Upgraded from 4770k to 8700k, contemplating 2700x

[Wolfz]

Hi, over the weekend during Black Friday I went to my local Micro-center because they had really good deals going for a motherboard/cpu combo for the 8700k as well as the 2700x. I ultimately ended up picking up the 8700k because its overall price for the combo was $20 more than the 2700x, but I wasn't sure whether or not I made the right decision and wanted to see what others thought would be better for me. My now current setup is:

• 
  MOBO: Asus Prime Z370-a II
  CPU: i7 8700k @ 5ghz
  COOLER: Noctua NH-D15S
  RAM: Ripjaws V 3200mhz DDR4
  GPU: Zotac 1080ti amp! edition

I am primarily a gamer, but I like to record funny moments and stream sometimes with friends when I play games as well. I don't do any workstation type of activities and so I wasn't sure if a 2700x would even be worth it since the total price difference for the mobo/cpu combo I got for the 8700k was $20 more than if I got the 2700x. The mobo I would have gotten was just the AMD variant of the current mobo I have for the 8700k, so they are nearly identical. Essentially I'm curious about whether people would go with an 8700k over a 2700x given that the gap between their prices are as negligible as $20 and if I made the right choice by going with an 8700k, or if I should swap to the 2700x because it would be better in the long run.

I ended up buying the 8700k and the Prime mobo for $400 total, whereas the 2700x with the Prime mobo would have been $380 which I thought was a pretty good deal considering the 8700k typically goes for $320 - $350 any other day.

I definitely notice a difference between the 8700k compared to my 4770k so I am already happy with it, but I wanted to make sure I get the most out of my money for the next 4 or so years. The 4770k lasted really well over the past 5 years, but I wanted to get onto a newer platform and DDR4 to help out with frame-rate in games (which is noticeably has is various games). Let me know if you have any other questions about my system or want any other details between the two.

 

[iamacow]

You said it yourself that you are a primary a gamer. the I7 8700K hands down wins in FPS. You made the right choice!

As for the video card, Zotac is about the lowest you can go in quality. Also good luck ever getting them to accept a RMA.

Buildzoid goes into detail about the Zotac 2080 Extreme. Its not the 2080 Ti, but the design is the same on all the cards, they just slap another GPU on the PCB.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9fypwMCmug

 

[Wolfz]

You said it yourself that you are a primary a gamer. the I7 8700K hands down wins in FPS. You made the right choice!

As for the video card, Zotac is about the lowest you can go in quality. Also good luck ever getting them to accept a RMA.

Buildzoid goes into detail about the Zotac 2080 Extreme. Its not the 2080 Ti, but the design is the same on all the cards, they just slap another GPU on the PCB.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9fypwMCmug

I figured the 8700k was the better choice for gaming which is why I initially went with it, but I wanted to make sure I gave AMD a chance since their newer processors are getting a lot better compared to their past ones. The 1080ti has actually been pretty great. I've had it for almost a year now and it chugs through pretty much any game I play. Having said that I recently have been having a ticking issue with one of the fans making a noise (not coil whine, but maybe a bearing?) so I need to get that fixed. but I went from a zotac 1070 to a 1080ti (long story, but I lucked out and ended up getting the ti for about $50 more than the 1070 during the GPU card shortage debacle) since I had really good luck with the 1070.

Getting back on topic, I do want to OC the 8700k as much as I can because it's designed to be OC'd and I like to squeeze out performance where I can. At the moment it definitely runs hotter than my 4770k ever did (mid 80s at 5ghz) and I would definitely like to get those temps down, but I'm doubtful that a better cooler would help too much more than the D15S without me breaking the bank on a $200 or more cooler. I've never done it before, but I'm considering deliding at some point if I do stick with the 8700k. I know that it voids the warranty with the manufacturer so that is one reason I'm hesitant, but I've also seen that people who delid the CPU have reduced their temps as far as 20 - 30 C which would be great.

 

[iamacow]

The 8700k runs hot and 5ghz is about the limit without some serious heat issues. You basically have to delid if you want to overclock at all. 30c drop is a little extreme. usually 7-15c is normal.

 

[theonerm2]

I'm interested in knowing what the difference is between the 4770k and 8700k while gaming. I've contemplated the upgrade from the 4790K myself but I'm wanting to wait for Zen 2. I've always thought the difference in gaming was pretty minimal.

 

[iamacow]

Here is an article (semi outdated) of a 4770K vs 7700K. https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/memory_speed_vs_performance_intel/

Basically a 4770K with 2400 memory is only slightly behind and when you are no longer CPU bound, ie 4K gaming, it doesn't make a big difference. If you are gaming at 1080P, than yeah the newer CPU rocks the 4770K world .

 

[theonerm2]

Here is an article (semi outdated) of a 4770K vs 7700K. https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/memory_speed_vs_performance_intel/

Basically a 4770K with 2400 memory is only slightly behind and when you are no longer CPU bound, ie 4K gaming, it doesn't make a big difference. If you are gaming at 1080P, than yeah the newer CPU rocks the 4770K world .

Yeah but if you're gaming at 1080p you're not as likely to have a GTX 1080 ti. You're more likely to have an RX 580/90 or GTX 1060. Maybe a bit higher GPU if high refresh rate but generally the reason people go 1080p instead of 1440p is because they don't have the budget to go higher. So the most they might have is a GTX 1070 and with a 1070 any bottleneck is minimal even at 1080p. Realistically anybody with a GTX 1080 ti is probably playing 4K 60hz or 1440p 144hz. Not 1080p 165hz or 1080p 240hz. What I want to know is will it be an upgrade for me in the real world. I think not. I play 4K 60hz usually. I prefer high resolution and as long as I get 45 to 60fps I'm totally fine. I think the biggest bottlenecks are probably in GTA V and the newer Battlefield games if I play at 1440p. Nothing else that I play anyway seems to bottleneck. And nothing bottlenecks at 4k.

 

[iamacow]

You don't know me lol. I had 2x 1080 Ti and played at 1080P haha. Than again I don't game much on the PC.

You didn't read the article.

 

[theonerm2]

You don't know me lol. I had 2x 1080 Ti and played at 1080P haha. Than again I don't game much on the PC.

You didn't read the article.

Why did you have them? Did you use them for something other than gaming? Seems like a waste unless you used them for some other purpose. Maybe like mining or something when that was a thing?

 

[iamacow]

I had 1 originally for Gaming and Folding@Home. Than I got 6 more when mining was big. But yeah you are right, no one is going to have dual 1080Ti and play below 1440P unless they don't know what they are doing.