i5 8400 for gaming.

[Whishaw]

Hi All,

After promising myself I wouldn’t be upgrading my CPU for another couple of years I’ve got the upgrade itch really bad.

The i5 8400 looks really good value.

Just wondered how well it performs on gaming.

Does anyone currently have this CPU on their gaming computer?

I currently have a GTX 1060 6GB paired with an i5 2400.

I’d also be looking to upgrade my GPU in the next year or so.

How well would the i5 8400 handle 4k gaming if I ever decided to go down this road in the future?

The only thing that puts me off it slightly is its low base clock of 2.8GHZ

[Winged One]

i5's are usually fine for gaming, i3's are terrible for gaming.. for the additional price, you don't really get as much boost in performance for an i7 compared to an i5 as you would usually think based off of price differences..

however,

Początkowo opublikowane przez Whishaw:

I currently have a GTX 1060 6GB paired with an i5 2400.

I’d also be looking to upgrade my GPU in the next year or so.

if you are already running a 10 series, you can probably get more than a couple years on that card before it starts showing its age..



my advice, don't upgrade "simply for the sake of upgrading".. upgrade when your system begins to have issues running newer games you wish to play, you'll save a small fortune

[Hooch]

Depends on the game really. Most games should be fine...but as more and more games with higher requirements start to hit the market, you will be needing better than i5's. One recent example is Assassin's Creed Origins, which is very demanding on the CPU. Many i7's struggle to run it well. While some of the blame may be due to the dual-DRM, not all of it can be placed there. The fact is, it's just a very demanding game. i5's suck with that game and 4k struggles unless you have a very, very good setup.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

i5-8400 runs up to 4.0 GHz when needed and performs basicly same as not overclocked i7-7700K in gaming. You need Z370 motherboard though since those are currently only ones available for 8000 series and new DDR4 RAM.

[SoldierScar]

Sure go with it, it's a great deal, Coffee Lake is finally a worthy upgrade for Sandy / Ivy bridge users if they want to upgrade, with this CPU you will get performance similar or better of 7th gen i7 for $180. It's definitely the best gaming CPU for that price/performance at the moment. But there are only Z370 boards right now which are more expensive because they got Overclocking feature but this cpu isn't overclockable, so if you want to save around $50 wait 2-3 months for cheaper boards or get 8600k / 8700k for maximum potential out of the board, or just get the 8400 if you're fine with it.

[Whishaw]

Hi Guys.

Thanks for all your replies.

Think I will go for it and get a Z370 board anyway. This will give me the flexability to switch the i5 for a K series i7 in the future should I ever choose to do so.

I’ve chosen the following motherboard and RAM and would be greatful for an opinion:

Motherboard:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z370m-pro4-intel-z370-s-1151-ddr4-sata3-dual-m2-2-way-crossfire-intel-gbe-usb-31-gen1-aplusc

RAM:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/16gb-(2x8gb)-corsair-ddr4-vengeance-lpx-black-pc4-21300-(2666)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-16-18-18-35-xm

Many thanks.

[Hatman]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Whishaw:

Hi Guys.

Thanks for all your replies.

Think I will go for it and get a Z370 board anyway. This will give me the flexability to switch the i5 for a K series i7 in the future should I ever choose to do so.

I’ve chosen the following motherboard and RAM and would be greatful for an opinion:

Motherboard:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z370m-pro4-intel-z370-s-1151-ddr4-sata3-dual-m2-2-way-crossfire-intel-gbe-usb-31-gen1-aplusc

RAM:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/16gb-(2x8gb)-corsair-ddr4-vengeance-lpx-black-pc4-21300-(2666)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-16-18-18-35-xm

Many thanks.

Ok you do realize you'll have to buy that CPU right? The 2500 won't fit in there.

[Whishaw]

Oh yeah I’ve definitely decided on the i5 8400 as well

[InfinityJosh]

If I were you I would keep your system for another couple of years.
In 2 years I would replace the entire system with a new one.

[SoldierScar]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Infinity Josh:

If I were you I would keep your system for another couple of years.
In 2 years I would replace the entire system with a new one.

If he had i7-2600k overclocked to hell i wouldn't say a word, but with i5-2400 i think it's a good time to upgrade, especially when i see the games he play, GTA V, Witcher 3..he will get much better and more stable performance.

[hawkeye]

You had better watch this before you blow your dough -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dHCQOt5Nns

[SoldierScar]

Początkowo opublikowane przez hawkeye:

You had better watch this before you blow your dough -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dHCQOt5Nns

I said he wouldn't need to upgrade yet if he had 2600k
but he has i5-2400, and that will bottleneck even gtx 1060 in gta v to some extent.

[hawkeye]

Początkowo opublikowane przez SoldierScar:

I said he wouldn't need to upgrade yet if he had 2600k
but he has i5-2400, and that will bottleneck even gtx 1060 in gta v to some extent.

OK - I missed the i5-2400. Which means that OP probably hasn't got a mobo that supports high performance settings either.

In that case the 8400, 8600k or 8700 - depends on what is available and at what price.

[Whishaw]

Hi All.

Thanks again.

A lot of people have mentioned that it may not be worth me upgrading my cpu yet.

However I do tend to get frame drops in some of the more cpu intensive games sometimes like gta v and witcher 3

Sometimes my fps are in the mid 40s

I’ve seen videos of gta v with a 6 gen i5 with a gtx 1060 with much higher lower framerates, often just above 60fps.

Plus I’ve had my 2400 for 5 and a half years now. Just looking forward to building a new system really.

[Hare+Guu!]

Just get an i7 to tide you over. 0.1% lows are usually because of the i5 not having the extra threads to leverage the entire core. Sure vulkan games are starting to pop up which reduces the need for hyperthreading. But there's not enough games, at least not for the next year. If you have a 3rd gen board, you can even get an ivy bridge i7 for a further boost. Although sandy bridge boards can accept them with a bios update depending on who supports it.

[hawkeye]

Both GTAV and Witcher 3 are cpu and gpu intensive.
With an i5-2400 average performance would be normal, even with graphics turned down.

Videos on youtube are worth looking for. Do not trust any that are powerpoint slide shows e.g. showing just a background and some text as they are usually fake clickbait.

Digital Foundry - has good ones that compare cpus in their pc performance playlist, for example -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHUfSIdyIfw&list=PLY9cZ8nX4xmmJAMvagyNHVGMHE-dLc3NM&index=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwUEVEbZxI4&list=PLY9cZ8nX4xmmJAMvagyNHVGMHE-dLc3NM&index=2

Gamers Nexus - the website has some good benchmarks and also graphic optimization tips e.g. gtav. Witcher 3 is there too.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/1911-gta-v-cpu-benchmark-4790k-3570k-9590-more

Also compare raw score benchmarks. Passmark are easy to understand.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/ - check both the single and multi-thread speed. I think for coffee lake cpus with their 6 cores, single thread speed will be more important.

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ - the gpu is probably the most important performance component as any i7 will since 2011 will get the most out of even a 1080ti.