What would be the best CPU for Rimworld?

[F1tgal911]

Intel i9 9900?
Or AMD?

[Cormac]

1: use the search function
2: rimworld doesn't use multiple cores. amd has a disadvantage here. the faster a single core is, the better

[Jigain]

Well, since AMD isn't a processor model, I'd give this one to the 9900.

[Los.Injurus.Bob.Blunderton]

My 3700x SCREAMED past my 4.4ghz i7 4790k's ability to run this game.
4790k 4.4ghz w/32gb 2400mhz cl-11 RAM = crawling speed
3700x stock speed w/32gb 3000mhz cl-15 RAM = running warp speed (fast like cheetah).
You won't see any obvious difference between the AMD and the intel chip running this game.
No, really, I mean that.
Intel has a clock-speed advantage (their chips clock a little higher, but only if keep it cool!)
AMD has an IPC advantage (IPC = instructions per clock, e.g. how much gets done per GHZ)
AMD can have up to 16-core 32-thread chip on the AM4 socket, and PCI-express 4.0.
Intel you are locked to one or two generations of CPU per generation of motherboard.
Intel also is losing performance with security patches, but it's hit or miss how much performance you actually lose depending on what you run. AMD conversely has less security flaws and is a newer design with a better scheduler (important when running lots of things at once). The AMD also has more cache memory, 36mb (on the 8-core) vs 12mb on intel's 8-core. There's up to 72mb on the 16-core 3950x processor - but the 3950x is also 700~750$. Consider getting the 3700x if you want a system to last you a while.

If you are going to buy intel, consider waiting until after the 21st of May 2020 because that's when the 10,000 series desktop processors are released.
This means you will either get a discount on the 9xxx series of chips, or can buy a brand-new cutting edge chip with less security patches (that sap performance) needed. Also, in the same vein - the AMD chips will likely get a small discount at the same time, too.
So if you can wait another 3 weeks or so, the intel chips will come out, and you can get a 10-core 20-thread chip for the price of what now gets you an 8-core 16-thread chip. Just MAKE SURE if you get anything more than a 6-core intel chip you buy an expensive Noctua cooler for it (or similar), otherwise, you'll never get it to sustain any speed faster than any of the Ryzen 3xxx chips. Water-cooling works too, for the intel (though I'd never go that route). The AMD chips work fine on air-cooling unless you go for the 16-core 32-thread 3950x.

I do my content creation on my 3700x and it rocks for that. If I did purely gaming, it's a bit of a toss-up with some gains and losses for both CPU makers, but intel is generally more often better for gaming. If you're running this game I doubt you'll notice any difference between brands, so get whatever brand runs the stuff you do the most, the best, for the most reasonable price. It will not matter the speed (beyond a reasonable doubt) of the CPU if it's AMD or intel (provided it's not years old!) if you spend all the money on the processor and none on the graphics card, so don't forget that if you have an older model GPU and play some 3d games, DO save some money for a good graphics board. Rimworld won't make much any use of a fancy graphics card though, so if just building for Rimworld, that can wait / be ignored.
Do not forget to factor in cooling if purchasing the intel chip! You need to seriously consider either an AIO (water) cooler, or a more-reliable long term solution such as air cooling. The intel stock cooler (if it comes with one, most k-series chips do not) is pretty much useless. The AMD cooler that comes in the box is pretty good if you go for the 8-core or above (the 16-core 32-thread 3950x will not come with a cooler, you must purchase your own).
Make sure to get some quick RAM if building a new system with a Ryzen processor, or intel K-series processor. Some 3200mhz Micron-made Crucial Ballistix memory is usually a safe bet, but consult the motherboard manual of the board you wish to purchase (memory 'qvl') to make sure it will work with the board you want.
You don't need a fancy motherboard on the AMD side. A regular plain-jane X570, or MSI 'max' B450 motherboard will do just fine. The processor will reliably boost as-needed with the box cooler provided it has the thermal headroom - you do not need to overclock. Get the MSI max series of motherboards (or any other that says 'Ryzen 3xxx ready' on the box), so that you don't have to fiddle with BIOS updates prior to running your Ryzen 3000 processor. If you get the newest X570 chipset, you won't have to worry about that at all.

Micro Center has some really sweet deals, I had to drive into the next state for it but the manager of the store sure was nice as could be. I will surely go back.

[Cormac]

Originally posted by Beamng.mapper.Bob.Blunderton:

Water-cooling works too, for the intel (though I'd never go that route). The AMD chips work fine on air-cooling unless you go for the 16-core 32-thread 3950x.

great answer, i would give a thumbs up.

but one thing: water cooling is for a very small part less effective than air cooling, over a long time.
water cooler (if you have a reservoir, even more so) has the advantage that it can slow down the heating of anything cooled, but after a certain time, tansfering heat into the water and later, transfering that heat back into the air is slower than dirfectly transfer it into the air (it's a very small difference, but nevertheless). the pump of the cooler on the hand will also create a small amount of heat, in the end, not that big of a difference and the advantage of slower heating components is still with the water. (and thanks to the pump, water cooler are louder than air, again, small difference)



also: always ask google how ppl think about the stock cooler, some are working better than others, some even allow some minor overclocking, others are close to borderline even with stock speed

[gussmed]

That’s... not quite right. There are reasons why cars all switched to water cooling a long time ago. Porsche was the holdout for years, but even they switched away from air cooling in 1997.

The limit with any cooling system is the size of the radiator, and the air flow past that radiator. Direct air cooled systems have a very definite upper limit on the useful size of the radiator. Water cooled systems, theoretically, have no limit. You can just add additional radiator segments.

You can also displace the radiator from the heat source. To bring up Porsche again, the 911 is a rear-engine car with radiators in the front, where the airflow is better. But mostly it’s total radiator surface area.

In practice, computer water cooling systems don’t take much advantage of this, unlike cars. The radiator block tends to be around the same size as an air cooled CPU radiator. To really provide an advantage, you’d have to install multiple radiator blocks.

Which you can, but I generally don’t see it done.

[gussmed]

RE: the original poster's question

While single-core speed is the determining factor for Rimworld, you can't just compare clock speeds. There are a number of other factors that influence performance, like internal structure and on-CPU RAM cache.

I've got a Intel i7-8700k running at the stock speed, which means 4.7 GHz when under full load. I had no performance issues playing a 250 x 250 map, 24 colonists, and a couple of hundred animals. According to benchmarks, an i7-9900k is only slightly faster in single-core performance. The 9900k only pulls significantly ahead in applications which can easily use all of the cores. That being the main difference, 8 real cores vs. 6.

[Jigain]

Originally posted by gussmed:

There are reasons why cars all switched to water cooling a long time ago. Porsche was the holdout for years, but even they switched away from air cooling in 1997.

The limit with any cooling system is the size of the radiator, and the air flow past that radiator. Direct air cooled systems have a very definite upper limit on the useful size of the radiator. Water cooled systems, theoretically, have no limit. You can just add additional radiator segments.

You can also displace the radiator from the heat source. To bring up Porsche again, the 911 is a rear-engine car with radiators in the front, where the airflow is better. But mostly it’s total radiator surface area.

While there are reasons cars changed from passive to active cooling, these aren't the reasons - at most they're minor benefits. The primary reason engines are cooled with water - or more accurately a mix of water and ethylene glycol, henceforth called "coolant" - is that unlike a passive air cooling system, by pumping coolant through the engine block you can transfer heat away from components internally, preventing metal warping from core components becoming too warm. This is the reason water cooling became a thing with engines, everything else - including faster heating of the engine to work temperature, expanding the surface area for cooling, and repositioning the cooling area to wherever is most efficient regardless of where the engine sits or what type of engine it is - are all side effects.

With regards,
A mechanic

[SpacesuitSPF9000]

Honestly this game will run just fine with any modern mid-range cpu. The only real exception would be if you plan on installing a bunch of mods on top.

Like others have said, single-threaded performance is what you're looking for here. A quick google search will give you some good comparison charts.

[Nightmyre]

You could run this game on a toaster. It'd be slow, and might smell funny, but it's not exactly a performance-intensive game.

[F1tgal911]

TY for the great responses! I think I'll wait out until the new Intel 10000 series arrives to get one of those along with a water cooling unit and an MSI Mainboard.