Why do People Buy the 6700K over the 5820K?

turkey3_scratch · Jan 23, 2016

It just baffles me. The 5820K has been cheaper for quite a long time, has 2 more cores and 4 more threads. Both X99 and Z170 boards support DDR4, M.2, so no benefits there. Why would anybody consider paying $50 more for the 6700K? Is it just because people think, "This is a higher number. Must be better" or what?

Beyond Names · Jan 23, 2016

Most people just like buying the latest and flashiest hardware they can, and some clueless youtubers that have massive followings like levelcap telling his audience that a 6700k outperforms a 5960x in games.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 23, 2016

Beyond Names :

If the clock rate is higher, the 6700K indeed can outperform a 5960X since games don't utilize 10 cores and it has a higher stock frequency and newer architecture. But what people seem to forget is that neither the 6700K or 5820K should have CPU usage at 100% on any core while gaming, so they should be equal. And both can overclock, so...

nSomnia444 · Jan 23, 2016

Because when it comes to gaming, the i7 6700K outpeforms the 5820k. That is proven in many Game Benchmarks. The 5820K is showing his potential in Video Rendering and Editing but for pure Gaming power the i7 6700k and even the i7 4790k are stronger than the i7 5820k and not only a bit stronger.

Here is a Benchmark Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHzg3YeE28A

This will answere your question clearly.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 23, 2016

Not if you overclock. Obviously, since the 5820K is 3.2Ghz and the 6700K is 4.0Ghz, it'll be better, but you can easily jack up the clock rate on the 5820K.

And most people could put the money saved into a better GPU which would help FPS more.

Beyond Names · Jan 23, 2016

Guess you kind of answered your own question by correcting me, the 6700k has newer architecture and should perform the same in most games since they don't utilize all the cores.

larkspur · Jan 23, 2016

Mostly just clock-speed. The 6700k is faster for most applications that are using 4 threads or less due to updated architecture and higher clock frequency. While I haven't gotten my hands on either for testing, in theory most 6700k chips will reach higher overclocks than the 5820k. For compute-heavy professional tasks, you're right, the 5820k with its extra cores, threads and cache is a better value. But gaming-wise the 8-thread 6700k is blazing-fast at stock and will mostly have a higher OC ceiling.

Beyond Names · Jan 23, 2016

The 5820k is still 30 pound more expensive in the uk, might just be cheaper in the us.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 23, 2016

larkspur :

I'm a gamer and I'd buy a 5820K. The 5820K will not give bad gaming performance, and if people were smart they'd be buying an I5-6600K for solely gaming anyway. Why gamers are purchasing 6700Ks with a GTX 960 (I see it daily) is beyond me.

TJ Hooker · Jan 23, 2016

Cheaper motherboard for the 6700K potentially? In Canada, the 5820K is $20 cheaper than the 6700K, but the cheapest X99 board is over $100 more than an entry level Z170 mobo. Based on Newegg.ca prices.

larkspur · Jan 23, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

A 5820k will give excellent gaming performance. You sound a little bit contradictory though when saying that gamers should only buy the 4 thread i5 but you as a gamer would buy the 12 thread i7... I'm just saying

And yeah I know that you'd be using it for more than just gaming

As far as the i5 goes, well most every demanding game I see being released these days wants a four thread CPU. The i3 (2 cores, 4 threads) will actually play those games while Pentiums (2 cores, 2 threads) do not. Maybe folks are thinking that in the near future there might be some games that want 6 threads and therefore an i7 would work but an i5 wouldn't. I'm not saying that is how I feel, just speculating on why many gamers opt for i7 instead of i5. Then there are games that have an i7 in their 'recommended' specs. There are also a lot of people these days that want to record or stream their gameplay. More threads can help with that. Also - the i7-6700k comes clocked 500mhz higher base clock than the i5-6600k.

Supernova1138 · Jan 23, 2016

TJ Hooker :

Yeah, that's the exact reason why I discounted the 5820k when I was pricing out options for an upgrade last year. I'd also have to get a new CPU cooler as well as my old CoolerMaster Hyper N520 from my previous build doesn't have a mounting bracket for LGA 2011 adding an additional cost. I wound up just getting the 6600k and putting the money saved towards a new monitor as I didn't feel like waiting months for a 6700k to become available.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 23, 2016

Well, you do have somewhat of a point, but am I the only one here who's going 6 cores guys come on! We've had out 4-core I7 CPUs for ages now, this 6-core is certainly more future-proof. Some games like Battlefield, if correct, utilize 6 cores. Realistically, as a gamer, I wouldn't be purchasing an I7. An I5 is meant for gamers, but some gamers think, "Well, I gotta get the best of the best" when it'll realistically offer little to no benefit over the I5 in 95% of games. When talking about an I7, we should be thinking workstations, video and photo editing, recording and streaming. When it comes down to all that, a 5820K with a motherboard, even if it costs $40 more than a 6700K and a motherboard, is totally worth it. 6 cores, people don't realize what a huge gain that is.

Anyway, here's the cheapest 5820K combo:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($374.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($168.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $543.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-23 20:17 EST-0500

Here's the cheapest 6700K combo (the price dropped since earlier today by $20):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($399.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $479.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-23 20:21 EST-0500

But it's important to note that people buying the 6700K are not buying cheap $80 motherboards. Most of them are buying $150 motherboards as is, which brings the price of both setups about equal.

larkspur · Jan 23, 2016

And the extra $64 dollars saved with the skylake system there will net a better GPU and better out-of-the-box gaming performance due to the higher clockspeed and updated architecture. I'm not arguing against you preferring the i7-5820k. I'm still running an i7-980x @4ghz. I didn't buy it for gaming, I bought it for rendering in lightwave. It also games very well too! What I've noticed also is that people talk about OCing their new systems but usually just leave them at stock because they are nervous or whatever - so having a higher stock clock frequency might be appealing to those who would rather not OC until near the end of useful life.

Edit: One more thing - keep in mind that the i7-6700k is suggested at $350. The present prices are inflated due to high demand/low supply.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 23, 2016

As I said, people don't buy the cheap $80 motherboards. They buy the $140 motherboards. And to be fair, those X99 motherboards are most likely higher quality than the $80 Z170, probably have more power phases. Some low-end Z170 boards like the $80 probably have only 4 power phases.

larkspur · Jan 23, 2016

Yeah but along that same vein, I wouldn't use that particular six-phase ASrock board with a nice new i7-5820k either. I'd be spending at least $200 on the mobo probably significantly more. And unfortunately I do see people pairing k-series chips with cheap motherboards. They essentially just look for the cheapest z170 board they can because they think that if the board has z170 then it's fine for OCing... unfortunate but I see it all the time.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 23, 2016

That's why overclocking is always a waste of money IMO. Just get a nice non-K chip, a nice $50 motherboard, and you're good.

HOkay · Jan 25, 2016

I had this exact purchase choice a couple of months ago and I decided to go with the 6700k over the 5820k based purely on higher single-threaded performance. It's higher out of the box but also higher when both are overclocked in equal systems. I've got my 6700k running at 4.9GHz stable, I highly doubt there are many/any 5820k chips that will do 4.9! The reason I want highest possible single-threaded performance is that I play a few games that are heavily limited by single-threaded performance (older games generally) so I didn't care on 4 cores vs 6, I just needed at least 4 to cover well-threaded games (GTA, BF4 etc.) but above all else I wanted the highest possible single-threaded powa!

larkspur · Jan 26, 2016

Sounds like you got a very nice sample

With the potential to hit 4.9ghz that thing is going to be good for gaming for a long time! Just curious since I haven't yet gotten to play with a skylake yet (or read specifics about their OCing potential) - what are you cooling with and what voltage are you at and how are the temps with stress-tests?

Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163 · Jan 26, 2016

For enthusiasts yes, but that extra performance will only show during benchmarks. You won't notice the difference while gaming, again unless you benchmark/view FPS, as far as FPS is concerned, you won't notice it getting any smoother compared to a stock 5820k or stock 6700k. I think that Intel shouldn't release the 6700k in the first place, greedy to make even more money on a bad product for the consumers. A lot of people seem to think that 3 GHz is slow, what's happening is the same thing that's happening to the monitor market, lies and marketing tricks and a ton of placebo.

melibond · Jan 26, 2016

Although the 5820k is 6cores and faster than the 6700k, people buy the 6700k since it is meant for gaming and does actually perform better for gaming.
Some other people also buy it for the integrated graphics which is powerful enough to play games such as CsGo, lol, dota, smite...etc

But to make a short and fast answer then the answer is that most of us build powerful PCs for gaming, and people who want gaming will go with a processor that's meant for it and gives faster fps than others overall.

Hope i helped you

.

razamatraz · Jan 26, 2016

A: The 5820K is not cheaper in many places.
B: The Z170 Motherboards are cheaper than X99 (as long as you don't go high end)
C. X99 needs 4 RAM sticks for max performance which usually raises price more.
D. If you are scared/too lazy to overclock the 6700K kicks the crap out of the 5820 in 95% of games.

Basically if you are a single GPU, gaming only kind of person who is scared of overclocking the 6700K is the best you can get with a relatively cheap board (don;t even need Z170 can go H170) . It's both faster and cheaper than a 5820K platform.

Of course we can argue that the 6700 non-K is a better choice or the 6600K is a better choice and I would agree but if all we care about is stock game performance the 6700K is the best period.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 26, 2016

You don't need 4 sticks of RAM for max performance. That is not true. If you use 2 sticks, you can run dual channel just like on a Z170. And if neither CPU is at 100% utilization on any cores while gaming, then the 6700K has no benefit.

larkspur · Jan 26, 2016

For maximum memory performance on a quad-channel memory controller you want to be using quad-channel operation. For quad-channel operation you need 4 sticks minimum.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 26, 2016

Yes but the way he said it was as if having quad channel capability is a downside. No, it's an upside to X99.

Why do People Buy the 6700K over the 5820K?

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