What CPU to use

[waldo.depree]

Hi there,

So a while ago I upgraded my graphics card to a gtx 1070 and I am very happy with that decision. My PC now:

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.40GHz 31 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
16,0GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Intel Corporation DH87RL (CPU 1) 28 °C
Graphics
2590G4 (1920x1080@144Hz)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (EVGA) 29 °C
Storage
111GB KINGSTON SV300S37A120G (SSD) 26 °C
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-00RKKA0 (SATA) 27 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-224DB
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

Now I want to upgrade my cpu but if I do this I think I also need to upgrade my motherboard and RAM. The cpu that got my attention is the Intel i7-6700K. Is this a good cpu to upgrade to? I also looked at the 7700K but it is much more expensive and I read that it isn't much better than the 6700K.

So my first question is: is the 6700K a good successor to my current cpu and will it make a big impact on my pc performance? My second question: what motherboard should I buy to go with it?


Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

If you upgrade past the haswell platform, you will indeed need a new board, namely the Z370 chispet if you'd like to stick with a K suffix processor. You will also need a DDR4-3200MHz ram kit to pair with the CPU and board since DDR3 is impossible to use on Skylake/Kabylake. Well you can find Skylake boards that operate with DDR3 rams but you won't get any benefit as DDR4 is miles faster in terms of bandwidth clock per clock.

 

[waldo.depree]

If you upgrade past the haswell platform, you will indeed need a new board, namely the Z370 chispet if you'd like to stick with a K suffix processor. You will also need a DDR4-3200MHz ram kit to pair with the CPU and board since DDR3 is impossible to use on Skylake/Kabylake. Well you can find Skylake boards that operate with DDR3 rams but you won't get any benefit as DDR4 is miles faster in terms of bandwidth clock per clock.

I'm thinking about Intel i7-7700k with msi m5 motherboard and 16 gb 3200 mhz ddr4 ram from Vengeance. Is the 7700k worth it or is the 6700K just as good?

 

[maxalge]

If you upgrade past the haswell platform, you will indeed need a new board, namely the Z370 chispet if you'd like to stick with a K suffix processor. You will also need a DDR4-3200MHz ram kit to pair with the CPU and board since DDR3 is impossible to use on Skylake/Kabylake. Well you can find Skylake boards that operate with DDR3 rams but you won't get any benefit as DDR4 is miles faster in terms of bandwidth clock per clock.

I'm thinking about Intel i7-7700k with msi m5 motherboard and 16 gb 3200 mhz ddr4 ram from Vengeance. Is the 7700k worth it or is the 6700K just as good?

neither are worth it with the 8600k or 8700k available

 

[waldo.depree]

If you upgrade past the haswell platform, you will indeed need a new board, namely the Z370 chispet if you'd like to stick with a K suffix processor. You will also need a DDR4-3200MHz ram kit to pair with the CPU and board since DDR3 is impossible to use on Skylake/Kabylake. Well you can find Skylake boards that operate with DDR3 rams but you won't get any benefit as DDR4 is miles faster in terms of bandwidth clock per clock.

I'm thinking about Intel i7-7700k with msi m5 motherboard and 16 gb 3200 mhz ddr4 ram from Vengeance. Is the 7700k worth it or is the 6700K just as good?

neither are worth it with the 8600k or 8700k available

Yet I read that the 7700K is in performance similar to the 8700K. Only when multitasking the 8700K is better but since I only want to game I don't need that and the 8700K is way more expensive. Hence I think about the 7700K.

 

[maxalge]

If you upgrade past the haswell platform, you will indeed need a new board, namely the Z370 chispet if you'd like to stick with a K suffix processor. You will also need a DDR4-3200MHz ram kit to pair with the CPU and board since DDR3 is impossible to use on Skylake/Kabylake. Well you can find Skylake boards that operate with DDR3 rams but you won't get any benefit as DDR4 is miles faster in terms of bandwidth clock per clock.

I'm thinking about Intel i7-7700k with msi m5 motherboard and 16 gb 3200 mhz ddr4 ram from Vengeance. Is the 7700k worth it or is the 6700K just as good?

neither are worth it with the 8600k or 8700k available

Yet I read that the 7700K is in performance similar to the 8700K. Only when multitasking the 8700K is better but since I only want to game I don't need that and the 8700K is way more expensive. Hence I think about the 7700K.

the 8600k is a great choice if you overclock

the 8700k is the best gaming cpu period

 

[waldo.depree]

If you upgrade past the haswell platform, you will indeed need a new board, namely the Z370 chispet if you'd like to stick with a K suffix processor. You will also need a DDR4-3200MHz ram kit to pair with the CPU and board since DDR3 is impossible to use on Skylake/Kabylake. Well you can find Skylake boards that operate with DDR3 rams but you won't get any benefit as DDR4 is miles faster in terms of bandwidth clock per clock.

I'm thinking about Intel i7-7700k with msi m5 motherboard and 16 gb 3200 mhz ddr4 ram from Vengeance. Is the 7700k worth it or is the 6700K just as good?

neither are worth it with the 8600k or 8700k available

Yet I read that the 7700K is in performance similar to the 8700K. Only when multitasking the 8700K is better but since I only want to game I don't need that and the 8700K is way more expensive. Hence I think about the 7700K.

the 8600k is the best choice if you overclock

Is overclocking worth it if I can't use watercooling?

 

[maxalge]

Is overclocking worth it if I can't use watercooling?

yes, true watercooling is great.

but a simple proper air cooler is actually better than these pre-made units

 

[waldo.depree]

Is overclocking worth it if I can't use watercooling?

yes, true watercooling is great.

but a simple proper air cooler is actually better than these pre-made units

But if my budget doesn't allow the 8700K will the 7700K be good enough for the neareby future?

 

[maxalge]

Is overclocking worth it if I can't use watercooling?

yes, true watercooling is great.

but a simple proper air cooler is actually better than these pre-made units

But if my budget doesn't allow the 8700K will the 7700K be good enough for the neareby future?

it would be inferior to the 8600k

 

[madmatt30]

The 6700k & 7700k aren't 'much' better than your current 4770.
They're nonsensical upgrades (bearing in mind that many/skylake are now essentially a discontinued socket)

You'd be going from a old discontinued socket to another old discontinued socket at what is still a very high financial cost.

 

[waldo.depree]

The 6700k & 7700k aren't 'much' better than your current 4770.
They're nonsensical upgrades (bearing in mind that many/skylake are now essentially a discontinued socket)

You'd be going from a old discontinued socket to another old discontinued socket at what is still a very high financial cost.

What would you advice for me to upgrade to?

 

[waldo.depree]

I think I'm going for the 8700K since you all said it is way better and I saw the price difference is minimal. Next up: what motherboard?

 

[pete_101]

Looking at the read out of your system, why does it say single channel RAM? I assume you've got 2x8GB stick of RAM, are there 4 slots available and you've used 2 of them side by side? The reason I ask is because dual channel memory is so much better than single, and maybe shifting 1 stick of memory over a slot is all the upgrade you need?

The next upgrade would be to get a 4790K and overclock it to 4.8GHz with a reasonable cooler.

 

[waldo.depree]

Looking at the read out of your system, why does it say single channel RAM? I assume you've got 2x8GB stick of RAM, are there 4 slots available and you've used 2 of them side by side? The reason I ask is because dual channel memory is so much better than single, and maybe shifting 1 stick of memory over a slot is all the upgrade you need?

The next upgrade would be to get a 4790K and overclock it to 4.8GHz with a reasonable cooler.

Wow.. Didn't know that XD