Consider your needs and choose wisely between downgrading or upgrading.
Consider your needs and choose wisely between downgrading or upgrading.
It doesn't really matter much. The improvement you're seeing will disappear once the game is optimized for 8 threads. Because most people have 8 threads (4 cores plus users), getting better performance per thread could help with most games. EDIT: I was mistaken.
Value depends on perspective. The issue was whether it was an upgrade and how significant it was. Both answers are affirmative. Whether it's worthwhile depends on the individual. If he values eSports titles and wants a better edge against opponents, it could justify the expense. It's best not to dictate choices to others—just share the facts and let them decide.
I recognize your point, but we should eventually halt allowing OP to take suboptimal buying choices. It's perfectly fine to oppose an upgrade from a 9700K and to clearly state that switching to AMD represents a financial loss with little gain in gaming performance.
Upgrading would likely give you a modest speed boost, probably around 1-2 frames per second. The extra benefits could increase with better app optimization. A resizable bar interface might be especially helpful after the upgrade. Expecting DDR5 will bring bigger improvements later this year—holding out might work if you wait. A higher-end Ryzen 9 with more cores when DDR5 arrives would also boost performance, but your current 8700k is already handling tasks well, so a jump of 30% or more isn’t necessary unless apps and games really need high-core usage. More threads are nice, but I prefer seeing higher core speeds rather than just adding more threads for less demanding applications.
At 5.2ghz, in typical gaming situations (like gaming) the difference between 5600x or even 5900x won’t be significant. Unless you're playing at 1080p/360hz or strictly in MMOs or number crunch simulations, it doesn't add much value. The 9700k will still exceed 144fps in most esports games, and even more in titles like R6S, CSGO, or Valorant. In short, more frames won’t change the outcome. For a Cyberpunk vibe, you’ll usually be limited by your GPU pushing rays at 65-70fps anyway—those games aren’t built for high framerate. MMO players might see better gains in low FPS situations, but you’ll still face limits and it won’t be much better. Time management will improve more in strategy games. Other tasks... I’m not sure. My views mainly come from a gaming standpoint.
i moved from 7700k to 5600x and its been great now if you are going to sell your 9700k then why not i got £210 for my 7700k so only cost me £80 for a nice upgrade
Despite what numbers suggest, some factors remain hard to measure precisely. Mentally, dropping from an 8 core to a 6 core can feel like a small loss even if it speeds things up and uses SMT. The 5800x still offers solid performance, just faster and more efficient. The same applies to the 5900x. The main challenge with the 9700k was its mixed results compared to the 8700k—it sometimes outperformed but wasn’t a clear winner overall. Also, trading four threads for two extra cores seemed confusing, even though it felt better most of the time. I choose upgrades carefully to ensure confidence and avoid uncertainty. Moving from 8 to 6 cores can feel unsettling mentally. Still, as discussed earlier, real gains are usually limited unless you’re heavily involved in intensive simulations. Value is personal—upgrading wasn’t a game-changer for me, but it made sense for my situation.