New AMD build advice / questions

[AngryGoldfish]

It's not really the same thing. Encoding a live twitch stream is significantly more taxing than playing an existing video file. That is where the higher core/thread count actually is beneficial.
For example: When I have streamed PS4 gameplay via capture card and OBS (30 FPS @720p, 2500kbps bitrate) the cpu usage on my FX-6300 was around 30-40% just processing the stream, it doesn't use near that while watching 1080p videos

I think the 7700k at the moment would still give slightly better game performance with such a light task as playing a video at the same time, but with the caveat that the Ryzen chips are new and optimisations are still in the works.

It's also worth considering that AM4 is intended to be supported for a few years whereas I believe* 1151 is nearing the end of its life, leaving no CPU upgrade path without also requiring a new motherboard.

*Not 100% on this but I'm sure someone will either confirm or correct

It's also not too long a wait to see what kind of performance the 6c12t R5 range brings to the table as well.

Good comment here. I do think Ryzen would be better suited, but a 7700K would still perform well. In the past we've only ever really had bog standard i7's as an option unless you had the money to invest in a €200 motherboard, €500 5820K, and €200 worth of memory in a platform that lasts only two years. Now we question the 7700K because we finally have something better than it at the same price point—with the caveat that gaming at very high refresh rates at 1080p is inferior.

Also, I'm pretty sure Z270 1151 is going to be replaced when Coffee Lake comes out later this year, but that will likely be for laptops. Then Coffee Lake with 6-core processors will come out 2018. We'll see the new Kaby Lake updated CPU's and I'm pretty sure that's it for Z270. That's one of the biggest reasons for going AMD. Coffee Lake will be a huge leap forward (if indeed they go with 6 cores) and it will be a waste to buy a 7700K now to have it completely trumped in a years time. If you could upgrade to a 6-core with Z270 then great, but that's not going to happen.

 

[Bartacus]

NickOmega nailed it pretty well. The only thing I would add is that I've seen quite a few CPU utilization gaming benchmarks at 1080p and 720p, and some games will pin the CPU at almost 100% while gaming, so you wouldn't have much (if any) headroom for streaming.

 

[NickOmega]

NickOmega nailed it pretty well. The only thing I would add is that I've seen quite a few CPU utilization gaming benchmarks at 1080p and 720p, and some games will pin the CPU at almost 100% while gaming, so you wouldn't have much (if any) headroom for streaming.

I don't think streaming gameplay was his intention, he was asking about which out of the R7 and 7700K would perform better while watching a movie file from the same computer, because Ryzen is marketed as being superior for live streaming whilst gaming.

I may have added confusion by using my anecdotal evidence of CPU usage from when I used to stream gameplay as an example of why live streaming and watching a movie aren't comparable.

 

[Bartacus]

Damn, I may have made it even worse by replying to your post without totally reading the original post too well. DOH!

 

[Ricky685]

Gents,
It probably my fault for the confusion for not making my intentions clear, but thanks for all input's. Nickomega has it spot on and I'm much clearer now....
TV physically connected to PC via HDMI - watching a movie via Kodi on PC or a stored movie file.
Monitor connect to PC via display port - playing a game
Audio individually routed to both display's via Asus sonic studio 3.

I understand now this is not as stressful on CPU as live streaming gameplay,

Taking Angerygoldfish comments on Z270 life span, it has to be a Ryzen.... either 5 or 7 I go for....

Cheers Gents

 

[NickOmega]

Gents,
It probably my fault for the confusion for not making my intentions clear, but thanks for all input's. Nickomega has it spot on and I'm much clearer now....
TV physically connected to PC via HDMI - watching a movie via Kodi on PC or a stored movie file.
Monitor connect to PC via display port - playing a game
Audio individually routed to both display's via Asus sonic studio 3.

I understand now this is not as stressful on CPU as live streaming gameplay,

Taking Angerygoldfish comments on Z270 life span, it has to be a Ryzen.... either 5 or 7 I go for....

Cheers Gents

The only thing I'd say is that I don't think you'd need to use Asus' SS3 to route the audio since Kodi can be configured to use a specific output.
Would potentially mean 1 less piece of software running in the background, it would also free up motherboard options if you were getting the Asus specifically for that feature.

Only a few weeks to wait for the R5 info now

 

[Ricky685]

The only thing I'd say is that I don't think you'd need to use Asus' SS3 to route the audio since Kodi can be configured to use a specific output.
Would potentially mean 1 less piece of software running in the background, it would also free up motherboard options if you were getting the Asus specifically for that feature.

Only a few weeks to wait for the R5 info now

And also VLC has this option if I were playing a movie stored on the PC?

This does indeed open up options on the motherboard, just watch Tom's preview of the MSI Titanium, Jesus that thing has some bling....

The x370 prime though is nearly £100 cheaper than the crosshair, that could go towards some ram, is quite nice aesthetically imo

 

[NickOmega]

And also VLC has this option if I were playing a movie stored on the PC?

This does indeed open up options on the motherboard, just watch Tom's preview of the MSI Titanium, Jesus that thing has some bling....

The x370 prime though is nearly £100 cheaper than the crosshair, that could go towards some ram, is quite nice aesthetically imo

Yes VLC will also let you use a specific device.
At default in the Audio Settings it's configured as "Automatic", but if you change the output module from auto (i.e WaveOut, DirectX etc) you can then specify which connected audio device/path you wish to use.

 

[Ricky685]

Spot on great info, cheers