Finally upgraded from the legendary 2500k... so how'd I do?

[j03h4gLund]

Newegg had the i9 9900KF/ASUS PRIME Z370-A II combo'd for $497 yesterday so... I bit! It will be nice to build a new rig! It was time... allow me to share a small bit of my history upgrading this thing.

I've had this same case since '05 and upgraded the guts twice. It's original CPU was the Core2Duo E6300. Then there was the AMD Phenom II X3 720, and of course legendary Intel i5 2500K today. It's only ever seen Nvidia GPU's starting with the 256MB 7600GT, then 1GB GTX 460's, 2GB GTX 670's, a 4GB GTX 970 briefly, and now, the 8GB GTX 1080. I remember the 2500K being on sale for $50 like 10 years ago too... and fwiw - it still performs damn well in current titles like GTA and Battlefield V. Anyway, I had the itch and stepping up from the 2nd gen to 9th gen is something Ive been getting excited about.

I ended up spending $497 on the CPU/MB and $400 on the memory that's on the motherboard's QVL and I'm hoping to run at 4000Mhz.

So I'm curious... when it comes to gaming on an overclocked rig... what the money/performance difference I'd have had if I went the AMD Threadripper route (if any experts are out there.)

Old Specs
CPU/Mobo: Intel i5 2500k @ 4.5Ghz/ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Cooler: Hyper 212 Plus
RAM: gskiLL RipJaw 4x4Gb DDR3 1600 (1866;9-10-9-28 CR1)
PSU: Rosewill FORTRESS-750W
GPU/Display: 8GB NVIDIA GTX1080 FE/(2)BenQ XL2720T 120Hz 1ms
Keyboard/Mouse: CM Storm Quickfire TK Cherry MX Red/MadCatz Rat TE
Storage: 256GB Samsung 830 & 860 Pro, 500GB Samsung Evo, 6tB Seagate ST6000DX000

New Specs
CPU/Mobo: Intel i9 9900KF @5GHz/ASUS PRIME Z370-A II
Cooler: Corsair H150i PRO 360
RAM: G.SKILL TridentZ Series 32GB DDR4 4000Mhz (18-19-19-39)
PSU: 860W Fractal Design Ion+ 860P
GPU/Display: 8GB NVIDIA GTX1080 FE/Twin BenQ XL2720T 120/144Hz 1ms
Keyboard/Mouse: CM Storm Quickfire TK Cherry MX Red/MadCatz Rat TE
Storage: Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB

I went ahead and ordered a Phanteks waterblock for the 1080 as well, because why not and curious how quiet I can get everything

Here's the black mirror Corsair 570X case I went with:

 

[deustroop]

lol. Looks great. I'd make a point or two. Most of the actives on this board are AMD fans and your going out and spending big on Intel has just ruined their day. Long live Threadripper !

This is a self help Board and the fact you already have the system drops our interest level to ~ 0.

Finally, with all due respect, a MadCatz Rat TE ? What are you thinking ? Can you return for the Logitech G Pro Gaming FPS ? ( Glad I caught that ! )
lol/

PS: keep us appraised of your o/c efforts.

 

[j03h4gLund]

Lol I love AMD. I always recommend them to friends/family who want to build a rig, it's just the enthusiest in me I suppose. I honestly didn't spend big, $497 for Mobo and CPU... that's like $350 for the CPU if you dont discount the motherboard.

I just felt like Intel deserved my money after delivering on the 2500k and at that sale price I couldn't resist. And tbh, throw Intel a bone here. They're selling their 1TB m.2 NVME 660P for $100. I know the system is 'overkill' in some's eyes for gaming but can we really argue that AMD can outperform Intel in games like Battlefield? I really can't wait for Bad Company 3.

Finally, with all due respect, a MadCatz Rat TE ? What are you thinking ?

They have good sensors. It's light, customizable, and ergonomic... it really looks and feels great. Its high quailty, from the rubber grips, sleek plastic tubing, and smooth plastic feet. Its auto profile/hotkey macro software is intuitive and works. And has quick sensitivity adjust buttons too, including a 'sniper thumb button'. I love MadCatz bro and you've gone and made me sad now dissin on them. Its not enough that they're now defunct and bankrupt... No... it wasn't enough for them to be impovershed by their overemployment, bad bets and lack of Rockband sales... no... you had to go and kick em while theyre down!



I also own the MadCatz MMO 7: I use it for NX and Solidworks, there's 11 thumb buttons there.

 

[DigDog]

aaaaah lol 500 bucks.
*cries in UK*

657 Pound sterling equals
797.93 United States Dollar

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I wouldn't have personally chosen Intel this time around, but if you lean that way, or feel that your 2500K has given you good service throughout the years, and wanted to "reward" Intel for that, and wanted another kicking rig from them, then, good for you, and you probably choose a good time to do so, as when they start ramping up their 10nm CPUs (if they ever do), they'll probably come with a "Frequency haircut", which means if you want a solid 5Ghz Intel rig, for the next 10 years, consider buying now. Of course, if the massive "Core Wars" takes off, that might make even a 5Ghz CPU obsolete in the future, if it only has 8 cores. (TR3 is going to probably have 48C, maybe 64C, and twice as many threads due to SMT. But that's a little bit unfair, comparing HEDT AMD to mainstream Intel, core-wise. But just using it as an indication on where the industry may be going.)

All in all, though, it sounds like a really great 5Ghz-ish rig.

 

[j03h4gLund]

Fair enough... so what would you have built instead, or would you have waited for the next gen of one of the chips?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Fair enough... so what would you have built instead, or would you have waited for the next gen of one of the chips?

Well, it doesn't look like Intel has any real "rabbits" coming to pull out of hats until 2020 at the earlier, for the Desktop. Their upcoming "5Ghz" 9900K is really just a highly-binned chip, and not really new, AFAIK.

AMD, OTOH, seems to be continually innovating, and increasing their core counts quite a bit on all of their platforms (mainstream AM4, ThreadRipper platform, next-gen Consoles on their embedded platform(s)).