Which intel processor to a reasonable gaming pc

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Loismustdye

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#223100 12-Sep-2017 17:59

As the title suggests, I'm looking at upgrading my rig at home (new motherboard, ram CPU etc) for a better gaming experience.
Currently running a standard i5 3450, 16gb ram with a gtx 1070, so would like to do the upgrade with a minimal expense, preferring new so I can use the existing setup in an old case as a plex server.

The question I'm after is: am I better with an i7700, or an i7600k? The more I see the more confused I get, having also seen the i7 7740x and the i7 7800x am I better to chuck a few extra $$ at it and get one of these.
At this point I'm lost with which would best suit my needs.

At present the gaming needs are on a 1440p monitor for fallout 4 and witcher 3, with a view to some of the new release stuff when it comes out?

TIA

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#1862991 12-Sep-2017 18:11

Honestly, wait a little bit longer.

Coffee Lake is just around the corner if you want to stay Intel, which is going to have 4 Core i3 CPUs, 6 Core i5s and 6 Core i7s, so it's a no brainer, especially as the motherboards, even though socket compatible, are not actually going to support Coffee Lake CPUs, so you will need an z370 motherboard anway.

If you can't wait, look at AMD Ryzen - the R7 1700 is fantastic value, especially if you're willing to overclock it. But since you want Intel, definitely wait for Coffee Lake.

As for your question about which CPU is better? It really does depend - the 7700 has more threads, but the 7600k can overclock, and those chips are known to overclock like a monster. If you're not afraid to overclock, and you MUST have a new CPU right now, and it MUST be Intel, the 7600k is the way to go.

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Djmixerdomo

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#1862993 12-Sep-2017 18:12

If I was in your position I would wait till coffee lake (8700k etc.) comes out later this year. The i7 8700k will have 6 cores & 12 threads and be significantly more powerful than the 7700k and the 7740x.

That depends on how eager you are to upgrade though.

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Loismustdye

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#1863003 12-Sep-2017 18:50

Thanks the advice, going by that it makes sense to wait, and a few extra months of $$ saving for the added cost.

Thanks for the prompt replies.
Cheers

Jase2985

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#1863040 12-Sep-2017 20:35

would you not get more benefit from going to a GTX1080 rather than upgrading your CPU?

Lias

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#1863086 12-Sep-2017 22:12

Pretty much every gaming site I can think of says i7's are overkill for gaming and to get an i5.. I'd wait and get a coffee lake i5.

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Loismustdye

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#1864435 13-Sep-2017 12:20

Jase2985:
would you not get more benefit from going to a GTX1080 rather than upgrading your CPU?

Possibly, but I think my older CPU may benefit more from an upgrade rather than the card, and if I'm good my wife would likely let me get the next generation card when they come out.

Loismustdye

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#1864437 13-Sep-2017 12:21

Lias:
Pretty much every gaming site I can think of says i7's are overkill for gaming and to get an i5.. I'd wait and get a coffee lake i5.

Thanks for that, an i5 over i7 will likely save me a few $$ when it releases.
Good to know

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Lias

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#1864458 13-Sep-2017 12:55

Loismustdye:
Lias:

Pretty much every gaming site I can think of says i7's are overkill for gaming and to get an i5.. I'd wait and get a coffee lake i5.

Thanks for that, an i5 over i7 will likely save me a few $$ when it releases.
Good to know

Put it towards a GPU.. If you want to play in 1440p on ultra, a 1070 won't really cut it.

shrub

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#1864477 13-Sep-2017 13:36

To be fair unless your gaming at 4k what you have is really good. The 1070 is already better than all AMD cards and your current CPU/RAM is not a gaming bottleneck. Do you have your OS and games on a SSD?

Id be spending my money on a g-sync gaming monitor first. You will be surprised on how much of a difference it makes.

kingdragonfly

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#1864494 13-Sep-2017 13:45

You mentioned only modern games.

If you want to run some ancient games, by using a emulator like RetroArch, it's all about a single cores CPU speed.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/emulator-computer-retro-console/

sultanoswing

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#1867716 17-Sep-2017 23:18

kingdragonfly: You mentioned only modern games.

If you want to run some ancient games, by using a emulator like RetroArch, it's all about a single cores CPU speed.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/emulator-computer-retro-console/

...and even more important if you want to run more recent games on CEMU (a Wii U emulator), such as Breath of the Wild.

networkn

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#1867842 18-Sep-2017 09:37

I have just been through this. I nearly went Ryzen 1700 overclocked, but then I was told about Coffee Lake. I expect the 8700K to outperform Ryzen in pretty much every area, and have higher single core performance, which is what (currently) games want.

I personally just feel more comfortable with Intel chips, and if there weren't any coming, I might have jumped to Ryzen, but I suspect now, the 8700K will be pretty good. They delayed them so I am wondering if they are "tinkering" with them to eek out some additional performance.

Competition is good!

xpd

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#1867877 18-Sep-2017 10:24

Problem with upgrading etc, is you can always wait for something bigger and better. I tend to pick a date to buy a new system, and buy the best that my budget allows at the time and be happy with it.

Or else you'll be waiting forever as someone always has something newer and better "just around the corner"............

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networkn

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#1867884 18-Sep-2017 10:32

xpd:

Problem with upgrading etc, is you can always wait for something bigger and better. I tend to pick a date to buy a new system, and buy the best that my budget allows at the time and be happy with it.

Or else you'll be waiting forever as someone always has something newer and better "just around the corner"............

I don't really think that is true based on the current landscape. Processor wise, you are waiting till Mid October, a month basically for Intels offering and after that I expect a fairly long wait for anything new.

toejam316

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#1867889 18-Sep-2017 10:40

networkn:
xpd:

Problem with upgrading etc, is you can always wait for something bigger and better. I tend to pick a date to buy a new system, and buy the best that my budget allows at the time and be happy with it.

Or else you'll be waiting forever as someone always has something newer and better "just around the corner"............

I don't really think that is true based on the current landscape. Processor wise, you are waiting till Mid October, a month basically for Intels offering and after that I expect a fairly long wait for anything new.

Yeah, agreed, I don't expect we'll see the Ryzen 2 chips until late Q2/early Q3 next year at this stage.
My biggest concern with Coffee Lake is that Intel has had thermal issues with Kaby Lake and overclocking, so with a higher tdp (these chips are rumoured to be as high as 115w, which explains why they can't be used on z270 boards), the thermals could be disastrous. Hopefully not the case, though.

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

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