Suggestions for upgrade from 6600k? Is the 9900k a good option? any others?

[UncleGrandpa]

Hi all. Considering upgrading my son's PC from the 6600k now that he's a bit older and starting to want the latest games. He's also interested in making games on Roblox and Unity. Thing is I'm not in the US right now (though built the first PC in the US) and options and prices might not be the same. For example, I'm not opposed to going AMD, it's just that the 5800x is US$100 more than the intel's 9900k or the 10700k here, so this is why I'm considering sticking to intel for the time being.

So right now looking at the 9900k and the 10700k, is there much of a difference with these two? which one would you pick if price was very similar?

Thanks for any input

PS: Not upgrading the RX580 yet because of the GPU bubble but will def be getting a 2080 or similar for the new CPU once the bubble pops (fingers crossed LoL).

 

[DaveB]

I don't think your son will notice any improvement until you get a new GPU. The RTX 2080 is the last generation, the RTX 3060 Ti is the current performance equivalent with the RTX 3070, 3070 Ti, 3080, 3080 Ti and 3090 being upgrades.

 

[UncleGrandpa]

Thanks for your reply! Do you really think the 9900k won't make much of a difference on the latest games? I noticed my son is starting to get lag on some games and I was told it was CPU related because we play on 1080p. I do plan to get a more powerful GPU, it's just that the CPU will come first. Any suggestions other than the 9900k? I was looking at the 10700k as well, they seem to perform similarly. The 11700k and 5800x seem like options too if they go down in price a bit.

GPU-wise, I'd want to get something that will match the 9900k or 10700k. The 3080 sounds good although I tend to buy previous gen for the savings... but by the time I get the new GPU there will probably be a 4080 out haha

 

[freeagent]

It's too bad AMD is so expensive, they are pretty nice.. even my 5600X rips just fine in games. If you aren't running Cinebench all the time its a really good performer for what it is... and its easy to cool so you can run the **** out of it manually. The 5800X is appealing to me still just because it can boost to 5GHz. But it is so close to the 5900X in price.. but people say its hard to tame its heat. I almost bought one just to see how how they really are with my setup.. but its like 500 bucks here.

 

[UncleGrandpa]

Hi Freeagent! Yeah I would love to switch to AMD for a change. Heard their CPU's are great these days but for some reason here in Argentina they're at least 100 USD more for a similarly performing CPU. Then again it might not be a bad idea to get the 5600x because that opens the door to getting the 5900x a couple years from now when it will probably be more affordable. It does offer more upgradability than getting the 9900k with mobo, which is already top of the line for an older gen

 

[DaveB]

Hi Freeagent! Yeah I would love to switch to AMD for a change.

AMD CPUs are fine but really don't have any advantage for gaming. I downgraded from a $550 AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 core/24 thread CPU/B450 combo to a $200 Intel i5-10400 6core/12 thread CPU/H410 combo with no change in 1440p gaming performance with an RX 570 GPU. So a 6 Core/12 thread AMD 5600X , Intel i5-10400 or Intel i5-11400 system would be fine for now and upgradeable later. The AMD and Intel 8 Core/16 thread CPUs (5800X, i7-10700 and i7-11700) make lots of heat under max CPU load, but not so much for gaming.

 

[Woomack]

11600K is more than fine for gaming. 5600G/5700G is an alternative that costs less than the 5600X/5800X and heats up significantly less so can use it with a smaller/cheaper cooler. In games, it loses 5-7% but it's still fine, especially at 1440p+. At 1080p or less, all modern 6 core+ will give 100-150FPS in most games.
I wouldn't make long-term plans as the next year we will see DDR5 and new chipsets. The current higher 5000 series will be EOL (it's already on the market for a year) so cheaper 5900X will be more like a 2nd hand option.
You may find a miner who will pay good money for the RX580 and then you can find RX6600XT or something similar that will heat up significantly less and perform better.
Just some thoughts as even though I have stronger gear too, then 5700G and RX6600XT is more fun

 

[Wam]

Definitely get the 9900K or 11700K over the 6600K! The 6600K is just a 4core 4 thread CPU and more and more games can and will take advantage of higher than 4 core/threads, plus there is quite a difference in single thread speed. You should also really look to upgrade the GPU at the same time to maximise the benefit but even with a 6600K there are some games where this CPU will be holding a RX580 back.

Also although Roblox and Unity depend more on single thread speed there are definitely aspects of Unity that will take advantage of all cores, and in this scenario there will be a massive improvement going from a 4 core/4 thread to a 8 core/16 thread. Though even in single threaded applications you should see a good improvement as the max turbo of the 6600k is only ~3.9Ghz compared to the ~5Ghz of the 9900K/10700K.

 

[pinky33]

I went from q6600 to 2600k. Very noticeable difference. I had a 7950gfx card I believe. Moved to a 580 like u have and it was also a noticeable improvement. I still have 2600k (oced of course to 4.8) and scored an amazing deal on a 1080. Huge! Improvement over 580.

I think your idea of upgrading cpu now and just waiting for any decent deal on a gfx card is a great idea. Gfx card options depends on what game, what rez, what FPS you want.