cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

i5 7600k or i7 7700k - is the extra worth it.

elboffor
Consultant
So im building myself a new pc, but hnsure about which chip to get. I can get the i5 7600k for £225 or the i7 7700k for £325.
Is the difference in price worth it for the improvement in vr?
More to the point, aside from the mild increase in clock speed which can most likely be matched via overclocking is there any benefit to having multi-threading?
On my current i7 950 ive always had it switched off and its been pretty flawless. But i think its time to upgrade. That said i have this chip overclocked at a rock solid 4.2 (its 3.07 as standard). According to oculus home it doesnt meet the minimum spec however and vr experience could be affected (utter horseshite).

So cmon guys what say you all?
£225 for an i5 or an extra 50% for the multi-threading. Bear in mind thos us purely a gaming rig, i do occasionally make images and videos but thats very much a second to vr gaming.
@cybereality im very much interested on your opinion on this. If anyone knows the technical difference as far as vr or future vr is concerned its you. So I'm counting your vote as 3 votes 😉
This is my forum signature.
There are many others like it, but this is mine.
54 REPLIES 54

You say your current CPU works absolutely fine - why upgrade at all?

Also, what graphics card do you have - you say it's all about gaming, that's what matters once you have the CPU sorted.
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

elboffor
Consultant
1070 ftw mate, so its not an issue.

Im after the upgrade primarily for the motherboard and ram.

I have 2 850 evo ssds in raid but its pointless as i dont get the correct speeds because it doesnt have sata3 (just a fake sata 6gbps which runs 2 channels via a single express lane and is a max of 5gbps so im not getting close to the correct speeds.
Also my pcie is gen2 and although not saturated yet, its only a matter of time before it becomes an issue.
This is my forum signature.
There are many others like it, but this is mine.

Anonymous
Not applicable
Go for the i7 7700K.
Great chip according to reports, little larger L2 cache, and as you mentioned multithreading. While current games may not take advantage of it , only a matter of time - and probably not too long, before new ones will.

If I were building a new system today, it would be my choice.

Edit: Btw, I upgraded from an I7 920 X58 system to this I7 4820K X-79 system a little over three years ago. While my cpu overclock was a modest gain as well, the platform and memory change gave me significant improvement in performance. I am sure you will be pleased with your upgrade.


elboffor said:

1070 ftw mate, so its not an issue.

Im after the upgrade primarily for the motherboard and ram.

I have 2 850 evo ssds in raid but its pointless as i dont get the correct speeds because it doesnt have sata3 (just a fake sata 6gbps which runs 2 channels via a single express lane and is a max of 5gbps so im not getting close to the correct speeds.
Also my pcie is gen2 and although not saturated yet, its only a matter of time before it becomes an issue.


A 1070 and 850 evo SSDs - it'd be rude not to bring the rest up to scratch.
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

elboffor
Consultant
That was my thinking 😉

Few weeks till i bite the bullet however so still eager to have everyone's input
This is my forum signature.
There are many others like it, but this is mine.

cybereality
Grand Champion
I'm not sure there would be a huge difference in VR but the 7700K is the better chip and I think it's worthwhile to spend a little extra to get a chip that will last longer.
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X | MSI X370 Titanium | G.Skill 16GB DDR4 3200 | EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 | Corsair Hydro H110i Gigabyte RX Vega 64 x2 | Samsung 960 Evo M.2 500GB | Seagate FireCuda SSHD 2TB | Phanteks ENTHOO EVOLV

paesan
Expert Protege
I have the i7 7700K and it is a great chip, I have a stable overclock at 5000 GHz.  I am using the swiftech H 240 X2 all in one water cooler to cool the chip. A good air cooler can get a decent overclock around 4800GHz. I have the Asus z270e for the motherboard. 
This video explains the differences in gaming. Paired with a fast memory the i7 7700K shows pretty decent increases vs the i5 7600K.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43g3OTK2AbE
Intel i7 7700k | Asus ROG Strix Z270E | G Skill Ripjaws 32GB 3200 | Asus GTX1080-O8G
EVGA Supernova 850 G2 | Samsung 960 Pro M.2 500GB | Swiftech H240 X2 | WD Black 5TB | WD Black 4TB
Toshiba 1TB | Corsair Graphite 760T | Windows 10 64 bit | Rift CV1 + Touch | StarTech 4 port PCI Express USB 3 - 5Gbps

elboffor
Consultant
thanks for the video @paesan the decision is pretty much made for me now
7700k it is and 3200 vengance ram (3000mhz peasants lol)

now the question i suppose is the board to take.
i was looking at the asus stix z270H - linky
it looks like th best all rounder.
I'm not bothered about usb 3 incompatibilities as i have 2 inatech cards and will continue to use them, but can anyone suggest a decent comparable board?
The aesthetics do come in to play though people as i dont want a fugly board (i currently have this x58 and my god it's nasty), but the strix does have the rgb LED's and the outputs to connect more for case decoration which coupled with my kb and mouse and my 1070 ftw would be a nice option

as always guys, any input anyone has will be greatly recieved 🙂
This is my forum signature.
There are many others like it, but this is mine.

paesan
Expert Protege
@elboffor, the differences between the Z270H and Z270E are not that big. The Z270H is a great board for the price. For my use the bluetooth and wireless are must haves, if you don't need bluetooth and wireless on your MB then this is a good choice. Onboard sound is slightly different, according to the specs the onboard sound in the Z270E is superior to the Z270H.  As you stated no rgb LED lighting on the Z270H. I like to make my case look good so the rgb LED's  was another feature I was looking for.

On a side note this question is for cybereality. A nice feature on many tech forums is the ability to add the PC system specs to the user profile. This would make it so much easier to assist others when problems arise. Can this feature be added to the forum. Thanks.
Intel i7 7700k | Asus ROG Strix Z270E | G Skill Ripjaws 32GB 3200 | Asus GTX1080-O8G
EVGA Supernova 850 G2 | Samsung 960 Pro M.2 500GB | Swiftech H240 X2 | WD Black 5TB | WD Black 4TB
Toshiba 1TB | Corsair Graphite 760T | Windows 10 64 bit | Rift CV1 + Touch | StarTech 4 port PCI Express USB 3 - 5Gbps