The main thing here will be deciding on CPU Platform. Fir that I would suggest reading the summaries for the two most popular options here:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_2600/20.html
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_7_2700X/21.html
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_9600K/
Now the reason I gave ya much more quoting in the 2nd one (you should read all linked pages in full) is that when the 2600 was done, the 9600k did not exist; the later article provides some comparisons between the 9600k and various Ryzen options.. The "base build" that we offer has a 9600k which we adjust depending on user's budget. That may mean dropping down to a 2600 or going up f more moola available. Few more considerations in this regard:
1. I agree with the author above
"Who should buy the 9600k ? You should if you use your machine to play games and your non-gaming activity is restricted to Office, image editing, web browsing, or even game streaming". I would add AutoCAD and just about everything else except content creation, video editing animation and rendering. If you do those things ... and do them on a regular basis, I'd get the 2700x.
2. Avoid the "false equivalency" dilemma. When you are envisioning say whether to get a 2060 or a 2070, comparing the relative performance of the two cards with the cost of the two cards is a false equivalency. The 2070 makes the entire build faster. The performance difference between the cards is 17%; the cost difference between the cards is 43% ... so is that a bad deal ? 43% more for 17% more ? No answer because its is a false equivalency. Assuming the rest of your system cost $1,000 ... that means the 2060 system costs $1350 and the 2070 system costs $1500... that's a 17% increase in performance for a 11% increase in system cost.... or what I would call the "proverbial no brainer" ... assuming of course that the $150 is attainable.
3. When deciding on MoBos, there are three basic classes ... a) enthusiast level boards ($275 - $500 that I would say are not in consideration here b) gaming oriented boards that allow overclocking and "gaming enthusiast level" LAN (Intel I219-V) and sound (ALC 1220) subsystems ($150 - $250) and c) budget boards with neither OC ability or those gaming oriented subsystems. There are a few boards that lie in between b and c that give you the decent sound / LAN systems, but to get them you are spending maybe $10 less than the same board which does overclocking. In short, I'd go with a Z series board .... X series with AMD based build.
4. Last I looked, sweet spot (balancing cost and performance) was 2 x 8 GB DDR4-3000 CAS 15 or DDR4-3200 CAS 16.
5. With a 2060, a 500 watt PSI is fine, 500 recommended. If budget stretched the S12 II / M12 520 II or 620 watters (avoid III series) are great and very inexpensive. Seasonic Focus Gold + is ridiculously low priced for the quality. But with the 850 watter at the same price as the 500, grab it for $89 (Assuming you in US).
So again. looking at your 2060, choice... I'm guessing you have a budget of $1500 or so.... with that, this is what I'd propose.
PCPartPicker part list /
Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($264.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Scythe - FUMA Rev.B 79 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI - MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($184.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($104.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($127.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - FireCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg Business)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING Z Video Card ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks - ENTHOO EVOLV X GLASS (Silver) ATX Mid Tower Case ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1492.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-20 20:41 EDT-0400
OK, so I guessed wrong ... what can we do ? ..... BTW, that MoBo has ALC 1220 and Intel I219-V and good OC ability
$1500 budget is Low - If I'm low, the only thing I'd change is the GFX card. Let's do the math with the 2070 / 2080
a) Upping to the MSI 2070 Gaming adds $160. So for a 16.7% increase in performance .... we have to pay an 10.7 % increase in price. That's a solid ROI if the money is there.
Upping to the MSI 2080 Gaming adds $411. So for a 40.6% increase in performance .... we have to pay an 27.5 % increase in price. Again, that's also a solid ROI if the money is there.
b) As for the cooler, that $50 cooler outperforms the $90 flagship models from Noctua, Cryorig and Phanteks. It also outperforms almost every CLC type 2 x 120 cooler made and is certainly much quieter than those that ain't. If you must have water cooling, I'd suggest the Swiftceh H240 X3 of H320 X3. It's expandable (can add MoBo and GFX card blocks) pups 10x stronger than typical CLCs and no aluminum componentry.
c) If budget allows more and bigger storage.
$1500 Budget is High -
a) Case - If you look at the reviews the Evolv X is widely considered the "best way to spend $199" .... if money needs to be cut. The Model 600S is made to be extra quiet and is about $65 cheaper.
b) PSU - Can save about $30 with a Seasonic S12 620 watter ... the the "metal rating" has zilch to do w/ quality and just refers to how much you spend on electricity. At USA average electricty prices, the difference between Gold and Bronze amounts to about $4.50 per year .... doesn't seem worth it to me., I'd stick with the 850 Gold for its 10 year warranty and the fact that it will run at max efficiency most of the time (50% load)
c) Storage - you could save with a HD instead of a SSHD but a comparable HD to the FireCUDA SSHD would be a WD Black and the SSHD is 54% faster (Same warranty, same RMA rate) and the Black is $50 more money than the SSHD for same capacity.
d) Next we have the AMD platform options. I'll look at the 2600 and the 2700x
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_9600K/13.html
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_9600K/14.html
Dunno your resolution so I'll list 1080p, 1440p and average.
2700x = 94.5% (1080p) / 97.2% (1440p) ~ 95.85 %
2600 = 93.1% (1080p) / 95.8% (1440p) - 94.45%
Note: With all CPUs overclocked, Intel picks up about 0.8% .... The 2700x actually drops in gaming performance when OC'd, the effect on the 2600 is not significant in gaming but can be significant in multithreaded apps.
d.1 2700x - because the review said "The Ryzen 7 2700X continues to offer good value for multi-threaded CPU workloads even though in the end, it's bested by the i7-9700K, the most exciting processor to buy in our opinion."
Switching to the 2700X and the MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon (Same ALC 1220 but Intel i211AT LAN subsystem) saves ya about $18... other than Intel / AMD thing, Scythe is a better cooler but I can't speak to the LAN susbsystem difference as not familiar with the latter.
d.2 2600 - using the 2600 with the same MoBo as above drops the price to $1350.77 for a savings of $116, using the 2600 with the same MoBo as above drops the price to $1287.62 for a savings of $205. Note here that pcpartpicker still says that you may have a BIOS issue here. You will need to confirm that the BIOS you are getting is compatible.
Again, you could go with the cheaper series boards from both Intel and AMD but as was said above, the lower capability MoBos also leave you with substandard LAN and Audio subsystems which, to my eyes are not worth the cost savings. You could go cheaper on both Intel and AMD sides but, your making the same sacrifices each way. That's why I used two MoBos from the same MSI series as a basis for comparison. So... where does that leave us ...
If i didn't copy anything wrong ...
- The 2700X / MSI X470 build costs 98.8% of the Intel / 9600k build and, according to TPU testing overall in gaming provides 94.5% (1080p) to 95.85% (1440p)of the performance. Edge Intel
- The 2600 / MSI X470 build costs 92.2% of the Intel / 9600k build and, according to TPU testing overall in gaming provides 93.1% (1080p) to 94.45% (1440p) of the performance. Edge: Insignificant
- The 2600 / MSI X370 build costs 86.2% of the Intel / 9600k build and, according to TPU testing overall in gaming provides 93.1% (1080p) to 94.45% (1440p) of the performance. Edge: AMD
So ... from a value / ROI standpoint ... while the 2700x doesn't seem like a wise option for a gaming box, the 2600 does provided you address the BIOS issue.... but again, we are still missing some information. The Ryzen options do not have an iGPU ...so if you use one monitor for gaming and want to have an iGPU for a 2nd monitor to display web sites, monitoring apps, frame counters, chat apps, etc, then that may add value to the Intel option.
In summary, not knowing all that much about your usage and resolution ....
a) Your budget is somewhat flexible around $1500 and will use your box for gaming primarily but
you also spend > 40% of my time using rendering, animation, video editing or other workstation apps that actually do benefit from the extra cores. No need for better cooling as won't be OC'ing CPU. => Ryzen 2700x / X470 build recommended.
b) Your budget is somewhat flexible aroind $1500 and will use your box primarily for gaming and normal consumer apps and only rarely for workstation apps. You will either from the getgo or perhaps maybe later, overclock the CPU and GPU or you like the idea of having iGPU for 2nd monitor. You want a top of the line cooler for overclockinmg whiuch you need anywayas CPU doesn't come with one. => Intel / Z390 build recommended.
c) Your budget is tight, would like to be < $1300 and your box will be used primarily for gaming / normal consumer apps and only rarely for workstation apps. You will overclock the GPU but prolly not bother with the CPU due to the minimal gains to be expected. You won't be using a 2nd monitor now or within the reasonable life of this PC. => Ryzen 2600 / X370 build recommended if BIOS or nor iGPU thing doesn't present an issue.
Of course another thing to be considered if you have a budget of $1500, if ya can stretch it a teeny bit, you can have a MSI 2070 Gaming card with the Ryzen 2600. If it were me, I'd do the 9600k build with a MSI 2070 Gaming for $1,650 or 2080 for $1900. However, I expect the 2080 will be significanty cheaper come May ... likely around $650... lower if the tariffs disappear and would buy at that time.
