What CPU works for me? Skylake or Broadwell?

[Estbarul]

Hello! I'm about to build my first PC ever, so I'm looking into what CPU should I use. I can get a i5-5675C now for around 140$ or a i5-6600k for around 160$ in February. Either way I'll get a GPU around mid 2016 because I don't have the money right now.

According to these reviews and some other benchmarks I've seen http://techreport.com/review/28751/intel-core-i7-6700k-skylake-processor-reviewed/6 The Broadwell CPUs match really good against the Skylake ones, and since I'm only interested in gaming I want to know if it's the best option for me. I also don't plan to upgrade the PC until Intel arrives at the 8th or 9th generation of CPUs so I'm looking for something that, gaming wise can hold up.

Am I good with the i5, skylake or broadwell, for 3 years or so from now taking only gaming in consideration? is it enough or should I overclock at some point? How is it gonna handle DX12? Is the extra L4 Cache Broadwell use something to take into consideration with DX12 now that it may use both graphic capabilities? Thanks for the help!

 

[OzairPc]

Go with the i5 skylake. Skylake processors have pretty good IGPU's, so you can do some light gaming before you get your graphics card.
Broadwell was a fail (Intel pretty much skipped it!)

 

[dantheman0809]

if you can't get your gpu until around 2016 it makes a lot of sense to go for the 6600k, it's a newer cpu and will be more future proof and will be more compatible for ddr4 ram if you want that

 

[Martell1977]

One thing to consider is possible upgrade paths. Broadwell is on a dead socket, 1150, same as Haswell. So there is no real upgrade path going forward. Skylake is socket 1151 which will be shared with the upcoming Kaby Lake and possibly the next CPU after that one, Cannon Lake. So Skylake gives you future options as Broadwell does not.

Kaby Lake, as I understand it, is a Skylake refresh, like Devil's Canyon was for Haswell. The next CPU after that should be a process shrink, 10nm, and historically those CPU's have fit into the same socket as the last generation (like Ivy bridge was compatible with Sandy Bridge motherboards). However, Intel does what they want to and while Cannon Lake brings a new chipset(200 series), they haven't announced what socket it will be on or if it will work on Skylake motherboards.

 

[Estbarul]

One thing to consider is possible upgrade paths. Broadwell is on a dead socket, 1150, same as Haswell. So there is no real upgrade path going forward. Skylake is socket 1151 which will be shared with the upcoming Kaby Lake and possibly the next CPU after that one, Cannon Lake. So Skylake gives you future options as Broadwell does not.

Kaby Lake, as I understand it, is a Skylake refresh, like Devil's Canyon was for Haswell. The next CPU after that should be a process shrink, 10nm, and historically those CPU's have fit into the same socket as the last generation (like Ivy bridge was compatible with Sandy Bridge motherboards). However, Intel does what they want to and while Cannon Lake brings a new chipset(200 series), they haven't announced what socket it will be on or if it will work on Skylake motherboards.

mmm So maybe Cannonlake could work in LGA1151 motherboards? The graphic card options of the Broadwell seem so tempting with the Dx12 future and the extra memory cache in L$4 :/

 

[Martell1977]

mmm So maybe Cannonlake could work in LGA1151 motherboards? The graphic card options of the Broadwell seem so tempting with the Dx12 future and the extra memory cache in L$4 :/

It is possible that Cannon Lake could use 1151, Intel has not specified what socket yet. There will be a new Chipset though, but no way to know yet what features that will bring. At the very least you would have the upgrade path of Kaby Lake, which Intel has said will use the 1151 socket.

I'm not sure what you mean about the DX12 future, Skylake supports everything Broadwell does and then some. As for the L4 cache, per your link, it depends on whether or not the game/program you run will take advantage of it. But the performance difference is not much and you would be giving up the upgrade path, DDR4 and other features from the 100 series chipset.

For a new build I personally would go with Skylake.

 

[Demonic Heart]

I would also recommend skylake

 

[Estbarul]

mmm So maybe Cannonlake could work in LGA1151 motherboards? The graphic card options of the Broadwell seem so tempting with the Dx12 future and the extra memory cache in L$4 :/

It is possible that Cannon Lake could use 1151, Intel has not specified what socket yet. There will be a new Chipset though, but no way to know yet what features that will bring. At the very least you would have the upgrade path of Kaby Lake, which Intel has said will use the 1151 socket.

I'm not sure what you mean about the DX12 future, Skylake supports everything Broadwell does and then some. As for the L4 cache, per your link, it depends on whether or not the game/program you run will take advantage of it. But the performance difference is not much and you would be giving up the upgrade path, DDR4 and other features from the 100 series chipset.

For a new build I personally would go with Skylake.

Thanks, I guess I would take whatever CPU, they both work the same for gaming, so I'm gonna lead myself as to which one gets the best prices on BF.