i5 6600k vs i7 6700k For Gaming

[DiscoDave]

Hi All,

I've been getting some mixed responses about the two aforementioned CPU's for gaming.

I'm looking to upgrade from a first gen i7. I hear from some that the i7 doesn't really present much of an increase when it comes to gaming. I don't do any video encoding or any cpu-heavy stuff really.

However, others have said that DX12/VR/Newer games are going to start to utilise more CPU cores better and consequently a i7 would potentially be a better investment. However I've also read that this isn't quite true and most games will still be GPU-bound anyway.

Hopefully someone can clarify for me

Cheers,

 

[abui1806]

what game are you playing? Some games need a decent power from the cpu. For example, Battlefield 4 Multiplayer 64, map siege of Shanghai at 1440p when the skyscraper collapses the i5 might shows a little stuttering. I don't play much game only BF4 therefore that is the only scenario that I could find.

 

[~>Dg<~]

if you not editing or doing multiple card configs i5 is fine .

 

[DiscoDave]

what game are you playing? Some games need a decent power from the cpu. For example, Battlefield 4 Multiplayer 64, map siege of Shanghai at 1440p when the skyscraper collapses the i5 might shows a little stuttering. I don't play much game only BF4 therefore that is the only scenario that I could find.

I do play a bit of BF4, but I will also play newer games like Doom, F1, the new Deus Ex game, etc.

 

[abui1806]

I do play a bit of BF4, but I will also play newer games like Doom, F1, the new Deus Ex game, etc.

I head the VR stuff does require some power from the CPU, so the i7 seems like a pretty good choice considering that you will be playing newer games + trying newer techs like VR.

 

[Doogles]

I'd just stump up the extra for a i7 considering I regret not doing it myself...

 

[nashathedog]

I regretted going i5 with Ivybridge and do not regret going i7 with Haswell.

 

[Dave2150]

I7 is worth the extra IMO. Had my 6700k for almost a year, extremely happy with it

 

[Daaaveee]

There are very few games which see any tangible benefit when using a 6700K over a 6600K. You would be better off putting the money saved towards a better GPU in my opinion. But if you won't miss the £100 or so extra for the i7 at least you won't be wondering if you could have had a few more FPS here and there.

Side note, all of the VR games I've played on my Vive so far are not CPU intensive at all, usage is normally around 30-40% on a 6600K at 4.5ghz.

 

[Daaaveee]

Just had a quick Google for some gaming benchmarks for comparisons between the two:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/22

 

[w00dy85]

I currently have a 6700k, which I am really happy with. Before that I had a 2500k which was an excellent CPU and lasted me 4 years. But when I was looking at CPU's before I got the 2500k, my friends talked me out of getting a 2600k as all I was using it for was gaming. I still think I should have bought the 2600k and I think I would still have it now if I had.

 

[Seanspeed]

If you can spare it, the extra for an i7 is worth it. Not because every game you play will immediately benefit, but because you're going to be running that CPU for years and years and over time, there *will* be enough games that you get an advantage from to justify the extra cost over such a period of time(think an extra £20 a year for 5 years or so).

That said, it's unlikely you'll regret an i5. The money saved will feel good in terms of upfront costs if you're trying to stay on a somewhat smaller budget and it will still last you plenty long.

Go with what you can afford. Dont push your budget if you're trying to keep things on a rein. But dont fret at the extra cost if you can push it without worry, either.

 

[peahead]

I went for an I5 on my new build recently i considered I7 but after reading around and for the games i play the I5 is more than good enough for my needs.

 

[Dave2150]

6700 showing it's worth in Deus Ex: (note this is NOT the K model, the 6700 is 3.4Ghz stock, vs the 6700k 4.0Ghz stock).

I still find it hilarious that people get sucked into buying 6, 8, 10 cores for gaming only, when higher clocked quad cores still have the advantage.

 

[Daaaveee]

6700 showing it's worth in Deus Ex: (note this is NOT the K model, the 6700 is 3.4Ghz stock, vs the 6700k 4.0Ghz stock).

I still find it hilarious that people get sucked into buying 6, 8, 10 cores for gaming only, when higher clocked quad cores still have the advantage.

Who plays at 720p these days?!

Deus Ex Mankind Divided has terrible DX12 implementation too, slower than DX11 (which itself has terrible performance anyway!)

 

[Dave2150]

Who plays at 720p these days?!

Deus Ex Mankind Divided has terrible DX12 implementation too, slower than DX11 (which itself has terrible performance anyway!)

The whole game has terrible performance regardless, hopefully they'll fix the DX12 issues.

720P has commonly been used to highlight the speed difference between CPU's. While, obviously, no-one games at 720P, it's still useful to see how many cores a game uses if it wasn't GPU bound.

For example, SLI 1080's, or Titan X's would perform better on a 6700k @ max overclock compared to a 6950X at max overclock in this game, as it doesn't use more than 4 cores.