Core i5-9600 vs Core i7-8700K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-9600 and the Core i7-8700K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i5-9600 has 6 cores and 6 threads, and the Core i7-8700K has 6 cores and 12 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 4.6 GHz and 4.7 GHz.

Platform, power and price

Both chips use the LGA1151 socket, so they fit the same motherboards. You can swap one for the other without changing the board.

Rated power is 65 W for the first and 95 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i5-9600 cost $213 and the Core i7-8700K $359, which gives 20.2 and 12.0 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 i5-9600 can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i7-8700K reaches the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-9600 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i7-8700K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.