Total noob question

[shinji78]

Hi.

I am considering upgrading my desktop gaming/workstation PC and more specifically its CPU

My current CPU is an intel i7-5820K 3.30GHz wich I am planning to replace by a i9 11900K 3.5GHz

My question is about the clock speed as from what I understand, the higher the better and for that instance, would make sense having the latest of the latest with that i9 at 3.5GHz instead of an i7 at 5.0GHz?

Can't really tell what would be the best option (newer gen or higher GHz).
If someone could shed some light would be appreciated.

 

[wandplus]

That's a bit confusing because I don't know if you mean turbo frequencies or the base speed. (EDIT: Just checked, they look almost indentical on paper.) In any case, the "official launch" is on March 30 so you don't have long to wait for official benchmarks. I prefer saving money and ordered an i5-11500 which in theory would replace an i5-4570.

 

[zandor]

Base clocks on recent Intel CPUs are pretty much meaningless. How fast one can go on all cores is more of a function of the mainboard and cooling until you start overclocking it. Once you actually start exceeding max turbo speeds then chip quality (aka silicon lottery) and overclocking skill count. If your board has good VRMs and you have good cooling an Intel proc will basically just sit at max turbo all the time if the BIOS is set that way.

The last one I played with was an i7-10700 I used in a build for my dad for Christmas. Officially it has a base clock of 2.9GHz. While I was playing with it the thing never ran at 2.9GHz. An AVX stress test with a stock 65W power limit ran 2.7GHz, but without AVX it ran at 3.3GHz. Then turning up the power limit let it go faster and faster. With AVX off it topped out at 4.6GHz (max all core turbo) around 170W. I topped out at 4.2GHz in the AVX test. Chip was getting too hot. I'm sure it could have gone faster if I'd used an overclocking grade cooler, but it was a quiet build for dad so it was in a silent mATX case with a 120mm AIO.

What are you looking at other than an i9-11900k? Also, what else do you do other than game?

 

[Sloginfizz]

Hi.

I am considering upgrading my desktop gaming/workstation PC and more specifically its CPU

My current CPU is an intel i7-5820K 3.30GHz wich I am planning to replace by a i9 11900K 3.5GHz

My question is about the clock speed as from what I understand, the higher the better and for that instance, would make sense having the latest of the latest with that i9 at 3.5GHz instead of an i7 at 5.0GHz?

Can't really tell what would be the best option (newer gen or higher GHz).
If someone could shed some light would be appreciated.

Your current processor, while good at the time, is nearing almost 7 years old. Not knowing what you actually use your PC for makes the decision a little unclear. For gaming, speed is still king, but you should be looking at 8 cores or better these days. Where productivity is concerned, you are changing platforms anyways, so you might consider a Ryzen 5800x or 3900x in lieu of the 11900k. While it doesn't edge out the top turbo speed, it is cheaper for a little better performance. A lot of posted benchmarks show the Ryzen CPUs slightly ahead of Intel right now, but in real world applications, you probably won't see a difference.

As someone else has already pointed out, it isn't the low end you should be looking at, but the upper limit. Day to day, you probably won't notice the difference between 4.4 and 5.0.

 

[shinji78]

Thanks all for the answers.
I am now starting to have a better idea.
Yes, my current CPU is a bit old indeed