i5 8400 or Ryzen 5 1600

[AverageNinja]

Lately, a friend of mine has been asking me for advice on a potential upgrade. He's currently rocking an i5 4570 with a GTX 960 and 8GB of RAM. While it still performs quite well, he's struggling with recording gameplay at 1080p60. Because of this, he'd like to upgrade his CPU to something with more cores/threads.

He's always been an Intel guy, so he's been considering the i5 8400. Sadly, stretching to an i7 8700(k) is no option. Because of this, I told him to also consider the Ryzen 5 1600, since it has more threads, which should come in handy when recording/editing.

While he does know his stuff, he's not really insanely tech-savvy or a hardware enthusiast, so he'd like a system that simply works. This is why I'm hesitant to straight up tell him to buy Ryzen. I figured I'd ask you guys for some input, too.

If he does end up getting Ryzen, I could get him up and running, tell him how to keep his BIOS up to date and OC his CPU a bit, of course.

Thanks in advance!

AverageNinja

 

[AlienALX]

He doesn't need a new CPU. I would replace the GPU and try and find the memory to get him up to 16gb. Some games simply won't even run on 8 now.

 

[AverageNinja]

He doesn't need a new CPU. I would replace the GPU and try and find the memory to get him up to 16gb. Some games simply won't even run on 8 now.

Hadn't thought of that yet. I reckon he could get a 1070 and an additional 8GBs of RAM with his budget. You sure the i5 is still up to par when recording gameplay and editing videos, though? A quad-core seems a bit measly in 2017. Although I definitely agree that his GPU might be a priority

 

[AlienALX]

Hadn't thought of that yet. I reckon he could get a 1070 and an additional 8GBs of RAM with his budget. You sure the i5 is still up to par when recording gameplay and editing videos, though? A quad-core seems a bit measly in 2017. Although I definitely agree that his GPU might be a priority

There are only about three games that use more than four cores, but even in those cases that I5 should be more than fast enough IMO. The emphasis is all about the GPU. Let's assume that his I5 is as good as a Ryzen 1200.. What's the next stop? GPU.

Buying a CPU will not improve matters at all IMO because the 960 is a pretty weak card now.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I'd try just upgrading the GPU first. See if that helps him hit his target. I doubt the 960 is hitting 60fps all the time which is his first issue in recording at 60fps. If he is streaming his gameplay then yes he will need a new CPU. If he's just recording then probably not

 

[AverageNinja]

Thanks guys, I'll run it by him today. I'll try and look out for a good deal on a 1070 for him

 

[WYP]

With that system I would upgrade the GPU first, especially if it is a 2GB GTX 960.

 

[AverageNinja]

He does have a 4GB 960, but after checking some benchmarks comparing it to newer GPUs I'm inclined to agree. It seems that card has aged horribly. I'll try to find him some more RAM at a decent price like Alien said too. Should keep him up and running for at least a few more years.

 

[AlienALX]

He does have a 4GB 960, but after checking some benchmarks comparing it to newer GPUs I'm inclined to agree. It seems that card has aged horribly. I'll try to find him some more RAM at a decent price like Alien said too. Should keep him up and running for at least a few more years.

It was never really a good card to begin with TBH. I got one in my Alienware and sold it before I had even powered it on lol.