AMD or Intel best CPU for 3080/3090 gpu, gaming pc

[VexedED209]

Good morning,

Appreciate these there may not actually be an answer to these questions just yet as a lot is based on speculation but hoping I can pick some brains for some best guess answers!

I am torn between AMD and Intel for my new build which I will be getting a 3080 or 3090 gpu for (depending on performance/price/availability, hopefully more will be revealed later today!)

I want the pc only for gaming, my budget for the tower is approx £4.0k but I can be flexible on that.

I was thinking I would go Intel as it seems they still have the best game performance from a fps point of view but my concern is they have not adopted pcie 4.0 yet. I appreciate with the current generation of gpus that it doesn't make a differenc but I've seen rumblings that the new gpus may actually be able to make use of the extra bandwidth so could close the advantage that Intel currently has on gaming. Plus I would get pcie 4.0 advantages for my ssd, although just gaming I'm guessing I wouldn't really notice the extra speed?

Further to that I intend to game at 1440p, maybe ultra wide or 4k and from the benchmarks I've seen the higher res you go, the less difference there is between AMD and Intel's gaming performance.

I've been going round in circles as to which way to go and unfortunately I don't think there will be testing done before I put my order in as I intend to get it in early.

So yeah, which processer would you guys go for for a gaming only PC with the above in mind?

My other concern is cooling this beast, these new cards look set to put out a lot of heat and I'm wondering if you would be able to direct me to a case that PCS offers with the best cooling that can fit everything in comfortably. I was drawn towards the coolermaster because of aestetics and reading reviews it has decent air flow but I would happily change if there's something better.

Finally I'm looking for a monitor that will actually make use of all this goodness, I can't decide if I go 4k or1440 ultra wide. I play a mixture of games from fps to strategies and would like something that covers all bases, quick refresh rates with a good looking panel. I want to maintain 120+ fps on high settings so would the lower res be the best bet for now? Any suggestions on this front would be much appreciated, my budget is approx £1.5k but again I can be flexible for the right monitor.

I have copied roughly what I was looking at specs wise below depending if I go amd or Intel, obviously the gpu will be changed. Any suggestions on how I could improve the builds?

Thanks so much in advance for any answers and suggestions!


Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte X570 GAMING X: ATX (USB 3.2 Gen 1, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation
NONE
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 16 working days
Price: £2,764.00 including VAT and Delivery



Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Ten-Core Processor i9-10850K (3.6GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z490 AORUS Master (LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX/SLI, Wi-Fi) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation
NONE
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 16 working days
Price: £2,832.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[VexedED209]

Well for anyone that is interested (although it doesn't seem that's anyone 😂) I'm going for the ryzen chip, the 3090 and a 38GL950G monitor, hopefully it all works together thanks to anyone that took the time to read my post.

 

[AgentCooper]

Hi! Here’s a big sorry from me, I didn’t see your message earlier this week, I’d have loved to have chipped in with some thoughts. First things first, well done for going for AMD on your choice of CPU, that was a wise move for all the reasons you justified in your original post.

My main concern is that your beast may actually be a bit OTT if it’s for gaming alone! It’ll surely run everything thrown at it but in a perfect world I’d have seen this earlier and maybe been able to save you some money 😆

 

[VexedED209]

Hey! No worries at all!

It's not ordered yet as I can't put it through until the 24th (due to the 3090 release date)

Anything in particular you'd look at chopping and changing that would make a decent saving? Probably is overkill but with my last build I didn't go top end and regretted it after a year or so as it started falling behind.

Now I'm going for an UW high refresh monitor I'm gonna want to be hitting 120+ frames (it can do up to 160 without having bandwidth issues so that's the dream amount) graphics set to the highest possible and as more games come out supporting ray tracing I'd like to be able to take advantage of those features too.

Do you think the CPU is good enough that it won't be the cause of bottlenecks within the system?

Thanks again for your reply 👍

 

[AgentCooper]

Big question... do you want to go ultrawide at around 34 inches or all the way up to super wide (49 inch 😮)

What games you play and what size desk you own may affect what screen will be best for you. The tweaking can begin when that info is on the table 😁

There’s a few on here who really know their stuff, we can call in the big guns and get you a monstrosity of a system!

 

[VexedED209]

I'm going with the 38 inch UW, already got it on order after hunting around for a ehole. going super ultrawide is too much for me haha.

Desk wise I went for one of those Ikea draws and worktop setups, it's a pretty big work top so I've got a fair bit of space and sit a little way back from the monitor.

 

[AgentCooper]

Okie dokie! What make and model of monitor did you go for? That info will be very helpful.

I’m a man who is at work in the morning and should probably get some sleep, I’m going to activate the bat signal before I head to bed so you’ll have some seriously knowledgeable people to provide their expert opinions.

@SpyderTracks, @Nursemorph, please can I get you involved to help get the OP a chunky mother of a gaming system? Your assistance is, as always, very much appreciated 👍

 

[VexedED209]

Mentioned the monitor iny previous post, gone for the LG38GL950G. Seems like it'll give me good performance without being as insanely priced as the g sync ultimates. Nice fast response time for an IPS panel too, so I'm thinking it'll work on a wide spectrum of games which is what I'm after.

Haha I'm with you there, again, I appreciate the help, thanks a lot 😁

 

[SpyderTracks]

To be honest, I am still not fully understanding of where the new GPUs sit compared to current cards....however, my understanding is that a 3090 isn't really a gaming card, in the same way the Titan isn't. Given you have gone Ultrawide rather than Superwide, I'd say the 3080 is more than plenty

The 3090 is the new nomenclature for the Titan, it's not a gaming card, it's designed for enthusiast rendering or data science where VRAM is important.

The 3070 is about the same as a 2080ti, so aimed at 4k 144Hz

The 3060 will be the 1440p 144Hz card

The 3080 is in basically new territory for 4k ultrawides.

Any new gen card will be completely overpowered for anything under 240Hz at 1080p. 1080p casual gaming just isn't a thing at the moment. Even for competitive, the argument is there to step up to 1440p 240Hz now there are monitors to fit, or minimum of 1080p 360Hz.

 

[SpyderTracks]

So, for 1440p Ultrawides and Superwide, they are both covered by the 3070? Or are 1440p Ultras covered by the 3060?

Why did they have to change the number of cards...I was at a point where I finally understood them....mightily inconsiderate of them if you ask me, they could have at least asked my opinion first

Lols... I know, it all changes so much, you will get used to the general nomenclature.

I'd say 3070 for 1440 ultrawide and 4k 144Hz

3080 for 1440 superwides or 4k Ultrawide

 

[VexedED209]

Appreciate what you're saying in regards to the 3090 and it not being aimed specifically at gamers, but there's no disadvantage to using it if you're gaming with it?

It's hard to be sure what these graphics cards are capable of without benchmarks from non affiliates.

I'm hoping to run at 160fps (or as close to as possible, on a 3i inch ultra wide, game settings set to the highest and rtx cranked up as more of those games become available. And then continue to perform for newer games that come out for a number of years. I honestly don't think the 3090 will do that, I find it hard to believe the 3080 is going to get anywhere close. I'm concerned by 10gig of vram as well, the rumours indicate there's likely to be a ti or super version released possibly to combat big Navi later down the line with up to 20gigs of vram, I'd hate to go 3080 now and feel I'd want an upgrade in 12 months time.

I appreciate the 3080 is probably the best 'bang for buck' option but I'm lucky to have a bit of flexibility with the budget and am prioritising performance over cost (within reason)

Did you see the digital foundry (YouTube channel) exclusive hands on benchmarking with the 3080? They weren't allowed to show fps just a % imorovement over the 2080 (not to, standard 2080) and it was about 80%. Which is great, but isn't getting anywhere near what I would like to. From what they said it seems like the goal of the 308p is to hit highest settings, ray tracing at 4k at a consistent 60fps. From the specs so far it is believed the 3090 will be about 20% more powerful than the 3080 so I'm sure would push these games more towards the numbers I'm trying to achieve.

I put my hands up that I could be completely talking out of my backside as I am in no way an expert and have just come to these conclusions based on my limited knowledge from researching 😂.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Appreciate what you're saying in regards to the 3090 and it not being aimed specifically at gamers, but there's no disadvantage to using it if you're gaming with it?

It’s just a waste of money as you would never use the extra VRAM or cuda cores on any monitor currently in existence.

A lot of people don’t seem to understand the significance of needing to pair the monitor with the GPU. You get an overpowered card and it’s not going to improve your experience at all in any way whatsoever, it’s just not going to be used to it’s full potential. On a properly configured system, either the screen is being met by the gpu, or the gpu is maxing below the hz threshold and has room to grow into extra hertz.

It would offer zero benefit to the 3080. For an ultra wide, assuming you mean 3440 x 1440, you won’t need any more than the 3070 which would already be overpowered. If you’re talking 1080 ultra wide then quite frankly it’s defunct.

 

[VexedED209]

It’s just a waste of money as you would never use the extra VRAM or cuda cores on any monitor currently in existence.

A lot of people don’t seem to understand the significance of needing to pair the monitor with the GPU. You get an overpowered card and it’s not going to improve your experience at all in any way whatsoever, it’s just not going to be used to it’s full potential. On a properly configured system, either the screen is being met by the gpu, or the gpu is maxing below the hz threshold and has room to grow into extra hertz.

It would offer zero benefit to the 3080. For an ultra wide, assuming you mean 3440 x 1440, you won’t need any more than the 3070 which would already be overpowered. If you’re talking 1080 ultra wide then quite frankly it’s defunct.

Nah the resolution on that monitor is 3840 x 1600 WQHD+, which as I understand is effectively 2k for that size? It's 38 inch so a bit bigger than standard UW.

I totally understand about matching a monitor to a gpu to get the benefits of it, that's why I mentioned in the op about bottle necks, gpu and monitor being two big ones but there's plenty of additional ones too.

Sorry if I'm being dense, but just to confirm, you're saying with that monitor, I'd hit the monitors 160hz maximum, 3840x1600 res, with ultra settings on AAA games, with ray tracing on, with a 3070??

Again, using the digital foundry's video regarding their hands on benchmarking with the 3080, they are talking about it hitting 60 fps with that card, not 160.
According to their findings it's around 80% better performance than a 2080 (standard) I just don't see how that card could maximize the monitor, let alone a 3070?? The link for the video I'm talking about is below, I believe they are the only 'tech reviewers' that have got hands on so far.

 

[VexedED209]

And I appreciate my monitor is not 4k, so it's not exactly the same as what has been tested there, but it's still a lot more than a 27inch 1440p for example

 

[SpyderTracks]

Again, using the digital foundry's video regarding their hands on benchmarking with the 3080, they are talking about it hitting 60 fps with that card, not 160.

That’s with 8k DLSS and ultra RT. So yes, that would be expected. No one in their right mind would expect anything like maxing 4K 144hz with those settings.

Sorry if I'm being dense, but just to confirm, you're saying with that monitor, I'd hit the monitors 160hz maximum, 3840x1600 res, with ultra settings on AAA games, with ray tracing on, with a 3070??

Ah, ok, that’s an unusual resolution, a 3080 would make more sense then. These cards are reckoned to have a 10% performance impact with full RT, compared to 2000’s 50% (being conservative). The 2080ti will push 80fps at 4K which roughly +25% pixel count from just over 6000 to just over 8000. So the 3080 would comfortably max that screen.

just out of interest, what card do you currently have?

 

[VexedED209]

That’s with 8k DLSS and ultra RT. So yes, that would be expected. No one in their right mind would expect anything like maxing 4K 144hz with those settings.


Ah, ok, that’s an unusual resolution, a 3080 would make more sense then. These cards are reckoned to have a 10% performance impact with full RT, compared to 2000’s 50% (being conservative). The 2080ti will push 80fps at 4K which roughly +25% pixel count from just over 6000 to just over 8000. So the 3080 would comfortably max that screen.

just out of interest, what card do you currently have?

Nvidia have claimed the 3090 can do 8k at 60fps but I don't think the others could? Edit- sorry I saw you said 8k dlss not that it was 8k res, no idea what 8k dlss is so yeah 😂.

I'm rocking a 980 at the moment, it still just about struggles through the newer games on really low settings haha.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Nvidia have claimed the 3090 can do 8k at 60fps but I don't think the others could? Edit- sorry I saw you said 8k dlss not that it was 8k res, no idea what 8k dlss is so yeah 😂.

I'm rocking a 980 at the moment, it still just about struggles through the newer games on really low settings haha.

View attachment 18292View attachment 18291

Believe me, the difference even between the 980 and the 1080 on that monitor would leave you stunned. The 3080 will completely blow it out of the water. It really is completely feasible for full RT without compromise which the 2000 series sorely lacked, they just weren’t ready for prime time with regards to RT.

These cards are insanely powerful.

Obviously 3rd party reviews will cement any guesswork we do here, but the hardware specs, and digital foundry review are enough for me to trust that nvidia aren’t misleading us like they did with the 2000 launch.

 

[VexedED209]

For sure.

I don't have that monitor yet (arrives Monday) by the way, im currently using a 1080p 144hz predator. I probably will only plug it in to check it in for dead pixels and any issues then stick it back in the box until I get my new tower haha.

Anyways, exciting times to be a pc gamer regardless!

I'm gonna wait for more benchmarks anyway, I imagine reviewers will get hands on with the cards before I can even put my order through so I'll wait on more info before making a final decision either way. Thanks for helping explain Spyder 👍.

 

[SpyderTracks]

For sure.

I don't have that monitor yet (arrives Monday) by the way, im currently using a 1080p 144hz predator. I probably will only plug it in to check it in for dead pixels and any issues then stick it back in the box until I get my new tower haha.

Anyways, exciting times to be a pc gamer regardless!

I'm gonna wait for more benchmarks anyway, I imagine reviewers will get hands on with the cards before I can even put my order through so I'll wait on more info before making a final decision either way. Thanks for helping explain Spyder 👍.

Yeah, it’s always worth waiting for reviews, definitely. From what I gather the embargo lifts quite close to release date. Hopefully it will be a day early or something at least just to give people even a few hours to make up their minds!

I’m definitely gonna snag me a 3080 too and upgrade to a superwide monitor, I just can’t wait for full RT. The really effective examples of it recently is MSFS2020 show what is possible and it really is quite stunning.

That’s a decent monitor, should do you well for a while. I haven’t seen that resolution before, will stick that on our list of recommendations.

 

[VexedED209]

Yeah, it’s always worth waiting for reviews, definitely. From what I gather the embargo lifts quite close to release date. Hopefully it will be a day early or something at least just to give people even a few hours to make up their minds!

I’m definitely gonna snag me a 3080 too and upgrade to a superwide monitor, I just can’t wait for full RT. The really effective examples of it recently is MSFS2020 show what is possible and it really is quite stunning.

That’s a decent monitor, should do you well for a while. I haven’t seen that resolution before, will stick that on our list of recommendations.

Have you decided on the monitor you're going to go for? Seems like there's a bit of a stock shortage at the moment, I guess covid lockdown+people prepping for the new cards has created a bit of a shortage.