Hey everyone, I'm looking to upgrade my CPU from an i5 9600k. I currently have 32GB of DDR4 RAM running at 3600 MHz and a GTX 1060 Ti that I plan to upgrade later. I have a flexible budget but I don't want to spend too much right now.
After some research, I've narrowed it down to two options:
1. Upgrade to a Ryzen 5 9600X, which will cost around €240, but I'll also need a new motherboard for about €150 and DDR5 RAM at around €300. This adds up to roughly €700 in total.
2. Go for an Intel i5 14600K priced at €200. For this, I'd also need a new motherboard for €100-150, but I can stick with my existing DDR4 RAM. This option would cost about €300-350 in total.
I'm planning to use it for CPU-intensive games like EU5 as well as other games in the future. What do you all think offers the best value and performance? Thanks for your advice!
2 Answers
Considering you have 32GB of 3600 RAM, I'd definitely recommend the 14600K with a decent B760 motherboard. It performs similarly to the non-X3D AM5 chips, and sticking with DDR4 will save you a lot of cash. Use the leftover budget to grab a better GPU instead!
It's really a matter of preference! The AM5 platform gives you a solid upgrade route with future Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series CPUs coming, plus the possibility of ZEN 6 and even ZEN 7 down the line. However, the i5 14600K platform (LGA 1700) tends to be cheaper and offers slightly better gaming performance right now. Just keep in mind that it's a dead platform, so next time you'll have to swap out your CPU, motherboard, and RAM all at once.
Thanks for the advice! I’m in Sweden, by the way.