i5-7600 or i7-6700

tyskeren

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So I am currently upgrading most of my PC, and just yesterday I asked a question on this site on whether to pick an i5-7600 or go invest the extra money in an i7
Ulitmately I decided on the i5-7600 because of the relatively low price, and seemingly good performance, but now it just so happens that I've been offered the i7-6700 for the same price as an i5-7600

So my question is what would be the wisest investment, I would like it to last quite a while, before I make another upgrade, so I would like to be ready for an upgrade in GFX card, and higher resolutions.

I will also be upgrading my motherboard and ram in the process, to the following:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3

Ram: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000 DC 2x8 GB

Graphics card: ASUS Strix GTX 970

(If you see any poor decisions in my upgrades, please don't hesitate to say so)

Thanks in advance

And I currently play games at 1080p
 
Solution
Honestly, the i7 would be more powerful than that i5, even if it is a different generation. However, the question is, what are you doing with it? If you are purely gaming, and doing some light computing, then there is no need to upgrade. But if you rendering, doing complicated calucations, and other CPU intensives, than that 6700k would beat the 7600K any day. The 7600K should suit your needs.

I edit videos, conduct adobe after effects, and even play high games, and I'm rocking the I5-6600K. Of course the i7 would be more powerful, but I can tolerate what I am using.

As far as upgrading, your RAM is good. If you are going to stick with the i5, a Z270 would give you more performance, but not enough to see an increase in gaming. Mostly becasue most games are not optimize to work like that. I would recommend upgrading to a GTX 1060 6GB for 1080p gaming.
 
The decision depends on how well threaded your apps and games are.
Most games will not use the I7 hyperthreads.
Of the two, the I5-7600 which runs at 3.5 is likely to be a bit better than a I7-6700 @3.4.
Since you have the budget for a I7-6700, let me offer another suggestion.
Buy a I5-7600K instead.
For the small amount extra, you will get a chip that starts at 3.8, but can likely OC considerably higher on the Z170 motherboard.
As of 1/13/17
What percent of samples can get an overclock
at a vcore around 1.4v.
I5-7600K
5.1 28%
5.0 52%
4.9 72%

As to other choices, fast ram is not all that much worth it:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1478-page1.html

I would buy a current gen z270 based motherboard. That will allow you future optane support, whatever that turns out to be.
I see Z270 as no more expensive than older z170 motherboards.
 

tyskeren

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Thanks for the fast reply, I should probably have been more specific on what I am upgrading from. Right now I have an i7-920 2.6 GHZ (OC'ed to a 3.8)
I also have Corsair DDR3 Ram, which doesn't work with LGA1151 motherboard, hence the upgrade in RAM.
 
If you are getting an Ix-7XXX then get a Z270, if you are getting an ix-6XXX then get the Z170. There is a good chance that out of the box the Z170 will not work on the 7series chips until you do a bios update using a 6 series chip. I've seen maybe 1/2 doz my kaby lake won't boot, always because of a pre kaby lake board.
 

tyskeren

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Great information, but wouldn't the i5 possibly be less future proof? (especially in gaming) seeing as so many games seem to be open world games these days.
Or is the difference so small it's not worth it?
 

Nothing in computing is "future proof"
No doubt that the extra hyperthreads of a I7 are better.
If your budget permits, buy an I7-7700K which is as good as you can do today.

But, I doubt that game developers will build games that REQUIRE 6-8 threads to run. They would not sell many.


 
Solution


Ah, I'm thinking you already have that. Then if budget permits, get the i7-7700K with a Z270 board so you can use the Octane feature. But again, it depends on what you are doing. Like geofelt side, not many games are optimized to take true advantage of the i7. We are just now seeing BF1 take advantage of the i5-6600K. Who knows what developers will do nexT?