Upgrading CPU please help

[Shibbyland]

Hi All,

 

I'm upgrading my CPU sometime in the next couple of weeks but I'm having a hard time deciding between an i7 9700k and an i9 9900k.

 

At the moment I'm running the following:

 

i5 6600

Geforce RTX 2060 super

32GB RAM

Flight sims are on SSD with other games on HDD.

750w power supply

 

I suspect the RTX 2060 is beyond my old i5.

 

So here's the thing. When I upgraded by i5 to a newer i5 a few years ago, the advice was "don't get an i7, you just don't need it for gaming, save your money". Well now I'm finding that the i7 is becoming the new go to for what I'm doing and the advice is "don't get an i9, you just dont need it for gaming, save your money".

 

Is the i9 worth the extra money if I'm trying to future proof a little?

 

Bearing in mind, I don't intend to upgrade my cooling or power supply.

[LucShep]

There's no point in going for socket 1151 at this point, it has been superseded by socket 1200.

Instead of the i7 9700K (8c/8t) you have the i5 10600K (6c/12t).

Instead of the i9 9900K, you now have the i7 10700K, which is basically the same processor (8c/16t) but less expensive (~380,00 USD/EUR) and slightly better.

 

You have to consider if the interest is mainly DCS, in its current state it usually makes use of 2 cores only.

So, if your system is mainly for gaming/simming (and mostly for DCS), not productivity tasks, then I'd say to go for the i5 10600K, best gaming CPU right now for the money.

Think of it as an improved i7 8700K (6c/12t), which you can easily overclock to 5.0GHz. It's a beast, for ~260.00 USD/EUR.

 

Pair either the i7 10700K or i5 10600K with a good yet affordable Z490 motherboard ready for the (optional) overclocking, like the Asus Prime Z490-P or MSI Z490-A Pro, and you're good to go. :pilotfly:

The coolers will still fit just the same. Same for the PSU.

Edited September 3, 2020 by LucShep

[Krupi]

I am in the exact same position, I am now debating what CPU to buy.

 

Is it worth waiting for the next GEN Ryzen CPU?

[Gryzor]

I am in the exact same position, I am now debating what CPU to buy.

 

Is it worth waiting for the next GEN Ryzen CPU?

 

I´m in the same situation:

 

1-. Wait for new Ryzen3 CPUs

2-. Buy the best CPU for gaming NOW, IMHO intel 10900K, higher clocks over 5 Ghz compared with Ryzen 3900xt

 

what do you recommend to me?

[Hambone747]

I'm upgrading as well and will wait for the Zen 3's.

[Yucheng.lin]

but i5-10600k only support memory speed 2666mhz , does it matter or not? thanks

[splash]

I'm in the same situation and waiting for new Ryzens. I don't want to be stuck with PCI-Express 3.0 (Intel) so I'd prefer an AMD but I'm worried about DCS performance when compared to 10700K/10900K.

[LucShep]

but i5-10600k only support memory speed 2666mhz , does it matter or not? thanks

 

Notice that 2666Mhz DDR4 is just the base frequency support for RAM, Intel 10X00K processors actually support up to 5000Mhz DDR4 RAM in (selected) Z490 motherboards.

It makes quite a difference, although the law of diminishing returns may apply once you go beyond DDR4 3600Mhz CL16.

 

I'm in the same situation and waiting for new Ryzens. I don't want to be stuck with PCI-Express 3.0 (Intel) so I'd prefer an AMD but I'm worried about DCS performance when compared to 10700K/10900K.

As said in other similar thread, PCI-E 4.0 for next gen GPUs is being blown out of proportion (IMO), and creating some confusion.

PCI-E 4.0 is not expected to make any real difference for GPUs unless with something like the RTX3090 or the rumoured RTX3080Ti (TBA later), and maybe the RTX3080 (everyone waiting for tests).

Even then, I suspect if any limitations happen it may be only at very high framerates, the sort that noone sees in DCS.

There's the RTX IO technology on RTX3000 series, but game developers will need to support it explicitly, which remains to be seen in something like DCS (unlikely to happen?). So, for now, that tech is just a pipe dream.

What makes PCI-E 4.0 very interesting now is the larger bandwith and (really fast) speeds for the new NVME storage with PCI-E 4.0 capabilities.

 

If DCS is your main interest, and you want to have the best performance right now, Intel 10700K and 10600K are the best choices (IMHO noone needs a 10900K for DCS).

But, if not in a hurry, wait for the next AMD Ryzen series (October? November?) to see how they compare then.

Edited September 9, 2020 by LucShep

[splash]

Thanks for your advice. I will wait until October/November and we'll see.