Intel i5 9600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Intel i5 9600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Even for casual gaming, choose the 3600 version. It offers double the threads, and its single-core performance gap is minimal. Below are some benchmark results. Note: The GPU in this clip is an RTX 2080, which should provide a solid reference for CPU performance.
From a gaming perspective, they match up until the game pushes beyond six threads. Once that limit is reached, the 3600 wins without any questions since it won’t cause stuttering and can manage the workload. Also, background windows shouldn’t be a problem in any game with this setup because there are enough threads available.
Intel just dropped the Comet Lake 10000 lineup, rendering older non-HT i5 models almost outdated. Still, opt for the 3600 unless the 3600X is nearly identical in cost or about $5-10 higher—it doesn’t justify the upgrade when it’s essentially the same CPU with a marginally improved stock cooler.
Depending on what kind of games and at what settings, your GPU might be the bottleneck, which means the CPU is not going to be a performance differentiator (atleast not between those 2). However, going for a 3600X allows for better upgradeability. There's still some confusion around B450 boards and whether you can put in AMD Zen 3 series (new claims from AMD say you can after a bios flash), but an X570 board should allow for it. The 9600K sits on a chipset we can now effectively call end of cycle. So you can't upgrade from there to a new generation.