Topic: The PC Gaming Thread

[FiSh77]

I want this: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/infin8-altar-intel-core-i9-10920x-4.6ghz-overclocked-watercooled-pro-gaming-desk-pc-fs-46d-oe.html

Fucking scruff, I'm getting this

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/8pack-orionx2-dual-system-extreme-overclocked-pc-intel-core-i9-10980xe-and-intel-core-i7-10700k-fs-006-8p.html

[Kashinoda]

6800 vs 2080 Ti



6800XT vs 3080



6900XT vs 3090


Radeon RX 6800: $579
Radeon RX 6800 XT: $649
Radeon RX 6900 XT: $999

Finallly competition across the stack

[Skeeve]

Pricing seems a little odd, considering brand trust and stuff like dlss/rtx, you'd think that another $50 cheaper (especially on the 6800) would have been sensible, maybe they are expecting much higher availability of stock and thus the 3rd party cards to be closer to msrp unlike with the rtx3000 series.

Very nice options in any case and that shared memory stuff looks like a very nice bonus if you opt for a team red build over a mixed one.

[Darren G]

Wow, I have to say that I'm surprised at the numbers from the 6900xt!  As you're aware, AMD has been pretty strong in recent years at mid-range and thereabouts, but I didn't expect them to be giving the 3090 that sort of competition after Nvidia being the kings of high-end for so long.  Like you say though, competition across the range is great for us.   

[FiSh77]

What are AMD drivers like these days? last AMD card I had was over 10 years ago and had nothing but trouble with them so been on Nvidia ever since, I really need to upgrade my 1070 and was hoping to pick up a 3070 today, had one in my basket on Overclockers and site crashed just before I paid for it, when it came back up it was empty, plenty on ebay now though 

[Darren G]

The AMD drivers are still shit mate. They seem incapable of fixing one problem without creating another. On top of that I have to switch between drivers to get different games running properly (5700xt). As an example, RDR2 runs great on the 20.9.1 drivers, but stutters on most others. Witcher 3 on the other hand stutters and frame skips except on 20.4.2 or 20.5.1.  If the new AMD cards had trounched Nvidia on performance I might have considered taking a chance on big navi, but as it stands I'm sticking with going for a 3080.

[Slick_Beef]

Havent had any problems with the 5700xt myself, i've been satisfied so far. About to start Doom Eternal this weekend so will see how that goes!

[Darren G]

Havent had any problems with the 5700xt myself, i've been satisfied so far. About to start Doom Eternal this weekend so will see how that goes!

 That's why I referred to it earlier as AMD roulette.  Some people seem to have few or no issues whilst for many others it's been a shit-show.   I'd say that more people have had issues with the card than not though.  Personally, I've had two separate 5700xt cards (different brands),  have had them running in two different systems (after a complete upgrade) and have had numerous troubles throughout.     

[Darren G]

My current build is showing it's age and I'm considering a new, full system. Started putting together a wish/build list with an eye on black Friday deals inbound...

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5000 series, will wait for the final price versus performance before I decide the exact chip.
MB - Aorus X570 AORUS MASTER / ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero / MSI MPG X570 GAMING PRO CARBON
RAM - G.Skill Trident Z Royal F4-3600C19D-32GTRS Memory Module 32 GB DDR4 3600 MHz x2
Memory - Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 x2
Cooling - CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML360R RGB

Still can't decide on a case but that's not massively important just yet and will wait to see what sort of power draw the new AMD cards pull before making a decision on psu too, especially with these new GTX connectors not being standard.

Which just leaves the decision on the card, no chance I will go 3090, it's just crazy money for the gains over the 3080. So it will either be a GTX 3080, a RX 6900 XT (expect this to be too expensive) or RX 6800 XT. Hopefully tmw we'll start to get a feel for who's won this current round of the gpu battle.

It also looks like the black friday deals are starting even earlier this year so if anyone spots a deal too good to pass feel free to DM me

 Dunno if I'm a bit late here mate (only just seen the post) but I wouldn't be going for CL19 ram given that you seem to be going for the best performance possible. You'll lose significant frames per second on slightly more CPU intensive titles such as Assassin's Creed and Tomb Raider relative to something with lower latency, i.e-  CL16 3600mhz.   

[Kashinoda]

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT kits are good, I have the 3200Mhz 16-18-18-38 kit running at 3600MHz 16-18-12-36. Though you can just buy higher binned versions straight out of the box.

[has gone odd]

Wow, I have to say that I'm surprised at the numbers from the 6900xt!  As you're aware, AMD has been pretty strong in recent years at mid-range and thereabouts, but I didn't expect them to be giving the 3090 that sort of competition after Nvidia being the kings of high-end for so long.  Like you say though, competition across the range is great for us.

For sure, great for the consumer this. Seems the 3090 is well slapped about by AMD this time around.

Drivers will squeeze a bit more performance out of these cards as time goes on as well, though chances of getting one now before 2021 are slim to nothing sadly.

[Titi Camara]

Dunno if I'm a bit late here mate (only just seen the post) but I wouldn't be going for CL19 ram given that you seem to be going for the best performance possible. You'll lose significant frames per second on slightly more CPU intensive titles such as Assassin's Creed and Tomb Raider relative to something with lower latency, i.e-  CL16 3600mhz.

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT kits are good, I have the 3200Mhz 16-18-18-38 kit running at 3600MHz 16-18-12-36. Though you can just buy higher binned versions straight out of the box.

By no means final, availability and sale prices may push me in a different direction, but for the moment I'm thinking about this set up:

CPU - RYZEN 9 5950X SIXTEEN CORE 4.9GHZ (SOCKET AM4) PROCESSOR (although I may opt for the RYZEN 9 5900X TWELVE CORE 4.8GHZ (SOCKET AM4) PROCESSOR once the full benchmarks are in)
Motherboard - ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi) ATX Motherboard AM4
CPU Cooler - ASUS ROG Ryujin 360
RAM - 2 x Crucial Ballistix RGB BL2K16G36C16U4BL 3600 MHz DDR4 32GB (16GB x2) - 64gb total
SSD - 2 x Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (although I might opt for the 1x2tb option to leave an extra slot for later expansion)
GPU - AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
PSU - ROG STRIX 850W 80 PLUS GOLD MODULAR (build requires 650w draw so a little extra headroom for OC)
Case - ASUS ROG Strix Helios
Cans - SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless

Constructive criticism is welcomed, as always

[Skeeve]

Friend of mine finally got his preordered 3090 yesterday, he got an inno3d x4 (the one with that silly looking 4th fan) and was not impressed with the accessories on that one, they didn't include the screws needed for the gpu support or include any instructions for the led cables, but the performance is another matter with 4k144 with HDR from Doom Eternal.

With the performance id have got out of that engine, I wonder if MS will make more use of it than Zenimax did, getting some of their 1st party studios to use it on other games, Halo Infinite was looking like it needed a gfx upgrade for example. 

[Skeeve]

Cans - SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless

Do those have the option of being used with a cable too or are they purely wireless? If the latter, then it seems like a slight mistake to add in some latency to such a high-end system.

[Titi Camara]

Friend of mine finally got his preordered 3090 yesterday, he got an inno3d x4 (the one with that silly looking 4th fan) and was not impressed with the accessories on that one, they didn't include the screws needed for the gpu support or include any instructions for the led cables, but the performance is another matter with 4k144 with HDR from Doom Eternal.

Holy fuck I bet that's enormous! I once made the mistake of buying a 2nd inno3d 980ti, with a view to having 2 in sli.....they were that big it wouldn't even fit in the 3rd PCIe slot

Do those have the option of being used with a cable too or are they purely wireless? If the latter, then it seems like a slight mistake to add in some latency to such a high-end system.

I not sure but......I'm going to put my new desktop on a desk and the last thing I want to do is jump up with my headphones attached and drag it off the edge

[Skeeve]

I not sure but......I'm going to put my new desktop on a desk and the last thing I want to do is jump up with my headphones attached and drag it off the edge

Go for something with a removable cable and you can always get a long enough one to avoid that possibility e.g. on my HD650 the cable it comes with as standard is 3m long, although obviously most of us won't need anywhere near that much to avoid the jumping up factor.

On a related note, for anyone looking for a tidy headphone stand/hanger, I can recommend the Brainwavz Hengja - The Headphone Desk Hanger, nice and sturdy and wasn't much more than a tenner when I got it.

[Schmidt]

On the subject of headsets, I switched from a gaming headset to some quality headphones and a decent mic, the price wasn't outlandish but the audio quality is much better (though I'm not much of an audiophile) and I don't have issues with feedback and poor voice quality when using the mic.

I went with a Samson Go Mic and byerdynamic DT 990 PRO headphones plugged into a FiiO Olympus 2 amp. The only issue I have with the set up is that the headphone cable is coiled and a little heavy when hanging freely.

Not sure if the same setup can be used with consoles so if that's something you want it might be better to go with a gaming headset, but as I just use mine with my PC it's a good fit.

[Kashinoda]

On the subject of headsets, I switched from a gaming headset to some quality headphones and a decent mic, the price wasn't outlandish but the audio quality is much better (though I'm not much of an audiophile) and I don't have issues with feedback and poor voice quality when using the mic.

I went with a Samson Go Mic and byerdynamic DT 990 PRO headphones plugged into a FiiO Olympus 2 amp. The only issue I have with the set up is that the headphone cable is coiled and a little heavy when hanging freely.

Not sure if the same setup can be used with consoles so if that's something you want it might be better to go with a gaming headset, but as I just use mine with my PC it's a good fit.

I echo the shout for the Samson Go, I've had that for 4 years now on a cheap microphone arm and it's fine.

For a wireless solution Titi I thoroughly recommend the Sennheiser RS175. They're RF wireless headphones meant for TV or HiFi use.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-RS175-U-Digital-Wireless-Headphones-Black/dp/B07XTW93RV

Had both 4 years and I've had no issues. I also have the Arctis Pro Wireless for work, they're okay for the money but thats about it.

[stewil007]

I'm looking to buy my 13 yr his first gaming PC and to be honest haven't got a clue.

He loves Minecraft, COD, Fortnite - that sort of thing on his Xbox and I imagine it will be similar for his PC.

Can anybody give me pointers to a decent set up and the price i should be paying for levels of gaming PC.

Also, where is the best place to buy and so on.

TIA

Saw this article on value gaming systems https://www.pcpowerzone.co.uk/gaming-pcs/cheap-bundle/

would these be a good place him to start out on?  as it stands we could get the most expensive system from the article for just under £700

Comes with:-

CPU: AMD Ryzen 2300x 4.0Ghz Quad Core (Athlon 64)
Graphics Card: Geforce GTX 1050Ti 4GB
RAM: 8GB DDR4 SDRAM
Storage Space: 1TB HDD Serial ATA
Operating System: Windows 10 pre-installed
Extras: Illuminating 7 colour keyboard with mouse and pad
WI-FI Ready: 300Mbps Network Card
Monitor: 24 inch LED Super Monitor


Is that good??

[Darren G]

By no means final, availability and sale prices may push me in a different direction, but for the moment I'm thinking about this set up:

CPU - RYZEN 9 5950X SIXTEEN CORE 4.9GHZ (SOCKET AM4) PROCESSOR (although I may opt for the RYZEN 9 5900X TWELVE CORE 4.8GHZ (SOCKET AM4) PROCESSOR once the full benchmarks are in)
Motherboard - ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi) ATX Motherboard AM4
CPU Cooler - ASUS ROG Ryujin 360
RAM - 2 x Crucial Ballistix RGB BL2K16G36C16U4BL 3600 MHz DDR4 32GB (16GB x2) - 64gb total
SSD - 2 x Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (although I might opt for the 1x2tb option to leave an extra slot for later expansion)
GPU - AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
PSU - ROG STRIX 850W 80 PLUS GOLD MODULAR (build requires 650w draw so a little extra headroom for OC)
Case - ASUS ROG Strix Helios
Cans - SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless

Constructive criticism is welcomed, as always

Just another thought on the ram.  I've been reading a bit on the new AMD CPUs and it appears from initial reports that the sweet spot for ram speed is no longer 3600mhz as with the Zen 2 chips, but 4000mhz.  Given how much ram speed has affected the performance of AMD CPUs to this point in time, it may be worth considering waiting for G.Skills's upcoming CL16 4000mhz to be released if that turns out to be the case.  If for whatever reason (i.e the 4000mhz thing turns out to be bollocks) you decide to remain with 3600mhz ram then I'd recommend Team Group T-Force Xtreem ARGB DDR4-3600 C14 over Crucial Ballistix any day of the week. 

[Skeeve]

Another possible consideration with the memory, it might weirdly turn out that using 4x sticks gives a boost over 2x, only seen it from this one guy so far, but his stuff is usually decent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkGu6A-6sQ

[Kashinoda]

Another possible consideration with the memory, it might weirdly turn out that using 4x sticks gives a boost over 2x, only seen it from this one guy so far, but his stuff is usually decent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkGu6A-6sQ

It's not nessasarily the amount of sticks, 2x16GB dual rank gives a similar performance uplift and usually does with Ryzen.

[Darren G]

It's not nessasarily the amount of sticks, 2x16GB dual rank gives a similar performance uplift and usually does with Ryzen.

It's absolutely about the number of sticks within the context of the video. 

Additionally, it's possibly worth mentioning - given that Titi is considering his options - that every benchmark that I've seen seems to indicate that 4x8 beats 2x16 in a like for like test on Ryzen 3, though they're admittedly reasonably close for the most part with Cl16 timings.  Then there's the timings themselves to consider though.  I haven't shopped for RAM in a while, but is it even possible to find 3600mhz, CL14 ram in a 16gb stick at present?

 That all being said, more often that not it's not going to make a great deal of difference for gaming as other factors such as the GPU's ceiling are likely going to come into play first. 

[Kashinoda]

It's absolutely about the number of sticks within the context of the video. 

Additionally, it's possibly worth mentioning - given that Titi is considering his options - that every benchmark that I've seen seems to indicate that 4x8 beats 2x16 in a like for like test on Ryzen 3, though they're admittedly reasonably close for the most part with Cl16 timings.  Then there's the timings themselves to consider though.  I haven't shopped for RAM in a while, but is it even possible to find 3600mhz, CL14 ram in a 16gb stick at present?

 That all being said, more often that not it's not going to make a great deal of difference for gaming as other factors such as the GPU's ceiling are likely going to come into play first. 

Steves video his poor by his standards though, so much so I think he should remove it. It isn't news that performance increases with 4x8GB single rank or 2x16GB dual rank on Ryzen, like I said it usually does.

8GB sticks are (typically) single rank, using 4 modules enables you to use rank interleaving, you get the same thing with 2x16GB dual rank modules.

If you look at Hardware Unboxed latest RAM benchmarks, though not completely apples to apples you can see this is true:



EDIT -

[Matt_Red]

Do we have any TPP players in here? I've been playing PUBG since it came out and can never find other games to play in my spare time so always end up going back to that.

[Darren G]

Steves video his poor by his standards though, so much so I think he should remove it. It isn't news that performance increases with 4x8GB single rank or 2x16GB dual rank on Ryzen, like I said it usually does.

8GB sticks are (typically) single rank, using 4 modules enables you to use rank interleaving, you get the same thing with 2x16GB dual rank modules.

If you look at Hardware Unboxed latest RAM benchmarks, though not completely apples to apples you can see this is true:



EDIT -

  With regards to the vid, Steve himself has noted that "it's to do with ranks", so nobody is disputing that aspect is present. It doesn't change the fact though that - at least with 8gb sticks - 4 gives more performance than two, which is why I clearly stated that "within the context of the video" it's about the number of sticks.   

As for the graph, that's poor by your standards given that the highlighted sections compare two different speeds of RAM (3600mhz vs 3200mhz). So much so that I think you should remove it. 
 
Here's a video where the comparison is made with RAM that is actually the same speed.  Keep in mind that the advantage is going to grow if you swap out the 4x8gb sticks for 3600 CL14 sticks, an option that you don't have with the 16gb sticks:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/up3F37XTNDo&amp;t=20s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/up3F37XTNDo&amp;t=20s</a>

 As for Wendell's statement regarding the 5600X, it's an indication of what may be a sweet spot, so somewhat conjectural at this point in time. Regardless, I've been very specific in my comments in that I was referring to Ryzen 3 when making comparisons between 4x8 and 16x2 performance.  We'll have to wait and see just exactly how R5 shapes up in terms of optimal RAM usage.  It could be that the bloody things like 16x4 DR for all we know.  As for Titi's upcoming build, It may also turn out that the upcoming G Skill 3800mhz, 16gb, cl14 sticks will be the best option.  We'll just have to wait on the testing to see how it all pans out.   

Probably not worth going down the rabbit hole any further as we're talking nominal numbers of frames per second either way, so other than it being a debate for tech geeks like ourselves it's probably a redundant discussion. 
 

[Kashinoda]

  With regards to the vid, Steve himself has noted that "it's to do with ranks", so nobody is disputing that aspect is present. It doesn't change the fact though that - at least with 8gb sticks - 4 gives more performance than two, which is why I clearly stated that "within the context of the video" it's about the number of sticks.   

As for the graph, that's poor by your standards given that the highlighted sections compare two different speeds of RAM (3600mhz vs 3200mhz). So much so that I think you should remove it. 
 
Here's a video where the comparison is made with RAM that is actually the same speed.  Keep in mind that the advantage is going to grow if you swap out the 4x8gb sticks for 3600 CL14 sticks, an option that you don't have with the 16gb sticks:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/up3F37XTNDo&amp;t=20s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/up3F37XTNDo&amp;t=20s</a>

 As for Wendell's statement regarding the 5600X, it's an indication of what may be a sweet spot, so somewhat conjectural at this point in time. Regardless, I've been very specific in my comments in that I was referring to Ryzen 3 when making comparisons between 4x8 and 16x2 performance.  We'll have to wait and see just exactly how R5 shapes up in terms of optimal RAM usage.  It could be that the bloody things like 16x4 DR for all we know.  As for Titi's upcoming build, It may also turn out that the upcoming G Skill 3800mhz, 16gb, cl14 sticks will be the best option.  We'll just have to wait on the testing to see how it all pans out.   

Probably not worth going down the rabbit hole any further as we're talking nominal numbers of frames per second either way, so other than it being a debate for tech geeks like ourselves it's probably a redundant discussion. 
 

To be fair to myself like, I said it wasn't apples to apples. I think 3200MHz CL14 should be roughly equal to or better than 3600MHz CL18, guess it depends on the game (and the sub timings)!

I'll agree to end it here like you say, margin of error territory and all that. I wonder how much those G. Skill sticks will go for? Sounds like Samsung B die on steroids.

[Darren G]

No idead how much the g skill sticks will go for, but fairly sure that if they're ridicylously priced that Titi will go for them. 

 So are you tempted by the Ryzen 5s given their power or are you happy to stick with your 3600?  Made a decision on your next GPU or waiting on more info? Regardless of how often we disagree, still respect your opinions, so interested on your thoughts..

[Kashinoda]

No idead how much the g skill sticks will go for, but fairly sure that if they're ridicylously priced that Titi will go for them. 

 So are you tempted by the Ryzen 5s given their power or are you happy to stick with your 3600?  Made a decision on your next GPU or waiting on more info? Regardless of how often we disagree, still respect your opinions, so interested on your thoughts..

Quite right

I'm not too fussed at the moment with CPUs, I like to get a few generations of use before upgrading. 4690k > 3700X was a nice improvement.

I guess the GPU will depend how Cyperpunk plays at 1440p Ultrawide or 4K with my 2070 Super, that'll probably be a good barometer. My displays don't help decision making either:

Monitor - Acer Predator X34P 3440x1440 120hz G-Sync Only
TV - Samsung 65' Q80R 4k/60Hz and 1440p/120Hz Freesync only

I prefer playing single player AAA games on the TV but most of my gaming is at my desk, I'm also looking at this but it's a tad ridiculous: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Odyssey-Curved-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B0866C4BM7

Probably best off not spending money whilst demand is silly, also want to see what AMD's DLSS solution is like (which should be January?) not bothered about RT right now. At RRP I don't think you can go wrong in either camp but the markup is ridiculous right now.

Honestly more interested in a PS5, the controller has me more hyped than anything. You?

[Darren G]

 Same page as you on the CPUs and went from a 7700K to a 3900x.  Even with a chunky new GPU I'm certain that the CPU isn't really going to be a limiting factor in games running to my satuisfaction and the vast,vast majority of games that I play are always going to be maxing out the GPU before the CPU comes too much into play.

Pretty sure I saw Linus banging on about that monitor recently.  Looks nice, but personally I don't like anything like that big for gaming for a couple of reasons.

 I'm also interested in AMD's DLSS equivalent as they've been pretty cryptic about it.  Regarding the ray tracing, I'm not too certain of the context of your comment, but you are aware that the new AMD cards are going to support it, right?

On a completely unrelated note:  Mass Effect Trilogy remake announced.  Get the fuck in!

[Kashinoda]

Yeah I'm aware AMD support RayTracing, a lot of people were commentating on the lack of RT performance numbers when they revealled the card. I think there are some leaked benchmark numbers from 3DMark which show it at 2080Ti levels? What I mean is that's good enough for me right now, having the best RT performance isn't a selling point for me as we're still very much in early adopt phase.

More interested in DLSS / AMD's Super Resolution and will be keen to see what DLSS does to Cyberpunk on my 2070S as this will be the most 'expansive' game it's been used on yet.

[Darren G]

Ah, I see. Wasn't sure where you were coming from on the RT. I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Cyberpunk's potential performance in general. The Redengine has been pretty good in that regard to this point, unlike for example Ubisofts unoptimised clusterfucks Anvil 2.0 and Disrupt, used in the Assassin's Creed and Watchdogs games respectively . Unable to speculate on how well DLSS will be implemented, but have a feeling that even at a straight 2K you might he ok. Again though, it's just an educated guess which may turn out to be bollocks. 

[Skeeve]

Obvious consideration with the 3000 to 5000 ryzen move is that the next gen will actually be a new socket type, so it would depend on when you'd next one to do the bigger update, either jumping straight in or waiting a few years.

[Titi Camara]

And so it begins....

Bought

ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi) ATX Motherboard, AMD Socket AM4

And

Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2

May seem crazy to buy before black Friday but ASUS have £65 cash back on the mobo till this weekend and I just can't see it going any cheaper...

[Titi Camara]

I've watched a lot of videos on RAM timings and product benchmarks but I still haven't got a clue.

There seems to be a decent uptick from 3200 to 3600 but not much when you then move to 4000

Also not much improvement from c16 to c14

So 3600 c16 still seems to be the sweetspot for these new chips?

Plus everything I look for is out of stock.....easily the most complicated aspect of a build!

Edit:

Thoughts on these?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team-group-8pack-ripped-edition-16gb-2x8gb-ddr4-pc4-28800c14-3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-001-8p.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team-group-8pack-edition-32gb-2x16gb-ddr4-pc4-28800c16-3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-my-002-8p.html

[Titi Camara]

Bloody hell....post three!

Even though the benchmarking score for the 5950x is 7k higher than the 5900x the difference in FPS benchmarks appears to be almost negligible, maybe a % or 2?

Anyone else seeing the same thing at 4k? If so I'm not sure I can justify the extra £250 ish for the 5950x

[Kashinoda]

Bloody hell....post three!

Even though the benchmarking score for the 5950x is 7k higher than the 5900x the difference in FPS benchmarks appears to be almost negligible, maybe a % or 2?

Anyone else seeing the same thing at 4k? If so I'm not sure I can justify the extra £250 ish for the 5950x

5950X is nor worth it for a pure gaming build at all, the higher scores will be multi-core production workloads.

Stricly speaking for gaming you should be fine with a 5600X, it's within spitting distance of the others in the stack!

At 4K it really doesn't matter as you're always going to be GPU bottlenecked anyway.

[Zeb]

Impression I'm getting from looking right now is to hold off til next year for upgrading? Been trying to figure out best upgrade path from 1600x and a 1080 for a solid 1440p. Looking like a 5600x and one of the 3000 series (once they're more widely available)?

[OsirisMVZ]

You definitely don't need a 3000 series for 1440p. I got a 1660S two months ago which has been amazing for that so far. My CPU is the old reliable Ryzen 5 3600.

[Slick_Beef]

Yeah my 5700XT handles 1440p well, even with an old 6th gen i5.  I'm thinking of upgrading to the 5600X just as soon as they actually have them back in stock here!