Upgrade from i7 2600k?

SeatIbiza · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:05

I know there are a lot of threads swinging around about upgrades in light of the new AMD chips and I've been holding off upgrading awaiting this.

My current chip has been in the system for about 7 years now and has done me very well, it's been overclocked on water since I got it and is still running fine today. I'm running a 1080FE as my GFX card along with a few SSDs and 16gb ram.

Budget isn't really a concern, I just want a good and fast system to last me for another good number of years.

My plan is to only change the CPU, MOBO and RAM and keep running with the 1080.

What does everyone think/recommend?

yashiro · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:15

Budget has to be a concern otherwise we can just tell you to buy the most expensive parts available and call it a day.

andy_mk3 · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:16

Well I have just replaced my 2600k and kept my 1080 in with a 3900x system. Very happy to say the least.

SeatIbiza · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:16

yashiro said:
Budget has to be a concern otherwise we can just tell you to buy the most expensive parts available and call it a day.

OK well, circa £1200 for the CPU, Mobo & Ram then. If it's £1k or £1.5k I don't really care...

3900x is what I was thinking?

jigger · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:22

SeatIbiza said:
OK well, circa £1200 for the CPU, Mobo & Ram then. If it's £1k or £1.5k I don't really care...

3900x is what I was thinking?

That will easy cover you even with 2x16Gb of RAM and fancy cooler.

Drollic · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:31

3800x, cheaper , easier to cool and therefore less noise. 1-5 fps more isn't worth that trade off.

SeatIbiza · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:34

But with a water cooler shouldn't be noisy anyway?

69Dude · 10 Jul 2019 at 16:11

SeatIbiza said:
But with a water cooler shouldn't be noisy anyway?

If you're looking to the future then get a top end chip. Either a 9900k or 3900x as they're both highly respected, the 3900x has newer platform options and a potential for the zen refresh to apply in 2020 so that's my preference, epeen value as well.

SeatIbiza · 10 Jul 2019 at 16:48

Yes I'm thinking the 3900X.

Is it worth holding for the 3950X though?

Mr.Q · 10 Jul 2019 at 22:05

What are you going to use your computer for?

SeatIbiza · 11 Jul 2019 at 09:50

Mainly gaming and possibly some photo editing

Vish Petrol · 11 Jul 2019 at 09:57

SeatIbiza said:
Yes I'm thinking the 3900X.

Is it worth holding for the 3950X though?

If you've held out this long and you're just looking to futureproof, then its worth holding out until the 3950x if its in budget, considering the 3950x is supposed to have a better boost, suggesting that they are binned better, therefore will perform better in gaming. I can't see the extra 4 cores making a difference for several years but you never know.

For gaming at least you'd notice more of an improvement from a GPU upgrade, although you may find with the CPU upgrade better minimums and a smoother gaming experience overall with the CPU upgrade.

SeatIbiza · 11 Jul 2019 at 10:16

Vish Petrol said:
If you've held out this long and you're just looking to futureproof, then its worth holding out until the 3950x if its in budget, considering the 3950x is supposed to have a better boost, suggesting that they are binned better, therefore will perform better in gaming. I can't see the extra 4 cores making a difference for several years but you never know.

For gaming at least you'd notice more of an improvement from a GPU upgrade, although you may find with the CPU upgrade better minimums and a smoother gaming experience overall with the CPU upgrade.

But without a CPU upgrade surely that will throttle it? I'm pretty sure my 1080 is being throttled by my cpu now...

easyrider · 11 Jul 2019 at 10:19

what res do you game at?

RavenXXX2 · 11 Jul 2019 at 10:35

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/2413?vs=2520

3700X

Double the performance and more depending on resolution and the ipc uplift is huge.

I would go for the 3600.

SeatIbiza · 11 Jul 2019 at 11:05

easyrider said:
what res do you game at?

3440*1440

SeatIbiza · 11 Jul 2019 at 11:10

RavenXXX2 said:
https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/2413?vs=2520

3700X

Double the performance and more depending on resolution and the ipc uplift is huge.

I would go for the 3600.

Whilst I'm upgrading (which I don't do every often) I may as well go for the best really.

Saying that, the 3950X is quite a bit more than a 3900X...

Saltcreek · 11 Jul 2019 at 11:12

SeatIbiza said:
Whilst I'm upgrading (which I don't do every often) I may as well go for the best really.

Saying that, the 3950X is quite a bit more than a 3900X...

I am in the same boat. I may wait to see how the 3950x performs but I am pretty sure that would be waste. I just wish the 3900x had a bit more oc headroom

death_looms · 11 Jul 2019 at 11:17

Same boat here, going from an OC 2600K to a 3700X. This is for sibelius work, audio recording and gaming/streaming, paired with a vega 56. I'm also going to an nvme m2 drive. If there's anything specific you want me to check I'll do that if I can, CPU is due to arrive Monday (stupid 12th celebrations).

SeatIbiza · 11 Jul 2019 at 11:52

death_looms said:
Same boat here, going from an OC 2600K to a 3700X. This is for sibelius work, audio recording and gaming/streaming, paired with a vega 56. I'm also going to an nvme m2 drive. If there's anything specific you want me to check I'll do that if I can, CPU is due to arrive Monday (stupid 12th celebrations).

It would be cool to see benchmark on your old vs. new.