Ready to push the button on 8700k...

Kol12 · 25 Feb 2018

I have spent hours reading over 370Z/390Z, CoffeeLake/CFL Refresh, Cannon Lake, Ice Lake rumors and articles. I have come to some conclusion that there will be nothing released very soon that is of any significant advantage over the 8700K.

There may be a Coffee Lake 8 core but I cannot see how this could be a better gamer than the 8700K. The 8700K already beats Skylake-X 8 core's in every gaming benchmark. I can appreciate an 8 core on newer architecture may have some advantage though. How Intel will release an 8 core mainstream chip in a mainstream price bracket is another matter.

Furthermore some people predict it will not be until 10nm++ that we see a significant increase in high end desktop chips. Can any 8700k users or any other users for that matter share their experience/opinions to help me make a final informed decision despite all of the rumors? :)

essenbe · 25 Feb 2018

Hi Kol12, I am not sure what you would like to know about the 8700K. The reports are pretty much out and I can tell you I love mine. As far as an 8 core, I would like to see what it brings to the table. I think it may depend as well on what you are doing. If you are a content creator, do Video Encoding or use applications that would use the extra cores/threads, an 8 core may be of interest to you. If you are a gamer, I feel pretty confident in saying the extra cores will not help you.

What the Z390 chipset will bring to the table could be another story. I have not read a lot about them and don't know what they will bring that the Z370 doesn't have. If they were to bring more Sata ports, M.2 Slots and PCIe lanes, I may reconsider my position. I love my Z370 and 8700K and am not sorry for getting it at all. I'm very pleased. The only improvement I would like to see is more PCIe lanes. As far as I am concerned, that is it's only shortcoming. It's fast and it's quick and will overclock great. On the other hand, if Intel was to bring out 8 cores/16 threads that will be as fast and overclock as well, I may change my mind,....maybe. It would still not help in gaming, but with other production tasks could make a big difference. But, we don't really know what's coming or when.

My personal opinion is, if you wait on the next big release you will never build a new rig. There is always another chip coming out 'shortly'. If that new chip has been officially announced and will be released very soon, I may wait and see what it is like. Other than that, if the CPU and chipset you are considering will perform everything you use your computer for and do it well, I say go for it. That's just my 2 cents and I am sure others will have a different opinion. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. We have some really great builders on this forum with a vast amount to knowledge who love to help with new builds.

Layback Bear · 25 Feb 2018

I don' t have a 8700K but like 'essenbe', other members do have the 8700K and are well pleased.
I know of no reason a 8700K would not take care of your gaming needs. Steve 'essenbe' is a gamer to the best of my memory.

Choosing the proper motherboard and CPU is very time consuming. Their are so many choices but sooner or later one has to choose or nothing ever gets built. By the time I chose my 6800K and built the system Intel came out with new choices. Some of the new choices were better for my needs and desires and some were not all that great.

So pick you poison and build your new system and don't look back. Just be happy with your new build.
I build a new system about every 3 or 4 years. It takes me that long to save the money.

Jack

Kol12 · 25 Feb 2018

Thanks essenbe.

I agree on the 8 core in that it could be a very appealing production chip if the price is right. It could even be as fast and clock as high as the 8700K but to date high core counts have been limited in that ability, especially over all cores. It would not surprise me that Intel could achieve that having already done so with the 8700K but when is another matter.

I do not run heavy production tasks, I do have interests but nothing serious. This is more aimed at my high refresh rate/high resolution gaming. My 4790K still performs very well but if games such Assassins Creed Origins is anything to base future games on I will need the extra horsepower.

Some of the "official" Intel Roadmap leaks seem to indicate there are no high end desktop chips coming this year, just the elusive Coffeelake 390Z series and a possible 8 core. And Cascade Lake X.

I predict that the 8700K is the chip that I need to unlock my gaming potential and general computing requirements at this current time. We are in a new era I can see this chip taking us forward through a new generation. I note the many users here on Ten forums are now Coffeelake/8700K users and are very happy!

essenbe · 25 Feb 2018

I can assure you that the 8700K will not hold any graphics card back. It is a great gaming chip and I have the same GPU you have. We have a nice benchmarking section here and you can see the results. The benches speak for themselves. Put it in a good board and it just wants to go faster. You'll have to hold it back, unless you can delid it :) then you don't have to hold it back. It's a great gaming chip.

Geneo · 26 Feb 2018

I am pleased with mine, but it feels sluggish with the latest 8700k microcode revision for Spectre 2 (0x84). With the patch disabled it runs great. Was hoping that 84 would be better than 7C, but it is not

Shouldn't affect games much, but it does i/o. Palpable even in web browsing.

Geneo · 26 Feb 2018

If you do get it, you might want to consider a binned and delidded 8700k from Silicon Lottery. They run so much better and cooler delidded. Mine is but not Silicon lottery. I have 4.9 GHz @ 1.344v 24x7 and it runs cool. I can do 5 GHz , but at 1.4v, which though it runs cool, is a bit too high volts for day-to-day for me.

Kol12 · 26 Feb 2018

Geneo said:

I am pleased with mine, but it feels sluggish with the latest 8700k microcode revision for Spectre 2 (0x84). With the patch disabled it runs great. Was hoping that 84 would be better than 7C, but it is not

Shouldn't affect games much, but it does i/o. Palpable even in web browsing.

Palable in web browsing, that doesn't sound good. Is it that bad?

essenbe · 26 Feb 2018

I haven't noticed that.

Kol12 · 26 Feb 2018

The performance hit seems negligible. This appears to be Intel's official results.

Intel Releases Meltdown, Spectre Patch Benchmarks