[SOLVED] Which 8th Gen Intel CPU is the best for gaming(without overclocking)

[darkknightadi]

I am planning to upgrade my gaming rig. Right now I am using a 4th gen non K variant,And I am looking to jump to 8th gen.I just want to know which is the best CPU for gaming.I am not into overclocking and probably never will, So even if I get a K variant of the 8th gen I will be running it in stock settings,keeping that in mind which CPU will give me the best gaming performance.I don't mind buying a K variant if it gives me a substantial gaming performance difference over the non K variant.I really need someone to help me on this as everybody on the internet is talking about how great the 8700K is for gaming.My first choice is to get the i7 8700(non K version) but one of my friends is suggesting that I should go for the i5 8400.Someone please HELP 🙁

P.S. I have the Zotac GTX 1080 Mini as my GPU

 

[vMax]

If you can afford the 8700 non K as you dont need to overclock...Then that would be the best 8th Gen CPU...Yes you would get a great experience from the 8400 but the 8700 is still better as it has 6 cores + 6 threads and overall would still be better, especially with the higher speed as standard...It just comes down to money, if you have the money and can afford both CPU's, the 8700 would be best.

 

[Captaingadget]

Depends completely on your budget, if you can stretch to and 8700k then it's going to be top notch, but if you need to save a few £'s then downgrade to the 8600K or the 8600 or even an 8500. Have a read through Tom's recommendations:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpus,3986.html

 

[mdd1963]

8600k pretty darn attractively priced( save $100), but that darn 8700k looks great!

 

[theonerm2]

I would get the Core i5 8400. Most games don't benefit from the extra threads of the i7. Some do but most don't and unless you have a high refresh rate monitor this doesn't matter much anyway. Just get a motherboard that supports multicore enhancement and there you go. You'll have 4GHz on all 6 cores. There isn't a game out that requires more than that and probably won't be for a long long time. The Core i5 is back in business for gaming. No longer do gamers have to shell out for the more expensive Core i7 because 4 cores 4 threads isn't quite enough. Now 6 Cores 6 threads is plenty. The 4 cores and 8 threads of the older Core i7's is just like having 5 cores. So now a 6 core i5 is even more than the older i7's. If you are upgrading from a 4770 or 4790 you won't really see that huge of a boost in gaming performance. But if you're upgrading from a 4th gen i5 or lower then yes you will notice a pretty good boost in performance in a lot of newer titles.

 

[Captaingadget]

Have a look at the charts for the various games TH tested in their review of the 8700K and compare it to some of the other CPUs, see if the extra cash is worth that little bit extra performance, but I wouldn't disagree with what theonerm2 says, your GPU is far more important to gaming performance than the CPU, so the question is perhaps could that money be better spent on a GPU upgrade instead, but given you've already got a GTX1080 the next step is a 1080Ti which is going to set you back $700-$800 probably not. Might be better spent on something else like an SSD if you haven't already got one however. Only other consideration is timing, i5-8600 and up are available now but the 8400 isn't yet from what I've seen.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-coffee-lake-i7-8700k-cpu,5252.html

 

[darkknightadi]

If you can afford the 8700 non K as you dont need to overclock...Then that would be the best 8th Gen CPU...Yes you would get a great experience from the 8400 but the 8700 is still better as it has 6 cores + 6 threads and overall would still be better, especially with the higher speed as standard...It just comes down to money, if you have the money and can afford both CPU's, the 8700 would be best.

But will there be a huge difference in gaming performance between the 8700 & the 8700K running at stock??

 

[Demonic Heart]

I would get the Core i5 8400. Most games don't benefit from the extra threads of the i7. Some do but most don't and unless you have a high refresh rate monitor this doesn't matter much anyway. Just get a motherboard that supports multicore enhancement and there you go. You'll have 4GHz on all 6 cores. There isn't a game out that requires more than that and probably won't be for a long long time. The Core i5 is back in business for gaming. No longer do gamers have to shell out for the more expensive Core i7 because 4 cores 4 threads isn't quite enough. Now 6 Cores 6 threads is plenty. The 4 cores and 8 threads of the older Core i7's is just like having 5 cores. So now a 6 core i5 is even more than the older i7's. If you are upgrading from a 4770 or 4790 you won't really see that huge of a boost in gaming performance. But if you're upgrading from a 4th gen i5 or lower then yes you will notice a pretty good boost in performance in a lot of newer titles.

some games do get better frames on more cores and threads. game like witcher 3 and crysis.

the 8700k got about 30 frames more of the 7700k when running witcher 3 and crysis on all benchmarks i've seen to date.

and that is due to the 6 cores and 12 threads of the 8700k.

and i bet that games to come see more use of the processor.

and that would make the 8700 the perfect choice for an all round better processor

 

[darkknightadi]

Will there be a huge difference in gaming performance between the 8700 & the 8700K running at stock??

 

[Demonic Heart]

Will there be a huge difference in gaming performance between the 8700 & the 8700K running at stock??

the 8700k have .5GHz more base clock frequency than the 8700 and .1GHz more turbo boost than the 8700.

therefore you will see some difference but i won't worry about it too much. it would be real close but only in games that require a lot of cpu power

if any other game you wont see anything different