I5 8400 or R5 1600 with GTX 1060

LockHazer

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Pretty much the title

Both cpu and motherboard combos will cost the exact same and I will be running it with 1x8gb ddr4 2400mhz and a gtx 1060 3gb but I dont know which cpu to pick. Ryzen has Overlocking and more threads but I wont really be doing any productivity - Mostly gaming and so 8400 testing shows slightly better performance I believe.

I already have a pre-existing system and so I just want to upgrade my g4560 Pentium as it is bottlenecking the 1060 in a few games.

Cheers!
 
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Between a ryzen 1600 and a i5, both will do good with a 1060. I had an RX 480 8gb that I sold to cash in on the mining craze and ran it with my ryzen 1600. It was a good pair. The RX 480 is basically equal performance to the 1060.

As far as ram, I run ddr4 2400 with my 1600. Was watching Linus tech tips recently, from what he said, ddr4 2400 vs the faster stuff does not make a difference really unless you are running a 1080 or 1080ti.
8600K...8400

(No way today I'd start with or even look at the 7600K, as 4c/4t is starting to struggle with wayyy too many folks here complaining of stuttering, etc., sorry)

ANd you don't want 1 RAM stick, you want a pair.....get 16 GB, or, at least two each 4 GB sticks, assuming you have 4 RAM slots...(you can add more later)
 
I notice you're using one stick of memory. This is the mark of a budget system, this is a sign cost is an issue. I also notice you already have a Kaby Lake CPU. Your videocard is a 1060. For these reasons I'd upgrade to a Kaby Lake i5 or i7.

Ryzen's big advantage is giving your more threads for the money, which you seem to indicate you won't use. A Coffee Lake CPU means buying a new motherboard too. I don't see you gaining enough extra performance, when paired with a 1060, to justify buying a new CPU and a new motherboard.

So I'd choose an i5 7500 or i7 7700, since you don't want a slow i5. The interesting thing is the inexpensive Coffee Lake motherboards are out. So for the cost of a new i7 7700 you could get an i5 8400 6 core and a new B360 motherboard(Newegg prices).

If you are sure you only need a quad core, then the i5 7500 is the most cost effective option. If you can spend more, or anticipate being able to use more than 4 cores/4 threads, I'd be real tempted to go for the i5 8400.
 

LockHazer

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The 7600k costs around $330 whereas the combos cost around $350 plus I currently have a H110 mobo so will need to get a new one to overclock as well as a new cooler to allow overclocking so that would mean prices would be higher. They also perform around the same as the 8400 as the 1060 is the bottleneck not cpu.
 

LockHazer

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I reckon I won't need the 8600k with my 1060 and for future proofing because the 8400 is reasonably good.

I have 1 stick of 8gb so can easily add another 8 as the mobo's would have 4 but probably won't rn considering RAM prices - seems to be doing fine currently and only gets close to max on Wildlands on Very High

 

LockHazer

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Currently have a H110 so will need a new mobo as well to overclock and that would drive prices over the new cpu combos
 

LockHazer

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And definitely wont be buying really fast RAM rn considering the prices
 

LockHazer

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I have a H110 mobo so K chips are not viable. An I5 7500 costs around $250 compared to the cpu combos of around $350 so I reasoned that the extra $100 is worth it for much better future proofing if I upgrade my GPU and the benefit of 6 cores for either multitasking or future games.

TL DR Cost is a big factor but I thought it was worth it for the future proofing
 
K chips are viable. You just can't OC with your motherboard.

So these would be the choices:
(easy upgrade - swap cpu and done)
  • i5-7400 ~ 160eur
    i5-7500 ~ 170eur
    i5 7600 ~ 190eur
    i7 7700 ~ 270eur
(remove old motherboard, install new motherboard, redo cabling, install CPU, reinstall OS)
  • i5 8400 ~ 160eur + motherboard (60eur minimum)
 

LockHazer

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While a 7500 would definitely be cheaper by around $100 Australian dollars, wouldn't the more stable fps and cpu overhead compared to the 7500 getting close to 100% usage with the 1060 quanitfy the extra? As soon as I upgrade my GPU with a 7500 I would run into slight bottlenecks whereas the cpu combos would provide plenty of room for gpu upgrades. (I don't mind about the extra work to install, enjoy it)

 

zova

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get a i5 8400... these people are making it to confusing. It has overall better cores speed so it better for gaming
 
Between a ryzen 1600 and a i5, both will do good with a 1060. I had an RX 480 8gb that I sold to cash in on the mining craze and ran it with my ryzen 1600. It was a good pair. The RX 480 is basically equal performance to the 1060.

As far as ram, I run ddr4 2400 with my 1600. Was watching Linus tech tips recently, from what he said, ddr4 2400 vs the faster stuff does not make a difference really unless you are running a 1080 or 1080ti.
 
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