Review: Intel Core i5 8600K CPU

nz3777

2017-10-13 17:40

I am liking this bad-boy way more then the 8700k- I still think a cheeper price maybe $220 would be more sutable but for intel even this price is a shocker.My pick now is either this or ryzen 1600x or 1600. Very smart responce from intel to Amd's Ryzen.

#5481467

BReal85

2017-10-13 19:22

Borys:

Hi all! Nice review HH! Well... times are different nowadays. AMD really did very well with Ryzen. This i5 8600K was SPANKED by a US 200 RYZEN 1600?!?! I really dont understand that people come with this story "its a gaming processors"... what is for gaming is GPU.. at this point of level any good processor will play very well. Intel is falling every day... this processor is 30% more expensive and WORST the R5 1600. Only who not like his money to buy INTEL today!

+100

#5481468

ivymike10mt

2017-10-13 19:29

In Poland 8600K (preorder) cost 1450PLN / 402 USD, with VAT included. 8700K (available) for 1999 PLN / 554 USD with VAT. 7700K cost around 400 USD with VAT. What is the conclussion.. and where is the deal..? For a same price as 7700K/7740X, we can get very similar performance. And about 8700K for a 554 USD.. It's salty price for these two extra cores. It's like Price = Performance. EDIT : I found some 8600K offers for a 344 $ It makes this CPU bit more worthy to consider for some ppl.

#5481469

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2017-10-13 19:32

Kaarme:

Non-game benchmarks were a bit lackluster to be brutally honest, but all in all it looks like a pretty nice CPU, especially for gaming. I might have been tempted to upgrade to this if Intel had made Coffee Lake compatible with the previous generation mobos with the same socket. But no way I'd buy a whole new mobo for this. It was Intel's choice for their own reasons, so they won't see my money.

Correct, AMD wins in the non game benchmarks as leave enabled SMT for all their Ryzen 5 processors - Intel disables HT (SMT) for the Core i5 86000k. So for those that didn't get as to why Ryzen performs better in the non-game benchies, that would be the main reason.

#5481484

Borys

2017-10-13 20:13

Hilbert Hagedoorn:

Correct, AMD wins in the non game benchmarks as leave enabled SMT for all their Ryzen 5 processors - Intel disables HT (SMT) for the Core i5 86000k. So for those that didn't get as to why Ryzen performs better in the non-game benchies, that would be the main reason.

Very well remembered my dear HH. Add to this a nice overclock gains that 1600/x can do and BINGO, the best buy with sure! Other thing, the 8600K has some more FPS with a 1080 card, but i have a question. How much % in FPS this CPU gains with a intermediate VGA that I think this CPU was designated to?

#5481490

ScoobyDooby

2017-10-13 21:02

xIcarus:

Well since the availability is still close to null, this product is borderline vaporware.

And the dumb as bricks comment award of the day goes to....

Kaarme:

Non-game benchmarks were a bit lackluster to be brutally honest, but all in all it looks like a pretty nice CPU, especially for gaming. I might have been tempted to upgrade to this if Intel had made Coffee Lake compatible with the previous generation mobos with the same socket. But no way I'd buy a whole new mobo for this. It was Intel's choice for their own reasons, so they won't see my money.

I doubt a single person who's been waiting for the 8600k as their next CPU gives a toss about non-gaming performance. Always has been dubbed as the gaming CPU for this generation and in that it absolutely does what it sets out to do. I'm really looking forward to getting one! Happy to get a new mobo also.. this new series is for those of us on SandyBridge/IvyBridge who are desperate for an upgrade, and those who wish to go 6 core and don't mind the platform upgrade.

#5481506

leszy

2017-10-13 21:59

ScoobyDooby:

I doubt a single person who's been waiting for the 8600k as their next CPU gives a toss about non-gaming performance. Always has been dubbed as the gaming CPU for this generation and in that it absolutely does what it sets out to do.

Only if you use your PC as a simple PC console - with one main task, without running other demanding processes in the background. I'm sorry, but I'm used to living in a little more advanced reality. In such a way that launching a demanding game does not interfere with the opening of several browser windows and streaming the movie from the network to the TV. And even launching some tasks related to work. It's that I can run at the same time simple recoding and simultaneously I can play on the same computer is much more valuable than 5 fps more in the game.

#5481509

tunejunky

2017-10-13 22:01

HH you just hit a 30 metre header. HH 1 everyone else nil. 😎 finally great value from Intel. but still expensive *if* you need 6-8 cores with HT, where this is just the straight six. on the other hand, this is a sweet spot if you're a gamer first. multi-tasking schmulti-tasking 😀:D let's see how it does multi-threaded game play w/streaming...a lot of people see themselves as twitch superstars so i guess it won't be long to find out.

#5481517

D3M1G0D

2017-10-13 22:18

Looks to be about as expected. Like the 8700K, the 8600K narrows the value gap with the Ryzen 5, making for a far more competitive product line. The price is a bit on the high side (especially at the current time, with only premium boards available) but it's a solid product overall, especially for gaming.

#5481532

Venix

2017-10-13 23:54

where are all the posts from few months earlier that said you do not need more than 4 cores to game ? is not a usable argument anymore ? :P

#5481538

MaCk0y

2017-10-14 00:25

Robbo9999:

I think the inclusion of the new low res 720p CPU bound testing was a good step Hilbert, thanks for including those. People with 144Hz 1080p monitors like myself sometimes turn down game details to achieve 144 fps while still gaming at 1080p, which is effectively the same for the CPU as the tests you're doing at 720p, so it's a useful inclusion to see how different CPUs will perform in the 144Hz zone. It looks like Intel is dominating in that zone, even some of the older generations of Intel too. 8600K looks like a good gaming CPU right now, although if I were building a system now I'd go the extra for the 8700K to get more threads, which is useful now but also increasingly in the future - 8700K would be a more solid platform for upcoming future GPU generation upgrades.

Agreed. I would suggest benchmarking by lowering the graphics settings instead of lowering the resolution. That's what I do to try to achieve 144FPS.

#5481545

Kaarme

2017-10-14 00:59

ScoobyDooby:

I'm really looking forward to getting one! Happy to get a new mobo also.. this new series is for those of us on SandyBridge/IvyBridge who are desperate for an upgrade, and those who wish to go 6 core and don't mind the platform upgrade.

Yeah, there's a real platform difference updating from an older chipset mobo, so it's quite understandable indeed. I'd basically only get the lolptane compatibility as far as the mobo would go. I already have DDR4 and M.2 with 4xPCIe lanes.

#5481552

S V S

2017-10-14 01:39

Thanks for the review additions Hilbert! I am tempted to upgrade my gaming box to the 8700K but I may just try to hold out for Ice Lake. Decisions...

#5481553

airbud7

2017-10-14 01:52

Venix:

where are all the posts from few months earlier that said you do not need more than 4 cores to game ? is not a usable argument anymore ? 😛

it only beat its predecessor...7700k.

#5481554

Venix

2017-10-14 02:06

airbud7:

it only beat its predecessor...7700k.

And this means that threads and cores actually count nowdays, that said last year or 2 if we stretch it we saw the actual benefit in game of having the i7 2600k over 2500k ... will it take that long this time? Well as everyone else i am happy to see 4 core taking a place on the low end market !

#5481555

Arbie

2017-10-14 02:08

"If you are a gamer ONLY and want to reward Intel for 5 years of crap, and ignore AMD for saving us, it's just really good." Fixed that for you.

#5481556

sverek

2017-10-14 02:26

Arbie:

"If you are a gamer ONLY and want to reward Intel for 5 years of crap, and ignore AMD for saving us, it's just really good." Fixed that for you.

consumers buy what best for them. We have more options than ever now. Good time to be alive.

#5481558

airbud7

2017-10-14 02:31

Venix:

And this means that threads and cores actually count nowdays, that said last year or 2 if we stretch it we saw the actual benefit in game of having the i7 2600k over 2500k ... will it take that long this time? Well as everyone else i am happy to see 4 core taking a place on the low end market !

it will be a long time before game developers make a 6 core the minimum requirement... They would shoot thereself in the foot if they did that....

#5481560

D3M1G0D

2017-10-14 02:34

Venix:

And this means that threads and cores actually count nowdays, that said last year or 2 if we stretch it we saw the actual benefit in game of having the i7 2600k over 2500k ... will it take that long this time? Well as everyone else i am happy to see 4 core taking a place on the low end market !

I dunno, I think quad cores are still very relevant for gaming (even though I've retired my old 4790K, it could probably still do very well in games for the next couple of years). As I said before, these new hexa-core CPUs mostly add multi-core benefits, not single-core (those looking to buy Coffee Lake should do so for better multi-threading, not better single-threading). Of course games in the future may be better optimized for more cores, but I wouldn't bet the farm on that (considering the fact that most gamers today have dual-core CPUs, it'll likely take years before six-core gaming becomes the norm).

#5481564

EspHack

2017-10-14 03:33

"This page purely exists based upon forum feedback for a small group of people, we do not feel that 720p testing is representable for your gaming experience whatsoever, neither do people game at 720p. " its not about that, its about being able to see, exactly, how the CPU's stack together, how much faster one is to the next, its the same as doing the same bench at 4k in 2020 with a GTX 1480 Ti, thats why testing at 720p helps, it shows how far a CPU might go if things stay the way they are, as GPUs get faster and faster(hopefully) because otherwise you might get fooled into thinking "welp this cpu isnt that bad" but in reality IT IS and your -relatively speaking- weak gpu(titan xp) just cant show it, but a titan 8.1 pro definitely will