Is overclocking your CPU worth it?

[Tony Beans]

I'm looking to upgrade my CPU and i've been looking at the i7 6700k and been noticing that the none K models are a bit cheaper so my question is since K models are better for overclocking is it worth the extra cost?

[Omega]

The K models run faster and are overclockable. Non K models can not be overclocked. To overclock your CPU a motherboard with a chipset which supports overclocking is also required.

[tacoshy]

If you have the motherboard to OC (Z170 and Z270), then overclocking is fun.
However in any case I would update the BIOS and take a 7700K or sell your motherboard and CPU and jump on Coffee Lake which would be the smarter move.

However overclocking is fun and adds up to 20-25% performance depending on your Silicon Lottery and skills as well as your cooling solution.
An overclocked i7-4790K for example beats an i7-7700K non OC'ed with ease.

[InfinityJosh]

Personally I would go for the non K version, cheaper and depending by game from 90% to 100% fps of an OC'd K CPU.
If you go for a top end GPU (GTX 1080 or higher) the K version would make more sense.
I have a 4771 (4770k non OC'd performance) and I could say you after nearly 5 years it is still a beast CPU which won't be bottlenecked by any GPU until 1060/580 (980).
If you're on a budget go for non K model (also a non OC'd MB which is also cheaper) and invest the money on a better GPU.
That's my personal suggestion.

[upcoast]

https://ark.intel.com/compare/97129,88195,88196

If your mobo can take i7 6700 then more than likely with a bios flash it can take an i7 7700k.

6700 base clock 3.4GHZ and 7700k base clock 4.2GHZ it is 800mhz diff which is quite the jump even if you don't overclock. I'd pop the i7 7700k in it if the mobo will take it.

[Kaihekoa]

K version is the only ones worth buying imo.

[Omega]

Цитата допису Sphere:

Overclocking isn't as simple as you think. People say it is trust me it isn't.

A basic overclock is super easy to do. It's only time consuming.

[ugafan]

it kind of depends on the game and your hardware. in some situations you can get a nice fps boost. in others, not that much.

if you've got a lower end gpu or you're playing at a higher resolution, you're likely going to be gpu bound. but if you've got something like a 1080 ti and you're playing at 1080p, you'll see bigger gains.

[hawkeye]

Are K models worth it? Depends on the cpu and situation.

The 6700k is about 10% faster than the 6700 at stock speeds. So is the extra cpu cost plus cooler cost worth 10% performance difference? Depends on your cash situation...

If the gpu is already running at 100% load then the fps performance gain might not be 10%.

Is overclocking worth it? It requires a "Z" mobo. Slightly more expense. Performance gain is about another 10%, again if the gpu can handle it.

If you have a 60fps monitor and are already getting over 60 fps, then overclocking is probably not worth it.

And then if you are planning on buying a 6700k, mobo, memory and cooler, there are possibly much better options.

Futureproofing? Maybe worth getting the K but a 7700K would be my choice if long term performance on an existing mobo was the requirement. .