I5 6600k or i7 6700k?

[closetchimp]

So my build is pre production and I'm on the fence about the processor.. I currently have the i5 6600k in it.. The upgrade to the i7 6700k is about £90 that's taking me over my budget and I'm not sure if I should swap it over.. Is it needed for gaming as that's basically all I'm going to be doing with this rig. I have a decent gpu in the 1070 but is it necessary or recommended to go for the i7 or will the i5 do for a couple of years?

 

[Scott]

i5 should be absolutely fine for what you want. You have a few things to consider. The key is how long will the i5 be good enough for what you are wanting and by the time you need a boost how much will you be able to upgrade to the i7 for. If that's the sort of upgrade you can do yourself then I would imagine the i5 to be ideal until the i7 prices are in the toilet, by which time you can upgrade for next to nothing.

However, if you're not really into delving into the depths of the PC yourself then perhaps the i7 would be a good choice to future proof the PC to your requirements a little while longer while opening up the doors of opportunity to what the i7 has over the i5 right now that you don't necessarily use right now.

Everyone is different, I would spend the £90 personally.

 

[closetchimp]

tbh i'm new to the pc circle, always been console type of person, but saying that i,m using this a jumping off point anyways. The whole reason for having my first pc built was to learn the process of building a pc as i go along and replace bits. So i'm perfectly happy to replace the cpu (or whatever bits) as and when i decide to in the future. That way i will teach myself how to build a pc without jumping in with both feet at the outset. So if im reading you right, the i5 should be good for a few years. I dont mind swapping it out when the time comes. is that about the jist of it ?

 

[Oussebon]

So i'm perfectly happy to replace the cpu (or whatever bits) as and when i decide to in the future

If you're planning to do that, you are probably better off getting the better CPU now.

If DX12 games do indeed take advantage of the extra threads offered by the i7 and you find yourself thinking that an i7 might bump your performance in 3 years time, you'll be replacing the ~£180 CPU you've bought now with an i7 6700k that may still cost a good £250, for probably relatively modest performance gains, compared to what the same cash would net you in GPU upgrade terms.

There's Kaby Lake that will get released, but given the kinds of increases the last few generations of processors have given relative to the last it would surprise me if the step up from an i5 6600k to a kaby lake i7 was particularly good value.

Whereas you could just spend £90 now on the i7, enjoy the added performance such as it might bring over the next few years anyway, and not have to consider spending £200-250 on a CPU. Even if an i7 6700k only cost £90 new in a few years (which is highly unlikely IMO, just look at the prices of non-used previous gen i7s today) you'd basically not be making a saving while having forfeited ~3 years of whatever extra performance it brings.

This is more or less why I have an i7 CPU despite probably even fewer games getting much benefit from an i7 vs an i5 back in 2012 when I bought the PC.

 

[Scott]

That's a very good point. A new 3770k will still cost you a pretty penny and I've had mine for 4 years IIRC. Even 2nd hand they aren't particularly cheap. They are amazing CPUs though.... as are the 6700k's IMO.

I bought an upgraded i7 CPU for my laptop for next to nothing. It was 2nd hand though, so there are no guarantees. What I will say is that if I could have spent £90 at the time of purchasing my laptop for the extreme one that I got... I would have