Question Cores vs threads (8700K vs 9600K)

[Chris8282]

Been trying to decide on this for a while. I'm wondering if the 8700K will be a bit more future proof for gaming because of the additional threads compared to the 9600K, perhaps even performing closer to the 9700K some day. I know, commonly, the 9600K gives better performance in games now, but in the future when games use more threads, perhaps it will be better?

I've already bought an 8700K build since it was a great deal from Best Buy as a certified open box. I usually put together my own computer, but it was such a good deal I had to get it regardless of this question. This is purely academic, thanks guys!

 

[ElectrO_90]

8700k is better than 9600k

 

[Chris8282]

Because of the additional threads?

 

[sizzling]

Because of the additional threads?

Because of benchmarks.

 

[Chris8282]

Because the threads make it perform better in benchmarks?

 

[TerryLaze]

Games that will use more threads are already represented by games today,there are plenty of them that will happily use up a lot of threads,it's the GPUs that are holding back today's CPUs so basically we have no idea how much of each CPU is being used and if and how much headroom there is for future games.

In any case your CPU will be fine for gaming for a lot of years yet and the 8th and 9th gen use the same mobos so you can upgrade to the 9th in the future...if this will make sense in the future.

 

[mdd1963]

Odds are, the 8700K will likely hold you over until everyone has transitioned to DDR5 and PCI-e 5.0....

And I'd certainly rather have 6c/12t than 6t/6t for games like Bf1 and BF5...

 

[Chris8282]

So, maybe I asked this incorrectly. I'm doing a bit of academic theorycrafting here. So let me ask this again:

Let's say games today could use 12 or more threads. Which CPU would you recommend, the 9700K or the 8700K?

 

[dudeman509]

Between the 9700k and the 8700k, the 9700k.

Between the 9600k and the 8700k, the 8700k.

With respect to Intel's architecture, 2 more cores > performance than less cores/more threads.

 

[boju]

Depends on games, refresh rate, multiplayer and background apps whether a cpu purchase can relatively satisfy your needs. 9600k is a good CPU, just don't expect 100+fps in big games expecting smooth gameplay. GPUs that are able to render many frames in any resolution the CPU must prepare first and this can add a good chunk of workload and may increase CPU usage to uncomfortable high levels depending on game.

See this video. It's an 8600k but 9600k performs similar.

The right CPU for you depends on games and your targeted refresh rate. Benchmark %lows may give an indication how a CPU performs as it sort of reflects if a CPU is working too hard, but then, how accurate are ingame benchmarks sites use? Besides ingame benchmarks usually being a small portion of the game, If you're an online player, you may run into unfavorable results because multiplayer also works the CPU more.

There aren't any official benchmarks that im aware of showing a CPU's usage during live game play for obvious time constraints. Seeking people's own experiences might be the only way to kind of weigh up how a CPU should perform where you want it to.