Advice on system upgrade

[CodeMonkey23]

Hi all.
The 1st system which I built has finally died, lasted 7 years in total so not too bad. Anyway I need to upgrade from my 4690k to a modern cpu and with it a new motherboard and ram. In my head I always wanted an i7 as my next chip but I'm trying to decide if it's worthwhile for my needs. My pc is usually on for most of the day as a plex server and lightlty used for general tasks, I also using it for gaming but only for an hour or 2 a few times per week. Basically I'm trying to decide between an 11600k and a 11700k, the price difference is ~£100. Is the i7 likely to give me a noticeable benefit or provide better long term use? I'd also like suggestions on a atx motherboard please? I'm going to buy 16gb of corsair vengeance ram and possibly upgrade my 212 evo to a dark rock 4. Any help/advice/opinion will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you are spending that sort of money a Ryzen 7 5800X is faster,easier to cool and generally faster in most benchmarks.

OTH,if you want to spend as little money as possible a Core i5 10400F/Core i5 10600KF/Core i5 11400F at £200 are the best value for money IMHO.

[Saracen999]

I've been through a similar exercise recently. Or rather, am still doing it. I started thinking i7/i9, and the more I read, watched reviews and listened to people here, the more I concluded that unless I had a really good reason for going Intel (like Thunderbolt) then the smart move was Ryzen. I settled on 5900X, but am now rethinking my earlier decision to rule out laptops, for reasons that are specific to my needs so wouldn't help you.

In short, I'd endorse Cat's conclusion .... short of that specific need for something Intel, at least look hard at AMD Ryzen before taking the plunge. We seem to go through phases where one is better than the other and right now, we seem to be firmly in an AMD phase.

As for mobo choice, I'll say nothing much because I only really looked at AMD boards, except .... given the current 'furore' over exploding Gigabyte PSUs (specific models), and given some rather negative buyer feedback on some Aorus mobo choices, I wouldn't personally be willing to buy Gigabyte anything.

[tazzrats]

I second the above advice on going for a 5800X.

Also, have a look around for 3800X deals, last-gen Ryzen can be picked up for real bargains and is still very fast - very comparable in real world tasks too.

Saying this your post seems to indicate you have your mind made up on Intel, any particular reason for this?

Side not on MOBOs, for the past 10 years all I've used is Gigabyte boards because I've had nothing but good experiences, especially after their dual BIOS saved my bacon. Just to throw in my two-cents there.

[CodeMonkey23]

Thanks for your replies. My bias towards Intel was purely because that's what I know, coming from a 4690K and I though Intel was better for gaming because of it's higher core clock whereas AMD is better for multitasking. I'm more than willing to consider AMD however so I will start looking at the models you've mentioned as well

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What GPU and PSU do you have?? A Core i5 11400F/Core i5 10400F/Core i5 11600K might be a cheaper alternative.

The Ryzen 7 5800X is £347 on Amazon now:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-Ryzen-5...0171909&sr=8-2

For the Ryzen 7 5800X system,I would get one of these motherboards:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-Motherb...0171403&sr=8-3
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GAMING-...0171413&sr=8-4

32GB of this RAM:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-Bal...97&sr=8-3&th=1

The 3200C16 in red is £126 ATM. The 3600C16 variant is £141 in red:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-Bal...97&sr=8-3&th=1

Unless you are into tweaking,the 3200MHZ kit should be fine. The 3600MHZ kit might be need more tweaking as Crucial as apparently moved to different chips now with that kit!

This CPU cooler should is a tad OTT,but should do the trick:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/QUIET-Dark-...171721&sr=8-12

It should work with the MSI motherboards I listed:
https://www.bequiet.com/en/motherboardcheck

Edit!!

Cheaper Intel alternative.

Core i5 10400F:
https://www.box.co.uk/Intel-Core-i5-...r_2939890.html

Core i5 10600KF:
https://www.box.co.uk/Intel-Core-i5-...r_2939886.html

MSI MAG B560 Torpedo:
https://www.box.co.uk/MAG-B560-TORPE...d_3611539.html



You can get some cashback.

One of these CPU coolers:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Hype...7H9HJLG5&psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vetroo-V5-C...0172438&sr=8-3

Unlock the TDP.

Second Edit!!

Plex can use more cores,so an 8C CPU has advantages.

The Ryzen 9 5900X 12 cores is now £440 on Amazon too.

[CodeMonkey23]

Thanks for your reply. Haha this is where you laugh at me, I'm still running a 970 but it's great for me. I will upgrade when needed but for now the new cpu will be greatly superior. My power supply is a corsair cs650m

[Ravens Nest]

Thanks for your reply. Haha this is where you laugh at me, I'm still running a 970 but it's great for me. I will upgrade when needed but for now the new cpu will be greatly superior. My power supply is a corsair cs650m

I have a 970 still, it runs most games at 40-60fps at 1080p it's still a good card.

[MrJim]

I have a 970 still, it runs most games at 40-60fps at 1080p it's still a good card.

Same!

[CodeMonkey23]

Exactly, love my 970 plays everything with mid to max settings at 1080p

[Kristian Hynes]

I moved from a i5 6600k overclocked to a Ryzen 7 2700X and its like night and day... I had that for only 3 months tho as I found a 10700K on ebay for £200 in June.... The 10700k is amazing but a bit hot if you have a cheap cooler.... Personally just spend what you can afford but always look for a deal for a bit of time and look at different CPUs so you know what's a good deal at the time... If you get a 10700K you won't be disappointed but it might be worthwhile waiting for new CPUs to come down in price as new Intel ones are great for gaming