i7 or i9

[488]

I'm planing on getting a new CPU and here's my 2 choices, I9-9900k, I7-9900k. Is it worth spending extra on the i9?

[𝖛☆𝖑𝖙𝖆𝖌𝖊]

honestly. if ur budget allows it, why even ask? For BeamNG i5 is enough.

[Death Adder]

tbh if you havent gotten your mobo yet i would go with a ryzen R9 3900x 12 core 24 thread and its like within 5% of the i9

[Los.Injurus.Bob.Blunderton]

I would snag a Ryzen for this.
If you're filming huge crashes, get an X299 and a X7900 cpu or something similar around 10~12 cores for the best you can get, or a 7980/9980XE for 'absolute monster CPU'.
However, for the rest of us, the Ryzen 3700X or 3900X is an EXCELLENT choice and gives you a lot of processor cores that BeamNG will love.

A Ryzen 3700X can do between 15~21 total vehicles (including one for the player) reasonably, depending on if you want 30~45+ FPS or 20+FPS. A 3900X would be even better.
I have a 3700X here I put together last month, I absolutely love it and wouldn't go back to my 4790k if I could help it.
Just make sure to get 3000mhz~3600mhz memory in dual channel, with as low-latency (cas timing) as you can afford. 16gb is minimum, 32gb is plenty 'more than enough', and you only need 32gb if you do lots of content creation, video editing, etc. If you just play the game, 16gb is enough. Going over 3600mhz memory speed is not recommended and gives diminishing returns VS the money spent.
The person saying 'i5 is enough' ... The i5 is 'good for today' but unless you build a new machine every year, or are very budget strapped, give the i5 a pass. Since Ryzen 3xxx series came out, the intel i5 been largely relegated to the back corner of the room where no one talks to it, or wants to hang-out with it during recess or after school. (please don't be offended, this is a poor attempt at humor, not a disguised insult to anyone or their computer)

On a more serious note:
Micro-Center has a good deal where you can get a motherboard for 50$ off when you buy a Ryzen processor (they may still have that deal, too). I paid 104.99$ plus tax for an x570 'Asrock Phantom Gaming 4' (read: cheapest full-ATX x570 board BRAND NEW!), and I wouldn't do it differently again. This board has the new chip-set, an intel network port, and 8 sata ports, even has two m.2 drive ports, giving you plenty of expansion. No more juggling PCI-E lanes either like with my intel Z97 motherboard.
Sometimes you can find sweet deals on OPEN BOX motherboards, that still come with the manufacturers warranty, so do examine the contents if you purchase one to make sure everything you need is still there in the box.
NVME system drive is 'recommended' but if you just 'play games' a Sata SSD is just dandy.
Ebay has super-duper cheap Windows 10 license key deals. Look for one that says 'Retail Windows 10 Pro' and is ESD (electronic software delivery). They're selling global-legit keys out of China because it's *that cheap* in China to discourage piracy. Yes, it's legit. I bought one.
Just pay the money, check your emails in 15 minutes to an hour, and type in your key and hit activate, and it works magically. No phone calls, no nothing.
I would also recommend upgrading your video board if you have less than an RX 470 or 480, or less than 4gb of video RAM. Less than 4gb of video RAM would be considered inadequate and should be upgraded.
Purchasing a good SeaSonic power supply (or the recent Fractal models, that just came out, which are built by Seasonic but customized nicely, they're good too), is essential to the stability of a good system.
If you plan on buying an LSI megaraid card or similar, say you have a bunch (or want a bunch) of fancy RAID arrays, I would consider moving to the high-end desktop segment to get even more PCI-express lanes. That being said Ryzen desktop has PCI-express 4.0 already, so they're twice the bandwidth.
If you save money and get a cheap B450 motherboard, if it DOES NOT have BIOS flashback, you won't be able to boot it with a Ryzen 3xxx CPU before the BIOS is updated, unless it says 'Ryzen 3xxx series Ready' on the box (an orange sticker).
It might not be worth upgrading if you already own a Skylake or newer i7 system, unless you plan to run a lot of vehicles. You will still notice a speed boost, but it won't be as noticeable as coming from a 4790k 4.4ghz system like I did.

That being said, a buddy of mine built a 9700k system just the other week around when I built this, and I snickered to myself a bit. The Ryzen 3xxx series is the real deal, and my content creation with my city map is moving along much smoother now.

I drove four HOURS each way to get to a Micro-Center for this deal, but I have a cheap 03 Corolla for my highway driving with 40~45mpg. If you have a giant pig of an SUV or don't like long drives, you might want to shop on Newegg or Amazon when they have deals. If you order an older board with no Ryzen 3xxx support, you will need a boot kit from AMD, just look up Ryzen Boot Kit. Some things can be ordered through local brick and mortar stores, so if you like the convenience of 'being able to take it back', don't forget about those guys. They can be surprisingly competitive when given the chance and will quite often price-match.

--Sources: Own life experiences, was MCSE and Comptia A+ certified since '98 & '99, been building PC's for roughly 25 years and have done content creation since the DOOM (dos Doom) days. If your opinion differs, please share or correct me as-needed.

EDIT: The Ryzen 3900X will FLATTEN the 9900K in BeamNG, period. The Ryzen 3700X will also easily keep up with, and surpass the 9700K especially when more than 8 vehicles are in-play. If you want to spend 500$ on a CPU, get the 3900X!

[Mopped]

I agree with deathadder.

[VaderDFXB]

Ryzen is less expensive, by alot, and faster, also by alot. Honestly there's currently no point in buying an Intel CPU.

[oldkiwi]

The i9 is obvs better but the i7 does the job. The only reason you might want to buy it is to get higher graphics with still 30 fps. It's your choice

[PX0891]

The i9 can overclock easily, but I prefer using a i7 9700k because it doesn't overclock.

[CasualGamer]

Originally posted by The80'sDude:

The i9 can overclock easily, but I prefer using a i7 9700k because it doesn't overclock.

both I9-9900k / I7-9700k can be overclocked, the K mean its unlocked.

[Raven]

Ryzen 3900x

[oi]

well, i7 is enough for games...

[𝖛☆𝖑𝖙𝖆𝖌𝖊]

i4 Phone

or iWindows95

BUT IF u wanna Record thos HUUGE and MASSIVE Crashes u might need a: iVista8.1

[fancykat]

I can run this game comfortably (50-60FPS) with an i5-6600K (no overclock, I didn’t realize that my mobo didn’t support it :/), so I would say that the i9 isn’t necessary for Beam NG. A Ryzen chip would probably be better for this game though.

[Nadeox1]

For gaming purpose, I'd say a Ryzen is good enough for the price.
We have several Ryzen machines on our side, working pretty nice with the game.

On our main forum there are some threads with very useful comparisons:
https://www.beamng.com/threads/ultimate-amd-vs-intel-cpu-battle-has-graphs-and-awards.60389/#post-983713

[488]

Thanks for all the replies, I have some research to do now :)