Question i5 6600k, i7 6700k, or i7 7700k for physics heavy games?

[jfredolay]

Im looking to upgrade my cpu from my current i5 6600k. I want to play physics heavy vr games, but I'm uncertain my i5 is good enough. Also, will there be much of a difference between a i7 6700k's ability to preform physics and the i7 7700k's ability?

Specs:
i5 6600k
1070ti
16 gigs DDR4

 

[Third-Eye]

Im looking to upgrade my cpu from my current i5 6600k. I want to play physics heavy vr games, but I'm uncertain my i5 is good enough. Also, will there be much of a difference between a i7 6700k's ability to preform physics and the i7 7700k's ability?

Specs:
i5 6600k
1070ti
16 gigs DDR4

What is your budget? Obviously the best CPU you could use is the 7700k, but with used and new prices being around 50% more over a Ryzen 5 2600, it usually makes more sense to upgrade to a Ryzen platform instead.

 

[InvalidError]

Skylake and Kaby Lake are mostly the same, so no major difference there.

Physics and AI are two things that games can put extra cores and threads to use with. For games that make heavy use of either (or both), you may want to consider an upgrade to something that is at least 6C12T or 8C8T.

 

[jfredolay]

What is your budget? Obviously the best CPU you could use is the 7700k, but with used and new prices being around 50% more over a Ryzen 5 2600, it usually makes more sense to upgrade to a Ryzen platform instead.

I want to keep my budget around $300. I'm just not sure of the extra $80 for the 7700k is worth it.

 

[InvalidError]

Ryzen 2700 + B450 motherboard + reuse existing RAM = ~$250.

 

[Third-Eye]

I want to keep my budget around $300. I'm just not sure of the extra $80 for the 7700k is worth it.

If you wait around 1-2 months the B550 motherboards will likely be released. You could get a Ryzen 5 3600 and the B550 for around $300-340 depending on the price at release, shipping and taxes. If you don't want to wait there are B450 motherboards available within that $300 budget with the 3600. The Asrock B450M Pro4 is $75 and the 3600 is $195 on sale at newegg right now. If you can extend your budget a bit and want an ATX board instead of Micro ATX, I would get the MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max for $100. If you can wait around 5-6 months you could probably get the 3600 for $150 and around the same price for a good motherboard.

The Ryzen 5 3600 is only slightly slower than the i7-7700k, but has 6 cores 12 threads vs 4/8 on the i7. You will want a minimum of 12 CPU threads in the future with games likely requiring more CPU threads because of ports of new console games. The next generation of consoles will very likely have at least 8 cores and 16 threads.