Lost & Confused - Need CPU/Build Advice

Posted by WhiskeyNRy@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 2 comments

So my partner and I would like to be able to build our next PCs together but the current CPU climate has me very confused and cautious about what to choose and build.

We'd like to comfortably play games like MH: Wilds and Baldurs Gate 3, but I also need something that will run Adobe programs (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.) and Figma well. I'm pretty sure that since her needs are primarily gaming she'll want to build an AMD, but I'm at a loss for deciding for my own build. It's been my understanding that for my graphic design software needs, Intel tends to be better than AMD historically so I was looking to Intel. If that's changed I'm unaware.

My current build is here: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CqqnZJ (i7-9700K + 1070 8GB)

I'm aware that the new Intel Ultra 200 series CPUs are generally regarded by many as flops compared to their 14th-generation counterparts. However, I'm also aware that the 13/14th gen Intel processors have been having critical issues and I don't want to build something only for it to fail not long after building it. I don't need to be ULTRA SETTINGS 4K 120FPS in all my games either, but a large amount of the reviews and benchmarks are testing performance in gaming.

Does it make more sense to go in on an Ultra despite them not being a large improvement on the 14th when it would still be a significant jump in performance for me and I'd have the newest MOBO socket to boot? Is the Ultra performance that bad or only when compared to other high-end CPUs?
Do I go a 14th gen and risk the issues? Are the 14th gen CPUs safe now, am I worrying for nothing? Won't I just have to upgrade the MOBO soon on a 14th gen anyway now that they've moved to the new socket?
Is AMD the way to go in general now? I've been told not to go AMD unless I'm only gaming and I know nothing about the performance of the programs I need to use.
Do I just replace my GPU for now and continue waiting? I don't feel like my CPU is failing but it's showing its age and I doubt it will keep up if I want to play more current games.

I'm so lost and could use some advice. Thanks in advance!

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-Kex@reddit

I'm not very deep in the productivity space but I just want to give you a different perspective on this. I think AMD CPUs are good enough these days (I think I even saw the 9800X3D topping the charts in the Photoshop test by Gamers Nexus today).

As for example when rendering a video it doesn't really matter a lot if it takes 5 minutes or 5 minutes and 20 seconds to render. In this case I'd take either the cheaper or the option that hasn't had any reliability issues recently over a workflow that is slightly faster.

WhiskeyNRy@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the insight. I saw the Gamers Nexus Review you mentioned and it does alleviate some concerns for my productivity needs though I'm still cautious. Aside from the 9800X3D do you have any recommendations? I'm not familiar with AMD in general and the MOBOs they use