[SOLVED] Is the i7 10700K still a good option for a gaming PC?

[vultusprime]

Hi
I will be buying a new 1080p gaming PC in the near future.
AMD 5600X seemed like a good option, but considering that I would keep the new PC for at least 5 years, an 8 cores CPU looked more appealing.
Intel latest releases were a little disappointing, so I was thinking about the last generation i7 10700K.
What do you think?

 

[Dj0gany]

10700K can play any game at high FPS, no doubt about that.
Its still a incredibly good option.
I might suggest the 10700F, will perform similarly to the 10700K, while costing $70 less.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

Why wouldn't it be? Do you think that previous generation CPUs get invalidated as soon as a new gen comes out?

 

[Jacozeelie]

If you only play 1080, then a i5 is perfect

 

[punkncat]

10th gen is arguably better than 11th gen Intel in all but one very minor detail concerning PCI speed....
At the current time, purchasing a CPU with integrated graphics could be the difference between usable and expensive paper weight.

The 10700K is among the top ~10(ish) in gaming performance. It's also an incredible value at the moment (particularly if there is a MicroCenter anywhere close to you).

I use Ryzen as my main rig. I would NOT buy a new Ryzen based simply on market conditions.

 

[sizzling]

If you only play 1080, then a i5 is perfect

Resolution has nothing to do with cpu choice. 60fps at 1080p will use similar cpu resources to 60fps at 4K.

 

[Jacozeelie]

Well, my 9600k gives me all i need at 1080

 

[geofelt]

Most games are limited by the graphics card.
Good luck in finding one at any price, let alone <2x MSRP.

Any modern processor in the $200 price range can give you good gaming.
If you are running batch multithreaded apps, then many threads are good.
Many threads are also good if you play multiplayer games with many participants.

Otherwise, 8 threads(4 cores plus hyperthreading) is sufficient.
Extra threads do not help much; only if you are also multitasking.

If you have a budget limitation, I would look at the i5-11600K.
It has 6 cores/12 threads.
What I like is the better IPC. Most games depend on the performance of the single master thread.
ryzen 5600x would be similar.
Pay an extra $20 or so for the K which includes integrated graphics.
That lets you test while waiting for a graphics card and can keep you running if graphics should fail.
Use a Z590 based motherboard.
I am starting to think that overclocking is not needed anymore for gaming.
Let the cpu and chipset use turbo to ramp up performance when needed.
The limit may be the cooling capability you install.

I recently installed a I7-11700K on a asrock Z590 extreme.
Initially I tested with an old noctua NH-12 cooler.
I was surprised that running a simple cpu-Z stress test that temperatures peaked around 65c.
All settings were at default excepting setting ram at XMP speeds.
These chips do not run hot.
There is more for me to learn.
There is an option to disable some limits, and that may be what drives up voltages and heat.

 

[vultusprime]

Thank you all for the replies.
My main concern is the 6 vs 8 cores issue which is being discussed in the background over the internet.
The 5600X or the new 11600K for that matter, when tested in games they give a cpu usage of over 50% to 65%. That's fine today, but I ask myself how high will that number be when I try to play the latest triple A game in 2023-2024?
As I mentioned earlier, this new PC will be with me for at least 5 years and in that time I may consider upgrading the VGA but not the CPU.
It has been said that an 8 cores chip will give more breathing room for the future. Is that true? I don't know!
If 8 cores is the best choice, then the 10700K is the only viable option. The new 11th gen is not interesting, and Ryzen 7 5800X is too expensive.

 

[geofelt]

Be careful how you interpret task manager cpu utilizations.
Windows will spread the activity of a single thread over all available threads.
So, if you had a game that was single threaded and cpu bound, it would show up on a quad core processor as 25%
utilization across all 4 threads.
leading you to think your bottleneck was elsewhere.
It turns our that few games can USEFULLY use more than 4-6 threads.

Do you now have a pc?
How can you tell how well threaded your games or apps are?
One way is to disable one thread and see how you do.

You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, it tells you that you will not benefit from more cores.
Likely, a better clock rate will be more important.

 

[mdd1963]

If you only play 1080, then a i5 is perfect

Trying to interpret what the meaning of the 'if you only play 1080' statement, as the CPU is less involved with the GPU taking higher loads as resolution increases...; technically, as the res goes up, the 10700K makes even more sense.

 

[Why_Me]

https://www.anandtech.com/show/1634...e-i710700k-review-is-65w-comet-lake-an-option

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-10700F-Desktop-Processor-Graphics/dp/B086MN2XYL
Intel Core i7-10700F $268.99

 

[mdd1963]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0qaZ85CpUM&t=512s


10700K is still more than excellent....; quite close to 10900K in many games, and rivals 5600/5800X in many others.....

If you can find one for a good price, it's an excellent choice.