choosing between 9600KF and 3600

[_Cereal_]

Hello everyone, looking for some advice, have a budget of around 300 (cpu and board if needed) to upgrade from a 8400, using it with 5700 XT right now, trying to decide between a 9600KF and a Ryzen 3600 to use mainly for gaming.
9600KF seems to overclock a lot more, higher frame rates but from some videos I have watched it gets to 100% CPU load easily on some games (battlefield comes to mind), 3600 lower frame rates but much lower CPU load, I would assume less stuttering?
Any advice is appreciated, recommendations for a motherboard would also be appreciated, I don't think I will be overclocking but having the option is always nice.

 

[Webster]

3600 is a better option than a 9600kf.

 

[Gray2233]

I'd go for the 3600, it's an excellent performer and the AM4 platform will be more upgradeable in the future.

 

[Steveocee]

3600 & B450 would be where I'd recommend to go without even a blink of an eye. As tempting as it would be to go 9600K and keep the same board, you'd likely have to flash your BIOS up if it is even compatible? Even then the CPU's are level pegged within a few % of each other until you get to >6 core multithread where it will get destroyed by the 3600 thanks to it's 12 threads.

If you are overclocking and only gaming there would be a light argument to stay with the Intel platform.

What RAM do you have? You'll want/need at least 3000Mhz to begin to get the most out of Ryzen

 

[_Cereal_]

I am using 8x2gb G skill 3000mhz 15CL right now.

 

[Webster]

Your better comparison would perhaps be 8700k vs 3600. The 8700 will drop straight in..

 

[Steveocee]

I am using 8x2gb G skill 3000mhz 15CL right now.

Perfect then. Pull that trigger! you'll likely get a bit of cash back for your current board also?

 

[NinjaCool]

I feel like the 9600KF with it's 6 threads will start to show it's age much sooner compared to a 12 threaded CPU like the 3600.

 

[Brazo]

I'd go for the 3600, it's an excellent performer and the AM4 platform will be more upgradeable in the future.

I thought the next gen of ryzen (4) needed a new mobo effectively making the x570 a dead platform? Would love to drop a 4 series cpu in my x470 but I was under the impressionI couldn’t?

 

[Gray2233]

I thought the next gen of ryzen (4) needed a new mobo effectively making the x570 a dead platform? Would love to drop a 4 series cpu in my x470 but I was under the impressionI couldn’t?

The 4000 series should work in current boards, although I've heard mixed things.

I suspect it'll depend to an extent when DDR5 starts to take over.

Regardless, at the absolute worst being able to pop a 3700/3800 in a year or two is still a solid option.

 

[Orange Nexus]

I thought the next gen of ryzen (4) needed a new mobo effectively making the x570 a dead platform? Would love to drop a 4 series cpu in my x470 but I was under the impressionI couldn’t?

There is Gen 3 still yet to come and it should work even with a B350 motherboard.

 

[venomx]

Got the 3600 installed yesterday. Gaming on Destiny 2 and CSGO etc is really smooth and quick

 

[Mercutio]

I thought the next gen of ryzen (4) needed a new mobo effectively making the x570 a dead platform? Would love to drop a 4 series cpu in my x470 but I was under the impressionI couldn’t?

this is the issue with Zen 3/Ryzen 4xxx, Zen 3/Ryzen 4xxx WILL be on X570/AM4.

Zen 4/Ryzen 5xxx (assuming they keep the naming convention) will likely be on another socket. That's AFTER next year though. Next years Ryzen will work happily on current boards, there's probably PCIe 5 coming though (not that I've seen anything use 4 yet).

 

[Rroff]

I feel like the 9600KF with it's 6 threads will start to show it's age much sooner compared to a 12 threaded CPU like the 3600.

I'd certainly be happier with 6/12 than 6/6 in this day and age - the 9600KF does have a serious clockspeed advantage for gaming but increasingly games do tend to run smoother when you have 8 threads to play with whether that is a mixture of real or SMT threads (as long as you have around 3 or more real cores in the mix).

In OP's situation though I'd rather just go for the cheapest CPU that is actually an upgrade for the existing platform though as things stand rather than spend money and effort moving to a whole new platform.

 

[_Cereal_]

thanks everyone for the advice, think I will just go for a 3600 with a B450 motherboard since its cheaper and I would need a new motherboard if I was to stay with Intel anyways (I am running a b360 chipset with Ram limited at 2666mhz and without any OC capabilities)

 

[NinjaCool]

The B450 motherboards will need to have it's bios updated first unless its from a newer batch before it can run with a 3000 series Ryzen CPU.
Some motherboards offers a way to update the bios without a CPU such as "bios flashback" by using an USB stick, and others like the MSI MAX motherboards already have Ryzen 3000 support out of the box.

If you don't want to hassle with bios stuff then the Tomahawk B450 MAX might be a good choice for you.

 

[Steveocee]

The B450 motherboards will need to have it's bios updated first unless its from a newer batch before it can run with a 3000 series Ryzen CPU.
Some motherboards offers a way to update the bios without a CPU such as "bios flashback" by using an USB stick, and others like the MSI MAX motherboards already have Ryzen 3000 support out of the box.

If you don't want to hassle with bios stuff then the Tomahawk B450 MAX might be a good choice for you.

^^^^ This, just don't buy the first B450 you find.

MSI Tomahawk or Mortar B450 MAX boards are a very safe bet. Well priced, perform great and being "max" have a bigger BIOS chip and are updated to take Ryzen 3XXX series.