Is it worth stepping down from i7?

[Innocentmask]

So I've just gotten a new desktop to move on from laptop but now I have started to have second thoughts on my decision if this is worth it. I settled for I5 since i thought I7 was mostly for streaming or modeling, the former is mainly for budget. Now I'm not entirely sure if processors themselves are the main thing to consider since there are also graphics cards. My desktop has much higher graphics card which i should be fine enough. I did intend to move onto the desktop phase to play the games that ran mediocre on my old pc to get a smoother experience. course it would depend on what games i would be playing but I'm not really gonna set them up on the highest settings, i'm looking for the reliable performance. I could consider maybe upgrading processor at a future date but would that be still worth it?

Is i5 a better compromise than i7? Should i keep the i5 processor or consider upgrading later?

[eclipse]

Processors get left in the dust sooner or later.  Once upon a time, Pentium was considered good!  But whether or not you move depends on what that computer will be used for.  If you're primarily a Steam gamer, and plan on staying that way, springing a little more for a better processor isn't a bad idea.

[Quillmonger]

The good thing about most desktops is that you can swap the processor out some of the time and add more ram easily. So you're not exactly married to what you have. I will say this that the more parts you have doing work in the computer the better it usually is. Like I don't play anything too graphically intense, but when I had the big video card in my desktop it made everything else run smoother because there was less processing weight on other things. An adequate processor is one that you don't even think about, it never becomes a problem that what you're trying to do is a little too heavy for your computer, but you can sometimes get by with slightly less than adequate if you're not doing something too strenuous too often. 

The i7 is a noticeable difference. I'm on an Intel Quad i7 now from an i5 and man it's crazy how little effort video rendering takes for things that used to take real time before. 

[Ari Chan]

Um I think you need to be more a little bit more specific.

What processor and graphic card are in your new PC? What games are you planning to play on it? What is the resolution/refresh rate of your monitor? Is it a gaming PC only? Usually i7 only performs slightly better than i5 (same generation ofc) in most games and the extra price you're paying for an i7 is definitely not worth the little boost but the i7 is much better at productive works like modeling/editing thanks to its higher core count. Nearly all games relies more on the graphic card than the processor though, usually people who mainly play games only get a good enough CPU to not bottleneck their GPU.

Tldr: if you're only playing games and your GPU is not high end then an i5 is good enough, if you plan on using your PC for stuff like 3D modeling, video editing, streaming, etc. then you should consider upgrading your CPU to an i7 in the future.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Ari Chan

[Innocentmask]

7 hours ago, Ari Chan said:

Um I think you need to be more a little bit more specific.

What processor and graphic card are in your new PC? What games are you planning to play on it? What is the resolution/refresh rate of your monitor? Is it a gaming PC only? Usually i7 only performs slightly better than i5 (same generation ofc) in most games and the extra price you're paying for an i7 is definitely not worth the little boost but the i7 is much better at productive works like modeling/editing thanks to its higher core count. Nearly all games relies more on the graphic card than the processor though, usually people who mainly play games only get a good enough CPU to not bottleneck their GPU.

It is a gaming desktop. I am not really gonna get those games that would likely require you to have best graphics to experience or ones normally on consoles. I would only want to run at stable levels. I wanted the new pc to run the games like Black mesa, Gmod, Minecraft and Doom 2016 to be smooth. Recent games have been upping their graphics and patches so its starting make the old pc slower.

If you need a bit more info here's the processors and graphic cards.

Spoiler

 

GeForce GTX 1660

Intel I5-9400.

 

If you'd like i can also give specs on the old pc.

[Ari Chan]

5 hours ago, Innocentmask said:

It is a gaming desktop. I am not really gonna get those games that would likely require you to have best graphics to experience or ones normally on consoles. I would only want to run at stable levels. I wanted the new pc to run the games like Black mesa, Gmod, Minecraft and Doom 2016 to be smooth. Recent games have been upping their graphics and patches so its starting make the old pc slower.

If you need a bit more info here's the processors and graphic cards.

  Hide contents

 

GeForce GTX 1660

Intel I5-9400.

 

If you'd like i can also give specs on the old pc.

Your PC is more than good enough for the games that you wanna play, in fact it can even run most recent triple A titles on medium-low settings just fine.