i7 7700k vs i5 8600k

[matthewbdp]

I'm purely looking for an upgrade in CPU terms for gaming. I've seen a lot of benchmarks and talk around about these 2 CPUs.

I'm pairing it with a 1080, and 16gb of RAM. Just wanted some opinions on which of these would be better at this stage for pushing the highest FPS and which would purely be the better option going into the future.

Thanks.

 

[volkgren]

The 8600K is the better choice between the two. The 8600K is slightly faster and has the option to upgrade to the 8700K. The only reason to go with the i7-7700K is if you are already on that platform.

 

[vMax]

The 8600K hands down...It is a tremendous CPU that also overclocks extremely well and is right up there with the best gaming CPU's. It is also 8th gen versus 7th gen with 6 proper cores...It will also drive the 1080 and more importantly, with a Z370 motherboard will allow for a future expansion to the 9th Gen Intel CPU's in the 9800 and 9900K which are coming out soon and will work on the Z370 motherboard.

 

[matthewbdp]

The 8600K is the better choice between the two. The 8600K is slightly faster and has the option to upgrade to the 8700K. The only reason to go with the i7-7700K is if you are already on that platform.

I am already on a Z170-P which supports the 7700k, but since the price of the 7700k is so close to what it would actually cost to simply buy a Z370 and the 8600k I think that the would be the better option, also giving headroom for future upgrades, like you said.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

As far as performance in gaming, they are going to be about the same. Both are very good gaming CPUs. If performance is even, then you have to go with the most modern CPU and Chipset which is the 8600k and the Z370 chispet.

 

[volkgren]

If you don't mind reinstalling Windows; you already have DDR4 RAM, so sure the 8600k is a pretty good choice. I forgot about the 9th-gen CPUs being compatible. Definitely worth the move.

 

[geofelt]

The 8 thread i7-7700K has a passmark rating of 12,046 when all 8 threads are fully utilized.
The single thread rating is 2583.

The6 thread i5-8600K has a similar total passmark rating of 12817 and 2521.
Few games will be able to effectively use more than 4 threads.
The big difference is in the single thread rating which is most important for gaming.
On that, the 8600K will be better for gaming because it can overclock near the 5.0 level.

If you can wait just a bit, the upcoming i5-9600K will replace the 8600K at a similar price point and it is likely to overclock even higher.

 

[matthewbdp]

The 8600K hands down...It is a tremendous CPU that also overclocks extremely well and is right up there with the best gaming CPU's. It is also 8th gen versus 7th gen with 6 proper cores...It will also drive the 1080 and more importantly, with a Z370 motherboard will allow for a future expansion to the 9th Gen Intel CPU's in the 9800 and 9900K which are coming out soon and will work on the Z370 motherboard.

Thanks for the help, might it even be worth wait for the i9 series to come out or not or will prices likely be too high? Heard it's October 1st when they first launch.

 

[vMax]

The 8600K is the better choice between the two. The 8600K is slightly faster and has the option to upgrade to the 8700K. The only reason to go with the i7-7700K is if you are already on that platform.

I am already on a Z170-P which supports the 7700k, but since the price of the 7700k is so close to what it would actually cost to simply buy a Z370 and the 8600k I think that the would be the better option, also giving headroom for future upgrades, like you said.

Don't skimp on the CPU cooler and get something good like Dark Rock pro 4, Cryorig H7, Noctua or even a 240/280 AIO if you plan to overclock....

 

[vMax]

The 8600K hands down...It is a tremendous CPU that also overclocks extremely well and is right up there with the best gaming CPU's. It is also 8th gen versus 7th gen with 6 proper cores...It will also drive the 1080 and more importantly, with a Z370 motherboard will allow for a future expansion to the 9th Gen Intel CPU's in the 9800 and 9900K which are coming out soon and will work on the Z370 motherboard.

Thanks for the help, might it even be worth wait for the i9 series to come out or not or will prices likely be too high? Heard it's October 1st when they first launch.

Absolutely agreed...I think the new 9th Gen is going to be pretty special with 8 cores finally on Intel with 5GHz stock...might be pricey but the reviews are not far away...launching roughly first or second week of October..

 

[volkgren]

9th-gen will include both an i9-9900K 8C/16T ($450) and i7-9700K 8C/8T ($350). i5-9600K will be the same 6C/6T ($250). So, the i5-8600K will be the only one (aside from lesser models) that won't get a core increase with the next-gen. So, I'd say that makes it a good investment for the money paid, unless you're willing to spend $350 on the i7-9700K in a couple weeks.

 

[vMax]

9th-gen will include both an i9-9900K 8C/16T ($450) and i7-9700K 8C/8T ($350). i5-9600K will be the same 6C/6T ($250). So, the i5-8600K will be the only one (aside from lesser models) that won't get a core increase with the next-gen. So, I'd say that makes it a good investment for the money paid, unless you're willing to spend $350 on the i7-9700K in a couple weeks.

To be honest, I cannot wait to see the numbers in terms of performance....As the 9600K is an odd choice to include in the 9th gen line up...Oh well, only a couple of weeks to go to find out...

 

[boju]

Have my doubts about the 8600k even though it has 6 proper cores its deceiving. As this processor is popping up in more systems, I'm seeing more and more people complaining of high cpu usages on high Hz monitors. 4K 60Hz not so much an issue obviously because the cpu doesn't need to prepare so many frames. 1080p and 1440p gpus are able to produce a lot of frames and linearly the cpu usage goes up too. In this instance, Hyperthreading can help enormously.

Imo

8600k good for 4k 60Hz
8700/8700k better suited for 1080p/1440p 144Hz

 

[Supernova1138]

Have my doubts about the 8600k even though it has 6 proper cores its deceiving. As this processor is popping up in more systems, I'm seeing more and more people complaining of high cpu usages on high Hz monitors. 4K 60Hz not so much an issue obviously because the cpu doesn't need to prepare so many frames. 1080p and 1440p gpus are able to produce a lot of frames and linearly the cpu usage goes up too. In this instance, Hyperthreading can help enormously.

Imo

8600k good for 4k 60Hz
8700/8700k better suited for 1080p/1440p 144Hz

High CPU usage when running a high refresh display is pretty much par for the course now, even on an i7. There are some newer titles where even on my 8700k running at 4.9GHz I do see high CPU usage eg. AC: Origins, Battlefield 1, Star Wars Battlefront II in larger multiplayer maps. It's not a bottleneck, but usage is high. Depending on what you are playing, the only way to guarantee low usage would be to go completely overkill and look at X299 or X399 platforms and 10+ core CPUs with HT/SMT. Even then, those chips tend to have weaker per core performance and can still cause bottlenecks because the game engines can't scale beyond maybe 12 threads right now.

I'd agree if you have a high refresh monitor, you probably should look at an i7 right now to avoid getting CPU limited as much as possible, though this isn't always avoidable, especially if you start shooting for 240FPS on some titles.

 

[boju]

Yeah, CPUs without HT like the 8600k people are reaching 100% usages on that single core. I believe HT is playing a role here and even though your i7's usage is high, it's not as bad.

Shows how multi threaded games are still so reliant on single core performance that two working threads is beneficial. Until the time when single core performance is irrelevant, older i7s will still out perform the newest non HT CPUs.

 

[volkgren]

I believe 8C/8T is optimal for gaming. More than 8 threads don't get utilized fully, and physical cores are supreme. With the old quad-core i5's people saw 100% usage often back in 2014-15, but it was a couple years before it became an issue with games like BF1 multiplayer. I think eventually the 6C/6T will become just the same type of limitation.

 

[boju]

I believe 8C/8T is optimal for gaming. More than 8 threads don't get utilized fully, and physical cores are supreme. With the old quad-core i5's people saw 100% usage often back in 2014-15, but it was a couple years before it became an issue with games like BF1 multiplayer. I think eventually the 6C/6T will become just the same type of limitation.

Think it has something to do with higher Hz monitors becoming ever more popular you're seeing more of this limitation stuff. A Cpu can have 4/6/8/12 cores, if one of those cores reaches 100% it brings down the whole cpu, thats the game's fault.

8600k is already limited. Full cores i agree is better but not if games aren't utilising them all properly so for now, HT is supreme going by the amount of search results of people reaching higher cpu usages with 8600k.

 

[volkgren]

I see what you're saying about if 1 core is 100%; that is the games fault because the programming isn't optimizing all the cores. But what you are saying though, are you saying the 7700K is better than the 8600K? I know you haven't actually said that, but that is the topic of this thread.

 

[geofelt]

Some tasks simply can not be broken up into separate dispatchable pieces.
Multiplayer is one of the few that do well with many threads.
Past that, not so much.
The performance of the master thread is what usually counts most.
The technical underpinning of this is found in "Amdahl's law"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahl%27s_law

 

[boju]

are you saying the 7700K is better than the 8600K? I know you haven't actually said that, but that is the topic of this thread.

Better in terms of Hyperthreading yes but wise to go an 8600k instead of an 8700k? No, i don't think it is imo, better off staying with 7700k until saved enough for an 8700k.

In terms of high fps though, since the op wants highest fps possible, 8600k will struggle. Different scenario if system was for 4k, fps output wont reach high enough to be a problem.

 

[4745454b]

I don't see what you were talking about in your other thread. Everything here makes sense as well. (I did skim a bit though...) You mentioned the cost of the 7700K, you might want to consider a used one. Used ones go for ~$250 which isn't much more than a new 8600K. Moving to the 8600K might require new ram if you are still using DDR3. But yes, it might make more sense to sell your current setup for $XYZ and buy a new 8600K. For $200+ it's a hard CPU to beat.

This is your second thread about 7700K vs 8600K. Lets not make to many threads on the same subject please. If someone comments in your thread something you don't understand you can just ask them what they mean by that.

 

[matthewbdp]

I don't see what you were talking about in your other thread. Everything here makes sense as well. (I did skim a bit though...) You mentioned the cost of the 7700K, you might want to consider a used one. Used ones go for ~$250 which isn't much more than a new 8600K. Moving to the 8600K might require new ram if you are still using DDR3. But yes, it might make more sense to sell your current setup for $XYZ and buy a new 8600K. For $200+ it's a hard CPU to beat.

This is your second thread about 7700K vs 8600K. Lets not make to many threads on the same subject please. If someone comments in your thread something you don't understand you can just ask them what they mean by that.

This was the first thread. The other thread was more about problems associated with the i5 8600k that people had mentioned, specifically CPU usage at 1080p 144Hz, I understand I should've probably attached that in here though. Thanks for the reply.