What counts as heavy multitasking for cpu?

[SovietHawk]

So going to be building a new computer and like many people I am stuck at the crossroads of 6600k vs 6700k. One comment I saw that caught my interest for choosing which one was if I would be doing heavy multitasking. For a good 80% of the time my computer will be used for gaming on one monitor and Netflix/Youtube/Twitch on the other. I also let PlaysTV run in the background while playing video games and maybe twice a year I might stream to Twitch while playing.

So what counts as heavy multitasking and would I be using the 6700k to even a fraction of its capabilities?

 

[Xibyth]

In general, multi-tasking is using several CPU intensive tasks, such as running an SQL server and managing databases. Or rendering high resolution video's or images. Some programs will be utilize the entire CPU to it's max such as encoding with handbrake. In these terms an i7 would be ideal as a time saver, by no means a requirement but it helps being profitable if your business depends on completing such tasks as quickly as possible.

In your case, it's generally not considered heavy multi-tasking. One heavy application (game) and a few light application (video streams, web browsing). Games generally will mostly operate on 1 core with 15-30% of the other cores being utilized, so an i5 will suffice. At no point in time would any of the other tasks your going to run noticeably impact your gaming unless your looking for it. You may loose 1-3 FPS while the video buffers in the back end, but only for a few milliseconds at a time and not often.

My advice is likely going to reflect much of what you have likely already heard, use the extra $100 to buy a better GPU. If you are already getting a 1080 invest in the i7. Just make sure you combine either CPU with 16GB of RAM, Chrome and games are RAM hogs, but you are not likely to utilize more than 12GB with these tasks.

 

[SovietHawk]

Thanks for your help.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Multitasking, while important, is not the "be all and end all" of determining whether to go i5 or i7. If you are using just a single application and it happens to be a workstation type application such as rendering CAD files or video editing, you will benefit greatly from an i7.

Other things that will likely be running in the background are:

AV / Malware
Backup Program
System Maintenance (i.e HD defrag)
Updater programs
Tweaking Utilities (i.e. MSI Afterburner)
Fan Control Service
LCD utility if you have an LCD on KB
Chat Utilities
Monitoring programs (HWiNFO)