on medium settings). Destiny 2 (high-very high @ 150-190fps), R6 Siege (medium-high @ 220-240fps on the Vulkan client), Apex Legends (medium-high 160-180fps). And your 1080ti is about ~50% faster than my 1070. I have two more cores, but the gaming performance of a 8600K is definitely superior by 10-20%.

A 9900K is not an architecture upgrade from the 8600K. Its still Skylake. Sure you get an extra two cores and that will definitely measurably improve things a bit. But not significantly or noticeably. You've already got a nice all core OC.

As you stated, you are almost certainly not going to be able to get a GPU this year. IMHO, option 2, a Ryzen 5600X + B550 motherboard, would be the only worth while upgrade choice.

I suppose the only other option, in addition to the before mentioned 9900k for his existing board and AM4-based Ryzen 5600 or 5800, is to upgrade to a Rocket-Lake based 11600 or 11700 with a 500-series LGA 1200 motherboard that'll give an ipc boost over skylake, though LGA 1200 doesn't have much of an ugrade path either considering Intel will be releasing Alder Lake later this year. I think the main issue is that the game he's playing needs more threads, and even a 9900k with hyperthreading would be be a big help in that regard.

 

[lyonwonder]

Out of curiosity, what games are you struggling to run at 144fps+? I have a GTX 1070 with a Ryzen 2700X and the only recent game that has really pushed my system is Cyberpunk 2077 (30-70fps on medium settings). Destiny 2 (high-very high @ 150-190fps), R6 Siege (medium-high @ 220-240fps on the Vulkan client), Apex Legends (medium-high 160-180fps). And your 1080ti is about ~50% faster than my 1070. I have two more cores, but the gaming performance of a 8600K is definitely superior by 10-20%.

A 9900K is not an architecture upgrade from the 8600K. Its still Skylake. Sure you get an extra two cores and that will definitely measurably improve things a bit. But not significantly or noticeably. You've already got a nice all core OC.

As you stated, you are almost certainly not going to be able to get a GPU this year. IMHO, option 2, a Ryzen 5600X + B550 motherboard, would be the only worth while upgrade choice.

I

Out of curiosity, what games are you struggling to run at 144fps+? I have a GTX 1070 with a Ryzen 2700X and the only recent game that has really pushed my system is Cyberpunk 2077 (30-70fps on medium settings). Destiny 2 (high-very high @ 150-190fps), R6 Siege (medium-high @ 220-240fps on the Vulkan client), Apex Legends (medium-high 160-180fps). And your 1080ti is about ~50% faster than my 1070. I have two more cores, but the gaming performance of a 8600K is definitely superior by 10-20%.

A 9900K is not an architecture upgrade from the 8600K. Its still Skylake. Sure you get an extra two cores and that will definitely measurably improve things a bit. But not significantly or noticeably. You've already got a nice all core OC.

As you stated, you are almost certainly not going to be able to get a GPU this year. IMHO, option 2, a Ryzen 5600X + B550 motherboard, would be the only worth while upgrade choice.

I suppose the only other option, in addition to the before mentioned 9900k for his existing board and AM4-based Ryzen 5600 or 5800, is to upgrade to a Rocket-Lake based 11600 or 11700 with a 500-series LGA 1200 motherboard that'll give an ipc boost over skylake, though LGA 1200 doesn't have much of an upgrade path either considering Intel will be releasing Alder Lake later this year. I think the main issue is that the game he's playing needs more threads, and even a 9900k with hyperthreading would be be a big help in that regard.

 

[GothAmKing]

I think I'll wait for couple of months to save more and go with AMD 5xxx CPU. Tbh, now I see very little point in spending another 300 dollars on old processor once I saw the 10850K at a price of 75 dollars more. It's just that I wanted to spend less right now, but a couple of months saving can let me change the platform into AM4.

But now the question - which Ryzen should I get 5800X or monster 5900X? I dont want to buy another 6 core processor again since mostly my games would be processor bound at 1080p 144Hz. Also is it too much of a performance issue if I re-use my 3000MHz CL16 RAM sticks?

 

[coercitiv]

Also is it too much of a performance issue if I re-use my 3000MHz CL16 RAM sticks?

Judge for yourself, some games see 10-20% gains while others see very little if any.



Going from 3000C16 to 3600C16 you can probably expect a 10% improvement in min FPS when not GPU bottlenecked.

 

[GothAmKing]

Judge for yourself, some games see 10-20% gains while others see very little if any.

View attachment 45879
Going from 3000C16 to 3600C16 you can probably expect a 10% improvement in min FPS when not GPU bottlenecked.

Thanks for pointing this out. I'd go with my existing sticks unless they become obsolete.

 

[solidsnake1298]

I think I'll wait for couple of months to save more and go with AMD 5xxx CPU. Tbh, now I see very little point in spending another 300 dollars on old processor once I saw the 10850K at a price of 75 dollars more. It's just that I wanted to spend less right now, but a couple of months saving can let me change the platform into AM4.

But now the question - which Ryzen should I get 5800X or monster 5900X? I dont want to buy another 6 core processor again since mostly my games would be processor bound at 1080p 144Hz. Also is it too much of a performance issue if I re-use my 3000MHz CL16 RAM sticks?

Between the 5800X and 5900X it really depends on whether you do anything beyond gaming. Do you stream to Twitch or video edit? If not, stick with the 5800X.

 

[maddie]

I think I'll wait for couple of months to save more and go with AMD 5xxx CPU. Tbh, now I see very little point in spending another 300 dollars on old processor once I saw the 10850K at a price of 75 dollars more. It's just that I wanted to spend less right now, but a couple of months saving can let me change the platform into AM4.

But now the question - which Ryzen should I get 5800X or monster 5900X? I dont want to buy another 6 core processor again since mostly my games would be processor bound at 1080p 144Hz. Also is it too much of a performance issue if I re-use my 3000MHz CL16 RAM sticks?

Is 6 cores the problem or 6 threads?

 

[GothAmKing]

Between the 5800X and 5900X it really depends on whether you do anything beyond gaming. Do you stream to Twitch or video edit? If not, stick with the 5800X.

I just game on it. I saw benchmarks using Warzone(which is the only game I play atm), the 5800X was giving 20-30 frames more than the 5600X. For me that is significant if you ask me and I'm willing to buy the 5800X for the added boost. I know that might seem awful to some people but this is the only thing I do besides work, so I'm willing to splurge a bit after 2-3 years. I hope that's understandable.

On the 5900X the benefit was very marginal and I don't do anything productivity related on my PC so I'm not going to have that as an option. Should I though?

 

[GothAmKing]

Is 6 cores the problem or 6 threads?

I think the lack of Hyperthreading is what is making me think to upgrade so I'm gonna go with threads here for the answer. I know 5600X has 12 threads but I'd like to get 5800X since it gives me more frames, albeit at an added cost too.

 

[CakeMonster]

If you're going through the hassle of upgrading anything in the first place, I would not settle for anything below a 8c/16t, since you're coming from 6c/6t.

 

[GothAmKing]

If you're going through the hassle of upgrading anything in the first place, I would not settle for anything below a 8c/16t, since you're coming from 6c/6t.

I think that too.