Air-cooled 6700k vs Watercooled 6600k

[Starshrek]

I am mostly gaming, there may be plans to do content creation but not a major concern. I have heard that the 6700k has a negligible difference compared to the 6600k and wouldn't be worth it. I plan to overclock heavily and play games for probably a year or two. My build planned so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/LZxjHN I mainly play csgo, but mostly due to lack of performance in my current build, Plan to play AAA games with the new rig, at 1080p.

 

[CTurbo]

Considering overclocking is not going to make much difference, I would rather have the i7.

 

[synphul]

I'm not sure why the choice is between a more powerful cpu and air cooler vs the i5 and water cooling. If water cooling is the choice, why not water cool the i7? If air cooling is sufficient for the i7, why not the i5?

The two do game similarly, outside of a small handful that get a slight boost in performance from hyper threading. Clock for clock they're nearly the same out of the box, only 300mhz difference in clock speed between them. An i5 can easily be oc'd 300mhz to make up the speed deficit compared to the i7 with a budget air cooler. If the i7 is within the budget there's no reason not to get it.

Overclocking will help if trying to achieve the highest fps as possible going with a 144hz monitor. Some people have oc'd their 6600k and noticed their fps in csgo went from 150-200fps up closer to 300fps. Many of overclocking benefits won't be seen until later on once the cpu begins aging. An overclock can boost the speed enough to have it performing as well or slightly better than the generation of cpu that replaces it potentially giving you another year or two of useful life out of it. It's not specific to i5's though, it would apply to either the i5 or i7 if oc'd.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

1. For 1080p@144Hz I'd definitely go with i7 since there are quite a few games that will be limited by i5-6600K even at 4.5GHz - and your GTX 1070 will be utilized for 70-80%. Not all games, but there are quite enough examples.
2. the air with liquid is simple. you can achieve slightly better temperature with liquid (0-5C) at higher price. The crap CLC kits from coolit and asetek like NZXT, Corsair, Arctic are not the way to go for performance. They are "wanna be". Decent kits are made by EK, Swiftech and other companies that specialize in high end custom loops. Swiftech H220 is even priced in the same range.

 

[CTurbo]

I believe the OP was comparing an i5 + $100 water cooler vs an i7 vs $30 air cooler for a similar overall price.

 

[synphul]

Right, if an i7 is easily within their budget, it's a good cpu. Otherwise they could compare it to an i5 also with a $30 cooler for around $100 price difference. It's not hotter by a great margin, but the i7's tend to run a little hotter. I can see where it makes sense from trying match the two monetarily but otherwise it's a little backwards pairing a high end cooler with the i5 and low end cooler with the i7.

The choice of components is likely personal and for looks but otherwise I might consider a different z170 board at a bit lower cost, pair it with the i7 and a slightly better air cooler than the $30 range for an unlocked i7. Best of both worlds, the i7 and decent cooling without sacrificing much if anything on the motherboard by going with a less expensive model. Although if picked for aesthetics or the look of water cooling is preferred to air those are personal taste but ultimately still important to the op. If planning to oc heavily on the i7 a solid cooler will be needed over a $30 one.

 

[CTurbo]

Yep you could get an i7 + good solid air cooler like the CRYORIG H5 Ultimate + cheaper but still great Z170 for about $12 cheaper than the i5 + super expensive water cooler + overpriced z170 motherboard


...or just save $115 by getting the i5