# Worth it upgrading to i9 9900K?



## DuxCro (Feb 27, 2020)

Right now i have MSI GAMING PLUS X570 motherboard with R5 3600 CPU. This guy is selling i9 9900K CPU with ASUS Z390 Strix F gaming motherboard.  Does it make any sense performance wise  that i sell my MBO and CPU and switch to that intel MBO and CPU?


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## JackCarver (Feb 27, 2020)

According to a review from guru3d, you would get at about 32% plus performance:






What price is this guy demanding?


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## oxrufiioxo (Feb 27, 2020)

No, for gaming you'd need a 2080 ti and play at 1080p to notice a difference and for multicore workloads you'd be better off getting a 3900X. The 9900k is a really nice CPU for gaming but it's never going to get better on that platform with 12 and 16 core options on your board and ryzen 4000 down the line it just doesn't make sense.

Just make sure you have excellent airflow over your vrms and run any 12+ core CPU at stock and you'll be golden on your current platform.


I have enough experience with both platforms and there really isn't a scenario where I would recommend any of Intel's CPU over similarly priced AMD variants most people don't have a $1200 gpu to notice the gaming difference but almost everyone will notice the extra multicore performance.

 


And really when properly configured there isn't that much difference between the top chips even at 1080p in the majority of modern games. Keep in mind you still need a 2080 ti to get any of these gains.








						Ryzen 9 3950X vs. Core i9-9900KS Gaming, Feat. Tuned DDR4 Memory Performance
					

Today we're comparing the Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-9900KS in a massive number of games, using one of G.Skill's most premium 16GB memory kits, the Trident...




					www.techspot.com
				







Yeah, if you like playing at medium settings or 720p you may notice but at realistic resolutions with proper settings for the specific gpu there really isn't much that separates the platforms other than the substantially more multithreaded performance you get with Ryzen at a given price.


At the end of the day its your money do some research into what you do specifically with your cpu and make a decision based on if the benefit out weights the cost. I really like my 9900k system and if this was you a year ago with a 2600 instead I would probably say go for it but the 9900k is on a dead platform and is soon to be eol and replaced by a cheaper i7 and a 10 core i9 if you're curious about intel or just plain want an intel system I would wait for that.


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## Zyll Goliat (Feb 27, 2020)

You probably not going to notice any difference in games IF you keep that same GPU even IF you get more powerful GPU it will really depend from game to the game and resolution that you play,9900k IS faster for sure but are you going to notice that? I mean for example 200FPS Vs 175FPS.....Maybe IF the price is right and you also using your PC from some other things and not only gaming then yeah.....otherwise not really


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## repman244 (Feb 27, 2020)

For gaming - get a better GPU, for everything else you can just get an AMD CPU with more cores or wait for 4000 series.


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## JackCarver (Feb 27, 2020)

Or wait for the new Intel 10xxx CPUs...


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## dirtyferret (Feb 27, 2020)

DuxCro said:


> Right now i have MSI GAMING PLUS X570 motherboard with R5 3600 CPU. This guy is selling i9 9900K CPU with ASUS Z390 Strix F gaming motherboard.  Does it make any sense performance wise  that i sell my MBO and CPU and switch to that intel MBO and CPU?



You don't give a price.  From a pure gaming benchmark performance it's definitely a "worthwhile" step up.  From a real world perspective you won't see a lot of major benchmark difference with a 2060 super as your GPU.  From a financial standpoint, you already invested in a X570 mobo, may as well wait and see if AMD can increase their gaming performance so your next CPU upgrade is close enough to the 9900k.


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## oxrufiioxo (Feb 27, 2020)

JackCarver said:


> Or wait for the new Intel 10xxx CPUs...




I have a feeling that the motherboards will be substantially better than z390 closer in quality to X570 minus pcie gen 4 support of course and the 8 core i7 will be much cheaper than the 9900k.... Also AMD may drop some prices even further 3900X for example so its a win/win sorta situation in my book. Although it seems intel is still suffering from shortages due to not enough 14nm fab space so who knows.


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## JackCarver (Feb 27, 2020)

Yeah close to X570 vrm wise would be nice and could be. Hope so definitely. And if price/performance is at the right relation those chips could be really good


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## oxrufiioxo (Feb 27, 2020)

JackCarver said:


> Yeah close to X570 vrm wise would be nice and could be. Hope so definitely. And if price/performance is at the right relation those chips could be really good



I agree, an 8700k level cpu for $250 and a 9900k level cpu for $360 coupled with slightly cheaper motherboards due to no pcie gen 4 support would be a pretty nice winning combo for intel  at least till ryzen 4000 comes out. The only negative will be cooling requirements but most people can afford a decently nice $50-60 air cooler and both platforms benefit from that so its a wash in my book.  

Slightly boring but much more competitive imo.


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## Calmmo (Feb 27, 2020)

keep the am4 and buy a 4000 cpu in 1-1.5 year from now once 5000 is out and 4000 prices fall hard?
It's what i'd do anyway. (and probably will go for a cheap 4000 cpu once they drop in price)


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## DuxCro (Feb 27, 2020)

Thank you for the advices. I decided to wait for ZEN 3. I'll sell my r5 3600 and my RTX 2060 super, and then probably buy 8 core/16 thread ZEN 3 and RTX 3080. That should be a nice upgrade.


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## oxrufiioxo (Feb 27, 2020)

DuxCro said:


> Thank you for the advices. I decided to wait for ZEN 3. I'll sell my r5 3600 and my RTX 2060 super, and then probably buy 8 core/16 thread ZEN 3 and RTX 3080. That should be a nice upgrade.




I would still upgrade the GPU first then decide whether you actually need the extra CPU power.


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## Fry178 (Feb 28, 2020)

im running a 2080S thats liquid cooled (much higher boost clocks and close to ti), and unless i drop down to 1080p and/or +120 fps, my 3600 is as good as a 9900 stock for fps performance.


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## Darmok N Jalad (Feb 28, 2020)

Yeah, I don’t see a reason to go with 9900k from where you are currently sitting—it’s the last CPU for that platform. At least with your AM4 rig, you could move on to 3800X up to 3950X for sure, and whatever the 4000 series will be as well. If you didn’t already have a modern platform, and we’re running something much older, it would be a tougher call.


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## johnny-r (Feb 28, 2020)

the R5-3600 is like brand new and a great gaming CPU I don't see any point of selling or replacing to anything else at this point.

look at some gaming benches, you will notice how close those CPU's are in comparison.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 28, 2020)

DuxCro said:


> Right now i have MSI GAMING PLUS X570 motherboard with R5 3600 CPU. This guy is selling i9 9900K CPU with ASUS Z390 Strix F gaming motherboard.  Does it make any sense performance wise  that i sell my MBO and CPU and switch to that intel MBO and CPU?



Nope the platform the 9900 is on is already a dead end, You can upgrade to a Zen 3 Ryzen 4000 CPU.



Darmok N Jalad said:


> Yeah, I don’t see a reason to go with 9900k from where you are currently sitting—it’s the last CPU for that platform. At least with your AM4 rig, you could move on to 3800X up to 3950X for sure, and whatever the 4000 series will be as well. If you didn’t already have a modern platform, and we’re running something much older, it would be a tougher call.



It would be easier due to upgrades for Zen.


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## HenrySomeone (Feb 28, 2020)

dirtyferret said:


> You don't give a price.  From a pure gaming benchmark performance it's definitely a "worthwhile" step up.  From a real world perspective you won't see a lot of major benchmark difference with a 2060 super as your GPU.  From a financial standpoint, you already invested in a X570 mobo, may as well wait and see if AMD can increase their gaming performance so your next CPU upgrade is close enough to the 9900k.


I agree, it depends on where exactly the price stands. That said though, AMD cpus depreciate badly and fast, so it might be wise to sell the 3600 anyway while it is still worth anything. 9900k will give gaming performance at least on par with a Zen3 8/16 chip, but probably still a couple % better, maybe even up to 10 in certain scenarios, so yeah for a good price, it's definitely worth going for.


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## Hyderz (Feb 28, 2020)

i'd stick with ur r5 3600 tbh, no need to get the i9 or even the next intel or amd cpu. Save your money


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## 27MaD (Feb 28, 2020)

No, just throw in a 3700X.


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## Vario (Feb 28, 2020)

Don't bother.  i9 makes sense if you are coming from Ivy bridge or even earlier and/or your particular software usage would run better on Intel.  You won't notice much difference between the i9 and the R5 3600 other than a lighter wallet.


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