Page 77 - PCWorld (September 2019)

powerful the GPU is, the resolution you play at, moment to shine is typically when you
and the refresh rate of the monitor. absolutely must have the highest frame rates

First, we’ll say that both are absolute great possible. Some have called this use case
gaming CPUs, and you really can’t go wrong “eSports,” which is probably a very good

with either. And yes nerds, we hear you: If you choice because eSports generally prioritizes
only play games and don’t need the high- ultra-high frames.
thread count of either chip, a Core i7-9700K Two factors we didn’t get into that should

(or lower) or Ryzen 7 3700X (or lower) gets be mentioned is that it’s mostly with a
you far more bang for your buck. conventional gaming experience, without
This story, however, is about folks who adding streaming into the mix, or what visual

need the multi-threaded performance of the quality settings you like to play at.
Core i9 or Ryzen 9. Core i9 generally leads in If you plan to stream video in real time at the

gaming performance, but the Ryzen 9 highest settings, there’s an argument for the
typically trails by very slim single-digit frame greater core count of Ryzen. Some would say
rates, so it’s going to be a wash for most folks. (go.pcworld.com/rchk) Core i9 performs just as

That criterion, however, applies only when well at the most commonly used streaming
playing games in situations where the GPU is settings. Still, we’d give the edge to Ryzen
not the limiting factor. For

example, while the Core i9
outperforms the Ryzen 9, it

does that using a GeForce
RTX 2080 Ti and at 1080p
resolution. If we use a

GeForce GTX 1080, it’s
mostly a tie. If you tick the

resolution up to 2560 x
1440, it’s a tie as well, even
with the 2080 Ti. Playing at

4K? It’s doesn’t really matter
which CPU you’re using,

because you’re GPU-bound
almost all of the time.
If you look at the graphic
This should help explain the situations where a Core i9 is likely the
to the right, the Core i9’s better choice over a Ryzen 9 for gaming.

SEPTEMBER 2019 PCWorld 77