i5 8600k VS i7 8700 (non k) with new mobo, ram en cooler. Same price

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nickdelahaye

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I'm looking to upgrade my old i5 2500k CPU to one of the new Coffee Lake CPU's.
This upgrade would include upgrading the motherboard, RAM and CPU cooler.

I have put together two build which cost the same, one with an i5 8600k and one with an i7 8700 (non k). I'm however unsure which one to go for. I mainly use my PC for gaming (current GPU is a EVGA GTX 1070 8gb) on 1440p. I tend to keep my CPU for al long time, and then occasionally upgrade my GPU.

The reason the two builds cost the same in my region/country is because the motherboard en CPU cooler need to be better/more expensive with the i5 8600k in order to be able to overclock to around 4.8GHz.

So which one should I go for and why?

 
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theonerm2
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theonerm2

theonerm2

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The Core i7 8700 is better if you ever need the extra threads. No matter how far you overclock the 8600K it will never match the Core i7 8700 in multithreaded workloads. If on the other hand you need the extra speed for single threaded workloads overclocking the Core i5 8600K to 5GHz+ will definitely be a bit better than the 8700. If you're a gamer then the Core i5 8600K is the one you should probably go for because 6 cores/6 threads is generally plenty for gaming and is actually slight overkill for most titles. For most games even a Core i3 8100 would do the job though not as nicely as a Core i5 6 threaded CPU or an i7 8 threaded cpu. Really if all you're doing is gaming I strongly recommend the Core i5 8400. If you're doing any other kind of work on the computer that benefits from more cores or threads the 8700 or better is obviously the way to go. If you're streaming then it depends on the game. If you're playing a game like Assassin's Creed Origins then I'd say get the Core i7 8700 because that game really eats up the threads. If you play games that aren't very CPU intensive then you could stream fine on a Core i5 8400. Actually I'd say most games could stream fine on an 8400.
 
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nickdelahaye

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I agree with you that an overclocked i5 8600k will be better for games now, and I don't use any other multi threaded workloads really. But is do wonder if in say two years, games will support hyper-treading more (like Assassins Creed Origins, which I do play) and having an i7 would give better or similar gaming performance.
 
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theonerm2

theonerm2

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If games ever do need the extra threads then yes they will run better on the Core i7. Here's the thing. It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. People will recommend the 8600k today because it's mostly just as good as the i7 right now for gaming. Right now an overclocked 8600K is better in gaming than the 8700. In the future though things will likely change. I guess it really depends on how long you want to keep the CPU. If you keep it 5-7 years you will want to have more threads because the future is looking more towards higher core counts. Either way you look at it though the Core i5 8600K is still a good option though. 5GHz+ is possible on the 8600K. That puts it close to an 8700 but still it wouldn't do quite as good if all 12 threads are really needed. In 2 years I'd say games won't use all 12 threads. Really I'd say by the time you really end up needing it it'll be time to upgrade again anyway. 2 years from now I don't even see the 6700k or 7700k being completely useless for gaming. In fact I'd say they will still be good.
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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I generally prefer to buy i7 and have it for a long time.
for the next couple of years 8600K would be better CPU for gaming due to higher clocks, on the other hand, there are quite a few games already that utilize 8 or more threads. that trend is going to continue and probably very soon the 6 threads will become just not enough. in practice, those 6 threads do the same job as 8 threads on older quad core i7s. and there are games out there that feel a bit laggy with those older i7s.
My problem with 8700 is the base clock of 3.2GHz. And it depends on TDP. So under some loads, when CPU is pulling 65w (which is really not much for a 6 core, hyper threaded CPU) you will be limited to those 3.2GHz after couple of minutes. I have not tested this personally, so can't tell exactly what loads will go over the TDP limit, and I have no MB to see if the TDP limit can be altered in BIOS for this CPU or if anything else could be done.
So it's really hard choice. I would just save a bit more and go for the 8700K :)
 
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theonerm2

theonerm2

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I agree that the 8700K would be the best choice but if this person needs the computer now and can't save up anymore then I'd say go ahead with the 8600K if you enjoy overclocking and tinkering around with things. If you don't really want to mess with things though then a Core i7 8700 is fine and really a better choice. If you will overclock and enjoy doing that kind of thing then you might regret not going with the K model chip. I'd say for the next 3 years the Core i5 8600K will be the better option. If you keep your CPU 5+ years though the Core i7 8700 will be slightly better though not really enough to make such a big difference. Also The 8600K is better than the 7700K in all workloads I believe when both are clocked similarly. 6 cores is better than 8 threads and 4 cores but not by enough to really amount to anything major.
A Core i7 with 4 cores and 8 threads is similar to having a 5 core CPU. Really more like 5 and 1/5 of a 6th core.
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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^^ It depends on workload. HT can scale pretty good for matching code. In reality, it's 10-50% of a real core. That's why I consider them ~ equal.
I already explained what seems to me to be a problem with 8700 or any other 6 core non K part. Same happens in the mobile as well. very low base clocks and high turbo = can handle very nicely short loads, but might be very slow at continuous load.
 
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nickdelahaye

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From what I have read the i7 8700 will run at 4.3GHz on all cores full load continuesly with a decent cooler.

I still don't really know what to go for. I think I will keep my CPU for around 5 years. I don't mind overclocking, but I do find it a bit inconvenient. I like the idea if having 12 cores, but they will only really be used if games support them.

Maybe flip a coin? ;)
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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I5-8600k is in the $250 ballpark.
I7-8700 is in the $330 range; not apples to apples.
Higher 4.x turbo for i7-8700 only applies to one core, when the others are loafing; not all at the same time.
If you want 4.7 on all cores, you are looking at either a I5-8600K or a I7-8700K overclocked.
You pretty much get what you pay for.
If you need many threads, buy ryzen.
If you need fast threads buy a 8th gen K processor.
 
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theonerm2

theonerm2

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Since you find overclocking inconvenient then get the 8700. I like overclocking myself. You find it inconvenient though so I strongly recommend the Core i7 8700 in your case. It's a good CPU. For gaming it should turbo just fine. Rarely does a game use the whole cpu.
 
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Phaaze88

Phaaze88

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^Unless it's a poorly coded one, in which case, you need as much cpu power as possible.
To OP: overclocking has its benefits, and it's not something you need to delve into right away. It literally has no downsides, unless you fail to research guides on it and damage the cpu. Consider it an option for later use.
 
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nickdelahaye

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Thanks for the response.

I have decided to go for the i5 8600k. Although I could afford an i7 8700k, I really don't feel like spending the extra money for it.

I think, like many suggested, the i5 8600k is better for me because I use my computer almost exclusively for gaming (and office work), so the extra virtual cores wouldn't benefit me much while the extra speed would.

Maybe in the future games will support virtual cores more, and if the is the case I will upgrade then. But I expect this will not happen for another 4-5+ years.
 
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