I've recently decided to build a new PC since my old setup died last year (the motherboard went out). My previous build had an i5 4690K, so I figured it was time to up my game instead of just replacing the motherboard. I just bought a used CPU bundle for €90 that includes an i7 8700K, an MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard, and 16GB of 3200MHz RAM (though it's from some off-brand). For now, I'll be using my old GTX 1060 6GB GPU with it. Here's my dilemma: I also have an i7 9700 that I got for free a while back, but I only have enough thermal paste for one installation. Should I stick with the i7 8700K, or are the two extra cores in the i7 9700 worth considering? I don't plan on overclocking, especially since my GPU might already be bottlenecking the CPU. I mainly want to play older CPU-dependent games, but I might dive into some FPS games too. What do you think?
2 Answers
Make sure the BIOS is updated for the 9th gen chip to work; otherwise, I'd stick with the 8700K for now. The 8700K is usually a solid choice unless you can get that BIOS sorted out for the 9700. Just a heads-up if you're not into BIOS tinkering!
I'd go for the 8700K! It generally performs better for gaming mainly due to the higher frequency. For gaming, core count isn’t as crucial as you might think, especially in your use case.
Yeah, I think I'm leaning towards sticking with the 8700K. I don't want to deal with potential BIOS issues right now, and I can always upgrade the CPU or GPU later on.
I have no idea about the BIOS version from the seller, so I doubt it's updated. And yes, the i7 9700 is the non-K version, which does make it slightly different in terms of performance.