Which Ryzen for Gaming?

avoidconfusion · 21 Dec 2020 at 20:52

I am currently on the hunt for one of the Ryzen CPUs and very nearly pulled the trigger on the Ryzen 7 5800x but I am just so torn...

Part of me wonders if I should stretch to the Ryzen 9 5900x and then there is another half of me which thinks that actually the 5600x will be more than enough.

Where is the sweetspot here? Money is not necessarily an issue but I don't need to get a 5950x for example for marginal FPS gains over the 5900x, 5800x or even 5600x.

Is the 5600x truly the best choice due to its price?

Nelly · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:02

Well it doesn't look like you're the type who has the buyers itch every year owning an i7-5820K, maybe you're better off going for the 5900X and let that last you another several years?

Even at recommended retail price (RRP), the 5800X price doesn't make sense. I used to upgrade every year in the 90's/2000's, then I didn't upgrade in 10-years once the 2500K came out, only the GPU.

Edit: I would wait till prices are at RRP, you want to be paying around £280 for a 5600X and around £509 for the 5900X.

Mesai · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:07

The 5600x is more than enough for gaming, but the 5800x will give you more longevity as games will inevitably move towards better multi threading.

If you don’t need the cores for work, anything over the 5800x is a waste of money.

rare · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:07

The sweet spot is a 100% the 5600x.

The 5900x is 'better' in games, but not by a lot, and not enough to warranty spending almost twice as much (ish!).

avoidconfusion · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:09

Nelly said:
Well it doesn't look like you're the type who has the buyers itch every year owning an i7-5820K, maybe you're better off going for the 5900X and let that last you another several years?

Even at recommended retail price (RRP), the 5800X price doesn't make sense. I used to upgrade every year in the 90's/2000's, then I didn't upgrade in 10-years once the 2500K came out, only the GPU.

True, I tend to not upgrade my systems for years. The one I have now is 4-5 years old and I recently bought that new RTX 3070 and got a nice deal on an Alienware 34" on Black Friday to go for 1440p ultra-wide gaming. I did think maybe I should just go with the 5900x since I probably would not upgrade again for another 4-5 years... I mean I skipped multiple GPU generations

What would be a good price for the 5900x, 5800x and 5600x respectively? Very wary of scalpers out there even on Amazon etc.

Although from the feedback I take that the 5600x and 5900x make sense and the 5800x not so much?

rare · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:13

The 5600x is available pretty easily for £300, the 5800 doesn’t make sense to me - it’s too close pricing wise to the 5900x which is a much better cpu, more threads, more cores and double the l3 cache. For not a great deal more.

Mesai · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:15

rare said:
The 5600x is available pretty easily for £300, the 5800 doesn’t make sense to me - it’s too close pricing wise to the 5900x which is a much better cpu, more threads, more cores and double the l3 cache. For not a great deal more.

Extra £90 for extra cores that do nothing isn’t a great deal. Spend that money on a good cooler.

avoidconfusion · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:20

Mesai said:
Extra £90 for extra cores that do nothing isn’t a great deal. Spend that money on a good cooler.

The 5900x is more than £90 more expensive than a 5600x isn't it? Or did you mean 5600x vs 5800x ?

Mesai · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:23

avoidconfusion said:
The 5900x is more than £90 more expensive than a 5600x isn't it? Or did you mean 5600x vs 5800x ?

Was comparing the 5900x to the 5800x. 5600x is definitely the best value right now but if you can afford it, those extra 2 cores and base performance is worth it.

rare · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:26

Mesai said:
Extra £90 for extra cores that do nothing isn’t a great deal. Spend that money on a good cooler.

Not sure they do nothing, software isn’t limited to 8 cores. It’s a much better CPU. I just don’t think the 5800 makes sense. It’s hot, it has the same TDP as a 5900, but only 2 additional cores over a 5600 and the same cache. I would go either 5600 or go all out and get a 5900. The middle option doesn’t make sense to me.

avoidconfusion · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:26

Mesai said:
Was comparing the 5900x to the 5800x. 5600x is definitely the best value right now but if you can afford it, those extra 2 cores and base performance is worth it.

So just to be clear if I can afford it I should go with the 5800x rather than the 5600x?

rare said:
Not sure they do nothing, software isn’t limited to 8 cores. It’s a much better CPU. I just don’t think the 5800 makes sense. It’s hot, it has the same TDP as a 5900, but only 2 additional cores over a 5600 and the same cache. I would go either 5600 or go all out and get a 5900. The middle option doesn’t make sense to me.

Yea that's why I am torn... the 5800x is more readily available it seems but it also seems to make the least sense out of all the options...

Nelly · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:30

avoidconfusion said:
What would be a good price for the 5900x, 5800x and 5600x respectively? Very wary of scalpers out there even on Amazon etc.

Although from the feedback I take that the 5600x and 5900x make sense and the 5800x not so much?

This is why at current pricing only the 5600X and 5900X make sense, if we are looking at recommended retail price (RRP).

5600X £280
5800X £420 2 cores cost £140 more
5900X £509 4 cores cost £89 more
5950X £750 4 cores cost £241 more

What would make more sense even if the 5600X was £300 RRP is. Making every core pricing linear and worth £50 per core to AMD.

5600X £300
5800X £400 2 cores cost £100 more
5900X £600 4 cores cost £200 more
5950X £800 4 cores cost £200 more

rare · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:34

avoidconfusion said:
So just to be clear if I can afford it I should go with the 5800x rather than the 5600x?

Yea that's why I am torn... the 5800x is more readily available it seems but it also seems to make the least sense out of all the options...

I haven’t seen a 5900 for MSRP yet - I’ve bought a 5600 at such £300 and late next year when 5900’s are plentiful and at sensible pricing I will sell the 5600 and upgrade. For the moment the 5600 is a beaut.

Mesai · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:39

rare said:
Not sure they do nothing, software isn’t limited to 8 cores. It’s a much better CPU. I just don’t think the 5800 makes sense. It’s hot, it has the same TDP as a 5900, but only 2 additional cores over a 5600 and the same cache. I would go either 5600 or go all out and get a 5900. The middle option doesn’t make sense to me.

12 cores make zero difference to the average user. Yes, the per core price is better, but it’s still money wasted if you don’t actually use it. If you don’t need it for work, you’ll see absolutely zero difference.

I have the 5800x, runs the same single core performance as a 5900x and 5950x (which is what games care about) and with an all core stress test it hits low 70s on temp, which is brilliant.

Mesai · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:44

avoidconfusion said:
So just to be clear if I can afford it I should go with the 5800x rather than the 5600x?

Yea, if you can afford it it’ll last longer. All of the Zen3 CPUs have very similar gaming performance but 8 cores will age better. Remember, anything over the 5600x doesn’t come with a cooler.

rare · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:51

Mesai said:
12 cores make zero difference to the average user. Yes, the per core price is better, but it’s still money wasted if you don’t actually use it. If you don’t need it for work, you’ll see absolutely zero difference.

I have the 5800x, runs the same single core performance as a 5900x and 5950x (which is what games care about) and with an all core stress test it hits low 70s on temp, which is brilliant.

A 5600x is almost identical in terms of single core performance. If we are doing a comparison between 5600 and 5800 from a pure gaming perspective, the additional cost isn’t worth it (to me). I haven’t seen any data that suggests the 5800 is a better gaming cpu over the 5600 in relation to its additional cost. Yes it’s a bit faster in some scenarios - but they are mostly irrelevant.

I’m not slating the 5800 - it’s not a bad cpu. I just don’t see the point in buying one at the price they are. If I were spending that much, I would find the extra and get a 5900, knowing that a relatively small additional cost (in terms of pc ownership) has netted me a much better CPU.

avoidconfusion · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:51

Mesai said:
Yea, if you can afford it it’ll last longer. All of the Zen3 CPUs have very similar gaming performance but 8 cores will age better. Remember, anything over the 5600x doesn’t come with a cooler.

That will be ok, I plan on getting a NZXT Kraken RGB AIO.

Nelly · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:55

According the Gamers Nexus, the 5800X will give you an additional 1.17% additional performance uplift overall in games over the 5600X, for an additional 50% price increase, if taking RRP figures into the equation.

4K8KW10 · 21 Dec 2020 at 22:00

Nelly said:
According the Gamers Nexus, the 5800X will give you an additional 1.17% additional performance uplift overall in games over the 5600X, for an additional 50% price increase, if taking RRP figures into the equation.

This is not very objective because we are currently extremely early in the life cycles of these CPUs - the 6-core Ryzen 5 5600X and the 8-core Ryzen 7 5800X.

If you want to look at how these will age, better focus on videos like that:

Mesai · 21 Dec 2020 at 22:20

rare said:
A 5600x is almost identical in terms of single core performance. If we are doing a comparison between 5600 and 5800 from a pure gaming perspective, the additional cost isn’t worth it (to me). I haven’t seen any data that suggests the 5800 is a better gaming cpu over the 5600 in relation to its additional cost. Yes it’s a bit faster in some scenarios - but they are mostly irrelevant.

I’m not slating the 5800 - it’s not a bad cpu. I just don’t see the point in buying one at the price they are. If I were spending that much, I would find the extra and get a 5900, knowing that a relatively small additional cost (in terms of pc ownership) has netted me a much better CPU.

I completely understand, it’s a perfectly reasonable suggestion in terms of price to performance. From a gaming perspective, all of the Zen3 chips are basically the same, and at 1440p+ there is zero difference as games would be GPU limited before CPU limited.

I considered the 5900x, but for the same price I got a 5800x and an Arctic Freezer 2 360mm AIO, which will easily manage gaming and work for 3-5 years.