From a i5 2500k to a i7 6700k: my impressions

[Superlevure]

I posted this thread mostly to thank those who helped me choose my rig and share the outcome with them and everybody.

Also, I was very surprised to see that my CPU was limiting fps performance that much, so I thought maybe someone else might find these findings useful (I never saw many reviews comparing the 2500k - or even an overclocked 2500k - with the latest CPUs)

For technical reasons (already explained) I didn't want to OC my i5 2500k. My advice would be to try to OC the i5 before upgrading, because the CPU is more important in games than people might think. Honestly, games like Assassin Creed have just become a perfect experience.

Initially, I didn't even upgrade to see a rise in performance in games.

I'll try Rise of the Tomb Raider soon, and probably the Division. Looking forward to that.

 

[bfar]

I did a similar upgrade. Yea, the 6700k is pure gold for gaming purposes. Doesn't get a lot of love on these forums. The price has a lot to do with it.

 

[DragonQ]

Not sure about the price now but when it was first released, it was just a bit of a pointless CPU. If you wanted pure IPC gaming power, the i5-6600K was the better bang-for-buck, and if you wanted a kick-ass all-rounder, X99 was a better option.

If prices are more sensible now then at least it has more use.

 

[hedgey]

Sigh, someone is missing the point.

The 2500k is considered a very capable chip, so much so that MANY people would say not to bother upgrading for gaming. NOBODY is disputing the fact the newer i7 is faster than the older i5, but that's not the point of the thread is it?

The point of the thread is that the OP has seen a very tangible benefit upgrading from a chip many would say not to bother with.

You miss the point. Compare clock with clock for a fair comparison. (And I have, and it's not worth £500)

 

[turbot1984]

Sigh, someone is missing the point.

The 2500k is considered a very capable chip, so much so that MANY people would say not to bother upgrading for gaming. NOBODY is disputing the fact the newer i7 is faster than the older i5, but that's not the point of the thread is it?

The point of the thread is that the OP has seen a very tangible benefit upgrading from a chip many would say not to bother with.

Agree... not noticed a massive change in BF4, Far Cry Primal etc. since ditching 4.6ghz i5 2500k, and sparking up i7 6700k @ 4.6ghz (goes to 4.8 btw)... likely R9 390 CF @ 1440 has got something to do with it...oh well its nice to know all that money was (kind of) not wasted?

 

[henson0115]

you are not going to see much increase unless the game you are playing heavily relies on the cpu, i think a lot of people are forgetting that in non cpu bound games, the gpu is what gives you the fps(i/e low cpu usuage). having done a 2500k at 4.6 myself to an i7 6700k at 4.6, i wasn't expecting to see massive gains in gpu bound games. i did however want the upgrade for other reasons.
the main difference you will notice is the minimum fps, which i have noticed has increased, along with increased performance if the game takes HT into account.

 

[apostolis_kt]

that upgrade itch is killing me, if you guys see differences jumping from 2500k to 6700k i wonder what i am going to see if i go from my q9550 to a 5820k or a 6700k hmm. must resist temptation....

 

[turbot1984]

psychological rather than tangible benefits I would conclude M'Lud.....
going from a 2ghz AMD X2 and IDE HDD in 2011 to a 4.6ghz Sandybridge/SSD was like strapping myself to Bransons massive rocket and taking 3 E's, those days have long gone, er, M'Lud...

 

[w00dy85]

that upgrade itch is killing me, if you guys see differences jumping from 2500k to 6700k i wonder what i am going to see if i go from my q9550 to a 5820k or a 6700k hmm. must resist temptation....

I went from a q9550 overclocked to 3.4GHz to a 2500K overclocked to 4.4GHz and the jump was massive!! And then I went from that 2500k to a 6700k overclocked to 4.7GHz.

You will see an absolute massive jump

 

[apostolis_kt]

I went from a q9550 overclocked to 3.4GHz to a 2500K overclocked to 4.4GHz and the jump was massive!! And then I went from that 2500k to a 6700k overclocked to 4.7GHz.

You will see an absolute massive jump

wow..its tempting but i really cannot excuse my self to upgrade now as i only game at the moment and ps4 and wii u are occupying my precious time. i will wait for 4k 60-FPS with one gpu before i do my new desktop.. will wait looong

BTW i didnt mean to hijack the post. i was amazed as how you saw major differences especially in this day and age when the cpu upgrades are not that good. I assume a 6600k wouldnt have the same impact

 

[ukxenon]

I have had the itch a while and it will be scratched today some time in the morning

 

[Huxon]

I did the same but went from an i5 750.

 

[Nasher]

Not sure about the price now but when it was first released, it was just a bit of a pointless CPU. If you wanted pure IPC gaming power, the i5-6600K was the better bang-for-buck, and if you wanted a kick-ass all-rounder, X99 was a better option.

If prices are more sensible now then at least it has more use.

The 6700 is still very overpriced. It's to close to the 5820k which is FAR superior when it comes to multi-core tasks, but with similar gaming performance. It makes it a no-brainer.

 

[Kirby Wurm]

I can imagine the jump was decent. I went to a 4690K from an i5 2500K @ 4.5GHz 18 months ago and there was a noticeable improvement in minimum framerates in games such as War Thunder even before I overclocked to 4.7GHz. The next jump will be a new mobo, CPU and RAM but not for a good while yet.

The 6700 is still very overpriced. It's to close to the 5820k which is FAR superior when it comes to multi-core tasks, but with similar gaming performance. It makes it a no-brainer.

Definitely. In most cases those upgrading would have to buy DDR4 as well but it makes much more sense in the long run.

 

[w00dy85]

BTW i didnt mean to hijack the post. i was amazed as how you saw major differences especially in this day and age when the cpu upgrades are not that good. I assume a 6600k wouldnt have the same impact

I found with the 2500K upgrade just everything was a lot faster, games ran smoother, encoding films was really speeded up and windows was snappier. With the 6700K, games do run smoother and encoding films has speeded up. But I guess hyper-threading helps a lot with this on the 6700k, over all it's a good jump. But not like the jump from q9550 to 2500K.

I could not see the point going from a 2500K to 6600K, not a big enough jump for me. At least with the 6700K you get hyper-threading to give you the extra performance.

 

[bfar]

The 6700 is still very overpriced. It's to close to the 5820k which is FAR superior when it comes to multi-core tasks, but with similar gaming performance. It makes it a no-brainer.

I ended up with a 6700k. When you factor in the cost of other components, the price difference can start to stretch if you're being discerning. Also at stock it performs up there with overclocked Haswell in gaming - that's worth something to some people, mini itx users, non overclockers, or folks like myself with small children and limited time. I'm struggling to find the time to stabilise my overclocks just yet, so the powerful stock profile is a real bonus for me.

I would agree that if you use any multithreaded productivity apps, the 6 core cpu is surely the one to buy.

 

[opethdisciple]

that upgrade itch is killing me, if you guys see differences jumping from 2500k to 6700k i wonder what i am going to see if i go from my q9550 to a 5820k or a 6700k hmm. must resist temptation....

You will see a huge increase.

I went from a Qx9650 to a 3570k and the increase was immense.

 

[Scramz]

This has been extracted from another forum. Hopefully this will help people understand the performance difference from a 2500k to a 6700k both clocked at 4.5Ghz. From this you will see the increased IPC performance gains.

Fraps is here just for min FPS.
Test system:

2500K 4.5Ghz
8GB 1600 8-9-8 1T
GTX970 1500/8000
win7 64

6700k 4.5Ghz
16GB 2937 CL15 1T
GTX970 1500/8000
win7 64


Watchdogs-1920x1080 all max SMAA temporal. Testing method is driving in city https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Os2_Ul8YU

2500k fraps log-Avg: 58.942 - Min: 40 - Max: 87
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/watchdogs60ss0.jpg

6700k fraps log Avg: 82.677 - Min: 73 - Max: 91
frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/watchdogspcs0r.jpg


Skyrim+Mods

2500k 38.2fps http://abload.de/img/tesv_2015_08_25_13_17tmsse.png

6700k 56.3fps http://abload.de/img/tesv_2015_08_25_19_150asse.png


World of tanks-all max 1920x1080 + FXAA.Kharkov map replay

2500k fraps log Avg: 83.136 - Min: 62 - Max: 101
frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/wotimsfx.jpg

6700k fraps log Avg: 112.393 - Min: 87 - Max: 126
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/wotuwsr4.jpg


Crysis3-all max 1920x1080 + SMAA.Test method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSRPOp3ss5Y

2500k fraps log Avg: 50.839 - Min: 38 - Max: 78 Screenshot at same place http://abload.de/img/crysis3_2015_08_19_04wus7z.png
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/crysis3ymsyk.jpg

6700k fraps log Avg: 77.112 - Min: 72 - Max: 82 screenshot at same place http://abload.de/img/crysis3_2015_08_25_214vsvw.png
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/crysis3a6shb.jpg


GTA5-all max 1920x1080 + 2xMSAA.Advanced settings all max.Test method is driving in city https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4aEWP2pAEE

2500k fraps log Avg: 59.276 - Min: 48 - Max: 68
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/gta5vesy4.jpg

6700k fraps log Avg: 65.094 - Min: 51 - Max: 77
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/gta5twssx.jpg


Far cry4- 1920x1080 Ultra.Test method is is when you leave pagan ming palace until car crash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJBDENSqLSo

2500k fraps log Avg: 81.496 - Min: 55 - Max: 99
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/farcry47vspp.jpg

6700k fraps log Avg: 86.963 - Min: 70 - Max: 106
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/far4gvstl.jpg


Witcher3- 1920x1080 all max.Hairworks off,DOF off.Test methodhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiw3nqsxLmA

2500k fraps log Avg: 58.565 - Min: 46 - Max: 71
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/witcher306sa8.jpg

6700k fraps log Avg: 67.163 - Min: 58 - Max: 77
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/witcher3knsip.jpg


Dying light-1920x1080 all max.Test method same like here to 1:50 timehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tci8A8Sylqk

2500k fraps log Avg: 72.068 - Min: 53 - Max: 87
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/dyinglightivsdi.jpg

6700k fraps log Avg: 74.457 - Min: 57 - Max: 89
Frametimes and comparable FPS
http://abload.de/img/dyinglightnns7w.jpg

If GTX970 don't bottleneck there is massive gain in games like crysis3 -more than twice faster than 2500k
watchdogs 60%
skyrim 47%
WOT 37%
Witcher3 37%

 

[apostolis_kt]

This has been extracted from another forum. Hopefully this will help people understand the performance difference from a 2500k to a 6700k both clocked at 4.5Ghz. From this you will see the increased IPC performance gains.

I see the point there with the min fps. .... I am convinced that a q9550 to an i7 of today would be jawdropping. Now when will Skylake-E come out again ? .

Enjoy your 6700k sounds like a beast of a machine!

 

[Razor Time]

Now when will Skylake-E come out again ? .

Sadly its going to be a while as Broadwell-E is next up on the enthusiast platform.