5950X VS 5800X3D for long term

[Zarax]

Hello everyone, I'm trying to finalize my next long term build and I'm trying to understand which move would make more sense in the long run.
I'm basically building a "best of DDR4" rig as that's where the best deals seems to be had but I'm uncertain on processor choice.

If I have to look at today's gaming charts the Ryzen 5800X3D seems a no brainer as it's both cheaper and faster, however it also seems to have pretty... situational performance.
Meanwhile, the Ryzen 5950x due to sheer horsepower does offer lower performance but more flexibility and could be the better long term bet if future games will take more advantage of extra threads.

If you'd have to keep the PC for at least 6 years (but more likely 8-10), which one would you choose? Mind you, I only care about acceptable performance (60-90 fps) and I'm not going to do anything more that swapping GPUs.
To give you some context, I'm writing from a nearly decade-old i7-3770k with an RX590 so I have a pretty good tolerance for relatively low FPS.

 

[alec]

If you want it to last 6 years, why start with a platform that is 4 years old and consider 1-2 year old CPUs.

I would stretch my budget to enjoy benefits of higher IPC and performance ceiling of latest gen.
7600X or 13600K will age better than any AM4. Maybe for budget 7600 or 7700 non-X to be released in January? Or for real end-game top gaming performance not to be beaten for at least a year, 7800X3D?

 

[Cyber-Mav]

5950x only good in mt stuff so if you do a lot of rendering or video encoding then its the go to cpu. i doubt games in future will use all 16 cores and 32 threads so i doubt the 5950x will ever be better than the 5800x3d in gaming. having stronger single core speed will keep the cpu in the game for longer.

 

[Zarax]

If you want it to last 6 years, why start with a platform that is 4 years old and consider 1-2 year old CPUs.

I would stretch my budget to enjoy benefits of higher IPC and performance ceiling of latest gen.
7600X or 13600K will age better than any AM4. Maybe for budget 7600 or 7700 non-X to be released in January? Or for real end-game top gaming performance not to be beaten for at least a year, 7800X3D?

I'm already stretching my budget, if I could have afforded current gen I would have went there.

 

[Tetras]

I agree with what Cyber-Mav said, it is unlikely in the life of this system that the 5950x will ever be better in games than the X3D. You can see that with previous gen Ryzen CPUs, buying an 8-core 1800X or 2700X didn't help, they still get beat by a 6 core 5600X. AM5 is a bit more affordable now, with the price cuts, so if you want your PC to last then I'd do what alec suggests, you don't need to buy a £300 motherboard and £300 memory:

Corsair Vengeance EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX5M2B5600Z36) - £158.99
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £269.99
Asrock B650M PG Riptide (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard - £179.98

Grand Total: £619.46

 

[Cyber-Mav]

Depends what you mean by long term, anything over 5 years then 5950x

In 5 years time quad cores will wipe the floor with 5950x probably even in multithread stuff

 

[jigger]

The 5950X. In a generation or two AMD will be at 32 cores and Intel will have push the core count even harder than they are already.

 

[jigger]

In 5 years time quad cores will wipe the floor with 5950x probably even in multithread stuff

Only in an alternate meta verse.

 

[Tetras]

Only in an alternate meta verse.

It already happened once (I guess twice, if you include Bulldozer, but that seems unfair ), why do you think it won't happen again?

 

[jigger]

It already happened once (I guess twice, if you include Bulldozer, but that seems unfair ), why do you think it won't happen again?

It’s never happened. A few reasons, the big one being physics. Now way AMD will find a way to run its cores at 20-30ghz and over and if they did then you’d always have the options to scale cores.

The charge of serial processing ended a decade ago.

 

[Tetras]

It’s never happened.

It has, 4-core i3-12100 (2022) has a higher framerate than an 8-core Ryzen 1700X/1800X (2017). Iirc even the 3300X could smoke most of the Zen/Zen+ CPUs.

My understanding is that games are slow/difficult to parallelise (?) because of the way that they're coded and even in many productivity tasks, single-core seems to be dominant (..for now).

I do think they'll get more complex and use more cores, but the i3-12100 doesn't seem to care how many cores it has (versus e.g. i5-10400 or i7-10700), even in some of the more multi-threaded games.

 

[Joxeon]

A 13700k on a DDR4 board will offer better ST / MT than a 5950X while also offering similar gaming performance to a 5800X3D.

 

[jigger]

It has, 4-core i3-12100 (2022) has a higher framerate than an 8-core Ryzen 1700X/1800X (2017). Iirc even the 3300X could smoke most of the Zen/Zen+ CPUs.

My understanding is that games are slow/difficult to parallelise (?) because of the way that they're coded and even in many productivity tasks, single-core seems to be dominant (..for now).

I do think they'll get more complex and use more cores, but the i3-12100 doesn't seem to care how many cores it has (versus e.g. i5-10400 or i7-10700), even in some of the more multi-threaded games.

The odd game might be OK with a pair of cores, but post Mantle that changed. X86 is all about parallel processing and that been the case for over a decade even when it comes to the most crude API’s and drivers.

A few things to note are CPU have zero focus on gaming with 5800X3D being the single exception. Although a few chips can run games at reasonable frame rates, the lower core count chips need an RDNA based card to get the best out of them or the performance can be choppy regardless of what a counter is indicating.

Zero smoking going on though as the cut down chips are at best the same as the full parts and it’s rare the best silicon finds its way to a desktop part.

The 5950X offers the best longevity because it offers a lot more processing power and no desktop quad core will match that performance without many huge technological breakthrough’s for decades.

 

[alec]

I would take this combo over any AM4 setup.
Motherboard good enough to not hold back even 7950X. Memory kit with EXPO and a decent chance to run at DDR5-6000 if need be. And a CPU that will match or beat 5800X3D in every task.

• 1 x Gigabyte B650M Gaming X AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-5BG-GI) = £219.95
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DG-AM) = £269.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEK2-32) (SKU: MY-29U-KS) = £188.98

Total: £678.92 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

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[Zarax]

I would take this combo over any AM4 setup.
Motherboard good enough to not hold back even 7950X. Memory kit with EXPO and a decent chance to run at DDR5-6000 if need be. And a CPU that will match or beat 5800X3D in every task.

• 1 x Gigabyte B650M Gaming X AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-5BG-GI) = £219.95
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DG-AM) = £269.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEK2-32) (SKU: MY-29U-KS) = £188.98

Total: £678.92 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

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Please refrain from giving AM5 suggestions, while I do appreciate the spirit a 7700x build is going to cost me more than a 5950x one, which is why I'm going on AM4.

 

[mickyflinn]

Here in the UK the 5950x is 40% to 50% more in cost than the 5800x3d , that's not a wise investment if just gaming.

 

[Orcvader]

Please refrain from giving AM5 suggestions, while I do appreciate the spirit a 7700x build is going to cost me more than a 5950x one, which is why I'm going on AM4.

Another thing to consider though, if like AM4, AM5 will allow you to drop in a newer gen CPU, saving costs on a full system upgrade later down in line. But I do agree it is a fair bit more than AM4. In that case I would say the extra cache on the 3D will probably be more future proof. Don't forget it's still an 8 core/16 thread CPU, even with recent games it's still more than enough cores.

 

[Mr Oxide]

Here in the UK the 5950x is 40% to 50% more in cost than the 5800x3d , that's not a wise investment if just gaming.

I agree with this sentiment. It wasn't the case when I bought my 5950x If I only ever intended to game then I would just go for cheaper option with more Cache, now. I like options so went with more cores/Threads.

My thoughts are why do some cpu hold there value while other decrease?

I was on a i7 3770k with same GPU now on ultra with cyberpunk and finished all ending all gigs smooth on ultra. It is partly what you are used too.

 

[Zarax]

I agree with this sentiment. It wasn't the case when I bought my 5950x If I only ever intended to game then I would just go for cheaper option with more Cache, now. I like options so went with more cores/Threads.

My thoughts are why do some cpu hold there value while other decrease?

I was on a i7 3770k with same GPU now on ultra with cyberpunk and finished all ending all gigs smooth on ultra. It is partly what you are used too.

Prices on the place I use for assembly
5950x: 732€
X570 MB: 191,5€
64GB DDR4-3200: 307,5€
Total: 1231€

7700x: 536,5€
x670MB: 368,5€
64GB DDR5-5200: 410€
Total: 1315€

Basically AM5 is almost 100€ more expensive for me going down a tier.
My use case is 80% gaming 20% machine learning (hence the large amount of RAM), my i7 held up better than newer CPUs with fewer threads so that's why I'm in doubt.

 

[boabs]

i would buy The 5950X.