i7 6700 vs i7 7700K for Gaming Purposes

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dayz1980

Mar 19, 2018
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I am currently running a system with an MSI Z270 SLI Plus motherboard with 64GB of DDR4 RAM running at 3GHz, 2 Samsung EVO 960 M.2 SSD's, and 2 GTX 1080's (using SLI). I am currently liquid cooling my GPU's and my CPU, but I want the fastest CPU that the Z270 motherboard can handle. Would that be the Intel i7 7700K? If so, with overclocking, will I see an improvement in performance (for gaming, 4K video editing, etc...)? If the performance increase is negligible, then I will probably upgrade the motherboard and the CPU to the 8th Gen Intel i7 or i9. I really don't care about the cost, so please don't factor in the cost of the upgrade to a i7 7700K, because I'm willing to pay a fair amount to get an increase in performance. I'd rather wait to upgrade to the 8th Gen Intel CPU's, and I'd like to wait until the i9 drops in price before I make that upgrade. However, if the 8th Gen CPUs will give me a MAJOR increase in speed, I'll go ahead and make the purchase. For now, I mainly just want to get rid of the 6700 and overclock the hell out of the 7700K. I'm nearing retirement, so money really isn't a major factor, but I still try to save money where I can. All I'm interested in is the increase in performance, not the price to performance ratio... I've rambled enough. Thank you all for taking the time to read my question.

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Solution
Karadjgne
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i7-7700K_vs_6700K_Game_Performance/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/10/intel-coffee-lake-8700k-review/2/

These might help somewhat.
Yes, there's a small % increase from the 6700 to 7700k stock, usually around 3% or less at stock values. Add in some OC and in some games that'll go a little higher. But when talking about 100fps+ capability even a 6% gain is only 6fps, honestly not worth the price tag. Native ability for 4k decoding might change that opinion in a non-gaming sense. That sli may or may not be a factor, that's extremely varied per game and just how much the cpu contributes vrs the amount of support the sli has.

8700k would be a sizable bump, especially since it's running...
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i7-7700K_vs_6700K_Game_Performance/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/10/intel-coffee-lake-8700k-review/2/

These might help somewhat.
Yes, there's a small % increase from the 6700 to 7700k stock, usually around 3% or less at stock values. Add in some OC and in some games that'll go a little higher. But when talking about 100fps+ capability even a 6% gain is only 6fps, honestly not worth the price tag. Native ability for 4k decoding might change that opinion in a non-gaming sense. That sli may or may not be a factor, that's extremely varied per game and just how much the cpu contributes vrs the amount of support the sli has.

8700k would be a sizable bump, especially since it's running 6 full cores and 2x HT cores vrs 4/4 and still has 4xHT leftover. For editing/rendering etc that's rather sizable, gaming maybe, depends on the game engine and how it's optimized. But overall you can expect a sizable % increase over the 6700. You'll need that custom loop if you plan on OC or heavy cpu usage, the 8700k is one of Intels hottest running stock cpus, 12 threads at @1.3v stock isn't exactly easy on a cpu cooler.
 
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dayz1980

Mar 19, 2018
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Karadjgne, THANK YOU so much for your feedback. I truly appreciate your incredibly thorough answer, and I appreciate your knowledge of the hardware and you're explanation of the benefits of upgrading to the 7700K. I truly appreciate the time you took to answer my question!
I am primarily using the aforementioned PC for editing 4K drone footage for my production company. It takes a while to render even short films and commercials, but I typically start rendering and leave the computer to do its thing while I do something else in the meantime.
Having said that, I am a bit more tempted to upgrade to the 8th gen Intel processor series. I can keep my GPUs, RAM, and my M.2 SSD, but I'll be looking to purchase a mid to high end motherboard for one of the new i7 CPUs. I still don't want to drop the kind of money it takes to get a hold of an Intel i9 at today's prices.
If you were to upgrade your motherboard and CPU to an 8th Gen setup, which motherboard and CPU would you recommend? Also, what type of liquid cooling setup would you personally go with? I'm using the fairly simple to install Corsair liquid cooling kits, but I doubt those will be of little use with new, 8th Gen equipment.
I realize at this point the prices are a bit high, and they will drop as time passes, but to me it's worth the extra money to go ahead an make the upgrade as soon as possible. I used to be a major PC building enthusiast, but I didn't keep up on my research on new computer technology, especially with all the processors on the market today, so I've gotten a bit lazy and sought the help of informed individuals like yourself. Don't feel pressured to respond anytime soon. I appreciate the information you've already given me. However, if you enjoy helping out an old computer techie, I would definitely appreciate all the advise I could get.
Thanks again for your lightning fast response! You answered my question thoroughly and with very precise information! I hope you have a wonderful evening! Sincerely, Robert V
 
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mdd1963

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Most 6700Ks with decent cooling will easily run at 7700K clock speeds (4.5 GHz peak turbo), at which point they deliver *exactly* 7700K performance anyway, so, given a Z270 mainboard, the extra 300-500 MHz might only be a few careful keystrokes/option selections away in the BIOS)
 
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Karadjgne

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Well that's also the crux. You know what software you run. What you'll need to figure out is exactly what it needs. For instance Sony Vegas has not really seen decent nvidia support since the 500 series cards, it runs considerably better on AMD gpus. Autocad on the other hand runs considerably better on Intels higher IPC and faster clocks. Cores are now now much of an issue with Threadripper and i9 cpus, or even something lower like a Ryzen 9 1800x or i7-8700k. But if your software can get better performance running on 20 threads at 4.0GHz than it can at 16 threads at 4.7GHz, it might be time to try AMD.
As far as mobo's go I like Asus, always have, even if they are pricier than the competition. It's not just the hardware though, I prefer the more user friendly bios. Msi bios is more technical. But at the top end, they'll all do the same job.
Ram is also a consideration, most software doesn't take advantage of higher speed ram but some does, and the difference can be rather large. G-skill has 4000MHz ram now, but it's not cheap as 2666MHz.
Storage. Can make or break everything. Personally I'd be running 2x NVMe drives, 1 for OS and software, 1 for a scratch/temp/swap drive and have a good large hdd for mass storage where speed isn't important.
Cooling. The heart of opening up an 8700k or better. Normally something like a Noctua NH-D15s can do the job, but considering the workloads even that cooler will suffer. I'd be looking at the Corsair H150i or Fractal Design 360mm AIO's, they are the closest thing to a full custom loop there is. As said in that arstechnica review, his 240mm cooler couldn't do the job right.

It's quite easy to create a build that's somewhat sparing on the budget, or even over the top, but tailoring a build for specific purposes is more challenging and could end up being entirely wrong for your needs. But it can be done.
 
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Rogue Leader

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Upgrading to a 7700k will give you minimal gains, its honestly not worth it at all. If you want gains in Video production you want more cores. That means at a minimum new motherboard and an i7-8700k. Gaming wise it will only be a small bump, but the 2 extra cores and 4 extra threads will make a big bump in video production.

Money being no object thats what I would do if I was you. Or even better go AMD Ryzen or Threadripper. You will lose a bit in game performance but gain in video encoding and production, if thats what you care more about.

Either way the 7700k is a waste of money for you.
 
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Karadjgne

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Threadripper 1920X 3.5GHz 12-Core Processor ($669.89 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Fractal Design - Celsius S36 87.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($117.01 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock - X399 Taichi ATX TR4 Motherboard ($323.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($363.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($115.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung - 960 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($304.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Gold 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($188.87 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2083.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-19 20:03 EDT-0400

I'd have preferred the Corsair H150i Pro, but nowhere does it seem to support the TR4 sockets
 
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