When I built my current rig nearly two years ago I was torn between the just released 9900K and the slightly older 8086K.  I had actually taken delivery of the 8086K when the 9900K was announced.  I promptly RMA'd the 8086K and an 8th gen MB and waited for the 9900K release.  However once released there was a lot of discussion on this and other forums regarding high temps with the 9900K so I wimped out of that and reordered the 8086K mainly because it seemed I would be assured of at least 5ghz on all 6 cores at reasonable temps - and this has proven to be the case.  I also purchased the high end (at the time) 9th gen  ASUS extreme MB.  I did reason with myself that I could down the track consider a mid life upgrade to the 9900K without having to also change my MB.  The 9900K cpu is still available in Australia and at about $100 less than I paid for the 8086K two years ago but I expect that it will perhaps soon reach end of life and be unavailable.  So is this upgrade worthwhile?  One other concern is whether my 280 mil AIO cooler would be up the task with the 9900K -  if I had to change to a 360 mil cooler it would make the idea rather less attractive.  Thank you.

Bruceb

If you're running P3Dv5 and/or MSFS2020, which both make good use of additional processor cores, then I think moving up may not be a bad idea.  You'd be adding 33% more cores and L3 cache.  If, while running the software of choice, your CPU loads are broadly peaking high enough to cause stutters, adding those two additional cores may well help give you enough headroom to smooth it out.  That's really the test--if the 8086K isn't proving limiting (I watch core loading using Process Lasso), then an upgrade may prove underwhelming.  If you see clear examples of core load clipping (for example when loading terrain/scenery in P3D), then bringing a third more cores to the party could help.

I also built an 8086K machine as my primary sim platform a couple years ago...and then last year I built a second, portable machine for travel using an identical motherboard (ASUS Maximus XI Hero) but this time with a 9900K.  I am able to run P3Dv4 and MSFS on it at 5.0 GHz (HT Off) with a Noctua NH-D14 air cooler, so a good 280mm AIO should be OK...but don't expect to do extended runs of Prime95 at reasonable temps.  I use RealBench now for my stress testing instead of P95, which produces a stress load more representative of a sim running.

I can't speak directly to a 8086K <-> 9900K comparison, as the 9900K machine pushes a 1080Ti at 2560x1440, vice the 2080Ti and 4K display on the primary machine.  I never ran P3Dv5 or MSFS2020 on the 8086K; the 9900K does a right respectable job with MSFS and Ultra settings at 1440p.

 

Interesting thread as i am still holding off upgrading because my old I7-4770K@4,5-4,6GHZ can run P3dv5 smooth at 25FPS(FSL) and MSFS2020(ULTRA and LOD at 140) on 1920x1080(2880x1620) scaled at 150 at 30fps.

I guess both MSFS and P3dv5 will benefit from more cores in the future

 

Michael Moe

 

Edited October 7, 20205 yr by Michael Moe

A couple of more queries on this issue. Is there any reason not to save a few shekels by getting the 9900KF which comes without an integrated GPU instead of the 9900K which does?  Also, would dropping a new processor onto my current MB require a full reinstall of the OS and everything else as well?  I am mainly considering this for the extra cores as I doubt I could quite get the clock speeds of 5 to 5.1 Ghz on all cores that I get from the 8086K with my current cooling solution.  Thanks.

Bruceb

 

The KF is the 9900K with the integrated GPU present on the die but disabled (probably due to the iGPU failing the post-production QA testing), which no serious simmer would be caught dead using anyway.  So I wouldn't think it problematic...should run a little bit cooler with a couple hundred thousand transistors in the iGPU switched off, in fact.

I wouldn't bank on the new CPU just picking up where the old one left off...it might work out, it might not.  My experience is that transplanting base-level hardware (CPU, motherboard chipset) into an existing configuration rarely works out as intended.  Some of the software DRM may see a CPU type change as a system change, which would require reinstalling and possibly having to ask "Mother May I" w/r/t resetting the registration authentication.

Also, if you do the upgrade, remember to reflash the BIOS to the latest version for compatibility with the 9th Gen CPU.

Thank you that has been very helpful.

Bruceb