Advice needed: CPU for a low-budget gaming rig --> solved

[Ariortega]

Hello friends,

again I'm asking for your helpful advices. I'm going to build a low-budget gaming rig for a family member. Here are all the infos:

Goal / target: gaming at 1080p / 60Hz, ultra settings (no AAA title like RDR2 or SotTR)

Mainboard : MSI Z370 Gaming M5 - (already bought)
RAM : 16GB G.Skill DDR4 TridentZ (2x 8GB) @ 3200Mhz - (already bought)
GPU : EVGA GTX 1660 Super SC Ultra
PSU : Seasonic Focus Platinum 550W - (already bought)
CPU cooler : Be Quiet! Dark Rock 4
CPU : ??? advice needed

My question: which of the follwing cpus would you guys recommend to buy : i3-9100F, i3-9350K,
i5-9400F or the i5-9500F?

(most of you would probably suggest the i5-9400F but what bothers me with this cpu is the extremly low speed, which is only 4.1GHz and it can't be overclocked).

As always I'll appreciate every helpful advice.

[Pumpkin]

Messaggio originale di Ariortega:

We're not aiming at overclocking since we haven't got an adequat cooler for that.

Well you did mention overclocking in your original post as a disadvantage of the i5-9400F, so I assumed you cared about it, and maybe wanted to try in the future :)

Anyway, good luck in your projects.

[Snow]

Messaggio originale di Mom's credit card:

"Bro go fuwkin ryzen duuuhruehejje" 🤤 *♥♥♥♥♥ own pants

...why do you ♥♥♥♥ your own pants out loud?

[_I_]

some of the z boards have 'cpu upgrade' where it can be faked as a k or different cpu model (with ht)
will allow non k to be overclocked, and might be able to unlock cores or ht

they are all basically the same chip, intel bins them depending on performance or bad/poor cache/igpu/ht ect..


id go for the 9400/f and hope it can unlock and overclock good with a good cooler in the future
or the 9600k/kf and cooler and oc

[Ariortega]

Thank you.

We'll be going for the i5-9400F and try to get it second hand less then 120€. If it can be overclocked, we'll try 4.2GHz - max. 4.4GHz. If not, we'll set all cores to max boost clock while keeping core voltage as low as possible.
Combined with the GTX 1660 Super it should be able to run the mentioned games just fine.

Thank you all for your inputs and suggestions.

[Mihai_89]

OP why not go for AMD instead of Intel ?

The Ryzen series are really good and cheaper too. I've been using AMD CPUs for a long time, not one of them has overheated or let me down in the time i've used them.

[pasa]

return the mobo for refund/swap and get ryzen 5 2600 or 2600x (119/135$ while they last) with a suitable board)

[Julien, cut it out.]

Messaggio originale di Ariortega:

Thank you.

We'll be going for the i5-9400F and try to get it second hand less then 120€. If it can be overclocked, we'll try 4.2GHz - max. 4.4GHz. If not, we'll set all cores to max boost clock while keeping core voltage as low as possible.
Combined with the GTX 1660 Super it should be able to run the mentioned games just fine.

Thank you all for your inputs and suggestions.

You won't get higher frequency than the 4.1 GHz from the turbo boost. The Z board only enables to apply the single core turbo boost clock on all cores with a non-k processor. Not the overclock (multiplier) that you mean.

[_I_]

Messaggio originale di Bananarama:

Messaggio originale di Ariortega:

Thank you.

We'll be going for the i5-9400F and try to get it second hand less then 120€. If it can be overclocked, we'll try 4.2GHz - max. 4.4GHz. If not, we'll set all cores to max boost clock while keeping core voltage as low as possible.
Combined with the GTX 1660 Super it should be able to run the mentioned games just fine.

Thank you all for your inputs and suggestions.

You won't get higher frequency than the 4.1 GHz from the turbo boost. The Z board only enables to apply the single core turbo boost clock on all cores with a non-k processor. Not the overclock (multiplier) that you mean.

you missed my post
some z boards can fake the non k as a k cpu and overclock anyway

[Julien, cut it out.]

Messaggio originale di _I_:

Messaggio originale di Bananarama:

You won't get higher frequency than the 4.1 GHz from the turbo boost. The Z board only enables to apply the single core turbo boost clock on all cores with a non-k processor. Not the overclock (multiplier) that you mean.

you missed my post
some z boards can fake the non k as a k cpu and overclock anyway

Sorry.

Do you mean overclocking via the Base Clock (BCLK)? That's the only other way I know of overclocking on a Z motherboard, since they have an external Base Clock. The overclock via BCLK can be very unstable bc it affects other components aswell. The gain from such a BCLK OC can be meager.
He's better off going for the higher clocked i5-9500F. Also with a higher multiplier, increasing the BCLK will yield a higher frequency gain compared to the i5-9400F.
The price difference is 20$. That's absolutely worth.

[Ariortega]

I would love...I'm telling you seriously love to get the i5-9500F. But the price in my country is atm ca. 200€......same as an i5-9600K. The prices right now (at least in Germany) are totally crazy. I can't understand why it is like this. e.g. i3-9350K ca. 160€ while i5-9400F ca. 150€...wtf ?!?!
i5-9600K and i5-9500F both at ca. 200€. i5-8600K ca. 220€...do these prices make any sense?

[hawkeye]

As you already have some parts, the 9500f is the one to get. There is a performance difference over the 9400f. Note that the z370 might need a bios upgrade for a 9th gen cpu depening on how old it is.

All intel mobos allow some overclocking by raising the cpu multiplier. But with a 1660 super you won't need it. For example I have a non-k cpu with maximum turbo of 3.8. I run it a 4.3 on all cores with a z mobo and a $20 cooler. That is a 10% benchmark improvement. If it was a k, then maybe it could get to 4.7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvSumDimfS8

[Julien, cut it out.]

Messaggio originale di Ariortega:

I would love...I'm telling you seriously love to get the i5-9500F. But the price in my country is atm ca. 200€......same as an i5-9600K. The prices right now (at least in Germany) are totally crazy. I can't understand why it is like this. e.g. i3-9350K ca. 160€ while i5-9400F ca. 150€...wtf ?!?!
i5-9600K and i5-9500F both at ca. 200€. i5-8600K ca. 220€...do these prices make any sense?

Then buy what you're able to afford.

It's just not to give you a false sense of expectation. You might not hit 4.4 GHz OC via the BCLK frequency, maybe not even 4.2 GHz.
For 4.4 GHz you need a BCLK of 107.4 MHz,
For 4.2 GHz you need a BCLK of 102.5 MHz.

Noone can guarantee that you will achieve such a high BCLK.
Increasing frequency via the BCLK induces adjustements to the other components aswell, since their affected by the BCLK. It's not as easy as changing the multiplier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6d7w5A8t9U

[hawkeye]

Messaggio originale di Ariortega:

I would love...I'm telling you seriously love to get the i5-9500F. But the price in my country is atm ca. 200€......same as an i5-9600K. The prices right now (at least in Germany) are totally crazy. I can't understand why it is like this. e.g. i3-9350K ca. 160€ while i5-9400F ca. 150€...wtf ?!?!
i5-9600K and i5-9500F both at ca. 200€. i5-8600K ca. 220€...do these prices make any sense?

Get the 9600k as you have a good cooler. And if one day you move to a better gpu & monitor then your cpu is good. I'm in AU. The 9500 prices increased a lot recently.

[_I_]

Messaggio originale di Bananarama:

Messaggio originale di _I_:

you missed my post
some z boards can fake the non k as a k cpu and overclock anyway

Sorry.

Do you mean overclocking via the Base Clock (BCLK)? That's the only other way I know of overclocking on a Z motherboard, since they have an external Base Clock. The overclock via BCLK can be very unstable bc it affects other components aswell. The gain from such a BCLK OC can be meager.
He's better off going for the higher clocked i5-9500F. Also with a higher multiplier, increasing the BCLK will yield a higher frequency gain compared to the i5-9400F.
The price difference is 20$. That's absolutely worth.

it can multi oc, as if it was a 9600k/kf or other k cpu (or if he picked the non k it would use that cpus default base/turbo multi range)
may not be stable or need more voltage to do it
he would need to see which upgrade profile works best, they all have slightly different base/turbo multi defaults

[Snow]

Damn, I honestly thought this "unlock more cores" thing is not present in modern mobos.