I've been on the fence about choosing a 9600X for my $1250 PC build. Initially, I ran some bottleneck calculators and they showed a small performance gain (2-3%) in 1080p for the 9600X, which seemed reasonable for just a $10 difference compared to the 7600X. However, after recalculating for both CPUs and my build, I was surprised to see that not only had the performance gap at 1080p narrowed to just 1%, but now the 9600X was actually showing worse results than the 7600X on both calculators. Could this be due to the 9600X's lower GHz? Should I lean towards the 7600X if I plan to upgrade to a 1440p monitor later on? My GPU is a 6750 XT, by the way.
2 Answers
Yeah, you should definitely ignore those calculators. While the 9600X does have some slight improvements, it's not a huge difference. If you're moving to 1440p, your GPU will be more utilized, potentially making CPU matters less critical. I’d suggest getting the 7600X and possibly upgrading your GPU later. Common sense goes a long way here!
Honestly, bottleneck calculators are pretty unreliable and you should take their results with a grain of salt. The concept of a bottleneck is too complex to reduce to a single number and can change depending on your resolution and the games you're playing. Just go for the best CPU you can afford without stressing too much about these tools.
Thanks for the advice! I'm leaning towards the 7600X now.