# Looking to upgrade 7600k... Worth?



## DirtbagDave (Nov 19, 2018)

So I'm looking to upgrade my i5 7600k, but I don't want to get a new motherboard. Is there any conceivable upgrade that's worth it for me? I've been browsing around and the consensus seems to be no, but I wanted yall's input on this. Thanks!

Sidenote; My PC is mainly used for gaming.


----------



## flmatter (Nov 19, 2018)

without full system specs, ie no mobo, monitor, etc... listed. really cannot say. If it is an upgrade itch I would say wait and save up a year and do a total upgrade. Otherwise your 7600K and 2070 should be fine for awhile.  Maybe upgrade the RAM to 32gb, but I would wait  imho.


----------



## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Nov 19, 2018)

DirtbagDave said:


> So I'm looking to upgrade my i5 7600k, but I don't want to get a new motherboard. Is there any conceivable upgrade that's worth it for me? I've been browsing around and the consensus seems to be no, but I wanted yall's input on this. Thanks!
> 
> Sidenote; My PC is mainly used for gaming.



Today's games dont use more than 4 cores. A pentum g4560 can give you 50-60 fps in MOST AAA titles if paired with decent GPU ( 1060 max limit ). i would say halt the upgrade until next gen consoles ps5 and next xbox release, cause only then games will become much more CPU demanding and you can upgrade to whatever latest unicorn releases during that period. As of now 4 cores is all you need man truly and yours is the latest quad core i5 from intel with DDR4 support so there is also that to keep in mind.


----------



## 27MaD (Nov 19, 2018)

What is you motherboard?


----------



## londiste (Nov 19, 2018)

What games are you playing and at what monitor are you using?
The only easy upgrade is i7 with 4c/4t (6700K or 7700K) but it will not buy you much in terms of performance in vast majority of games.


----------



## Vayra86 (Nov 19, 2018)

For 60 FPS on RTX 2070 you should be fine and an upgrade will not be a meaningful performance jump. Next time you upgrade the GPU, it will be much more interesting.


----------



## Bones (Nov 19, 2018)

Unless you have an Intel 300 series board I don't believe you can get something newer than a gen 7 chip to run in it.

In that case the only feasable upgrade would be a 7700/7700K BUT the i5's game just as good overall, in some cases even better. If it's a title that could benefit from the extra threads that's when an i7 is better but not many of those games titles around that I know of.
If you have a 300 series board then you can upgrade it but I'm not aware of any differences between the 7th and 8th gen chips making it worth going after, esp if you're on a tight budget. Even if it's a 9th gen chip chances are you probrably wouldn't see enough difference for it to really be worth it in the end.
A better GPU would probrably be a more effective upgrade provided you're not already running something high-end in the first place.

Just my view of it.


----------



## londiste (Nov 19, 2018)

Bones said:


> Unless you have an Intel 300 series board I don't believe you can get something newer than a gen 7 chip to run in it.


7600K runs on either 100 or 200 series chipset. These chipsets are not compatible with 8000 or 9000 series of CPUs.


----------



## jboydgolfer (Nov 19, 2018)

id say your plateaued regarding any real change on your current platform. unless youve suddenly found yourself desperately in need of more threads , id say its not worth it now. A minimum upgrade for a CPU in my opinion is 4 Generations, as ive done them more frequently, & found it to be a waste of $.


----------



## Bones (Nov 19, 2018)

londiste said:


> 7600K runs on either 100 or 200 series chipset. These chipsets are not compatible with 8000 or 9000 series of CPUs.



Please reread my post because that's what I said in the first place - You must have at least a 8th gen chip to run a 300 series board, a 6th or 7th gen runs in both 100 and 200 series boards but not in the 300 series boards.


----------



## Vya Domus (Nov 19, 2018)

If you can find a 7700K for relatively cheap, go ahead. Is it going to be a massive improvement ? Probably not.



Solid State Soul ( SSS ) said:


> Today's games dont use more than 4 cores. A pentum g4560 can give you 50-60 fps in MOST AAA titles if paired with decent GPU ( 1060 max limit ).



Yes they do and a Pentium G4560 falls flat on it's face in many situations, it simply can't hold a constant 60fps, neither can a 7600K in a few situation as well. It's not as simple as you make it out to be.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Nov 19, 2018)

7700K


----------



## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Nov 19, 2018)

Vya Domus said:


> If you can find a 7700K for relatively cheap, go ahead. Is it going to be a massive improvement ? Probably not.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes they do and a Pentium G4560 falls flat on it's face in many situations, it simply can't hold a constant 60fps, neither can a 7600K in a few situation as well. It's not as simple as you make it out to be.




Is that so ?

Then by all mean take some time off from watching* 570$  i9  processor  and  1300$ RTX 2080 Ti*  GPU reviews to watch this video and you'll be pleasantly  surprised of how you dont need i7s and top dog nvidia GPUs to play games.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Nov 19, 2018)

Solid State Soul ( SSS ) said:


> Is that so ?
> 
> Then by all mean take some time off from watching* 570$  i9  processor  and  1300$ RTX 2080 Ti*  GPU reviews to watch this video and you'll be pleasantly  surprised of how you dont need i7s and top dog nvidia GPUs to play games.



Dont bother with the 1050


----------



## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Nov 19, 2018)

eidairaman1 said:


> Dont bother with the 1050



Am just proven that budget stuff like G4560 CAN give you 60 frames in most games as shown in the video. The i5 7600k is better, *even MORE better* when overclocked .


----------



## dirtyferret (Nov 19, 2018)

For a while I had a 7600k @ 5ghz PC and my current 8600k PC.  I would say for gaming at 1080p 60hz, I saw no noticeable difference to the naked eye between the two CPUs.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Nov 19, 2018)

Solid State Soul ( SSS ) said:


> Am just proven that budget stuff like G4560 CAN give you 60 frames in most games as shown in the video. The i5 7600k is better, *even MORE better* when overclocked .



Did not mention the cpu, only the gpu. Better off with a 780/ti 6G, 980/ti, 1060ti or a 7970 6G/280X 6G, 290-390X.

Even my 8350 is much better at 5.0GHz than 4.0


----------



## DirtbagDave (Nov 19, 2018)

londiste said:


> What games are you playing and at what monitor are you using?
> The only easy upgrade is i7 with 4c/4t (6700K or 7700K) but it will not buy you much in terms of performance in vast majority of games.


Mainly battlefield, any recently released games as well. I'm currently using a MSI 1440p monitor, my performance is usually great but I do notice some hitches occasionally.



27MaD said:


> What is you motherboard?


Asus TUF Z270 MARK 2



jboydgolfer said:


> id say your plateaued regarding any real change on your current platform. unless youve suddenly found yourself desperately in need of more threads , id say its not worth it now. A minimum upgrade for a CPU in my opinion is 4 Generations, as ive done them more frequently, & found it to be a waste of $.


Yeah, I'm probably just going to hold out and apply some of that cash to a new NVME drive. I'm honestly just an FPS slut, I think I'll manage.


----------



## John Naylor (Nov 19, 2018)

Looking at your isted specs....

*Processor* Intel Core i5-7600k - Just fine for today's games, I'd what till 10th gen
*Motherboard* Asus TUF Z270 MARK 2 - As above
*Memory* G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 4x4 16GB - Would rather see 2 x 8GB for prehaps a better OC, remember that when upgrading
*Video Card(s)* EVGA Ultra RTX 2070 ... good till 4xxx series
*Storage* Kingston SSDNow V300 240GB, Hitachi HDS5C3020ALA632 2TB - Just fine
*Display(s)* MSI Full HD Gaming Red LED 1440p 144Hz - Just fine, tho if ya just have an itch, id lokk at something like the Acer XB271HU bmirpz
*Case* Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 - Just fine


----------



## DirtbagDave (Nov 19, 2018)

I've come to the census that I really was just looking to satisfy that new upgrade itch. As far as performance goes, you're all completely right in that I'm better off waiting until the next gen for everything. I'm most likely just going to upgrade my storage on black Friday as opposed to my processor now.


----------



## londiste (Nov 20, 2018)

BF (multiplayer, especially 64-player games) is one of these games that does noticeably benefit from 6-8 threads over 4. 
i7 6700K/7700K can bet got for pretty cheap second hand these days. These iwould improve Battlefield specifically. Whether its worth the price is for you to decide.


----------



## hat (Nov 20, 2018)

Bones said:


> Please reread my post because that's what I said in the first place - You must have at least a 8th gen chip to run a 300 series board, a 6th or 7th gen runs in both 100 and 200 series boards but not in the 300 series boards.


Huh? 7700k won't work in a 300 series board?


----------



## Bones (Nov 20, 2018)

At least not right out of the box according to what I've seen and using this as an example:
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-HERO-WI-FI/specifications/

However - In the support section it DOES cover if you want it to run a 7th gen you'd have to update the BIOS so.... It really does support it but you have a little work to do, at least with an Asus. Other makes may not have this issue so I'd have to guess it differs between make and models.

On that I stand corrected but then again I'm kinda right too, at least on an "As Is" viewpoint.


----------



## jboydgolfer (Nov 20, 2018)

DirtbagDave said:


> Yeah, I'm probably just going to hold out and apply some of that cash to a new NVME drive. I'm honestly just an FPS slut, I think I'll manage.



Ive made the k i5 to i7 switch out of upgrade ithiness & i regretted it. Putting that $ to a ssd is a good idea. If i may suggest, just get a sata ssd, those pciE ones arent worth the fuss imo. Yeah theyre fast, but does a standard user make usenof those speeds? Imo, nope. Like buying a ferrari when you only have short roads & traffic where u live. All that speed nowhere to use it


----------



## londiste (Nov 20, 2018)

Bones said:


> However - In the support section it DOES cover if you want it to run a 7th gen you'd have to update the BIOS so.... It really does support it but you have a little work to do, at least with an Asus. Other makes may not have this issue so I'd have to guess it differs between make and models.


ASUS's Support section is just crap. That article you found is for boards with 100 series chipsets and does not apply to ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO.


----------



## Bones (Nov 20, 2018)

Click the link I gave..... Goes to the 300 series of that board model, not the 100 series. 
Not saying their support section isn't crap but I know that link goes right to the XI Hero board itself.


----------



## londiste (Nov 20, 2018)

Bones said:


> Click the link I gave..... Goes to the 300 series of that board model, not the 100 series.
> Not saying their support section isn't crap but I know that link goes right to the XI Hero board itself.


https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-HERO-WI-FI/HelpDesk_CPU/
8/9 series CPUs only.


----------



## Bones (Nov 20, 2018)

Yes, it says that within the product specifiactions and that's why at first I said only 8th and 9th gen chips are supported:
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-HERO-WI-FI/HelpDesk_CPU/

But then there's this:
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1031846

I'm not the one making the software, hardware or other things about it, all I can do is show what's out there and what's said by the manufacturer - If it does or does not actually support 7th gen chips that's something they're responsible for.


----------



## londiste (Nov 20, 2018)

It does not.
That's the article I suspected you saw and it clearly lists the related models as 100 series chipset motherboards.


----------



## Bones (Nov 20, 2018)

No, you're wrong - It plainly says_ if you want the board_ to support 7th gen chips to do a BIOS update.

Follow the trail as these screenies show.
The first screenie shows what to click on, circled in red towards to top-right of the shot - It also shows what the chipset is, namely a Z390 and the name of the board, ROG Maximus XI Hero .



In the 2nd shot below it plainly says ROG Maximus XI Hero also at the top so it's the same thing, nothing else.
The tick box for CPU/Memory is checked AND it again says plainly right in the middle of the page "If you want to upgrade BIOS to support the latest 7th Intel CPU, please notice the BIOS version".


----------



## londiste (Nov 20, 2018)

Like I said, ASUS's page sucks.
Did you click that link and see the related models list?


----------



## eidairaman1 (Nov 20, 2018)

hat said:


> Huh? 7700k won't work in a 300 series board?



Yup, true, pin differences



Bones said:


> Click the link I gave..... Goes to the 300 series of that board model, not the 100 series.
> Not saying their support section isn't crap but I know that link goes right to the XI Hero board itself.



I believe they werent paying attention as 100/200 series chipsets were for sky/kaby and 300 is for coffee


----------



## 27MaD (Nov 20, 2018)

I would just get a 7700K or at least 6700K , your RAM and GPU r perfect.


----------



## Kissamies (Nov 21, 2018)

When I had a Z170 system, I went from G4400* to G4560** to 7600K*** to 7700K****. 7700K @ 5GHz was significantly faster than 7600K @ 4.7GHz.

* the budget solution just to get the system running and to update bios for Kaby Lake support
** the ultimate budget gaming CPU
*** streaming was too much for G4560
**** 4 threads wasn't just enough for streaming some games, Far Cry 5 for example


----------



## Final_Fighter (Nov 21, 2018)

its possible to mod the bios to accept 8th gen. tho that is probably more than you want to take on.


----------



## Kissamies (Nov 21, 2018)

eidairaman1 said:


> Yup, true, pin differences
> 
> I believe they werent paying attention as 100/200 series chipsets were for sky/kaby and 300 is for coffee


And that's just a made-up incompatibility. The architechture is 100% same with a little optimizations and MOAR CORES. AFAIK the Coffee i3 series has a die which is a physical Kaby Lake die.


----------



## mobiuus (Nov 21, 2018)

just put some water cooling and overclock the shit out of it...
thats what i do


----------



## R0H1T (Nov 21, 2018)

Final_Fighter said:


> its possible to mod the bios to accept 8th gen. tho that is probably more than you want to take on.


Yes, but you can also *brick* it in the process 

Lots of WR attempts using 8th gen chips were done on 2xx boards.


----------



## Melvis (Nov 21, 2018)

Battlefield is one of those games that love cores and at the moment the sweet spot is 6cores for modern gaming.  Sadly the only CPU you can put in your mobo is the 7700k which should be fine for the game I would think but something with more cores would most likely be better. So you would want a 2600X or up CPU to make it a real upgrade that could give you better game play in at least Battlefield or games that love cores. 

If you sold your 7600 and Mobo you could get a 2600 and Mobo for the same out lay of getting a 7700k maybe?


----------



## Vayra86 (Nov 22, 2018)

I wouldn't waste time on an ugrade on the same platform, 7700K is a pointless sidegrade with minimal benefits. It will suffice for a year at best until you'll be asking the same question here again.

Right now, either Ryzen or Intel 8/9th gen is your path to meaningful upgrades. So it means new board.


----------



## rtwjunkie (Nov 22, 2018)

Solid State Soul ( SSS ) said:


> Today's games dont use more than 4 cores


Not completely true.  There are games already using more than 4 threads.  Now that Intel and AMD have suddenly gone multi core  and multi thread crazy, I expect the number of those games to increase in the next few years.


----------



## Enterprise24 (Nov 22, 2018)

Final_Fighter said:


> its possible to mod the bios to accept 8th gen. tho that is probably more than you want to take on.



For 6 core or more not just unofficial BIOS but need to hard mod either CPU or mobo also.
The methods on modding BIOS is quiet complicate and you need to do it by yourself since there are only pre-built BIOS for popular mobo like OCF / MOCF / APEX and tons of issues are waiting for. Such as PCIE / memory / 2 pins on socket may meltdown.


----------



## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Nov 22, 2018)

rtwjunkie said:


> Not completely true.  There are games already using more than 4 threads.  Now that Intel and AMD have suddenly gone multi core  and multi thread crazy, I expect the number of those games to increase in the next few years.


You'r right, their are exceptions but truth is unless you uncap the frame-rate, a good quad core will run most games 60fps at 1080p guaranteed.


----------

