Choose between 3700x and 9700k.
Choose between 3700x and 9700k.
Hello everyone, I'm a gamer who doesn't stream or edit, and I'm trying to figure out the best choice between a 3700x and a 9700k. I'm a bit confused about what these numbers mean. If I get the 3700x, it seems easier to upgrade my CPU later, so I might not need to buy a new motherboard. It also has more threads, and consoles are moving toward more threads. I think upcoming games will rely on more threads, and the 4.0 PCIe slot could work well with a 9700k. I'm planning to have over 10 cores in games and higher clock speeds, which should cost me the same either way. At 1440p with two monitors, what do you think? Should I go for the 3700x or the 9700k?
The R5 3600 offers a strong motherboard for future upgrades. It performs comparably to the R7 3700X in gaming, especially if you don’t need extra cores beyond what the i7 9700K provides. If cost is a factor, both models deliver similar performance for gaming purposes.
I believe the R5 3600 can handle the RTX 2070 Super well in games, while the R7 3700X offers comparable performance because their cores are identical—they run at the same speed and most titles use under 8 threads. For RTX 2080 Super or RTX 2080 Ti, you’d move to an i7 9700K or better, like an i9 9900(KFS).
Consider that for the 9700k (or 9900K/9900KS) you'll need a big jump in overclocking to unlock the chip's full potential, and this will also demand a solid cooling setup. Just because you can squeeze a few extra frames on an overclocked 9700k with a 2080 Ti doesn't mean you won't see gains when pairing it with a Ryzen 3700X. In most scenarios, performance might drop by around 5-7% at most. Don't misunderstand, picking Intel isn't bad, but with Ryzen you gain more long-term security through PCIe 4.0 support and a higher chance AMD keeps using AM4 sockets in future chips. I believe it's almost safe to say Intel will eventually switch to a new socket for their next-gen chips, especially if they stop merely adding more '+' signs to old designs. Also, I think gaming will shift away from chasing maximum clock speeds and more toward multicore/multithread tasks. To be honest, none of these future-proof arguments will materialize in the next three years—roughly the lifespan of most gaming PCs—and if they don't, you'll have missed out on the small boost the 9700k could offer.