Best Intel cpu for gaming?

delta5

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I am finally about to build a new computer! My biggest question is if I should go i7 or i5 for a pure gaming computer. Going i7 will not affect my budget for other parts. Which cpu should I get?
 
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Then a teir 1 (or close) PSU of at least 1000w or ideally above 1050w would be my choice. I prefer a highly efficient PSU, but quality power delivery is even more...

hdmark

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if you dont mind the extra 80$, id say its worth it. it does have 2 more physical cores. i Personally just got a 7700k but thats because it was on sale at microcenter for 280 plus it was before the 8700k came out and i didnt want to wait :D
 

hdmark

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id personally just get the 8700k. we know the 200 series chipset is dead so youd have 0 upgrade options. assuming they at least give us one more generation to use on the 300 chipset, i think itd be worth it.

id buy the 8700k and not look back. you wont be disapointed.
if you are worried about the extra 100 or so (assuming you can find the 7700k for under 300 like i did), then get the 7700k and also you wont look back. the 7700k is a great cpu.
 

hdmark

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unless you are using this for some serious stuff, i wouldnt get the 7800x. i think youre safe with regular enthusiast chips
 

delta5

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I just don't want to be upgrading in a year to keep up with VR content.
 

hdmark

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it really is... if the extra money wont kill you... get the 8700k . if it will kill you, get the 7700k. i can tell you that i have the 7700k and i have 0 intentions of upgrading it for years and i have a samsung odyssey in the mail. the next upgrade will be my GPU . currently have a 970
 

delta5

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The extra cost doesn't bother me. With the 8700k, 32gb ram, 1080ti, 1000w corsair psu, 256gb m2 ssd, 1tb ssd, im still under my 3k budget.
 

Right now, the video cards are not saturating a PCIe 8x 3.0 bus. The drop off in performance is just a few single digit percentage points (around 2%) and this (or slightly more) is what you would expect in overhead from an SLI system. If you want more then that you're going to have to go to a 7900x or 6850k cpu and corresponding motherboard. I believe in gaming both of the higher end systems would be thoroughly out-performed in gaming by a 8700k
 


Yes, very much so.

I think the ideal config is the following.

BOOT: m.2 or fast SSD for boot. This drive will hold only the OS and a few critical items. It will not be hammered. It is not very likely to suddenly die. Having very fast system calls is also a good idea.
APPS: A fast SSD (or 2nd m.2 for the well heeled who have a system with a 2nd m.2 slot). This drive is designated for the early grave. You install your steam and other apps on this. You beat this drive until it dies.
BACKUP: a large (need not be fast) HD. This will have backups of your entire APPS: disk among other things. Thus when your over worked APPS disk dies, you pop in a new one and copy over the data.

Also on the x299 or 2011-v3 motherboards and CPUs. I think you'd need to go to a 7900x or 6850k to get 16 lanes to the CPU per PCI slot. But as of today video cards don't saturate a 8x 3.0 slot. The drop off on z270 and z370 boards when you add a 2nd video card is just a few % (~2) and this is just due to overhead from SLI. So there is no point in above 8x 3.0 except for future proofing (which never works) or adding a 3rd card some day.

Finally on your PSU, I think you should review this:
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/
and get a tier one if you can.

I'm not sure 1000w is going to be enough unless it is a very high efficiency PSU.
A quick high-end sample build which sounds like it includes the stuff you were talking about. Dual 1080ti's etc

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($414.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 GODLIKE GAMING EATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($486.70 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($409.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Green 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($145.00 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB FTW3 HYBRID GAMING Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($849.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB FTW3 HYBRID GAMING Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($849.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 1000W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($252.99 @ SuperBiiz)

The above says the system draw (with nothing else, no case fans, no USB devices, etc) is 829w. They assume that the video card is capable of 280w. But Tom's and other sites have measured the founders edition being capable of hitting 297w (call it 300 to be safe). Or a more likely max power of around 869... A PSU is not going to be very efficient above 80. % For a safe 20% cushion, a 870w use should have a PSU of around 1050w. So your 1000w, if it is not a very good one, would not be enough. If it is a very good one, it would be used a little on the high end. If you plan on attaching a bunch of other stuff, then it is not enough power.
 


For a single 1080 ti yes. I thought you said you wanted to go SLI? For a single 1080 ti build with nice stuff a 750w would be plenty.
 

delta5

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Sli in the future if needed to keep up with VR.
 


Would it upset you to have to replace the PSU if/when you decide on a 2nd video card?
If you want a great PSU to drive a single 1080ti system, this one is fantastic:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HXYRLZW/?tag=pcpapi-20
 

delta5

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I'd prefer not to upgrade the psu.
 


Then a teir 1 (or close) PSU of at least 1000w or ideally above 1050w would be my choice. I prefer a highly efficient PSU, but quality power delivery is even more important than the % of waste heat.
 
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hdmark

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not sure if you already made your purchases, but i believe SLI for performance increases is dead unless you wait years to upgrade. I could very well be wrong... but i think were at a point where its more cost effective to sell your current gpu and upgrade to the new generation rather than adding a second card.
I think SLI as is exists atm, is either for gaming with multi of the top end cards (multi 1080ti's right from the start), or content creation/editing.
My advice woudl be to buy the 750w PSU (high quality tier 1 as stated) and get the single 1080ti. Then if you need more power in a year or two... sell the 1080 ti on ebay for 400-500 and spend an extra 200 and get an 1180ti or 1280ti.
Thats my plan atm. just grabbed a 550W evga G2 to go with my gtx 970. In another year or so, ill sell my 970 for probably 150 on ebay, and use that towards the purchase of a 1270
 

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