Need a new CPU - whats the current price/performance king for 1440p gaming?

andybird123 · 1 Oct 2022 at 10:27

I'm not in the UK, so there's not much of a 2nd hand scene where I am and my daughters PC has just died, even "old" stuff, if you can get it, is basically original MSRP and not cheap, no where has AMD 7 series in stock so I've got a choice between AMD 5xxx or Intel 12th gen, I will be overclocking... I've been back and forth between getting a 12400F to tide over until 136/700k would be available as it would drop in the same mobo, or just getting a 12600k/12700k. AMD 5700X and 5800X are also available for around the same prices respectively.

which would you get?

heatonpkmassive · 1 Oct 2022 at 10:55

Out of those two I'd be getting the Intel. Not much at all in it though.

heatonpkmassive · 1 Oct 2022 at 10:56

The tide over idea is also good btw, that i5 is a great chip..

jigger · 1 Oct 2022 at 10:59

I’d look at the glut of unsold prebuilt systems. One of those and a Intel Arc 770 card will probably be the bang for buck gaming king.

andybird123 · 1 Oct 2022 at 11:13

jigger said:
I’d look at the glut of unsold prebuilt systems. One of those and a Intel Arc 770 card will probably be the bang for buck gaming king.

I'm not in the UK, it's literally the first sentence of my opening post, prebuilts here are all 12100's and trash tier mobos, already have hard drives, PSU etc so a prebuilt would be a massive waste of funds. Don't need a GPU either.
CPU is the only thing I'm not set on and it's a choice between 12600k or 12700k if the 12700 gets appreciably more in games.

jigger · 1 Oct 2022 at 11:17

The big beige box firms sell everywhere. No market is left unserved.

andybird123 · 1 Oct 2022 at 11:25

heatonpkmassive said:
The tide over idea is also good btw, that i5 is a great chip..

Yeah, my only reticence is that there virtually no 2nd hand market here, so I'd basically end up paying £140 extra for a 13600k than if I just get the 12600k now.

andybird123 · 1 Oct 2022 at 11:26

jigger said:
The big beige box firms sell everywhere. No market is left unserved.

Wrong - or even they did ship here, shipping for a complete PC would be north of £100 and then import duty would be 40% for PC goods, yeah that sounds like a bargain.

jigger · 1 Oct 2022 at 12:08

Seriously the PC market is in tatters, firms are massively exposed in a rapidly contracting market.

I know of one firm selling high spec new systems as discounted refurbished products, with full warranty just to move stock.

MartinPrince · 1 Oct 2022 at 12:30

@andybird123 Of the options you presented, I'd go with the 12600k. It's still a great CPU in its own right so I don't see a great need to jump on a 13k CPU just for gaming anytime soon..

MartinPrince · 1 Oct 2022 at 12:46

Also at 1440p gaming you're starting to get GPU bottled necked and the difference in CPU's is much less.

Get that 12600K up to ~5.2Ghz and tune the RAM and your set.

andybird123 · 1 Oct 2022 at 12:55

MartinPrince said:
Also at 1440p gaming you're starting to get GPU bottled necked and the difference in CPU's is much less.

Get that 12600K up to ~5.2Gjz and tune the RAM and your set.

Thanks for the actually helpful response

jigger · 1 Oct 2022 at 13:02

MartinPrince said:
@andybird123 Of the options you presented, I'd go with the 12600k. It's still a great CPU in its own right so I don't see a great need to jump on a 13k CPU just for gaming anytime soon..

The best value is in the distressed end of market. Replacing the failed part of the system would probably be the most sensible option. However, with a 40% tax on PC hardware…

andybird123 · 1 Oct 2022 at 14:27

The motherboard has failed, there is no 2nd hand market here I can't get another z170 board, I can get a B560M and 10600k but it's not cheaper than a B660 and 12600K, I already have ddr4 ram, PSU etc., So I am replacing the minimum amount of parts, domestically sourced parts don't have 40% tax, only personal imports so as I said can you please something off and ruin someone else's day

jigger · 1 Oct 2022 at 14:31

andybird123 said:
The motherboard has failed, there is no 2nd hand market here I can't get another z170 board, I can get a B560M and 10600k but it's not cheaper than a B660 and 12600K, I already have ddr4 ram, PSU etc., So I am replacing the minimum amount of parts, domestically sourced parts don't have 40% tax, only personal imports so as I said can you please something off and ruin someone else's day

Where do you live?

andybird123 · 1 Oct 2022 at 14:37

Bit stalkery

By the way, the 12600k here works out about £70 cheaper than UK price as I acquired my local currency before the pound tanked

Another clue, there's an Intel factory about 10 miles from where I live

keyser van someone · 1 Oct 2022 at 15:05

5600/5600X if 6 cores is enough, 5700/5700X if you need 8 cores for some reason. Intel, no idea. AM5 is expensive right now.

MartinPrince · 1 Oct 2022 at 15:21

keyser van someone said:
5600/5600X if 6 cores is enough, 5700/5700X if you need 8 cores for some reason. Intel, no idea. AM5 is expensive right now.

As good as the 5600X/5700X are they are slower than the 12600K, especially as the OP said he will overclock which will further increase that gap as the 12600K can be tuned to a high degree than can the 5000 CPU's.

MartinPrince · 1 Oct 2022 at 15:31

andybird123 said:
The motherboard has failed, there is no 2nd hand market here I can't get another z170 board, I can get a B560M and 10600k but it's not cheaper than a B660 and 12600K, I already have ddr4 ram, PSU etc., So I am replacing the minimum amount of parts, domestically sourced parts don't have 40% tax, only personal imports so as I said can you please something off and ruin someone else's day

For motherboard I'd look at the MSI Z690 Pro-A or Asus PRIME Z690-P D4, can't really go wrong with either and no need really to spend more for gaming.

Tired9 · 1 Oct 2022 at 15:46

Grab the i5, good CPU.