I would just look at what games you want to play, and first look at what compromises you're willing to make on resolution and effects and see how it runs.

Have not upgraded CPU's in years since Intel started drip feeding shitty speed increases for silly money.

Last truly great CPU intel released IMO was the 2600k.

You're right that CPU development has slowed down. IPC improvements from intel are at ~5% increase each gen. Core count is where the gains will be now. There's not much reason to get an i5 at this point with Ryzen performing well enough single-threaded and significantly better multi-threaded. As for the i7, it should be more than adequate for gaming for a while longer but you sacrifice an upgarde path vs a Ryzen with the AM4 socket. Just be aware, you probably wont notice a big difference in games that aren't well threaded.

So you're saying the cost of upgrading isn't worth the slight speed increase? I think this is 3rd gen so I'd only be getting 15-20% increase for over £300... not that great.

You say upgrade path but then by the time you're ready to upgrade a new socket is out =)

https://www.techspot.com/review/1345-amd-ryze...page4.html

That's for Ryzen 7 but gives you some idea what to expect. I would personally take the cheaper upgrade and try get a good deal on the 3770k as it's still a good CPU. Then you can look at upgrading your GPU because they are still making large gains each generation.

You can try post here and get a reply from someone with more knowledge.

thanks for the graph, seems a 3770k would cost a third of the price while still being slightly faster than a new i5/ryzen chip

ryzen 1600 + b350 mb, the problem could be the price of 16gb ddr4 (3000-3200mhz)

watch here, old 4 threads i5 (same as yours) vs old xeon 16 threads
https://youtu.be/_nC4cqXWljw

and ryzen 1700 even faster

You didn't mention what game it's for. Assuming you play QC then Ryzen 1600/1700 is the way to go as QC spreads the CPU load very well over multiple cores. On my Intel 5820K it's using all 12 threads.

As for RAM on the Ryzen platform, yea it's worth it to get 3000Mhz, which is rather expensive. Personally I'd find a 2666Mhz RAM kit that's advertised to work at 1.20V. Then just pump 1.35V through it (as all the high clocking RAM kits do) and an overclock to at least 2933 shouldn't cause any problems. I only haven't verified if there are any 2666 Mhz 1.20V kits on Ryzen motherboards compatibility lists.

Gaming in general, nothing specific. I guess I'm asking what kind of performance % I'd be looking at for that investment, which I know is impossible to do without directly testing both configurations.

However if it looks like 15-20% increase over my i5-3470 which is what reviews of the new i5/Ryzen would lead me to believe that doesn't seem worth the outlay of £350+

Infact the i7-3770k would costs a third of that and be very slightly faster

I'm waiting for threadripper Xd

I think the answer is probably a big NO... unless i find a fat bag of money.

I'd agree. Xmas deals/2018 chips are worth waiting for now imo.

Just get a used 3770K and you are good for some more years. Relatively cheap, you don't have to change M/B and RAM and still packs a good punch. i7-3770K + 16 GB + RX 480 OC 8GB is more than adequate.


Edit: I also have an i5-3470, and will do this when I get a bit of $$$ to spend on the PC.

My mobo was killed in lightning and I upgraded from a 3770k to 7700k. Hardly any noticeable difference. You will also just be making a sidegrade. If I was you I'd get a second hand 3770k and delid it. It will outperform those Ryzen chips in gaming and save you a good deal.

If you need to scratch the itch, ditch the 480 and upgrade to a 1080 instead. You will get a huge performance bump.

I was thinking of selling the RX 480 due to the high prices currently, use the 750ti in the mean time until the prices come back down and then get a 1070/1080. Seems my chance to get good money for the RX 480 has already passed though, probably since they found yuo could mine with the Nvidia cards too.

You would definitely get more of a gaming performance jump by upgrading your GPU Freiya's right actually. :)

Yes, except he plays mp only with low settings everywhere.
But he could upgrade cpu with used one (max for his mb).
Depends by budget

That i5-3470 already bottlenecks his RX 480.


i7-3770K, then a GTX 1070 / 1080 later it is.

The only reason I have upgraded is due to a bust motherboard. I was running a 3770k which was more than enough, but the mobo died and I decided to rather get new hardware rather than replace the mobo.

I decided on R7 1700, because I do a lot of shit on my pc and have a bunch on services running in the background all the time.

If it was only for gaming I would probably recommend the 7700k, but personally even if it was only for gaming, I would probably get the R7 1700 anyway, as its new and exciting and I reckon future games are gonna use those cores. And I have a GTX 1080 so I'll probably play more games at higher res than 1080p. At 1440p the 2 CPU's are essentially the same.

For single thread I think of the R7 1700 as 2 4770k's tied together, as single thread is basically the same. (But you can only OC to 3.8hgz guaranteed).

Grab a used i7-3770K and get a decent aftermarket cooler from noctua (they supply conversion kits for later mobo's if needed in future), overclock it and you're good to go for a few more years until a bundle upgrade will be worthwhile.

Quake Champions for example doesn't care how many cores you have, it likes core speed.

aug/sept... thread ripper will be out.
intels i9 will follow shortly.

new nvidia soon and ati.

I'd wait a bit.

Why? games can't take advantage of Rizen's amount of CPUs, why would you get these which are designed for other stuff and not gaming.

current prices will drop. QC isn't out yet. Who knows what it'll really need to run properly.
may not need to upgrade much. might have to upgrade a lot. if you keep saving money, you'll have more for better stuff. by the time qc comes out the next gen of cpu's and gfx cards will have cropped enough in price where he could spend the same and get better stuff.

looking like 16 core threadripper will be less than $1000.

lmao no way QC or any other game will take advantage of 16 cores

I see the i9 outperforming it

i'm sort of in the same boat here. currently running an i5-3570k @ 4,5 ghz, 16gb ddr3 ram and a gtx1060.

if i'm upgrading i'm going with either an r5 1600 or an r7 1700. if you decide to go with ryzen make sure you get fast RAM

You don't need a new anything to play QL.

...except players.

I have something called friends. Not sure you can say the same.