i7-7700k Intel's New i7-7700k, Should you buy it?

[TheTechnicalGeek]

Okay so what are we looking at today?

 

Today we will be taking a look at Intel's new Kaby Lake Processor, The i7-7700k and how much it benefits the average gamer.

Now before I get into the review, Let me just say that I am combining my own opinion with valid facts, If the processor is bad, I'll say it's bad.

Now, The specs on this processor is an improvement from Intel's i7-6700k, But not a huge one. Here it is:

Now, The improvement is just the clock speed which is now 4.20 GhZ Compared to the 6700k's 4.00 GhZ.

You may say "Wow that means my gameplay is going to be blazing fast!" Well not so fast. If you take a look at the benchmarks I grabbed from Game Debate,

You can see that there is minimal improvement in Triple-A game titles such as Battlefield 1.

 

(6700k with a Titan XP: http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=9002&game=Battlefield 1&p_make=Intel&p_deriv=Core+i7-7700K+4-Core+4.2GHz&gc_make=Nvidia&gc_deriv=GeForce+GTX+Titan+X&ram=16&screenRes_width_FPS=1920&screenRes_height_FPS=1080&checkSubmit=#systemRequirements )

 

(7700k with a Titan XP: http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=9002&game=Battlefield 1&p_make=Intel&p_deriv=Core+i7-6700K+4-Core+4.0GHz&gc_make=Nvidia&gc_deriv=GeForce+GTX+Titan+X&ram=16&screenRes_width_FPS=1920&screenRes_height_FPS=1080&checkSubmit=#systemRequirements )

 

When you look down at "Projected FPS" It is the exact same FPS for both processors!

 

Okay so it's a crappy processor right?

 

Not exactly. If you aren't upgrading your PC and just making your first build, I would still get the 7700k because Kaby Lake will soon support 4K UHD Which is good for videos, Not so much for FPS Increases:P

 

Plus, a 0.20 GhZ increase counts for something right, and don't forget, Bragging rights.

 

Okay what's your final answer?

 

Don't upgrade your PC for this if you are a gamer. The FPS increases are non-existent. So there is no reason why you would do that. BUT, If you are making your first PC and you are deciding whether to get the 6700k or the 7700k, Get the 7700k, It's a faster clock speed, so some games like Half Life 2 who utilize single cores, would see a FPS Increase. What's your opinion? Would you put the i7-7700k in your first build? Let me know in the polls! Have a good day!

 

-Lancelot G.

[NTDaws]

You should buy it if you don't have a 6700k. If you have one then theres no point, theres almost no difference in performance. Period.

[2FA]

I had a 6600K, I bought a 7700K for two reasons.

1. The price difference between the 6700K and 7700K was $20.
2. From what I've seen the 7700K overclocks better.

EDIT: Should probably note that I was intending to upgrade to an i7 regardless.

[Archeval]

9 minutes ago, TheTechnicalGeek said:

Kaby Lake will soon support 4K UHD*

*To select distributors, also currently requires Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge

[paps511]

Should you upgrade to a 7700k?

IT DEPENDS WHAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE

 

From a 6700k -> Probably not

From a 6600k or less -> Probably

[TheTechnicalGeek]

Yeah so what? It's just a neat feature. Nothing to do with the performance or the specs of the CPU.

4 minutes ago, Archeval said:

*To select distributors, also currently requires Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge

 

[NTDaws]

1 minute ago, paps511 said:

Should you upgrade to a 7700k?

IT DEPENDS WHAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE

 

From a 6700k -> Probably not

From a 6600k or less -> Probably

it doesn't matter, they are basically the same performance, if you don't own a skylake cpu then it makes sense to go to kaby lake, but if you already own one then it doesn't make sense to upgrade.

[TheTechnicalGeek]

2 minutes ago, paps511 said:

Should you upgrade to a 7700k?

IT DEPENDS WHAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE

 

From a 6700k -> Probably not

From a 6600k or less -> Probably

Yeah you're right, Maybe like upgrade from a CPU under a i5-6600k.

[TheTechnicalGeek]

2 minutes ago, Dawson Wehage said:

it doesn't matter, they are basically the same performance, if you don't own a skylake cpu then it makes sense to go to kaby lake, but if you already own one then it doesn't make sense to upgrade.

This is true as well (+1)

[Archeval]

1 minute ago, TheTechnicalGeek said:

Yeah so what? It's just a neat feature. Nothing to do with the performance or the specs of the CPU.

 

Not saying it isn't just that there are caveats, such as currently only on Netflix if you have a Kaby Lake CPU running Windows 10 while using Microsoft Edge.

[TheTechnicalGeek]

8 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

I had a 6600K, I bought a 7700K for two reasons.

1. The price difference between the 6700K and 7700K was $20.
2. From what I've seen the 7700K overclocks better.

EDIT: Should probably note that I was intending to upgrade to an i7 regardless.

Yeah true but did you sell the 6700k first cuz it seems pretty dumb to pay another $300 for the same performance, But for overclocking, Yeah pretty good idea!

[2FA]

Just now, TheTechnicalGeek said:

Yeah true but did you sell the 6700k first cuz it seems pretty dumb to pay another $300 for the same performance, But for overclocking, Yeah pretty good idea!

Bruh read the first line of my post.

[Nfan]

DRM from Microsoft inside my CPU, well nope. I hope new AMD CPUs to be good

[Archeval]

9 minutes ago, Nfan said:

DRM from Microsoft inside my CPU, well nope. I hope new AMD CPUs to be good

yeah, hardware based DRM is not the direction we need to be going. It's still one of the reasons why i haven't made the plunge into upgrading to Windows 10 from my Windows 7 machine (licensing is based on hardware ID and invalidates if 1 key part or 3 parts change).

 

If I get windows 10 it would have to be with a new machine instead of upgrading to it because of all the licensing issues I've had to deal with from my last job

Edited January 17, 2017 by Archeval
Elaboration

[MrDynamicMan]

52 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

I had a 6600K, I bought a 7700K for two reasons.

1. The price difference between the 6700K and 7700K was $20.
2. From what I've seen the 7700K overclocks better.

EDIT: Should probably note that I was intending to upgrade to an i7 regardless.

>facepalm<

 

right before zen too. With like a years difference and a 2% architecture performance increase. You shouldve just got a 6700 and kept your MB

[2FA]

4 hours ago, MrDynamicMan said:

>facepalm<

 

right before zen too. With like a years difference and a 2% architecture performance increase. You shouldve just got a 6700 and kept your MB

1. The price was so close that it didn't matter if I got the 6700K or 7700K.
2. Upgrading to Zen would have been more costly as I would have had to buy a new board and possibly new case. I have an ITX case and supposedly there isn't going to be any ITX AM4 boards.

Stop being so presumptuous in assuming that everyone's situation is the same and that buying Kaby Lake is a sin no matter what.

[done12many2]

5 hours ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

1. The price was so close that it didn't matter if I got the 6700K or 7700K.
2. Upgrading to Zen would have been more costly as I would have had to buy a new board and possibly new case. I have an ITX case and supposedly there isn't going to be any ITX AM4 boards.

Stop being so presumptuous in assuming that everyone's situation is the same and that buying Kaby Lake is a sin no matter what.

 

Feel good about your purchase bud.  You have more overclocking headroom than you would have ever had with a 6700k.  

 

I'm not saying that the 6700k isn't a great chip because it is.  I had a great one that would run 4.9 GHz with a hefty amount of voltage.  On average, you can expect 4.6 to maybe 4.7 out of a 6700k.  On average you can expect 4.9 to 5.2 on a 7700k.  That more than makes up for a lack of IPC improvements.  My particular 7700k is stable at 5.3, and I can run CPU intense benchmarks such at Cinebench R15 at 5.4 GHz and higher, but I am delided. 

 

The more folks start seeing these higher clock speeds popping up, the less trash talking you'll hear.

 

Additionally, when the Kaby Lake chip is combined with a Z270 board you get an additional 4 PCIe lanes.  Then there's the above mentioned H.265 codec improvement in addition to the very nice feature of AVX offset, which is huge if you plan to run high clock rates.

 

At the end of the day, I'd say the ever so slightly higher price you paid for your 7700k was WELL worth the money.

 

Good luck with the new chip!

 

 

[MrDynamicMan]

9 hours ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

1. The price was so close that it didn't matter if I got the 6700K or 7700K.
2. Upgrading to Zen would have been more costly as I would have had to buy a new board and possibly new case. I have an ITX case and supposedly there isn't going to be any ITX AM4 boards.

Stop being so presumptuous in assuming that everyone's situation is the same and that buying Kaby Lake is a sin no matter what.

Upgrading from 6600 to a 7700 is basically throwing money away though. 

 

Also, correct me if wrong, but 7700 is not on Z170 anyway, is it?

[done12many2]

3 hours ago, MrDynamicMan said:

Upgrading from 6600 to a 7700 is basically throwing money away though. 

 

Also, correct me if wrong, but 7700 is not on Z170 anyway, is it?

 

You say that a 6600 to 7700k is "throwing money away," yet you don't even know if the 7700k is compatible with z170.

 

To answer your own question, yes you are wrong.  The 7700k will work with z270 and z170.

 

As far as value, that is completely subjective and up to each person.

 

[2FA]

3 hours ago, MrDynamicMan said:

Upgrading from 6600 to a 7700 is basically throwing money away though. 

 

Also, correct me if wrong, but 7700 is not on Z170 anyway, is it?

Are you daft? Like do you seriously not understand the difference between an i5 and an i7?

 

With a BIOS upgrade (which I did) you can run Kaby Lake on most Z170 boards.

[MrDynamicMan]

17 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

Are you daft? Like do you seriously not understand the difference between an i5 and an i7?

 

With a BIOS upgrade (which I did) you can run Kaby Lake on most Z170 boards.

Well, looks like im behind the curve. Youre right.

[Sprawlie]

Kaby Lake is absolutely one of those minor incremental upgrades. Anyone on Skylake at this point would need to be hitting some existing barrier if they believe they really need to upgrade. Obviously this doesn't account for someone wishing to go from an i3, or i5 to an i7 for the benefit of more threads

 

I'm sitting on a Haswell i5. 4670. An i7-7700k is an absolutely stellar upgrade for me.

[App4that]

Useless comparison is useless. 

 

There is never a reason to upgrade from one architecture to the next, it's always a architecture or two before it's worthless.

 

I want my click back.

[ybriK]

2700K at 4.8GHz, still going strong. Most likely won't be upgrading in 2-3+ years, unless I decide to significantly upgrade my 290X to the point that I notice major bottlenecking/stuttering. Then I will be looking forward.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

I upgraded my laptop from an i3-6100 to an i7-6700K, and I'm happy with it.  When I saw the 6700K for $259 at Micro Center during Thanksgiving week, and my local Fry's would price match, I jumped.  For me, it wasn't worth waiting for the 7700K to drop to a similar price.

 

Yes, some laptops do have socketed CPUs.  Personally I wish they all did, as well as tablets and smartphones.  Bonus points for being cross-vendor (AMD <-> Intel), architecture (x86 <-> ARM), generation (Q6600 or older -> Ryzen or newer), and to some extent market segment compatible.  No, I don't expect to drop a Xeon Phi LGA3647 CPU in a Galaxy S9, LG G6 or iPhone 9, but being able to drop a budget mobile CPU in an enthusiast/workstation/server board with the intent to upgrade later when budget allows (without replacing the board) would be nice.

 

As for my laptop ... later, if the Coffee Lake i7-8700K or whatever they call it is compatible with LGA1151 and Z170, has 6 or (wishful thinking) 8 cores with HT, and is $260 or less on sale, I may upgrade to that too.  (Probably not before the next generation that isn't compatible is released, though.)

I expect to keep the laptop longer than my desktop's 4790K platform, especially if I upgrade the desktop to Ryzen.