i5 8400 vs i7 8700

[Derstine Buyagan]

I'll be building a work station computer this week and i want to ask you guys what should be the best value for my money between i5 8400 or i7 8700. Currently, I'm using i5 3470. I will use the said PC mainly for programming with the following apps installed.

Visual Studio with Resharper
Sql Server Management Studio
Android Studio
JetBrains WebStorm

Regards

 

[superninja12]

better value is the i5.
but the i7 is better.

 

[Hellfire13]

For productivity, the 8700 with its extra set of logical cores should be more beneficial, specially in the long run.

 

[TJ Hooker]

I feel like it would be worth your while to consider Ryzen as well, especially for a workstation PC.

 

[hendrickhere]

Both are great processors but the 8700 is stronger (I have an i5 8400 for a gaming build). But for the applications you are running perhaps you should consider a Ryzen 2600x as it'll excel beyond the 8700 in some tasks and is much less expensive.

 

[Derstine Buyagan]

For productivity, the 8700 with its extra set of logical cores should be more beneficial, specially in the long run.

Im planning to use the CPU for about a decade. Do you think the i7 will last that long?

 

[Derstine Buyagan]

Both are great processors but the 8700 is stronger (I have an i5 8400 for a gaming build). But for the applications you are running perhaps you should consider a Ryzen 2600x as it'll excel beyond the 8700 in some tasks and is much less expensive.

Do you have any benchmark?

 

[Hellfire13]

For productivity, the 8700 with its extra set of logical cores should be more beneficial, specially in the long run.

Im planning to use the CPU for about a decade. Do you think the i7 will last that long?

The major issue with softwares is, when they upgrade versions, they sometimes become more resource demanding than they previously were, for whatever reasons necessary. Now 10yrs is a pretty long time down the line for anybody other than the devs to predict how much more demanding those softwares will be. But if they are not too demanding right now, it should see you through pretty fine. More potent will be the 8700k instead for a lot more longevity than the 8700.
Alternatively you can look into the 2700x from Ryzen, which has better platform support down the line for you to upgrade if you want. That is, we are talking around same price range.

 

[hendrickhere]

Both are great processors but the 8700 is stronger (I have an i5 8400 for a gaming build). But for the applications you are running perhaps you should consider a Ryzen 2600x as it'll excel beyond the 8700 in some tasks and is much less expensive.

Do you have any benchmark?

Sure - anything in Tom's review, but specifically:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-7-2700x-review,5571-10.html

 

[TJ Hooker]

This site has some programming specific benchmarks, with the 2700x edging out the 8700k in linux kernel compile time and golang benchmark:

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ryzen-2600x-2700x&num=4

 

[Ilya__]

I haven't found too many benchmarks for developers. But as one developer to another, here are some:

https://www.hardware.fr/articles/956-13/compilation-visual-studio-mingw-w64-gcc.html
https://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph12725/97990.png
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=4d0e079&p=2
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=0bcc2e4&p=2

Resharper is a beast so I would suggest more threads; 8700k or 2700X are both attractive to me. Hope that helps your decision.

 

[Hellfire13]

A good review with all necessary benchmarks... http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_7_2700x_review,30.html

 

[Derstine Buyagan]

I haven't found too many benchmarks for developers. But as one developer to another, here are some:

https://www.hardware.fr/articles/956-13/compilation-visual-studio-mingw-w64-gcc.html
https://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph12725/97990.png
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=4d0e079&p=2
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=0bcc2e4&p=2

Resharper is a beast so I would suggest more threads; 8700k or 2700X are both attractive to me. Hope that helps your decision.

8700k? I guess that CPU is only for gamers and besides i will be getting a non gaming motherboard.

 

[Derstine Buyagan]

A good review with all necessary benchmarks... http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_7_2700x_review,30.html

Wow, im pretty surprise a lot of you guys suggesting ryzen. It is worth it? It's more expensive than the 8700. But i will look into it

 

[Hellfire13]

A good review with all necessary benchmarks... http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_7_2700x_review,30.html

Wow, im pretty surprise a lot of you guys suggesting ryzen. It is worth it? It's more expensive than the 8700. But i will look into it

Get the 2700 along with a good b350 board and it will cost you less than the 8700 or round about the same. Something like this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor ($289.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($64.07 @ Newegg)
Total: $353.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-31 23:20 EDT-0400


Here is your Intel config...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($298.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($66.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $365.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-31 23:21 EDT-0400


The difference is not that much in terms of productivity. Infact the 2700 will take lead in most softwares, specially if you OC it mildly to 2700x speeds. OCing on that board is no rocket science, and there are dedicated provisions for it in case you dont want to meddle in manually.

 

[Derstine Buyagan]

For productivity, the 8700 with its extra set of logical cores should be more beneficial, specially in the long run.

Im planning to use the CPU for about a decade. Do you think the i7 will last that long?

The major issue with softwares is, when they upgrade versions, they sometimes become more resource demanding than they previously were, for whatever reasons necessary. Now 10yrs is a pretty long time down the line for anybody other than the devs to predict how much more demanding those softwares will be. But if they are not too demanding right now, it should see you through pretty fine. More potent will be the 8700k instead for a lot more longevity than the 8700.
Alternatively you can look into the 2700x from Ryzen, which has better platform support down the line for you to upgrade if you want. That is, we are talking around same price range.

Do you think it is OK to buy the 8700k bundled with a non gaming board? I am not worried about the upgrade path because i won't be upgrading the chip for a long time. This will be a one time build only.

 

[Hellfire13]

For productivity, the 8700 with its extra set of logical cores should be more beneficial, specially in the long run.

Im planning to use the CPU for about a decade. Do you think the i7 will last that long?

The major issue with softwares is, when they upgrade versions, they sometimes become more resource demanding than they previously were, for whatever reasons necessary. Now 10yrs is a pretty long time down the line for anybody other than the devs to predict how much more demanding those softwares will be. But if they are not too demanding right now, it should see you through pretty fine. More potent will be the 8700k instead for a lot more longevity than the 8700.
Alternatively you can look into the 2700x from Ryzen, which has better platform support down the line for you to upgrade if you want. That is, we are talking around same price range.

Do you think it is OK to buy the 8700k bundled with a non gaming board? I am not worried about the upgrade path because i won't be upgrading the chip for a long time. This will be a one time build only.

Yes its fine. But investing in a overclocking board would be wiser for you to get more longevity, when you will need the juice, 6-7yrs down the line. Even the cheapest of z370 board will give you more features and OC headroom than a nonOC board. You might not feel the need to OC now, but 6-7yrs down the line, who knows.

 

[Derstine Buyagan]

For productivity, the 8700 with its extra set of logical cores should be more beneficial, specially in the long run.

Im planning to use the CPU for about a decade. Do you think the i7 will last that long?

The major issue with softwares is, when they upgrade versions, they sometimes become more resource demanding than they previously were, for whatever reasons necessary. Now 10yrs is a pretty long time down the line for anybody other than the devs to predict how much more demanding those softwares will be. But if they are not too demanding right now, it should see you through pretty fine. More potent will be the 8700k instead for a lot more longevity than the 8700.
Alternatively you can look into the 2700x from Ryzen, which has better platform support down the line for you to upgrade if you want. That is, we are talking around same price range.

Do you think it is OK to buy the 8700k bundled with a non gaming board? I am not worried about the upgrade path because i won't be upgrading the chip for a long time. This will be a one time build only.

Yes its fine. But investing in a overclocking board would be wiser for you to get more longevity, when you will need the juice, 6-7yrs down the line. Even the cheapest of z370 board will give you more features and OC headroom than a nonOC board. You might not feel the need to OC now, but 6-7yrs down the line, who knows.

I really agree with you but here's my dilemma about boards. They don't last long on me. I even think that i need to buy a couple of boards to be use as a backup when my machine went down. It is hard to find an old board at least in my country and if you ever got one, they are expensive with about 30% when they originally came out. Seriously, just bought a 1155 board this month and cost about a bit more. I always get an entry level board though, i can't talk about the premium ones.

 

[Hellfire13]

They don't last long on me.

One of my backup pc is LGA 1156, back from 2010 and the dh55tc board from back then is still going strong with i5-650. So, its not a universal scenario per se. In case you need, there are always legacy listing that you can find on ebay and local used parts markets.
The other approach will be to get a premium board like the Asus Maximus Code upfront. They come with reinforced slots for more longevity and durability.
But then again, life of tech. components cannot be predicted with guarantee, as they do not have any pattern of playing up. So I will leave it on you as to which approach you take.

 

[Ilya__]

I haven't found too many benchmarks for developers. But as one developer to another, here are some:

https://www.hardware.fr/articles/956-13/compilation-visual-studio-mingw-w64-gcc.html
https://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph12725/97990.png
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=4d0e079&p=2
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=0bcc2e4&p=2

Resharper is a beast so I would suggest more threads; 8700k or 2700X are both attractive to me. Hope that helps your decision.

8700k? I guess that CPU is only for gamers and besides i will be getting a non gaming motherboard.

There is nothing in that CPU that makes it "only" for gamers. You also don't need any special "gaming" motherboard to run it. Choose whichever will give you the best overall experience, although I recommend getting the strongest CPU you can afford so that it lasts longer.

 

[Derstine Buyagan]

I haven't found too many benchmarks for developers. But as one developer to another, here are some:

https://www.hardware.fr/articles/956-13/compilation-visual-studio-mingw-w64-gcc.html
https://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph12725/97990.png
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=4d0e079&p=2
https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1804199-AR-AMDRYZEN267&sha=0bcc2e4&p=2

Resharper is a beast so I would suggest more threads; 8700k or 2700X are both attractive to me. Hope that helps your decision.

8700k? I guess that CPU is only for gamers and besides i will be getting a non gaming motherboard.

There is nothing in that CPU that makes it "only" for gamers. You also don't need any special "gaming" motherboard to run it. Choose whichever will give you the best overall experience, although I recommend getting the strongest CPU you can afford so that it lasts longer.

I made my mind and i will definitely go with ryzen 2700. Is getting above 2400Mhz memory for programming is a waste of money? Reviews tells that ryzen loves 3200Mhz as we can gain an extra FPS but how about to those who uses ryzen as a work station?

 

[Hellfire13]

Ryzen's architecture is directly proportional to Memory speed. The faster RAM you get, the better it will perform. Having said that, 3000/3200mhz is the sweet spot, and above that diminishing value of return kicks in.

 

[mdd1963]

For productivity, the 8700 with its extra set of logical cores should be more beneficial, specially in the long run.

Im planning to use the CPU for about a decade. Do you think the i7 will last that long?

With Optane DC now going onto RAM modules, DDR5 and PCI-e 4.0 coming, that might be assuming a lot in that the last ten years were representative of the next. Probably best to hope for 4 years, and be very happy with any extra...

 

[TheStig47]

Both are great processors but the 8700 is stronger (I have an i5 8400 for a gaming build). But for the applications you are running perhaps you should consider a Ryzen 2600x as it'll excel beyond the 8700 in some tasks and is much less expensive.

Do you have any benchmark?

You can compare cpus (and gpus, SSD, HDD, RAM) at UserBenchmark.com. Here is a comparison of the i7-8700k vs Ryzen 5 2600X, for example:

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-8700K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-2600X/3937vs3956