Recommended vs Minimum Requirements Confusing

[Tom Bombtongue]

Hello guys,

I am currently building a gaming rig using GTX 1070 and an Intel (i5 or i7) CPU. I want the system to stay usable for at least 3 years performing 1080p@60. I won't overclock, just use stock power (both CPU and GPU)

One game I plan on playing is Battlefield 1 (when it is out, ofc) and so I was looking at its requirements, which can be seen here on their website: https://www.battlefield.com/games/battlefield-1/tech

Take a look the minimum required CPU, and then at the recommended CPU. The minimum CPU is a 2015 Skylake i5 6600K, and the recommended is a 2014 i7 4790. According to benchmarks the i5 is faster, yet cheaper. And this confuses me, I mean how is this possible? How can the minimum part be better than the recommended?

I was going to buy that i5 6600K but when I saw this, I started considering an i7 6700. Which one should I buy?

 

[PureCarbine]

I imagine the i5 will be enough but you should maybe get the non-k version if you don't plan to overclock or don't have a overclockable motherboard. The recommend specs are quite strange as they both have similar performance apart from multi-core performance because of the i7's 4 cores 8 threads. Whereas i think the i5 is 4 cores 4 threads.

 

[chemmajorp53]

For gaming, absolutely the i5. If you're not going to overclock I might even get a 6500 and save the extra money for more ssd space or a better monitor. These "recommended" and "minimum" hardware requirements are total bullshit, they're just marketing stunts to get people to buy new hardware. You can get the i7, but it's going to be a while before the game devs catch up to what dx12 and vulkan are capable of with regards to hyperthreading and core distribution and by then newer, faster cpus will be out.

 

[Ecky]

Often the requirements for games make no sense. You'll see strange things like "i5 4690K or FX-6300". Excuse me?

 

[dudeman509]

Any i5, probably 3570 and up should be able to run the game smoothly. There is not a huge performance jump between generations. Any i7 probably Sandy Bridge and up will probably be just fine with it (so far my brother's i7-3820E has had no issues running anything thrown at it).

When they made that requirements list, they must have just based it on what they've run it on in their studio.