i7 6700K Upgade or Hold

shadow_boxer · 17 Jul 2019 at 13:51

Hi guys.

Been out the loop for a while with regards to CPU hardware so looking for some advice. Currently I'm running the above, i7 6700K @4.5GHz which was bought November 2016 and getting a bit of an upgrade itch especially seeing so much about Ryzen 3. 90% of my PC use is gaming with a little basic office/admin etc. I've not long upgraded to 1440p G-Sync ultrawide so beening thinkng about having a bit of a refresh. In recent years I've upgraded CPU/Mobo every three years (i7 920 -> 4770K -> 6700K). GPU wise I'm running a 980Ti but possibly interested in a 2070S or 2080S depending on reviews. Is the 6700K still a sound base for gaming for the next couple of years? Will I get much benefit in upgrading, are games using more than 4 cores nowadays. I don't tend to play any of the latest titles but F1 2019 plays fine. I do play quite a bit of flight sim (Prepar3d) and Kerbal Space Programme which is very CPU intensive and flight sims have historically favoured Intel over AMD due to their single core performance.

TangoEchoAlpha · 17 Jul 2019 at 13:59

Having just purchased a 1440p GSYNC ultrawide, my money would be on upgrading the 980Ti at the moment

nhornby51743 · 17 Jul 2019 at 14:56

3700x and 2080s would be an excellent upgrade.

bakes0310 · 17 Jul 2019 at 15:10

I have a 6700k and a evga 1080, it plays all my games absolutely fine at 3440x1440p. I played Witcher 3 at max settings and the most demanding games I have I leave on high and ignore the ultra settings.
Personally I would say your CPU will be fine for a couple years easily, some people are only just upgrading their i5 2500k, so I think we will be fine.
Spend the monies on the best go you can afford for your gsync monitor.

alec · 17 Jul 2019 at 15:12

I am pretty much in the same boat. Boought 6700k on release day and been running it at 4.5 from start.
So far the only game where I felt limited by CPU was BF V. And I don't like it anyway, so no real reason to upgrade.

Naff8000 · 17 Jul 2019 at 16:48

You can compare the 6700k vs Ryzen 3 on you tube etc. It won't be a massive upgrade. 980 ti vs 5700 xt/2070 s/2080 s will be a nice upgrade though.

Dave2150 · 17 Jul 2019 at 18:56

I too have a 6700k@ 4.7Ghz, though coupled with a Radeon7. See no reason to upgrade yet, just isn't worth it FPS wise in games.

I'll likely wait to see what Intel's 10nm Icelake offers, if the claimed 15% IPC is true and they manage to clock it at 4.5Ghz+, it will smash any current CPU out there. Will likely be a very future proof platform with PCI-Ev5 also.

jigger · 17 Jul 2019 at 20:13

If everything runs fine I’d be tempted to sit tight with the current setup.

MissChief · 17 Jul 2019 at 20:17

I also have a 1440p UW, 6700k and a 1080. I’d be looking at an upgrade from your 980ti first.

Journey · 17 Jul 2019 at 20:31

I'd be tempted to sell the 6700K and board while it is still worth more than it technically should be.

The Intel 6700K is fetching between £150-180 on that famous auction site, so you probably get £220 with the board (if it's low end) or up to as much as £300 for CPU/board and RAM as it's easy to demonstrate it working.
From that base you could grab a cheap Ryzen 3600, B450 board, 16GB RAM for ~£330, so a very low cost upgrade that will put you on a platform that has options moving forward. Obviously you could spend a lot more if you wanted as well.

Obviously if you want more FPS then a graphics change is the sensible option, I guess it just depends if you can be bothered, as that is an excuse used by lots of people when they aren't really 100% on changing systems.

Randomface74 · 17 Jul 2019 at 20:42

I'm still using a 6700k for 1440p gaming it's perfectly fine, with a GTX 1080.
For you, given there's no urgency, I'd say consider a new graphics card at Black Friday.

Phil2008 · 17 Jul 2019 at 22:08

Like I said in another thread......
games are mainly gpu depended, not cpu,, I have a i7 8086k cpu and I wont be upgrading it for a good few years, as its got plenty of power to last at least 2 gpu upgrades, without bottlenecking.

So upgrade the gpu before the cpu.. The rage for lots of cores from ryzen is pointless for gaming, all you need is a decent clocked 4 core cpu with a beefy gpu.

MartinPrince · 17 Jul 2019 at 22:47

MissChief said:
I also have a 1440p UW, 6700k and a 1080. I’d be looking at an upgrade from your 980ti first.

This. Definitely look to spending the most on your GPU upgrade

nomadd · 17 Jul 2019 at 23:44

MartinPrince said:
This. Definitely look to spending the most on your GPU upgrade

+1

OP: 6700K is just fine; don't waste your money going down that upgrade path. For gaming, GPU upgrade all the way.

Jacky60 · 18 Jul 2019 at 09:00

As others have said GPU upgrade first if you want to notice a difference for your money. That CPU is fine, no need to
upgrade unless you have a specific use case for more than eight threads. You'll be GPU limited in the vast majority of games
but really CPU limited (as in it making a noticeable difference in games) in very few games.

~>Dg<~ · 18 Jul 2019 at 09:07

id keep what you have now while AMD mature cpu wise. also look at the 5700xt. there will be better cooled card versions of it soon.they are great value and fast.

ArmitageShanks · 18 Jul 2019 at 13:21

As suggested, get the new GPU. Hold onto the 6700K, you won't benefit as much as you think from an upgrade and you'll have wasted your money. The 6700K will be fine for at least another generation or two. If anything, wait till DDR5 is a thing before tossing your mobo.

For reference, I'm running a 6700K at 4.6GHz with 1080 SLI which is roughly equivalent to a 2080Ti (yes, really - I've benched both, the SLI is a tad faster), and a gsync 100Hz 3440x1440 monitor. So very similar to what you're considering.

Most games hit the 100hz limit (including BF1 which pushes the 6700K in online play) with minor dips into the 90s, some run a bit lower at 75-90 fps. Gsync smooths all that out of course.

easyrider · 18 Jul 2019 at 14:02

Upgrade the GPU 2070s would go nicely with your monitor OP

sWiZzLe · 5 Jun 2020 at 16:29

Just out curiosity... did anyone upgrade from their 6700K?

When I upgrade, I like to get the best stuff I can so they last! Seems I got lucky with the 6700k

MissChief · 5 Jun 2020 at 16:43

sWiZzLe said:
Just out curiosity... did anyone upgrade from their 6700K?

When I upgrade, I like to get the best stuff I can so they last! Seems I got lucky with the 6700k

Still have it and will be waiting to see how it copes with Cyberpunk 2077 before making a decision. By then we should have more news on Ryzen 4th gen too.

oh edit to add I upgraded my 1080 to a 2070S and got a significant increase in FPS.