[SOLVED] i7-9700 (not 9700K) vs. i5-9600k for Gaming and General Use?

tomsjim

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Apr 4, 2007
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Which CPU? (Price is close enough not to matter). My son is doing his first build, which will be used for light gaming (Fortnite, etc.), school work, picture and video editing/organizing, web and email, etc. Can someone steer me to some info about the performance difference with the i7-9700 vs. the i5-9600k. He is not planning to overclock now (or probably ever), so the fact that the 9600k is unlocked is not a deciding factor. We don't really understand how the turbo clock and stock clock speeds work, so not sure if the relatively slower base clock speed on the 9700 means that it will perform worse, at times, than the 9600K which has a higher base clock speed. Can anyone help us make the call? Thanks!
 
Solution
The processor doesnt run at base clock under load, so the base clock doesnt matter much.

The turbo clock is closer to what the cpu will run under load. Under an all core load you can expect neither cpu to be at their turbo, but close.

tomsjim

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Apr 4, 2007
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Can anyone explain how the slower base clock speed on the 9700 is not a disadvantage? The 9700 has a 3.0 GHz base clock speed. and the 9600K has a 3.7 GHz base clock speed.