Question Need help selecting Intel CPU for new gaming rig

[Mortem420]

I have recently purchased a GTX 1660 Ti and after swapping out my old 750 Ti I didn't get the performance boost i was hoping for, however I am fairly certain that is because I'm currently running a Core 2 Extreme QX9650. It's OC's to 3.8 GHz but i don't think clock speeds are a problem, I think its my lack of instruction sets that are included with newer CPUs and possibly my RAM speed. Really the problem is that I'm still on Socket 775 LGA so I'm deciding to completely give up on any further upgrades to this machine and would like to build a new PC, something with parts that aren't from like 10+ years ago. When looking online it seems that due to prices being all kajiggered its way more worth it to buy a 7th gen or newer CPU unless i can find a decently priced 4th or 5th gen on eBay.

I would like to purchase a 7th gen or newer Intel CPU. I was thinking of maybe getting a 8700K because I've heard alot of good things about it but I'm not entirely sure if I should get an i7 or just an i5. I would prefer to get a chip with the K skew so i can do some overclocking. As i have stated i will be using this as a gaming rig, but i would also like to use it for recording game play, video/audio editing and i would like to be able to do a fair amount of multi-tasking as well. Budget isn't an issue as I will just save up for the CPU, I would however try to get the best performance for my money without going completely overkill while saving myself from wanting to do a CPU upgrade in like 2 or 3 years from now

For the motherboard i might go with a Gigabyte AORUS Gaming 7 or an Asus ROG MAXIMUS XI Hero or something similar. The case the final build is going into is an empty Cooler Master Cosmos C700P i got sitting around right now

Or if someone knows of a good socket 775 mobo thats good with overclocking and uses DDR3 i may opt to upgrade to that first so my current rig is atleast better until i can finish building a new one. I know some of you may recommend against such an upgrade, but I'm sitting on old hardware so even just upgrading to a DDR3 system would probably bring a decent performance improvement

 

[gordonmousedeer]

The Gigabyte AORUS Gaming 7 or an Asus ROG MAXIMUS XI Hero both have the LGA 1151 socket so a 7th to 9th generation Intel Core microprocessor will be needed (although the manufacturers' websites says the boards support 8th generation Intel Core microprocessors or 8th/9th generation for the ASUS ROG website). Perhaps you can check some websites for game tests or benchmarks. I did however, watched a YouTube video in which the Intel Core i5-8400 (8th generation) seems to be slightly worse than the Intel Core i5-9400F (9th generation) in some games. I live in a country where the older Intel Core i5-8400 is more expensive than the Intel Core i5-9400F so I would recommend the Intel Core i5-9400F at about $ 182. The Intel Core i5-9400F does not have a working integrated graphics processing unit (iGPU) so it needs a graphics card to run. The Intel Core i5-9400F has a boost clock of 4.1 GHz.

The Intel Core i5-8700K is a very good microprocessor and many people say that it is more future proof because of its Hyper-Threading Technology. The Intel Core i5-9600K is cheaper and may perform slightly better in some games but tends to slow down or lag sometimes in games like Far Cry 5 (Far Cry 5 favours 8 core CPUs or supports Hyper-Threading?). The Intel Core i7-8700K was the just about third best microprocessor when playing Far Cry 5 (sixth to seventh when not overclocked), about the fifth best when playing Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (sixth best without overclocking), about seventh best in Civilizations IV (when overclocked, only taking into account the game's turn time), and about fourth best when playing F1 2018 (when overclocked).

The video I just watched:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92byoMgptU

 

[gordonmousedeer]

You could get a Intel Core i7-9700K as well if you can spend about USD 385 on it. It is better than the Intel Core i7-8700K and a lot of other microprocessors in most cases but it draws more power and it may heat up more easily so a good cooling solution may be necessary.

 

[Mortem420]

My main difficulty with this is just the sheer number of products available on the market. They seem to have a processor for everyone these days but I'm just unsure where on that scale I fit in. Even now im using a 4 core CPU with no hyperthreading so I don't even know if I'll need it.

The i7-8700K has a slightly higher base clock and a slightly lower boost clock where as the 9700K is the other way around. I seem to fail at fully understanding the usefulness of hyperthreading and how it makes a difference, but to me I'd have to think the 8700K could work faster just due to having more threads.

Like, what are the pros and cons of these CPUs in comparison to one another?? Maybe that could help me in understanding a bit better

 

[tennis2]

1 core = ~1.5 threads.

i7-9700K is the fastest gaming CPU right now (excluding the uber expensive i9-9900K that only beats it in REALLY well threaded games). If if you've got the money for a system like that, the choice is simple. It get's more complicated when you start looking deeper into price/performance as well as comparing AMD to Intel. We can do that for you, but we'll need to know:

Current system specs (for anything relatively new and reusable, aka GTX1660Ti)
Country
Budget

It's not worth debating over a $1,200 system if your budget is $800.

 

[Mortem420]

Well as far as current specs go the 1660Ti is really the only notable thing considering my current build is LGA775 so im really just going for a completely new build to get away from this platform.

I live in Ontario, Canada and my proposed budget is upwards of around $1500 just for CPU, motherboard, RAM and CPU cooler. I already have a case and will probably be using the 1660Ti until I can afford an RTX card after completing the system

I plan on getting the Gigabyte AORUS Gaming 7 or something similar so I suppose some of that budget is technically paying for RGB lights in stuff, but i do want RGB

 

[Mortem420]

If 1 core = ~1.5 threads then wouldn't a 6 core with hypethreading be similar in performance to a 10 core cpu??

 

[tennis2]

8700K = 6C&12T. 12/1.5 = 8.
The 8700K and 9700K are basically equal in all benchmarks. The 9700K has a slight benefit due to slightly higher frequency.

 

[1LiquidPC]

If you are looking at 8th or 9th gen Intel and OCing, you want a solid Z370(UEFI updated if 9th Gen)or Z390 board. 7th Gen isn't officially compatible. Recently sold my 8700k, was quite happy with it. Also, any interest in AMD? The 7nm Zen 2 3000 series is right around the corner and is rumored to really be top notch in performance and likely competitive in price. I have a Ryzen 2700X HTPC/gaming build as well paired with RTX 2060, and happy with it. Modern AMD has come along way for sure. If strictly gaming, Intel still has the edge across all resolutions at the high end, though outside of 1080P, the gap shrinks considerably. This is with current 2000 series. If you follow through with new build, should be quite a difference compared to your current setup.

 

[TCA_ChinChin]

Since you mention that you like to not only play games, but do a lot of multitasking, game recording, and video/audio editing, some higher end CPUs like i7-9700k or even the i9-9900k would be really well suited to what you're looking to do. Just know that they can get quite expensive. However, since you have it paired up with a GTX-1660ti, you don't really need the best of the best in order to get the most from that GPU. You said that you were looking for Intel processors, but looking at your use cases, it seems that an R7-2700/2700x would be well suited to what you're doing as well.

Some processors that would match well with that GPU (won't hold back GPU) from the current generation are:
i5-9400f (175$, no overclocking, no integrated graphics, 6cores/6threads) - https://smile.amazon.com/Intel-i5-9...words=i5+9400&qid=1556438342&s=gateway&sr=8-2

i5-9600k (265$, overclockable, 6cores/6threads) - https://smile.amazon.com/Intel-i5-9...6438394&s=gateway&sprefix=i5+9,aps,171&sr=8-2

r5-2600 (165$, overclockable, 6cores/12threads) - https://smile.amazon.com/AMD-Proces...556438494&s=gateway&sprefix=r5,aps,141&sr=8-3

r7-2700 (225$, overclockable, 8cores/16threads) - https://smile.amazon.com/AMD-Ryzen-...438598&s=gateway&sprefix=r7+27,aps,126&sr=8-3

All of these would require a new motherboard and new DDR4, which should cost similar amounts regardless of which processor you pick, but should cost roughly 80$ for 8x2GB DDR4 and probably around 120-150$ for a decent motherboard.