BringTheRuckus97 Hello, and thank you for your post. I agree with everyone that a 4C / 4T (4 core/ 4 thread) CPU started becoming somewhat antiquated as of 2017. However, if you wouldn't mind humoring me, could you please check the temps of your CPU while you're gaming by running HW Monitor? When a CPU reaches a certain temperature, it'll start slowing down (downclocking) in order to protect itself for excess heat.
Question: Which cpu cooler did you install on your processor? The i5-7600K did not come with a cooler, and I'm wondering if you might have installed a stock cooler on it. Also, how much thermal paste did you use? Traditionally people will only apply a long grain rice amount of thermal paste, between the cpu and the cooler. A little too much can actually
raise temperatures.
Action: Download and install HW Monitor. Ideally, if you have two monitors, then open a game with high cpu utilization on one display and open HW Monitor on the other. Then game for ten to twenty minutes and report back the "Temperatures"; both "Value" and "Max" columns. Then report those temperatures back here please.
Action: Take two photos of the inside of your build, upload to imgur, and share the link here. I'd like to get an idea of the inside of your case's airflow.
-- hw monitor --
https://www.cpuid.com/downloads/hwmonitor/hwmonitor_1.41.exe
-- speccy --
https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download/standard
Future upgrades: Do not upgrade to an i7-7700K. That CPU currently sells used for $225 to $275. For the upper end of that price range, you could upgrade to a Ryzen 5 3600 (6C/ 12T) and a MSI B450 motherboard. In addition, you currently only have a B250 chipset motherboard, which does not support traditional overclocking.
Addendum: Just to be clear, nothing about your utilization raises my eye brow, except for your chrome browser causing a 30% utilization. If it's not cortana, or an AV application, then it's worth investigating the cpu temps just to be certain.