Core i5-7600 vs Core i7-6800K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-7600 and the Core i7-6800K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i5-7600 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the Core i7-6800K has 6 cores and 12 threads. The extra cores of the Core i7-6800K help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.1 GHz and 3.8 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-7600 uses the LGA1151 socket and the Core i7-6800K uses LGA2011-3, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 65 W for the first and 140 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the Core i5-7600 cost $213 and the Core i7-6800K $434, which gives 12.7 and 6.2 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the Core i5-7600 can feed a card up to the Arc A750 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i7-6800K reaches the Arc A750. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-7600 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the Core i7-6800K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.