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How do you choose your intel cpu?

Soldato
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What do you guys look for when choosing your next intel cpu?

Usually I go by the Ghz, i.e. the higher it is the better.

But I've noticed the Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache

Is that considered a good cpu? Because I mainly see the 3.7Ghz speed as under 4Ghz and consider it slow. But is it the 6 cores or the 12mb cache that makes this cpu good, even at 3.7Ghz ?
 
Caporegime
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But Turbo mode is 4.7, I believe most of them overclock to about 5ghz as well. 6 cores, 12 threads, this is a very good CPU :)

4.3 unless you have one of those motherboards that overclocks the CPU out of the box.

@BowdonUK the 8700K is an excellent CPU, its the fastest mainstream CPU you can get right now, well, it is for gaming.

But there are alternatives for a lot less money if you don't need the absolute very best.
 

los

los

Associate
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4.3 unless you have one of those motherboards that overclocks the CPU out of the box.

@BowdonUK the 8700K is an excellent CPU, its the fastest mainstream CPU you can get right now, well, it is for gaming.

But there are alternatives for a lot less money if you don't need the absolute very best.
Oh right, I just read the specs off OCUK

Specification:
- Lithography Process: 14 nm
- Cores: 6
- Threads: 12
- Frequency: 3.70 GHz (Turbo Mode 4.70GHz)
- Cache: 12MB
- Memory Controller: Dual channel DDR4 2400/2666/3000/3200/3600/4000/4133/4266/4500/4600/5000+ MHz- Socket: LGA1151
- Memory compatibility: All DDR4 is compatible (Check your motherboards manual and we recommend 8 Pack 3200MHz and faster kits which guarantee Samsung B die for upto 5000MHz OC)
- TDP: 95W
- 3yr Warranty

You can also currently only get Z370 motherboards, which are quite expensive. As said depending on your use, its worth also looking at AMD Ryzen Processors.
 
Caporegime
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Actually yeah my bad, single core boost is 4.7Ghz, all core boost is 4.3Ghz, this is of course provided you have good enough cooling.

Some Motherboards ramp up all cores to 4.7Ghz, some reviewers have been caught out by that.
 
Associate
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But Turbo mode is 4.7, I believe most of them overclock to about 5ghz as well. 6 cores, 12 threads, this is a very good CPU :)

Not all of them will do 5Ghz.....mine would if I delid but is it worth doing that for 100Mhz. Still at 4.9Ghz, in games it beats my old R7 1700 just. In multi-threaded, I do not miss the two cores (four threads) as the clock speed is up there.
 
Associate
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Even at stock and running all cores to the max on a decent cooler using a Z370 board you should never see 3.7ghz, why Intel decided on such low clocks I'll never now. 4.3ghz is pretty much the minimum you should see under heavy load at stock.

I run mine with all cores synced at 4.7ghz with a noctua D15 cooler. The chip is not delided and usually runs around 65c when gaming for hours.
 
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Associate
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How do you choose your intel cpu?

Good question. It's something that I have never considered. I have been given a few and used a few - but never ever bought an Intel cpu. Bit like marmite - you either love or hate it. For me, I would rather pull my own head off rather than buy Intel. :D
 
Soldato
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I look at what's the best value upgrade for me when ready, this time it was switching to AMD. I've never limited myself to one side only as your cutting upgrade options off for yourself.
 
Soldato
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Desktop
i7-920: I went for the only affordable CPU on the newest platform (even with inflation it'd be ~£30 cheaper than the entry-level i7 7800X). There was no Lynnfield at the time so the only other option was buying into an already dead platform (LGA 775).
X5650: Cheap as chips (£50), no brainer for an extra 2c/4t, cache, overclocking headroom, AES, and a cooler PC.

HTPC
Celeron G530: At the time Intel's IGPs were pretty poor at video, so I knew I'd get a separate GPU and that the CPU was going to sit doing nothing most of the time.
Core i3-3320: Cheap as chips (£17.50) and helps on the rare instances that I play Steam games on it. Even when I upgrade the GPU for HEVC/4K/HDR I doubt the platform or CPU will need changing.

File Server
Celeron G1620: It doesn't do much that isn't I/O or network limited, mainly downloading and serving files, WSUS, and calculating parities overnight. If I were to build it now I'd probably go Ryzen 7 and use VMs but back then there wasn't an economical way of doing that.

TV Server
Core i5-4440: In retrospect this was a dumb buy. I should've either gone full-on Core i7 so I could transcode to HEVC, or just get a Core i3 or something. Right now it is just below the mark for transcoding 1080i/25 to HEVC, so it literally sits there running a TV service which is a waste.
 
Soldato
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My last few CPU's were Q6600, i5 2500K, i7 4770k and now R7 1700... normally i look at best bang for buck, this time round AMD won that hands down, not just CPU cost but total cost of ownership is actually better on AMD at the moment, i can lob a Ryzen+ and hopefully Ryzen2 into my CH6 meaning i dont need to fork out £200+ on a new motherboard just yet, potentially Ryzen3 etc will fit too.

I looked at it from this point of view when upgrading from my 4770k, i either went with the 7700k which was about to be superceded by the 8700k, which was potentially going to have an extremely short shelf life on a dead end platform, or i could go in for an AMD build, and then the mobo atleast would last a few generations.

With either of those builds Ram costs are what they are, people say "oh but Ryzens you need 3200mhz minimum memory" yeah thats true, but how many people here on an "Overclockers" forum are going to buy the best top end CPU then gimp the build on other areas like Ram etc?

So to sum it up, it made sense for me personally to move from an i7 4770k to a Ryzen 1700.

Pro.
Longer support on the socket so less costs in replacing motherboards for a while
Single threaded IPC was slightly better than my 4770k
double the amount of cores
gained DDR4, USB C etc
Entry costs were lower
I dont have to worry as much about Meltdown and Spectre exploits gimping my performance

Cons.
I only get 89fps instead of 90fps now when playing my favourite game(s)
 
Soldato
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How do you choose your intel cpu?

Good question. It's something that I have never considered. I have been given a few and used a few - but never ever bought an Intel cpu. Bit like marmite - you either love or hate it. For me, I would rather pull my own head off rather than buy Intel. :D

I have bought many Intel CPU's since 1990 (286 - 12.5MHz) at least one from every generation probably, these were mostly comissioned by others for me to build. However since 2000ish, I have used exclusively AMD for my home PC. This has meant some blindingly brilliant overclocked PC's and some donkeys. I have an inbuilt preference for AMD, I admit, not a full on fanboy but partly. This leads to considering which Intel to buy then looking at what else I could buy for similar or less money. All out frequency is less important than ever nowadays,
 
Associate
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First off, you need to be fully aware of the specs of the CPU to ensure you know what the CPU offers. As stated above, the 8700K comes with Intel Turbo Boost, which bumps the speed to 4.3Ghz on all cores, from a base speed of 3.7GHz.

After that, benchmarks would be a good place to compare the CPUs real world performance.
 
Associate
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Thats a bit strong Trix!!!

Yeah, sorry about that. I should have phrased that better but given Intel's past behavior (bribes and contraflow etc.) and now this recent Meltdown / Spectre debacle it's hard for me to justify contributing to such a **** company.

I do apologize however because it dose not help the person who is asking a genuine question and it appears that it is indeed very difficult to pull ones own head off. Best I say no more.

:)
 
Associate
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Scotland
Yeah, sorry about that. I should have phrased that better but given Intel's past behavior (bribes and contraflow etc.) and now this recent Meltdown / Spectre debacle it's hard for me to justify contributing to such a **** company.

I do apologize however because it dose not help the person who is asking a genuine question and it appears that it is indeed very difficult to pull ones own head off. Best I say no more.

:)
Fair play mate :)
 
Permabanned
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2 Sep 2017
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10,490
What do you guys look for when choosing your next intel cpu?

I'd buy an Intel CPU only if there is no competition whatsoever. And even then, I'd prefer to look for other options - using an Android device and similar.
If someone gives me an Intel CPU as a present, I'd immediately sell it.
 
Associate
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18 Mar 2017
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Earth
But there is no competition, ryzen is crap, saying that after having owned the 1700 for 10 months since launch ( @ 3.9 @ 3200 CL14 ram, going to 8700K @ 5 is massive improvement on things I use emulators and such.
 
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