Can I safely upgrade from an i5 7400 to an i7 8700

[wolfex]

Hey everyone, I have an i5 7400 processor and I'm wondering if I can safely upgrade to an i7 8700 without having to buy anything else (like a power supply or something). Also open to recommendations if this would not be a good upgrade! I'm trying to stream and game on my computer. With the i5 7400 my CPU reaches 100% and seems to bottle neck my rig. Any response is appreciated, thanks!

 

[J_E_D_70]

Nope - need a x3xx series mobo.

 

[wolfex]

Are you sure? The socket for both CPUs are the same

 

[Bob125484]

You have 7th gen CPU so your best upgrade for your mobo is i7 7700 or i7 7700K. Since the cost of i7 is about the same for 7th and 8th gen, it does not make sense to upgrade to i7 7700 or 7700K. If you upgrade, go straight to 8th gen. The cheaper version of 8th gen mobo H370, B360, and H310 have already been released since last week. Your DDR4 RAM should work on new mobo.

 

[wolfex]

okay thank you! how come I need a new mobo if the socket for the CPU is the same?

 

[Bob125484]

8th gen CPU only work on mobo Z370, H370, B360 and H310 due to circuitry change in the CPU. You can google for this information. If you go to newegg for 8th gen mobo, it will say 1151 (300 series)
https://www.newegg.com/Intel-Motherboards/SubCategory/ID-280

 

[wolfex]

ah okay, so would you recommend only upgrading if I could get a new mobo and an i7 8700?

 

[Bob125484]

I don't know where you will buy PC component. I just pick newegg website as an example for price comparison. For same price of CPU, you get 50% more core and thread on 8th gen.
i7 7700 (4c/8t) $304
i7 7700K (4c/8t) $340
i5 8400 (6c/6t) $179
i5 8600K (6c/6t) $260
i7 8700 (6c/12t) $302
i7 8700K (6c/12t) $350

The other choice you can consider is to go with AMD Ryzen 2nd generation which is officially release to purchase on April 19th. The review will also be available on tom'sHardware and others on the 19th. AMD Ryzen 5 6c/12 is about $200 and Ryzen 7 8c/16t is about $300.

You should use PCPartpicker to look for PC component since it list the price of most seller so you can pick the lowest cost.

 

[mdd1963]

7700K still quite competent at all games....

drop one in!
(Need a new cooler with it, do NOT try to use one from 7400, etc...)