i7 non k vs i5 oc

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438469

Commendable
Jul 6, 2016
3
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1,520
I am thinking of the following

i5 6600k + cpu cooler + 16gb 2800~3400mhz ram + z170 motherboard + gtx1070

or

i7 6700 + 16gb 2133mhz ram + h110m motherboard + gtx1070

the price seems to be close and which one is better for gaming and daily usage like web browsing
 
Solution
MarkW
Web browsing can be done well even with an I3 CPU. Gaming is more demanding. But every month when Toms updates the Best CPU for the money that always has the following statement:

Diminishing Returns Kick In
Top-end CPUs offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to gaming performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-6600K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor is easy to tune up to 4.5GHz or so with the right cooler.

We have seen a small handful of titles benefit from Hyper-Threaded Core i7 processors, though. Because we believe this is a trend that will continue as developers optimize their software, we're including the Xeon E3-1231v3 as an honorable mention...
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jpatrick2

jpatrick2

Respectable
May 4, 2016
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Hi!

This depends. Do you ever plan to overclock? Most games don't use more than 4 cores, so you would probably benefit more from the higher clock speeds you could achieve by overclocking. In the years to come however, we will probably see more and more games taking advantage of more cores. Something to consider.

I just finished a VR gaming build and I went with the i5-6600k, very similar to the specs you posted. It runs like a dream. The only thing I really want to add is a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD.
 
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S

sizzling

Titan
Oct 18, 2006
27,231
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What sort of fps are you aiming for, are you using a 60Hz or 144Hz monitor. Chances are you won't tell the difference between them. The higher the fps the higher the CPU load, if gaming on lower resolution but higher144Hz you might see a small benefit in an overclocked 6600k but it would be small and only in a few games. If gaming at 60Hz you might see a small gain in using the i7 in the few games that can use more than 4 threads.

Hedging my bets I'd opt for the i7 as I think it would last you longer
 
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Quixit

Quixit

Reputable
Dec 22, 2014
1,359
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If you overclock the 6600K, there is the potential to perform better than the 6700 in most games, because higher frequency beats hyper-threading and the slight cache advantage the i7 has. At stock speeds the 6700 will perform better, but not by that much.

So, if I were you I would make the choice based on whether you plan on overclocking or not.
 
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MarkW

MarkW

Judicious
Dec 7, 2009
6,308
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Web browsing can be done well even with an I3 CPU. Gaming is more demanding. But every month when Toms updates the Best CPU for the money that always has the following statement:

Diminishing Returns Kick In
Top-end CPUs offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to gaming performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-6600K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor is easy to tune up to 4.5GHz or so with the right cooler.

We have seen a small handful of titles benefit from Hyper-Threaded Core i7 processors, though. Because we believe this is a trend that will continue as developers optimize their software, we're including the Xeon E3-1231v3 as an honorable mention at $255 and the Core i7-5820K at $390. In a vast majority of games, they won't demonstrate much advantage over the Core i5. But if you're a serious enthusiast who wants some future-proofing and values threaded application performance, these processors may be worth the extra money.

There is more to that statement, but it does not apply to the CPU's beoinmg asked about here, so I did not include it.

The number of gaming titles that use hyper threading is tiny. Maybe at some point in the future, a compiler will automatically generate code that will support hyper threading in gaming code. But that is not the norm today, and it has to be written by hand at this point. And the overall percentage of gamers with an I7 CPU is very low. So they do not bother in most cases.
 
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Solution
Carbongrip

Carbongrip

Reputable
Dec 21, 2015
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I don't know if maybe people are just saying echo's of the past because they think its still true or if they just don't play AAA games. Almost all the games on my computer utilize my i7 hyperthreading. I have dual monitors with one that always has cpu usage showing in task manager as logical cores, I can see my favourite games like BF4, GTA V, Star Wars Battlefront, and Fallout 4 all using every hyperthread at about 60% usage on my i7 3770k @ 4.2ghz. I say that an i7 is definitely worth it, I upgraded from a i5 3570k also @ 4.2ghz and noticed a huge boast in those games I mentioned even though I upgraded to the i7 for video encoding.
 
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