PC Upgrade -- Ryzen vs Intel

[number six]

First off, what a world we live in.. back in the day you got maybe 2-3 years out of your PC before it was pathetically old.

I built my current PC in 2012, and most of the hardware was a bit old at that point because i'm cheap and wait for discounts.. i7-2600k, 16GB DDR3, etc. It's still a monster for most applications but it's been 7 years and I'd like access to some newer features like DDR4 Ram or M2 slots. Plus there's this great trickle down where my I7 becomes the Plex server and the Plex Server's i5 2500 replaces my wifes Core2quad based Q6600 that I built in 2008 (Man that CPU gets my lifetime achievement award, its like a Toyota).

I don't like spending a huge amount because end of the day this will all be worthless.. so I was looking at i5 Intels.. something like the 9400f or the AMD Ryzen 7s. Both are roughly $200 with a fan.

Now I haven't historically been the greatest AMD fan, they went through a rough patch there in the 00s and into the 10s. Their shit used to run hot and slow. I'm hearing good things about the newer chips though and even though the single core might be off the Intel a bit they seem to offer great multicore performance for the money.

Last AMD i did have was one of their APU motherboard/CPU combos.. basically their equivalent of the Intel Atom. It ran my file server for years with no complaints and cost like $70 for the set. Can't beat that!

What has everyone's experience been with their more recent offerings? Are they reliable?

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

i am running @ work an i7-8700 with 64gb of ram and a 500gb NVMe drive at home i have an i7-4790k with 64gb of ram.

i find that running the latest video card, and upgrading to nvme is really what matters, the cpu really doesn't do much anymore unless your ripping movies and not offloading compression to your video card.

[number six]

Go back and read it again sam

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

i will NEVER buy AMD product

heat monsters.

Read your question again:

"What has everyone's experience been with their more recent offerings? Are they reliable?"

I have a Intel i7 8700 , its pretty "Recent Offering" from Intel.

[number six]

i will NEVER buy AMD product

heat monsters.

Read your question again:

"What has everyone's experience been with their more recent offerings? Are they reliable?"

I have a Intel i7 8700 , its pretty "Recent Offering" from Intel.

But you didn't say that in your original reply.

The original post stated.. CPUs aren't really that important anymore but I'd like to upgrade because it's been 7 years and I'd like something that supports better NVMe options.

You then replied stating CPU wasn't that big of a deal and to upgrade to a better NVMe after rattling off a bunch of CPUs you owned without context.

Hence the confusion.

But the 2nd post was better, so progress was made.

[k7]

i might need to update my laptop...it really seems to lag when i load up napster:

[Niloc]

I've been looking to upgrade too. I'm on a 3rd gen Core i7. Decided to push it a year though, I'll revisit it mid 2020, mainly because right now the price of video cards vs. performance is just stupid. I added another 16GB of RAM to my current system as a stop-gap, worth it for $65.

If I was buying today though I'd probably go with a Ryzen 2700X. 8 cores, 16 threads, way cheaper than anything Intel has at the same specs.

It really comes down to; do you need faster single-core performance (Intel) or do you run a lot of multi-threaded apps (AMD)?

Intel is definitely still king when it comes to gaming, but it's going to cost you - and it probably won't matter unless you're looking to run at 4K, 60FPS or better.


My old Q6600 has become furniture. It's in a monstrous Lian-Li case that I never figured out what to do with after upgrading to my current system. Now it's become the base for a set of shelves and more or less a permanent fixture.

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

i am waiting for the prices on the i9 series comes down to an affordable $

I generally look at passmark scores, and then pull the trigger when i see the best bang for the buck.

[Niloc]

3rd generation Ryzen is supposed to be out next year too, should be a bigger jump than gen 1 > 2 was.

The new consoles, PS5 at least (don't know about the next XBOX yet) are supposed to be using custom versions of those chips, the 3000 models.

It feels weird that my 8-year-old system runs DDR3 RAM, and the current thing is still DDR4.

I don't miss the 90s, when you had to upgrade at least every 2 years (and I had no money), but still, this feels too slow.

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

i think the last few years it has been about being "Green"

[Niloc]

i think the last few years it has been about being "Green"

I think it's more that Intel hasn't had any major competition, so they keep selling the same tech over and over with very minor improvements. Hopefully that changes now that AMD is finally putting out chips worth looking at again - the Ryzen chips are good value; first decent ones they've had since what? Early 2000's? Athlon XP I think was the last good one before that?

I've read articles that say a 2nd gen Core i7 is only around 25% slower than an 8th gen chip with the same number of cores.

It's not just that (though I think that's the biggest factor), but also there were just huge performance increases all the time from the 90s through mid-2000's. 3D acceleration on GPUs in particular, but also CPUs getting much faster very quickly.

These days the GHz has barely moved in 8 generations of chips. It's not all about the GHz, but it's a factor.

[mcluvin]

These pop up every now and then for low $300s on Ebay (seller is Newegg).  I know it's Acer, but it has an M2 NVME slot and it's a 6 core i5.

https://slickdeals.net/f/12872221-acer-aspire-t-desktop-i5-8400-8gb-ddr4-1tb-hdd-win-10-345-free-shipping?src=SiteSearch

[number six]

I've been looking to upgrade too. I'm on a 3rd gen Core i7. Decided to push it a year though, I'll revisit it mid 2020, mainly because right now the price of video cards vs. performance is just stupid. I added another 16GB of RAM to my current system as a stop-gap, worth it for $65.

My biggest problem is my current setup is maxxed out. All the memory slots are used, it doesn't have a M2 slot.. I don't really want to buy some funky PCIe/M2 adapter.. plus anything spent on this machine is kinda pointless now.

I get it, there's no actual reason to upgrade.. but I'd just like something new and to get some new options.

The Ryzens do look attractive for the money. I like to edit videos periodically so I'd imagine the bump in multi-core speed would be helpful there.

[number six]

I think it's more that Intel hasn't had any major competition, so they keep selling the same tech over and over with very minor improvements. Hopefully that changes now that AMD is finally putting out chips worth looking at again - the Ryzen chips are good value; first decent ones they've had since what? Early 2000's? Athlon XP I think was the last good one before that?

Yeah AMD really took a nose dive there for awhile.. but it's good to see they are finally putting out some decent stuff again.

Competition is good for everyone really.

[number six]

These pop up every now and then for low $300s on Ebay (seller is Newegg).  I know it's Acer, but it has an M2 NVME slot and it's a 6 core i5.

https://slickdeals.net/f/12872221-acer-aspire-t-desktop-i5-8400-8gb-ddr4-1tb-hdd-win-10-345-free-shipping?src=SiteSearch

These off lease systems aren't bad but I'd rather spend a few extra hundred and build something to spec.

I've got several HP Elitedesk I5s in the garage that I got from client sites for free, throw an SSD in and they are great machines still.. well not for gaming of course.