Its that time again... time to upgrade the good ole gaming PC. I'm looking to make an Intel build the problem is i can't decide between the options. I have a micro-center near me so for I have access to cheap mobo and CPU combos. I guess what im asking is for gaming what would be the most economically wise choice for longevity and performance. in my eyes its between 4 possible options and i will explain my reasoning for each.
1) I5 6600K now this is a tempting choice as its over significantly less $ than the i7 6700k but then you miss out on the extra threads 2) i7 6700k now this cpu is interesting clocks at 4.0 like the i7 4790k and is newer but it brings a bigger price tag and im not sure if its worth the more money in terms of performance 3) i7 4790k priced inbetween the two above and its a i7 so you get more cores and it has a fantastic stock clock speed, however it built upon older architecture, so would it still stay relevant in performance for years to come/ 4)i7 5820k now for a similar price to the i7 6700k this cpu has an extra 2 physical cores and more threads and might just be a powerhouse for the money, however the clock speed of each core is the slowest of all the options which makes me worry it wont outperform the other cpus i have listed in gaming and longevity.
so what do you guys think? i like the price of the i5 6600k and the fact that it uses the faster ddr4 memory which helps with longevity, however do you guys think it might be more worth it to spend the extra cash to get one of the i7's? Also worth noting that this would be for a 1080p rig and i play some more demanding games Like arma 3 and far cry.
It depends completely on your budget. Since you have access to microcenter I would rule a 6700k out since it is about the same price as a 5820k. The X99 mobo will cost more but you gain 2 extra cores and 4 threads compared to the 6700k.
We really need to know your total budget for the build to decide, if it means getting a lower gpu it is almost never worth it to go x99 vs an i5, as most games benefit more from a better gpu instead of cpu.
Budget would be under $1000, now I already have a Gtx 970 that I would be putting into this build and then I would get either a 500 or 1 tb ssd depending on costs
if its purely for gaming i say go for the i5 6600k and put more into the gpu, however you already have a 970 which makes me think its better for you to actually go for the i7 however the performance between the two on purely gaming use would not be very big.
if you do other tasks that are more cpu intensive then yes go for the i7 no questions asked
So if you're suggesting an i7 would you say the 5820k for the 6 cores over the 6700k's 4 or would the newer architecture of the 6700k win out over the 5280k
Is there a benefit of going with a Xeon cpu for gaming? It's a possible option but micro enter doesn't bundle motherboards with it like the other CPUs I listed
Headroom mostly. I'm not sure if anything is exactly better but there might be a xeon out there better than a 6700k thats cheaper. I know some Skylake xeons are on sale for like 230 USD on amazon.
This realy depends on your budget, and your main goals with the system. If you are mainly focussed on gaming, and you want something for the future. Then i would say the 6700K. Allthough in terms of raw cpu performance, there wont be that much of a diffrence between the 4790K and the 6700K. But keep in mind that the 4790K Haswell platform is basicly EOL, and DDR3 is also slowly on its way out. This should not realy be a huge problem, as long as your parts stay alive. The 4790K will still be relevent for couple of years to come for gaming for that matter. BUt keep in mind that DDR3 ram prices will only rise, and "decent" Haswell motherboard will be harder and harder to get over time, because they are not made anymore. We allready see prices of decent Z97 boards sorta rise.
The 5820K will of course also be a good choice. Especialy if you are looking for a system for gaming + productivity workloads like video editing / rendering and stuff.
But if your main focus is gaming with an eye on the future. I would probably go with the 6700K personaly. Also because the Skylake Z170 platform on it self has some benefits over Z97. like dmi 3.0 bus, and 20 additional pci-e 3.0 lanes on the pch. Which gives you a nice upgrade path.
On the MB I would look at the 3 year protection plan if you go ultra cheap. Also on open box you can but it and have 72 hours to pick it up. Not so much for what your looking for but if you want a gpu upgrade also. Going open box on MB wipes out the combo deal:( Some deals are 20 and some are 30 off. I had the bright idea of taking the mail in rebate paperwork to my wife. Heck she used to fill out the Publishers Clearinghouse contest stuff so I thought she might enjoy it. Big mistake:) It looks like you may have to match a 30 off cpu to a 30 off MB but I am not sure(AMD guy:).
Then ruling out all the other Options and focusing solely on the i7 6700k and the i7 5820k would you think that the extra cores on the the 5820k would be better for long term as everything gets more demanding those extra 2 cores would be a buffer and would be better when multiple cores are used or do you think the newer software used to develop the 6700k would still make it better for long term as everything will shift to the newer Z170 platform
Honestly I like the sound of the 5820k, overclocked you can reach 4.0 ghz reasonably and you still have an extra 2 cores and 4 threads. Yea in single core performance the 6700k has it beat but when it comes to anything that requires more cpu the 5820k is a beast. And who knows I might start making videos or streaming