I5 2500k vs i7 2600k

[cdiscoll2012]

as the thread title states which will be better and more future proofed the i5 2500k vs i7 2600k? the build i would be putting them in would be mostly for gaming so which one is the better processor for the long haul?

 

[kristafis]

I actually just built a PC and I had a hard deciding but in the end I went with the i7-2600k because of hyperthreading.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The main difference between the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K and Intel Core i7-2600K is hyper-threading which allows the Intel Core i7 to run up to 8 threads. Right now very few games will take advantage of more than 4 threads and those that do give very little performance increase for the extra threads of support.

Now I have a friend who is a professional programmer; when I ask him about thing like this he said that he really hates to try to program for for multi-threading as it hard to break the appications up to be taken by other cores.

So for the forseeable future support for additional threads over 4 will most likely stay the same. So you should be safe saving the $100 and going with the Intel Core i5-2500K unless you are also doing some video editing or other heavily multi-threaded applications.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[cdiscoll2012]

how long is the "Forseeable" future?

 

[Chainzsaw]

Why dont you opt for the 2550K like I did? It has disabled IGPU, but adds an extra 100Mhz (3.4Ghz).

It has been running like a champ for me. By the time the 2550K can't keep up in games....you will definately need a new build anyways.

 

[cdiscoll2012]

the only reason i would go with the 2600k would be because it is highly future proof but if il need to replace a bunch on other parts anyway it wont be worth it

 

[Chainzsaw]

It is not as future proof as you think. Sure hyper threading is good for certain applications that can use them, but real cores are always better.

By the time most games use more than 4 cores (of course some already do), your I5 2500/or i7 2600K will be an outdated piece of technology, as well as your other components.

Plus, with the 2500/2550K you can always OC the CPU easily up to 4Ghz with proper cooling, possibly higher with a high end air cooler, or a water cooler if you plan on going more than 4.1 4.2 Ghz.

 

[bearclaw99]

The 2600K will give you zero difference in games

 

[cdiscoll2012]

okay i guess im going with the 2500k

 

[cdiscoll2012]

Best answer selected by cdiscoll2012.