What processor should I get?

[Guest]

Right now I have MSI Armoured RX 580 GPU (8gb vram) and 2 sticks of 4gb of ram (upgrading to 1 stick of 16gb) and my cpu is an i5-6400, i'm thinking of upgrading my cpu aswell as my ram but im not sure what to get, I was looking at the i7 8700 and that but i'm not sure if I need a better or worse, I can only have an intel cpu apparently due to my motherboard and with intel's cpus what does the K mean, because I saw an 8700k and 8700, I know it has something to do with overclocking ability but i'm not fully sure

[whoisjaya]

First off: Do you really need the upgrade? If you don't it's kind of just a waste of money...

If you have an i5 6400, you're probably(I'd be surprised if you weren't) running a mainboard with Intel's 1151 socket, meaning you can run SkyLake and maybe even - although that would probably require a BIOS update - KabyLake CPUs. As the 8th gen processors use the 1151-2(I think that's what it's called) socket, you can't use them, unless you use a different mainboard.

The "K" indicates that the CPU is unlocked, meaning it can be overclocked with the "right" mainboard.

[Spotty]

11 minutes ago, Fushiatic said:

and 2 sticks of 4gb of ram (upgrading to 1 stick of 16gb)

Don't do this. You'll lose a lot of performance without dual channel memory. Either go with 2x8GB or buy another 2x4GB to run with your existing 2x4GB.

 

11 minutes ago, Fushiatic said:

I was looking at the i7 8700 and that but i'm not sure if I need a better or worse, I can only have an intel cpu apparently due to my motherboard

The i7 8700 is not compatible with the same motherboards that the i5 6400 is compatible with. You would need to purchase a new motherboard. What model motherboard do you currently have?
 

11 minutes ago, Fushiatic said:

with intel's cpus what does the K mean, because I saw an 8700k and 8700, I know it has something to do with overclocking ability but i'm not fully sure

The K series of CPUs by Intel are the CPUs that are unlocked and able to be overclocked. The non-K CPUs cannot be overclocked. Also the non-K CPUs sometimes have slower base or boost clocks than the K series. For example the i7 8700 is 3.2GHz base/4.6GHz boost while the i7 8700k is 3.7GHz base/4.7GHz boost. You can only overclock the "K" series CPUs when using a "Z" series motherboard. Z370, Z390, etc.

[XR6]

K CPUs are unlocked/overclockable, but you need to have a motherboard that supports overclocking.

Anyway, you have an i5 6400. Your current motherboard won't support the 8700K, plus it might not even support overclocking.

 

[191x7]

The motherboard you have should support the i7 6700(K) and the i7 7700(K). I'd recommend them as an upgrade although they might be expensive on the used market.

[Brent744]

If I were in your shoes I would try and find a second hand i7 6700k, still a fast processor with great performance. Otherwise you will have to purchase a new mainboard in order to run an 8th or 9th gen chip.