Hey guys.
Early this year I built my first ITX computer in a SG13, using the Asrock Z270 ITX/AC board. It's a device used 80% for gaming and content consumption / 20% for 3d rendering in DAZ using Nvidia Iray, thus the built houses the Evga GTX1070 and a "wait-and-see" Pentium G4560 processor.
The dilemma starts. I built it just because I couldn't wait for SFF Ryzen, and back then I chose the G4560 due to previous rumors that Coffee Lake will be LGA1151, and thus would "surely" run on the Z270. As we know now, that did not happen (and odds of modded BIOS being out are now fairly low).
I am stuck in a little bit of a predicament, as the best processor I will ever be able to get for this build is the 7700k, and reasonably due to heat concerns on air (The Noctua L9i) it's probably the 7700 (non-k). Liquid cooling is too much of a hassle due to frequent international travel, and the difference between the two 7700s isn't that high, plus the prices in my country for Kaby Lakes are sinking like a rock and the non-k variant seems to drop faster - now costing the same as a Ryzen 5 1600.
The problem - it doesn't seem like it's much of a future-proof solution, being a quad core, and changing the whole platform frequently comes with problems.
While I regret not having been able to wait for Ryzen due to ITX mobo delays, there's nothing I can do about it now. I'm stuck with a platform I just built a couple of months ago that I know won't run any future processors, and I have to replace the processor due to the Pentium not being powerful enough. It's not at all due to rendering times which I don't care much about, but due to poor preview performance and loading delays caused by the processor underperforming. My options are:
1. Just replace the G4560 with a 7700, and that's it. In that case I would sit on the build for a couple of years and swallow the fact that it is not going to be future-proof and will have to be fully replaced in 3 or 4 years. The problem of spending money on a quad core chip at a possibly worst time is hurting me, despite the fact that for now the chip would be good enough, but what about in a year or two? All the modern chips have more cores now, and now the software will follow pretty much immediately. The computer will be used for gaming and work, which for the first time is hurting me, as the build needs to run all games for the years to come without me being able to upgrade the mobo or CPU. Not only am I used to sitting on a platform for ages, setting up software I use takes a long time so I'd rather have it done once and for all, but most of all a lot of the licenses I invest in are tied to the mobo (I already purchased several for the current mobo, unfortunately) and altogether they are quite expensive.
2. Sell the G4560 together with the mobo, get an ITX AM4 board with the Ryzen 5 1600 or Ryzen 7 1700. This option costs a little more initially, and requires more hassle but those chips already seem more future-proof, and the platform is much more future proof, so I could safely invest in it knowing the board will last me for a long time. The problem with this is that I already have around 250$ worth of software licenses already tied to the current Z270 mobo. Yeah, I know, ouch - it was my first Intel built and I did not expect it to be so short lived after 11 years on AM2. Plus I'd be selling the mobo I like at a loss and investing in a completely new platform now. Plus, if I bought the R5 1600 technically it wouldn't be much better than the 7700 in terms of gaming or 3d preview performance (again, I don't care about rendering times) so I'd be banking on the fact that future Ryzens will completely outclass the 7700 in those regards due to their vastly increased performance or games becoming vastly more threaded.
3. Same as 2, but get a Coffee Lake after they're out (really out). Negative - we have absolutely no clue about the Z370's longevity, and if the 8700 is the best thing that would run on it, then it's probably not worth all the hassle.
TLDR I know that there are many unknowns here, and honestly I'm stuck between getting the 7700 for now and praying that it will be a good performer until DDR5s and PCIe 5s are out, possibly to jump to AM5 or Intel 700-series or something in 2021, and hoping against the progress in the industry and that games won't start using a bazillion threads suddenly.
OR scrapping what I've built and taking some hit to the wallet for software I paid for in order to prevent further money wasted on more investment into a "dead end platform" and making the switch now, to a platform that would (probably) last me much longer. Then the doubt is whether it would really last me that much longer over the much simpler option of just getting the 7700.
The G4560, no matter how amazing, is unfortunately insufficient, so I have to make a switch one way or another, but what would you guys do in my shoes? How long do you guys think a 7700 would realistically last as a competitive option? How much logic is there in switching platforms now thinking that the 7700 won't last due to software getting more threaded soon?
A second opinion would be very much appreciated, as I've been stuck thinking about this for a long while now, and I need to move one way or another soon.
Early this year I built my first ITX computer in a SG13, using the Asrock Z270 ITX/AC board. It's a device used 80% for gaming and content consumption / 20% for 3d rendering in DAZ using Nvidia Iray, thus the built houses the Evga GTX1070 and a "wait-and-see" Pentium G4560 processor.
The dilemma starts. I built it just because I couldn't wait for SFF Ryzen, and back then I chose the G4560 due to previous rumors that Coffee Lake will be LGA1151, and thus would "surely" run on the Z270. As we know now, that did not happen (and odds of modded BIOS being out are now fairly low).
I am stuck in a little bit of a predicament, as the best processor I will ever be able to get for this build is the 7700k, and reasonably due to heat concerns on air (The Noctua L9i) it's probably the 7700 (non-k). Liquid cooling is too much of a hassle due to frequent international travel, and the difference between the two 7700s isn't that high, plus the prices in my country for Kaby Lakes are sinking like a rock and the non-k variant seems to drop faster - now costing the same as a Ryzen 5 1600.
The problem - it doesn't seem like it's much of a future-proof solution, being a quad core, and changing the whole platform frequently comes with problems.
While I regret not having been able to wait for Ryzen due to ITX mobo delays, there's nothing I can do about it now. I'm stuck with a platform I just built a couple of months ago that I know won't run any future processors, and I have to replace the processor due to the Pentium not being powerful enough. It's not at all due to rendering times which I don't care much about, but due to poor preview performance and loading delays caused by the processor underperforming. My options are:
1. Just replace the G4560 with a 7700, and that's it. In that case I would sit on the build for a couple of years and swallow the fact that it is not going to be future-proof and will have to be fully replaced in 3 or 4 years. The problem of spending money on a quad core chip at a possibly worst time is hurting me, despite the fact that for now the chip would be good enough, but what about in a year or two? All the modern chips have more cores now, and now the software will follow pretty much immediately. The computer will be used for gaming and work, which for the first time is hurting me, as the build needs to run all games for the years to come without me being able to upgrade the mobo or CPU. Not only am I used to sitting on a platform for ages, setting up software I use takes a long time so I'd rather have it done once and for all, but most of all a lot of the licenses I invest in are tied to the mobo (I already purchased several for the current mobo, unfortunately) and altogether they are quite expensive.
2. Sell the G4560 together with the mobo, get an ITX AM4 board with the Ryzen 5 1600 or Ryzen 7 1700. This option costs a little more initially, and requires more hassle but those chips already seem more future-proof, and the platform is much more future proof, so I could safely invest in it knowing the board will last me for a long time. The problem with this is that I already have around 250$ worth of software licenses already tied to the current Z270 mobo. Yeah, I know, ouch - it was my first Intel built and I did not expect it to be so short lived after 11 years on AM2. Plus I'd be selling the mobo I like at a loss and investing in a completely new platform now. Plus, if I bought the R5 1600 technically it wouldn't be much better than the 7700 in terms of gaming or 3d preview performance (again, I don't care about rendering times) so I'd be banking on the fact that future Ryzens will completely outclass the 7700 in those regards due to their vastly increased performance or games becoming vastly more threaded.
3. Same as 2, but get a Coffee Lake after they're out (really out). Negative - we have absolutely no clue about the Z370's longevity, and if the 8700 is the best thing that would run on it, then it's probably not worth all the hassle.
TLDR I know that there are many unknowns here, and honestly I'm stuck between getting the 7700 for now and praying that it will be a good performer until DDR5s and PCIe 5s are out, possibly to jump to AM5 or Intel 700-series or something in 2021, and hoping against the progress in the industry and that games won't start using a bazillion threads suddenly.
OR scrapping what I've built and taking some hit to the wallet for software I paid for in order to prevent further money wasted on more investment into a "dead end platform" and making the switch now, to a platform that would (probably) last me much longer. Then the doubt is whether it would really last me that much longer over the much simpler option of just getting the 7700.
The G4560, no matter how amazing, is unfortunately insufficient, so I have to make a switch one way or another, but what would you guys do in my shoes? How long do you guys think a 7700 would realistically last as a competitive option? How much logic is there in switching platforms now thinking that the 7700 won't last due to software getting more threaded soon?
A second opinion would be very much appreciated, as I've been stuck thinking about this for a long while now, and I need to move one way or another soon.
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