Need to select among Intel Core "i3 7350k" vs "i5 7400" vs "i5 6500"

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viditkothari

viditkothari

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Jan 14, 2014
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I need to select one out of the three Intel Core CPUs:
i3 7350k
i5 7400
i5 6500

for intermediate photoshop, after effects and premiere pro 1080p video editing.

do you think 2 cores in i37350k with nice ~4GHz should be nice? or should I get i5 with 4 cores (if photoshop uses multi cores nicely)
 
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If your budget does not allow you an i7 or Xeon CPU (even a 4000/Haswell series would suffice), I would urge you to consider an i5 6400 and push it with overclocking. Though if overclocking is not an interest of yours, it's not as daunting as it seems, I would push you towards the i5 7400. Keep in mind Kaby Lake does not support Windows 7 or 8(.1) if you planned to install either of those OS. Yes, it can work but it is not supported and you may run into issues. Kaby Lake would need to run Windows 10. If that is of no concern, the 7400 is pretty much your go to.

If you decide overclocking is something you would like to do, consider a build like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel...
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breek

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Hey Vidi. The more cores and threads you have, the faster things will render. Unlike gaming, productivity uses all of your allocated resources. Depending on your budget and how much you will be rendering, I would push you in the direction of 2x8GB of RAM and the best CPU you can buy; i7 or Xeon, falling back to an i5. Also, if you plan to overclock, that will determine what I advise you to go towards. Can you give us a budget?
 
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viditkothari

viditkothari

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I thank both of you: @jpatrick2 & @breek for your answer.
So with that said, I checked:
6500: https://ark.intel.com/products/88184/Intel-Core-i5-6500-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_60-GHz
&
7400: https://ark.intel.com/products/97147/Intel-Core-i5-7400-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_50-GHz

reviewing which I found the only difference between the two being: 6500 has 3.2GHz base clock whereas 7400 has 3.0GHz. So do you still think 7400 is the way to go?
 
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breek

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If your budget does not allow you an i7 or Xeon CPU (even a 4000/Haswell series would suffice), I would urge you to consider an i5 6400 and push it with overclocking. Though if overclocking is not an interest of yours, it's not as daunting as it seems, I would push you towards the i5 7400. Keep in mind Kaby Lake does not support Windows 7 or 8(.1) if you planned to install either of those OS. Yes, it can work but it is not supported and you may run into issues. Kaby Lake would need to run Windows 10. If that is of no concern, the 7400 is pretty much your go to.

If you decide overclocking is something you would like to do, consider a build like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($176.69 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($133.05 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $434.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-30 13:47 EST-0500

Substitute the Cryorig H7 for their C7 if you need a low-profile cooler for a narrower case.

The reason I've chosen the i5 6400 is because it will overclock above 4Ghz and perform better than either CPU you listed above. You can overclock the 6500 as well, though because they are the same CPU, just set at different speeds, you will just be spending more money on a stock speed you will be changing with your overclock regardless.

The way this overclock works, is by flashing your BIOS with an older version. This previous version allows for changes to the base clock (BCLK). The reason this overclock is so effective, and why I recommend the 6400 specifically, is because it only works with Skylake/6000 series CPUs. Normally the BCLK effects the entire motherboard but in this case it only changes the CPU and RAM frequencies. To make sure your RAM doesn't become unstable, you simply lower the multiplier.

This link will show you how to do it and have a link to the BIOS version you need: http://overclocking.guide/gigabyte-z170-non-k-overclocking-guide/
 
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breek

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That is very true. However, motherboard manufacturers decided to work around that this time around. Skylake CPUs can be overclocked using the base clock (BCLK). They've added BCLK generators to their motherboards which separates the CPU and RAM BCLK frequencies from the rest of the board (PCIe, Sata, etc.). This means when you adjust the BCLK you aren't making the board super unstable. The reason K series chips are meant for overclocking is because you can play with the multiplier. Unfortunately, you still can't change the multiplier above the max turbo frequency of the non-K chips. The BCLK changes make up for that missing ability.

For example, my i5 6400 runs at 27x100mhz (33x100Mhz Turbo). In the BIOS, I'm able to change this to 33x137Mhz. This gives me a CPU clock speed of 4521Mhz, well above stock.

I'm not yet sure if Kaby Lake can be BCLK overclocked, however. Still more research to do.

EDIT: Maybe I'm high or maybe I'm dead, but I swear I was replying to a comment that is no longer here.
 
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viditkothari

viditkothari

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If we can overclock i5 7400, i think I'm gonna go with Intel Core i5 7400, its little cheaper in price than 6500 :)

// sorry breek, I posted a reply before going through your overclocking guide so deleted it right after that link answered my query :p
 
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st3v30

st3v30

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You cant overclock i5 7400.
You will need to find custom BIOS for z170 mobo you pick if you want to OC i5 6400/6500 and they are based on early BIOS revisions so that means that board wont support i5 7400 and i'm pretty sure that Intel disabled BCLK overclocking on Kabylake chips.
So if you want to OC you will need to get Z170 board and i5 6400/6500, also 6500 is a bit better CPU than i5 7400 and runs cooler.
 
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