Upgrading or staying on i5 6600k for gaming + streaming?

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adkleppy

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Aug 22, 2017
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Hi,

Currently I'm gaming + streaming from my i5 6600k @ 4,2 GHz.
When I tried to use the h.264 encoder via CPU, I have a very bad performance ingame and my CPU is at 100% usage. So I currently use my GPU (Nvidia GTX 1060 6 GB) or my iGPU for encoding/streaming. If you want to check my stream quality, have a look at twitch.com/kl3ppy

I was wondering, if I can improve the quality when I switch my CPU. I was thinking about the i7 7700k (I can use my current motherboard) or upgrading to ryzen 1700X.

my full system:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K @4,2 GHz
GPU: MSI Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4
RAM: Patriot Viper 4 DDR4 16GB
SSD: 2x Crucial MX300 275GB

But if you say that either the stream quality is good enough for a beginners stream and its a waste of money, I'll stay on my current rig. Also if the performance increase is not worth the money. I've read some reviews etc but I'm still unsure to do because I dont know if the performance increases and if I'm able to use the i7/ryzen CPU for h.264 encoding.

Best Regards
 
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The 1070 would be a better option imo. Expecting more than 60FPS on all games with settings as high as possible using a 1060 isn't realistic imo. I'd want as much eye candy as possible. I'd lock my FPS to 60 with the 16GB RAM, 7700K and a 1070. Sell the 1060 to recoup the extra expense and get back to gaming.
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10tacle

10tacle

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The Ryzen 1700X would be better than the 7700K for gaming + streaming. That's just based on comparisons of the two CPUs on productivity apps. Now how much more performance while streaming (or less hit on performance however you want to look at it) is an unknown because nobody has tested that yet from a professional website like this.

It may not be worth an entire CPU/motherboard upgrade to Ryzen with a possible memory change needed as well. Ryzen's memory compatibility is a little tighter right now being an all-new chipset than that of Intel.
 
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aquielisunari

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Mar 31, 2011
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Because gaming is a priority the 7700K is a much better choice imo. Your gaming performance would probably suffer(a few less FPS) if you switched to the 1700(X).
 
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adkleppy

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Aug 22, 2017
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My understanding so far is, that the i7 7700k will perform better than my current i5 6600k (oc @ 4,2ghz) due to more threads (8 vs 4). This would theoretically improve my overall performance for gaming + streaming. Is the 7700k capable to use the h.264 encoder and deliver a decent gaming performance? Because with my 6600k I do not get a decent gaming performance when encoding is done on the cpu with h.264 and the CPU is maxed out with that load.

Regarding the ryzen 1700X, I have to check my ram if its usable. If it is not, I wont spend money on the ryzen because CPU+MB+RAM is too much money spend, maybe wasted.
 
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aquielisunari

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The RAM would be compatible but the investment in a new motherboard is simply wasteful when the 7700K will easily meet your needs.

Your games might see a slight boost in performance. The biggest benefactor will be your stream.

Yes.
 
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YoAndy

YoAndy

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Jan 27, 2017
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I have to note here that you are using the z170 chipset, if you want to upgrade to the i7 7700K or any 7 generation you must update your motherboard bios, but if you decide to get the i7 6700k you don't have to.
 
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adkleppy

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I have an Alpenföhn cooler, need to check which one. its a huge cooler and keeps my oced CPU currently very cool, so far I noticed that the CPU reached mx 50 degrees C.
Performance wise the 6700k and the 7700k are similar right? I just had a quick look at some benchmarks and I saw that at gaming 7700k is faster ( <5%) and at encoding ( <8%). But the 6700k costs more.
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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At 1080p that's true. But at higher resolutions like starting at 2560x1440, that gap goes down as the game performance demand shifts more on the GPU. Couple of examples using a GTX 1080:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_7_1700x_review,16.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_ryzen_7_1700x_review,18.html

https://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_7_1800X/images/acsyndicate_2560_1440.png
https://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_7_1800X/images/rottr_2560_1440.png

And when you throw in Ryzen's superior multi-threaded performance and streaming demands, my bet would be on Ryzen 1700x/1800x net outperforming the 7700K in games (gaming while streaming at the same time).



That's pretty standard on an outgoing chipset. I know it doesn't make any sense, but resellers actually sell their end of cycle stock for more than they originally did. There are a lot of people out there who want to upgrade a previous generation chipset but do not want to buy a whole new core build (CPU, mobo, memory). But in the case of Sky Lake I don't understand why that is the case because with a simple BIOS update on a Z170 chipset you can go straight to Kaby Lake.
 
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aquielisunari

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Your getting a little ahead of the game(HA!)... At that resolution the 1060 would also not be a good choice.
 
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10tacle

10tacle

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^^Oh I know it goes for his case and the 1060, but I was speaking in broader terms in general for the bigger picture. The question that remains unanswered is how much performance loss would there be while gaming + streaming (no matter the resolution) between the two CPUs. Hopefully we'll see hardware review sites do more Ryzen tests with real world uses like that.
 
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adkleppy

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Aug 22, 2017
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My Ingame resolution is 1920x1080 and so far I have not noticed any issues. And I dont plan to change the resolution. I get the feeling that it is ok to take the 7700k, update the bios and i will have a performance boost while gaming+streaming.
Will I be able to game + stream from 7700k with cpu encoding and decent fps (lets say more than 60)?
 
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aquielisunari

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Mar 31, 2011
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The 1070 would be a better option imo. Expecting more than 60FPS on all games with settings as high as possible using a 1060 isn't realistic imo. I'd want as much eye candy as possible. I'd lock my FPS to 60 with the 16GB RAM, 7700K and a 1070. Sell the 1060 to recoup the extra expense and get back to gaming.
 
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adkleppy

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Aug 22, 2017
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So your advise would be upgrading GPU and CPU. Im not sure if I want ro spend that much money on a new GPU even if I sell my current GPU.
 
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adkleppy

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Aug 22, 2017
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Yeah, I play on low settings to get the max visibility. I do this in every game, its a bad behaviour.
Anyways, I guess its not worth changing anything right? Maybe I get an core i7.
 
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KirbysHammer

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The cost of upgrading to Ryzen would be about $100 more than going to a 7700k. Honestly I think OP should just go with a standard capture card.
 
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