What CPU should I choose?

emetz926 · Aug 28, 2017

I'm fairly new to PC gaming, I am looking into upgrading my fx-6300 to a ryzen 1700x, or a i7-6700, I just don't know which one to choose. Also what mother board, ram, and cpu cooler would be a good choice for the ryzen 1700x. I also am using a gtx 1060 6GB graphics card. Thanks! I am also on a budget for around $500

Supahos · Aug 28, 2017

If gaming only look more at a regular 1600, come with a decent cooler that allows some overclocking. Offers 99% of the performance of a 1700x and is much cheaper. This would allow you to get a better GPU for the same money

Shektron · Aug 28, 2017

Kinda depends on your monitor. If your monitor is 60-120 Hz, a Ryzen 7 1700 would be best for future-proof gaming(5+ years), or a Ryzen 5 1600(3-5 years).

If you have a 144+ Hz monitor, get an i7 7700K, not a 6700. The 7700K will let you play at high refresh rate better than Ryzen, so if you want those high FPS, you'll need a 7700K, nothing less.

The 6700 really isn't for anything anymore - it'll game today just fine, but in a year or two it'll probably be too weak to handle highly multi-threaded games, so it's best you either get a Ryzen, or a 7700K. A 7700K wouldn't last as long as a Ryzen, but for the high refresh rate, it's your only option at the moment. If you can wait, Intel's upcoming Coffee Lake will be a mix of future-proofing and good high refresh rate capability, so you might want to wait for it to launch if you want to play at high refresh rate.

geofelt · Aug 28, 2017

Here is a nice article comparing updates which included FX-8370 and GTX1060.
https://www.techspot.com/review/1474-ryzen-vs-older-budget-cpus/

What cpu you pick may well depend on how many threads YOUR games can actually use.
You can test this by removing one or more cores/threads. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. See if removing two threads from your 6 thread FX-6300 makes a big difference.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
Ryzen X versions are better binned and more expensive parts that are more likely to reach the 4.0 OC limit which seems to be common across all of the ryzen products. Past that, the 1200 is a 4 thread part, the 1400 is a 8 thread part and the 1700 is a 16 thread part.
Sounds impressive, but most games can usefully utilize 2-3 threads.
You can see this in the tests I linked where the 1200 4 thread and 1400 8 thread processors performed similarly.

Where is all this leading??

I suggest you can save on your budget with a $200 class processor, either 1400/1600 ryzen or I5-7600K.

If you really want the best, I7-7700K in the $330 range is about as good as you can do today for gaming.
Primarily because of the better single thread performance which is most important for games.
Later this year, the 8th gen I5-8600K or I7-8700K are likely to turn out better.

emetz926 · Aug 28, 2017

Shektron :

Right now I have a 1080p 60hz monitor and don't plan on upgrading anytime soon. I would like the cpu to last up to at least 5 years. Do you know of any good motherboard and ram combos that go good with the ryzen 1700x, that look ok but aren't to high in price. Thanks!

KirbysHammer · Aug 28, 2017

MERGED QUESTION
Question from emetz926 : "Ryzen 1700 or 1700x?"

emetz926 :

Wait for coffee lake.

Supahos · Aug 28, 2017

Why are you so hung up on the 1700? Unless you have the budget to throw at least a 1080 at your build the 1600 makes a lot more sense.

Cioby · Aug 28, 2017

emetz926 :

i7 6700 K (get the K) and forget about Ryzen crap. Older i7 still beat Ryzen in gaming and the Ryzen is much more expensive but completely crap in gaming. But also you need a new motherboard and DDR4 not DDR3, with a 1051 socket for the CPU.

So it's not all about which CPU should you upgrade to.

Also, Ryzen sounds good but hasn't took the test of time yet. My old 4770k was never clocked below 4 Ghz (3.5 is the factory setting) and it still runs perfectly with a 1080ti 3 years later. So I trust Intel CPUs more.

Supahos · Aug 28, 2017

1) ryzen is cheaper not sure what you're talking about

2) if by crap in gaming you mean within 15% of the fps of a 5.0ghz 7700k in every title, most of the ones with a wide gap they're both over 120 fps so who cares

3) what is this "test of time" cra

4) there's a minimum of 2 more generations on the am4 platform. Z270 dies in a couple of months

5) in a couple of months the i5s will smoke a 6700k (6 full cores beats 4c8t) in gaming situations

Cioby · Aug 28, 2017

I'd love to see you back that <mod edit> you spilled here with actual proof or facts. Since even the Ryzens that were given to reviewers were below the 4790k at stock speeds in gaming. In more than one review. But please, do indulge us by talking out of your butthole. And the 1700 and 1800 are still a lot above the i7 in my country, even on sale.

And if a 4 year old CPU that still runs and beats mostly everything and can actually be OC to 5.0 even now, beats the Ryzen, I see no reason for a person with half a brain that's only interested in GAMING, to buy anything else.

In fact if he wants to upgrade that old system and has DDR 3 and doesn't wanna buy new RAM also, he could just get the 4790k and use the same RAMs. If you're defending AMD AT GAMING, still, then you must also be one of those idiots that still claim after 2 years of drivers and <mod edit>, Vega will beat 1080ti. Please just stop embarrassing yourself, I was right a year ago about Vega.

SumTingW0ng · Aug 28, 2017

Cioby :

If you have i7 7700k @ 4.5Ghz vs Ryzen 1700X @ 4.5Ghz, than Ryzen 1700x will beat i7 7700k in every ways from gaming to heavy multi tasking, and to rendering thanks to the 8 cores, 16 threads, and 16MB L3 Cache for under $500. That's less expensive than the Haswell E 5960X.

i7 7700k suffer TIM issue as the previous i7 4790k, and both of these two chips run very hot.

While we do appreciate that you have some knowledge behind your post, but please restrain your attitude and language please. Not everyone here is smart, and everyone of us do make a mistake sometimes and that is common for human being.

Without AMD on the market, you couldn't afford an i7 4790k or i7 7700k at all without spending $500+.

Supahos · Aug 28, 2017

Yeah that's me, been here helped over 1500 people just make stuff up...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-cpu,5167-8.html

The 1800x is listed in most if not all parts of this review. It's the same silicon as the 1700 (cheaper anywhere but apparently where you live than a 7700k, comes with a stock cooler and can be oced on a $75 board easily) there are games where there is a gap, but in every instance the 1800 holds it's own.

If I were buying a gaming Frontline computer I wouldn't consider a 1700 either my choice would be a 1600

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-1600-cpu,5073-5.html

Puts it right in Intel back pocket performance wise, costs $100 less for the platform than a 7600k which gives you more performance with the ryzen setup since you didn't blown your budget all on the CPU and surrounding ecosystem.

Cioby · Aug 28, 2017

Though you're partially right, the i7 launched at the same price I see it now, still, so AMD didn't really influence their prices (sadly). And I did hear the 7700k has issues but 4790k nope.

The 4770k which I have, runs hot af, 4790k runs almost 20 degrees cooler at stock and 500 Mhz faster than mine. But back then I didn't know and I only had the 4770k to chose from. Still my CPU runs easily at +500Mhz for over 3 years and I can boost it 600 Mhz more if needed and with a cheap cooler, I still keep it at around 90 degrees at 4.6Ghz.

The 4790k runs a lot higher and cooler. And from every video I saw that wasn't just some guy making graphs with no proof he even has the CPU or that he ran some benchmarks (and even in those), Intel still beats 1700x 1800x 1600x.

Ryzen is better in workloads and streaming and encoding etc. But it's way more expensive (up to 50% more on the 1700x especially on release) and less performant in games. That's just a fact. And I won't defend Intel for having a <mod edit> 7700k that heats up. But if a 4 years old CPU beats the <mod edit> out of AMD in gaming, I'd try not to brag about it or bring it up on a thread where the OP clearly stated HE WANTS IT ONLY FOR GAMING.

SumTingW0ng · Aug 28, 2017

Cioby :

Though you're partially right, the i7 launched at the same price I see it now, still, so AMD didn't really influence their prices (sadly). And I did hear the 7700k has issues but 4790k nope.

The 4770k which I have, runs hot af, 4790k runs almost 20 degrees cooler at stock and 500 Mhz faster than mine. But back then I didn't know and I only had the 4770k to chose from. Still my CPU runs easily at +500Mhz for over 3 years and I can boost it 600 Mhz more if needed and with a cheap cooler, I still keep it at around 90 degrees at 4.6Ghz.

The 4790k runs a lot higher and cooler. And from every video I saw that wasn't just some guy making graphs with no proof he even has the CPU or that he ran some benchmarks (and even in those), Intel still beats 1700x 1800x 1600x.

Ryzen is better in workloads and streaming and encoding etc. But it's way more expensive (up to 50% more on the 1700x especially on release) and less performant in games. That's just a fact. And I won't defend Intel for having a <mod edit> 7700k that heats up. But if a 4 years old CPU beats the <mod edit> out of AMD in gaming, I'd try not to brag about it or bring it up on a thread where the OP clearly stated HE WANTS IT ONLY FOR GAMING.

The i7 4790k have higher clock speed at default which is faster than Ryzen 1700X. In addition, not many games taking more than 4 cores seriously and because of that, it doesn't reveal the truth potential of the Ryzen 1700X at all.

SumTingW0ng · Aug 28, 2017

Cioby :

Though you're partially right, the i7 launched at the same price I see it now, still, so AMD didn't really influence their prices (sadly). And I did hear the 7700k has issues but 4790k nope.

The 4770k which I have, runs hot af, 4790k runs almost 20 degrees cooler at stock and 500 Mhz faster than mine. But back then I didn't know and I only had the 4770k to chose from. Still my CPU runs easily at +500Mhz for over 3 years and I can boost it 600 Mhz more if needed and with a cheap cooler, I still keep it at around 90 degrees at 4.6Ghz.

The 4790k runs a lot higher and cooler. And from every video I saw that wasn't just some guy making graphs with no proof he even has the CPU or that he ran some benchmarks (and even in those), Intel still beats 1700x 1800x 1600x.

Ryzen is better in workloads and streaming and encoding etc. But it's way more expensive (up to 50% more on the 1700x especially on release) and less performant in games. That's just a fact. And I won't defend Intel for having a <mod edit> 7700k that heats up. But if a 4 years old CPU beats the <mod edit> out of AMD in gaming, I'd try not to brag about it or bring it up on a thread where the OP clearly stated HE WANTS IT ONLY FOR GAMING.

Here is a video from JayTwoCents, and you can see based on his multiple benchmarking, the CPU usage doesn't hit more than 80% usage.

Cioby · Aug 28, 2017

I don't see the link.

But I probably saw his video. Not hitting 100% but also not giving more fps with a 1080ti, doesn't mean it's a better CPU in gaming. My CPU doesn't hit 100% in every game even when my GPU is at 100% and as I said, it's OC and 3 years old.

KirbysHammer · Aug 28, 2017

SumTingW0ng :

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here. I like AMD and the fact that they're keeping prices down. I like lots of cores.

But for gaming, the 7700k absolutely crushes Ryzen 7.

Even if they were both at 4.5GHz, the Intel would still take the crown in most games thanks to 5% higher IPC.

That's assuming you can even get a Ryzen 7 to 4.5GHz (hint- you really can't unless you're lucky and have top of the line cooling) and that the Intel chip is actually at 4.5GHz- (The majority of chips can get to 5GHz).

Intel still takes the crown in gaming, so if that's all OP is looking for a 7700k is a good option right now. The heat issues are overblown.

But a 7700k at 5GHz will pull ahead of a Ryzen 7 by about 35% in most games. If your target is 144hz, that's a big deal.

If your target is only 60hz it really doesn't matter what CPU you get, most of them will hit that target with ease.

If you're streaming a Ryzen chip is the obvious choice. If you're doing video editing it is the obvious choice.

But for the majority of people that build their PCs for gaming Intel is still going to pull ahead.

Cioby · Aug 28, 2017

KirbysHammer :

SumTingW0ng :

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here. I like AMD and the fact that they're keeping prices down. I like lots of cores.

But for gaming, the 7700k absolutely crushes Ryzen 7.

Even if they were both at 4.5GHz, the Intel would still take the crown in most games thanks to 5% higher IPC.

That's assuming you can even get a Ryzen 7 to 4.5GHz (hint- you really can't unless you're lucky and have top of the line cooling) and that the Intel chip is actually at 4.5GHz- (The majority of chips can get to 5GHz).

Intel still takes the crown in gaming, so if that's all OP is looking for a 7700k is a good option right now. The heat issues are overblown.

But a 7700k at 5GHz will pull ahead of a Ryzen 7 by about 35% in most games. If your target is 144hz, that's a big deal.

If your target is only 60hz it really doesn't matter what CPU you get, most of them will hit that target with ease.

If you're streaming a Ryzen chip is the obvious choice. If you're doing video editing it is the obvious choice.

But for the majority of people that build their PCs for gaming Intel is still going to pull ahead.

Thanks, that's exactly what I meant. Also my old 4770k isn't running at more than 60 degrees at a very demanding CPU game like Rome 2 TW at 4K max settings. Sadly my benchmark didn't include CPU load in the video. For an old CPU that's OC +500Mhz that's pretty good.

And the 4790k is even better.

ex_bubblehead · Aug 28, 2017

That will be enough of the off topic bickering and profanity. If I see another off topic post or even a single word of profanity, by anyone, there will be no less than a 14 day ban instituted, for ALL violators.

The ONLY acceptable response is "I have read and understand the warning". Any other response will earn at least a day off.

What CPU should I choose?

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