Inquiries regarding system upgrades
Inquiries regarding system upgrades
Hello, you're considering the i9-10850K from Microcenter at $300. You're evaluating board options under $250 and wondering if upgrading your CPU and motherboard would be necessary. Your current setup includes an i7-9700K, Asus Prime Z390-P, Hyper 212 Evo, Gigabyte 1080 Windforce, and a 600W 80+ Bronze PSU. You're thinking about running the stock system and whether you'd need to replace the CPU cooler and power supply. Your workload is mainly gaming and schoolwork with occasional video editing, and you're planning a long-term use of 5-6 years.
Unless you're handling many parallel tasks, this isn't a significant boost. It mainly shines due to extra cores/threads, offering minimal effect on gaming performance, though it could help with video editing. You're unlikely to see better value for the cost, but saving a bit longer might be wise for a stronger upgrade. Even a 11700K priced a dollar higher would represent a much bigger improvement.
I'm not focusing on heavy computing right now, but I might in the future. This system would likely serve me for about five to six years. I considered the 10700K, 11600K, and 11700K models, though the first two cost around $250 each and the 11700K was $350. The 10850K appeared to be a reasonable middle ground—about $50 more cores/threads than the 10700K and 11600K but still powerful enough for the 11700K. I was hoping to buy the 10850K along with a solid Z490 or Z590 board and connect everything easily. I also checked online and had concerns about the Hyper 212 Evo's cooling capacity or whether the PSU could handle the power needs, so I planned to run everything at its default settings.
It's not exactly what you think. 11700K offers superior single-core performance and better multicore performance, with more cores dedicated to each core. You gain an additional 2c/4t on the 10850K, making it nearly comparable—provided your application can leverage all threads fully. Otherwise, you're seeing reduced efficiency, and outside of synthetic tests, few programs can make the most of all 20 threads.
The 9700k is essentially as quick as the chips you referenced at the moment. Its future performance is less certain. It’s more or less 8/8 versus 8/16. Currently, most games are designed for the 6/6 configuration of the PS4. (Two threads were reserved from the 8/8 version for operating system purposes) The PS5 includes an 8/16 chip. I’m not sure how many threads are still restricted for development use, though. So everything seems to function smoothly on six threads right now. I don’t know how long this situation will last.
I've seen many reviews for GN's 11700K and 11900K, and they mostly expressed concerns about the suggested MSRP. The video reminded me that except for the 11600K, other 11th series chips aren't worth considering unless you're getting a big discount. I'm planning to stick with stock components for the near future. The 9700K is working well for my needs right now, but I was concerned it might lag in a few years. The 10850K at $300 seems like a great deal, and it could be solid for most of what I need over the next five to six years. I don’t rush into new tech unless it’s really affordable. I usually build systems and let them sit for a while. My goal was to use my current setup for several years, but Intel chips are getting cheaper, which made me think about upgrading sooner than expected. I know the 9700K and 10850K aren’t a huge jump, but I wanted to focus on which CPU would last longer. I didn’t want to settle for the 9700K if it starts showing its age in three or four years.
The 11900K is essentially worthless. The 11700K offers the best performance Intel can provide at the moment. The brief positive review came from not being a major leap compared to the 10700K and 10900K, though it does provide extra cores if needed. This situation differs from the 9700K discussion. You're aiming for an upgrade over the 9700K around $300. The 11700K exceeds that price point, but spending $400 is a much better investment than $300 for a 10850K. If you can afford it, the 11700K delivers the highest performance per dollar. Otherwise, consider higher costs or skip the upgrade altogether. The 9700K remains a solid choice overall. Saving $300 for just a small jump to a 10850K isn't worthwhile—it's a poor return on investment.