Need to decide between i5-7500 or i5-7600k for cpu upgrade. Overclock worth it?

snudude

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Need to upgrade my cpu and am at a stalemate between the 7500 and the 7600k.

PC Specs:
Processor: Intel 3.70 GHz Core i3-6100
Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti SSC GAMING ACX 3.0, 4GB GDDR5
Motherboard: MSI H110M Pro-VD
RAM: Ballistix Sport LT 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR4 2400 MT/s
Cooler: Stock
Power Supply: EVGA 500B
Drive 1: Intel 240GB SSD
Drive 2: WD Blue 1TB SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
Case: Corsair Carbide SPEC-2

I am unsure whether it is worth the extra money to get the cooler, better motherboard, and K series processor so I can overclock. The main game I want to see the most improvement in is PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

If I get the i5-7500, I would get a $70-$115 motherboard.
If I get the i5-7600k, I would get a motherboard near the $200 range and an aftermarket cooler.

Any input is appreciated,
-Snudude
 

parani

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No its not worth it .There may be 5 to 10% improvement in clock speed but it doesn't increase performance by that much .You are just fine with 7500 and its perfect combo for gtx 1050ti
 

snudude

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What Mobo would you suggest to go with it? Would I be fine with a $75 Mobo?
 

TJ Hooker

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What mobo to go with a 7500? Your current one would be just fine as long as you make sure to upgrade the BIOS with your current CPU installed before you upgrade.

I agree with what was said above, the cost of unlocked CPU + new mobo + cooler is not worth the gains you'll get from overclocking. For that amount of money you could get an i7-7700 (and probably some money to spare), which I'd probably rather have than an OC'd i5. Or if you're replacing mobo and CPU, wait a month or two and get coffee lake.
 

snudude

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I do. Would it do fine if I did a BIOS update?
 

parani

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The stock cooler is fine with 3.4ghz .if above 3.8ghz then may be its upgrade to after market cooler .since you dont overclock ,its fine with stock cooler
 

Lehan123456789

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If you aren't overclocking, there is no point in getting an aftermarket cooler.
 

Karadjgne

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For a locked cpu, aftermarket coolers are still a good thing. Much depends on usage and user tolerance. If you'll be using the cpu (most i5's will see excessive use upto 100% in games like Witcher 3 or BF1 or PUBG) then that stock cooler is going to be running full speed, max noise. A decent budget aftermarket cooler like a hyper212 or cryorig H7 will do wonders for not only temps but sheer noiseless output, even at extended max cpu usage times. It's not absolutely necessary, but it does help.
The i5-7600k,even on a H or B mobo and non OC able, is still a considerably stronger cpu, not only in clock speeds and turbo max, but in things like Lcache, but that aside, if you did budget for the higher cpu, as said, you'd still be better off with the i7-7700 which can take advantage of hyperthreading to give 8 threads vrs the i5's 4 threads, which supports a greater amount of games, like BF1 or Witcher 3 or PUBG, which are optimized for 8 thread usage. No point in punishing an i5 at 100%usage, and getting lower fps, when for @ the same outlay you can sit at 50-70% on an i7 and get better fps.
 

snudude

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Hm, so it would be a better deal to go up to the i7? Even with my budget GPU? I was looking at the i7 6700, it's only $170 on Amazon... Do you know if the i5 7500 or the i7 6700 has better single core performance?

I don't have a tight budget, I just want the best bang for the buck, along with a decent performing machine, without throwing a lot of money at it.
 

TJ Hooker

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Intel 6th and 7th gen CPUs (and presumably 8th gen) have the same instructions per clock, so to compare single core performance you can just directly compare clock speed. Therefore, you can see that the 6700 will have a little better single core performance.

Given all the added costs of overclocking modern Intel platforms (unlocked CPU, Z series mobo, cooler), they rarely offer the best bang for buck.
 

TJ Hooker

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I don't put a lot of stock in comparison sites like that. It makes no sense that the 6700 would have a lower single threaded score (although 2% is probably within the margin of error), it's single threaded speed is 4.0 GHz vs 3.8 GHz for the 7500. I would expect the quad core speed to be slightly slower for the 6700 (3.6 GHz quad core boost vs 3.7 for the 7500), but that's ~3%, not 8%.

Neither CPU will have significantly better single core performance than your current i3. A 6700 and 7500 will have similar quad core performance, but the 6700 will pull ahead in anything that makes use of >4 cores. To be honest, I wasn't recommending an i7 outright so much as I was recommending it over a 7600k. Although, given that you aren't really upgrading single core performance and are basically just buying yourself more multi threaded performance, I'd personally just go the whole nine yards and get an i7. Or wait for coffee lake, where mainstream i5s are supposed to have 6 cores.
 

Karadjgne

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If you game, you will use 8 threads. Those small benchmark numbers can turn into quite large deficits when comparing an i7 running BF1 or Witcher 3, pubg, Starwars Battlefront, gta:V, WoW, or any other game that can and does use upto 8 or so threads. My skyrim can use as many as 6,and it's a single thread heavy game that usually doesn't have issues on a Pentium.

Think of it this way. Newer games are using massive amounts of info to get those intense pictures on screen. There's 2 ways to do this. Either code a very, very long string, which makes for huge cpu usage and limits overall size of game or use 2x shorter strings which can mean much more info processed in half the time of the single string. This is where games are headed, using 8 threads to maximize info and minimize time/lag/cpu usage.

I won't recommend any i5 for any decent build, it's just too restrictive with only 4 threads ability.
 

snudude

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ah, that makes sense. I'll take those suggestions into consideration. I assume my current mobo is also fine for the i7? it wouldn't limit me in any way, would it?
 

Karadjgne

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Just fine for any cpu that fits that socket be it pentium or i7. It'll even handle an i7-7700k, just no OC. As long as it fits your needs/wants/aesthetics it's all good. Some ppl pick lesser boards just to color match, some better boards for expanded storage ability, some choose Z boards for its higher grade audio and faster Lan whether they have a locked cpu or unlocked. Most choose the cheapest possible mobo so they can maximize gpu size inside a budget, but run into issues later with things like lack of fan headers, lack of Sata ports, single usb3 interior headers and then use adapters and splitters to MacGyver a pc into working.

When spending $1000 for a pc, an extra $30 for a better planned component is in reality, chump change, just like when they spend $50 for a POS psu vrs $60 for a decent quality psu.
 

snudude

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My bad, $270. Typo, sorry.
I wouldnt be here if I found an i7-6700 for $170 lol, if only.
 

Karadjgne

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That's still not terrible. They were over $300 a while back. I'd be taking a long look at prices vrs ability.
I7-7700 $282. Latest generation mobo's, has upgrades not available for skylake mobo's. Also runs native 2400 ddr4.
I7-6700 $270. Last gen mobo. Don't think most mobo's have usb 3.1 support native, nor usb-C. Not sure on those, could be wrong. Runs native 2133 ddr4.
7700 base 3.6GHz, 6700 base 3.4GHz.

For $12, the 3.6GHz/2400 is a bonus over 3.4GHz/2133 in terms of value-performance
 

snudude

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I went ahead and bought the i7-7700, going to use my current mobo, and ordered a hyper 212 evo.

Thanks for all the responses, greatly helped the decision.
 

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