Building a new PC - Kaby Lake 7600K or Skylake 6600K?

ClassicRyu · 10 Jan 2017 at 10:32

After 7 years on my AMD Phenom II system, I am planning on building a new PC soon.

I was originally dead set on the i5 6600K with a Z170 motherboard, but the recent release of the Kaby Lake CPUs have thrown yet another dilemma into the situation.

The Kaby Lake equivalent is of course the i5 7600K. What I have noticed is that the prices of both the 6600Ks and 7600Ks are almost the same, the 7600K costing an average of only £10 - £15 more. I will be going for a Z170 motherboard because the Z270s are too expensive.

My system will be used for mostly an all-around system, with the main use for casual gaming and emulation gaming (which is why I need a strong CPU with good single-threaded performance).

According to these tests below, it appears to me that if you're building a new system, then Kaby Lake is the way to go:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10969...review-the-more-amenable-mainstream-performer

http://wccftech.com/intel-core-i5-7600k-kaby-lake-cpu-benchmarks/

Keep in mind the Anandtech test was done on a Z270 motherboard. However, the Wccftech test was done on a Z170 motherboard and it shows a 10% performance improvement over the 6600K.

The overclocking appears to be better on the 7600K as well.

......then there's also the other dilemma of AMD's upcoming Ryzen but that is a longer wait.

Can anyone advise? Any help will be appreciated, thanks in advance.

eddiew · 10 Jan 2017 at 10:55

Bear in mind that not all Z170 boards can drop a Kaby into them off the shelf. Might need a bios flash, and that's hard to do if the CPU isn't being recognised.

This thread has the same dilemma: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18764794

Personally, I'm going to see what Ryzen delivers and make a call after that. It's the first time in, what, 5 years, that we've had a whiff of competition? Would be a shame to build a PC in the next couple of months and miss out on having an actual option

IvanDobskey · 10 Jan 2017 at 10:56

There is not a lot of difference between 6600k and 7600k. The ipc of the two cpus is exactly the same. The 7600k is clocked slightly higher, so it will be slightly faster. If the price is pretty much the same then it makes sence to buy the newer chip.

Disco_P · 10 Jan 2017 at 10:59

Can you wait? Ryzen could be super dank.

Take the wccftech article with a salt mine. It was leaked results from October using pre release bioses and drivers and stuff.

DragonQ · 10 Jan 2017 at 11:33

Ryzen is set to be released in February and we have confirmation that all models are unlocked, plus you don't even need the most expensive chipset to overclock. Madness to buy a new setup right now, IMO.

Boomstick777 · 10 Jan 2017 at 12:25

Wait a few more weeks and see what Ryzen can offer you for similar price. It may be worth the wait..

Legend · 10 Jan 2017 at 13:39

Ryzen will almost certainly offer better value... we don't know where exactly it will fall in the performance charts yet, but all indications are that it's going to be very close, and it seems utterly inconceivable that AMD will not be offering the CPUs (and motherboards) for a not insignificantly lower price than Intel. Definitely worth holding off if you can until we know more. Could be sometime in February that they drop, based on latest rumours.

Brazo · 10 Jan 2017 at 14:53

I made the same choice recently between i7 6700k and 7700k. Overclockers had them at same price so a no brainer!

Disco_P · 11 Jan 2017 at 14:20

Credit where credit is due, they have dropped the 7700k price.

Seanspeed · 11 Jan 2017 at 14:42

Legend said:
Ryzen will almost certainly offer better value... we don't know where exactly it will fall in the performance charts yet, but all indications are that it's going to be very close, and it seems utterly inconceivable that AMD will not be offering the CPUs (and motherboards) for a not insignificantly lower price than Intel. Definitely worth holding off if you can until we know more. Could be sometime in February that they drop, based on latest rumours.

Eh. It still seems unlikely AMD are going to be *really* close to Intel, and I dont see why it's so 'obvious' that they'll be much better value. £220-240 for a modern i5 is probably one of the best value items you can apply to your build given the longevity it'll give you. I'd gladly pay an extra £50 for better performance for the next 3-5 years. Breaks down to £10-15 per year more, really. Totally worth it.

Anyways OP, go with 7600k. General IPC gains aren't much, but Kaby Lakes are apparently better overclockers than Skylake. Plus, each new generation of Intel CPU seems underwhelming on release, but then when you look back, you tend to see that there were meaningful gains being made from one to the next, especially when you look at frametiming/performance consistency.

Dave2150 · 11 Jan 2017 at 14:59

Boomstick777 said:
Wait a few more weeks and see what Ryzen can offer you for similar price. It may be worth the wait..

+1

Right now is absolutely the worst possible time to buy a CPU in the last 10 years.

The impending release of Zen will most likely see Intel offer substantial price cuts to it's entire line up.

We could be seeing a 7700k for £250 or less for example. Intel will still make a great profit at that price.

Or get a Zen CPU, for similar performance to Intel at much lower price if Intel decide to not do price cuts, though I'm confident they will. No-one likes to see their market share eroded after all

IvanDobskey · 11 Jan 2017 at 16:19

Everyone talking about intel slashing prices. I'm really not convinced they will. They know they have the superior brand name and that enough people will just blindly buy intel no matter what. Ryzen will have to be unbelievably good and unbelievably cheap to make intel budge much on prices.

I'm expecting ryzen to be slightly worse and slightly cheaper than intel equivalents. Anyone who thinks amd will launch a 7700k killer at £200 is on something.

DONOHUE07 · 11 Jan 2017 at 16:23

Wait for RYZEN, then it's a desicion between Kabylake and RYZEN

jigger · 11 Jan 2017 at 16:28

IvanDobskey said:
Everyone talking about intel slashing prices. I'm really not convinced they will. They know they have the superior brand name and that enough people will just blindly buy intel no matter what. Ryzen will have to be unbelievably good and unbelievably cheap to make intel budge much on prices.

I'm expecting ryzen to be slightly worse and slightly cheaper than intel equivalents. Anyone who thinks amd will launch a 7700k killer at £200 is on something.

I agree that Intel will probably not care too much about what AMD have, but if AMD have a 7700k killer that can hit a £100 RRP then why AMD not sell them for £200 :confused:

IvanDobskey · 11 Jan 2017 at 17:00

jigger said:
I agree that Intel will probably not care too much about what AMD have, but if AMD have a 7700k killer that can hit a £100 RRP then why AMD not sell them for £200

Amd need to make money. If they have a good product on their hands, they are not going to give it away. It'll be a bit cheaper than the intel equivalent. Just don't expect an absolute bargain.

DONOHUE07 · 11 Jan 2017 at 17:03

IvanDobskey said:
Amd need to make money. If they have a good product on their hands, they are not going to give it away. It'll be a bit cheaper than the intel equivalent. Just don't expect an absolute bargain.

I dont it matters much how good and cheap RYZEN is to be honest, Kabylake will sell more because it comes in a blue box with 'intel' written on it

jigger · 11 Jan 2017 at 17:12

IvanDobskey said:
Amd need to make money. If they have a good product on their hands, they are not going to give it away. It'll be a bit cheaper than the intel equivalent. Just don't expect an absolute bargain.

The higher the price the less you sell. The more you sell the more money you make.

IvanDobskey · 11 Jan 2017 at 18:12

jigger said:
The higher the price the less you sell. The more you sell the more money you make.

Yes, but good products cost money to make. They won't be giving ryzen away.

It'll be cheaper than intel (it will have to be) but amd still have pofit margins to hit.

jigger · 11 Jan 2017 at 18:19

IvanDobskey said:
Yes, but good products cost money to make. They won't be giving ryzen away.

It'll be cheaper than intel (it will have to be) but amd still have pofit margins to hit.

AMD have been hitting £15 per core RRP. We know Intel can hit a little over £30. So let's say AMD can do £50?

Side note. AMD don't have to be cheaper than Intel either.

SilverFish21 · 11 Jan 2017 at 18:32

DONOHUE07 said:
Wait for RYZEN, then it's a desicion between Kabylake and RYZEN

If RYZEN disappoints, the focus will shift to Cannonlake, i.e. "Should I splash out on Kaby Lake or wait for Cannonlake later this year?".

It's a blessing and a curse that technology evolves so quickly. That feeling you get of being on top of the world right after upgrading to the latest and greatest model XYZ never lasts very long, does it...