Spec advice: Intel or AMD?

[connahnieurzyla]

I'm upgrading from an older PC which has a i5-6600k, GTX 970, 16gb RAM which I bought about 5 years ago. This is to meet needs of current/next gen games hopefully running around max, 1080/possibly 1440p, 144hz monitor and also VR gaming. Any experienced opinions appreciated. Budget is around £1500 which this meets. Won't be overclocking. Hoping the motherboard and cooling options are sufficient, and specs will last a while!

Case
CORSAIR 175R RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-10700K (3.8GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF Z490-PLUS GAMING (LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
512GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Price: £1543, after changing mind from i7-9700k to 10th gen, and downgrading MB from rog strix to tuf z490plus.

Thank you!

Edit: May be open to AMD, looking at 3800X and then swap to 2070 Super, or a 3900X instead, both of which are on budget. What is the main reason AMD is better for gaming? Why is Intel so popular?

 

[connahnieurzyla]

Hi, sorry as I'm posting twice but I'm debating whether to go intel or AMD - It seems AMD is far better pricing for gaming, are there any catches to this? Got this build lined up so far - pairing with a 1080p 144hz monitor and also VR gaming on Rift S. May upgrade to 1440p in future so that's why I'm going for 2070S over 2060S. Is everything good? Other option was a 3900X and go back to 2060 Super but I think for high end gaming the previous will be better. No overclocking happening. Not sure if it's worth getting the slighter better wifi card, to use 5GHz wifi instead of 2.4. Upgrading from i5-6600k and GTX 970 build. Thank you!
Case
CORSAIR 175R RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
512GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0

Price: £1,551.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Scott]

3800X paired with the 2070 Super will be really good for the Rift. Really solid pairing for good performance

 

[connahnieurzyla]

Well, the 2070S is really a minimum for decent VR performance but not sure what the ideal requirements for the Rift are as I have no VR experience. @Scott has very good knowledge of this as he uses VR so hopefully he can add his thoughts.

The Intel Wi-Fi card is worth the upgrade as I believe most routers etc work off of 5GHz these days plus it has the bonus of Bluetooth in case you happen to need it.

As for the AMD versus Intel, AMD is far superior as Intel is working off of a dead platform (basically at the end of it's cycle) whereas AMD have another 2 or 3 generations of chips from the current architecture. Also, Intel has just too many security flaws these days. The reason Intel is so popular is because, up until 10 years ago, they were the "go-to" chip...so many people are used to Intel so they just stick with it as they don't realise how good AMD are.

Hard drive: I'd be looking to get an M2 drive for the primary drive as a minimum..they are just so much quicker than SSDs.

I'll leave the CPU advice etc to someone with more knowledge.

Thank you, the 2070 S should be amazing on VR given that my GTX 970 already runs VR pretty well considering its age! Thank you for the rest of the advice. I'll keep the 5ghz and BT enabled wifi card as my old wifi card doesn't have Bluetooth or 5ghz and feel like I'm missing out, and I have been told the M2 SSD is worth the upgrade too. Thanks

 

[connahnieurzyla]

3800X paired with the 2070 Super will be really good for the Rift. Really solid pairing for good performance

Thanks, it looks like a good alternative to a more expensive intel 9700K etc, hopefully will be useful for a good few years to come!

 

[connahnieurzyla]

Hi, I just want to do a final check before I will be ordering this (hopefully) when the RTX 3070 is released on 29/10/20. I am pretty set on the components (Intel over AMD) (RTX 3070) (10700k over 7700/9900k). I just want to check that the compatibility with everything is good, usage will be for gaming and general use only. No real high-intensity workloads or overclocking. For use with VR and also a 1080/1440p monitor, 144hz+. I have tried to make everything fit to be the best choice for between £1500-1800, if there is a massive advantage to Samsung over PCS SSDs I may change it etc.

Thank you in advance

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-10700K (3.8GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z490-P (LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP <--(placeholder - this will be rtx 3070)
1st Storage Drive
2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W) <--(for OS and any high usage games (star citizen I'm looking at you))
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 2018 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof) <--(case comes with 3x LL120 but I figure 2 extra at the back can't hurt?)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0 <--(for Bluetooth)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]


Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z490-pc/C6kfXnuZCD/

 

[Mugenjin]

Any particular reason you want to go for Intel over AMD? With your budget you could opt for a Ryzen 7 5800X instead, but you’ll have to wait an extra week.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Can't recommend AMD enough, they're absolutely crushing Intel in all areas now, Intel are just really really poor for the foreseeable future:

AMD's New Ryzen 5 5600X Benchmarks Higher Than Intel's i9 Series

AMD recently showed the benchmark for their new Ryzen 5 5600X processor, blowing the competition out of the water. The processor is benchmarking higher than their main competitor's, Intel's, Core i9 Series.

happygamer.com