i7 6700K overkill? Would I be better off saving £100 and going for an i5 6600K?

[Deleted member 110222]

See, I just don't know how much the CPU impacts VR performance per se, but I've read that the more important factor is the GPU. Is this true?

I've decided to save up for an entirely new build, so it's going to be a while before I get in the VR game, but doesn't hurt to spend the time saving, researching into how best to buy parts.

An i5 would mean I'd be able to get a 1070 over a 1060, or whatever the equivalent card is in a few years when I have enough. (I'm poor. Can only put at best £30 a week aside. That said I appreciate that is quite lucky in the wider picture.)

 

[Oldric]

the rig in your sig? I would get the 1070 now and upgrade to an i7 later. to get the best from the 1070 at very high frame rates you will want to get the i7 eventually i think.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

the rig in your sig? I would get the 1070 now and upgrade to an i7 later. to get the best from the 1070 at very high frame rates you will want to get the i7 eventually i think.

Right, thanks. I'm not entirely sure what my path into VR will be like just yet. I only first experienced it a few days ago, and while I loved it, I can see areas that could be improved. Resolution chiefly.

That being the case, I might save up for a few years for a whole new rig ready for the next gen VR.

I'm hoping res gets improved. Forgive me, my head is all over the place so I'm bound to ask some stupid questions. Better though I ask first buy later.

 

[StiTch]

Dude if you're doing a new build, look at the bundles that Scan do.

Include a mobo, CPU and memory, and on some of them they ship it overclocked, which means moar power but without wrecking your warranty.

Pretty well priced for what you get.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Dude if you're doing a new build, look at the bundles that Scan do.

Include a mobo, CPU and memory, and on some of them they ship it overclocked, which means moar power but without wrecking your warranty.

Pretty well priced for what you get.

Fair point. After building my first rig myself, it hadn't occurred to me to save up for a pre-built. Thanks!

Edit:

Oh, you meant the bundles where you still need to buy the GPU, case, etc.

Still, not something I had considered, so my thanks stands.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

See, I just don't know how much the CPU impacts VR performance per se, but I've read that the more important factor is the GPU. Is this true?

Yes. No two ways about it, GPU power is far more important than CPU in any gaming PC and probably even more so with VR as the goal is a steady 90 FPS with the current gen of headsets. General rule of thumb when building a gaming PC - buy the most expensive/powerful graphics card you can afford.

You may be disappointed with the performance of the 1060 in VR as you'll have to turn down many of the graphics setting to maintain 90 FPS.

 

[StiTch]

Fair point. After building my first rig myself, it hadn't occurred to me to save up for a pre-built. Thanks!

It's good middle ground. I am vehemently against pre-built rigs that cost over £500, but getting the cpu/mobo/ram shipped together meant I still got to do everything else.

I'm not sure if it's okay to post a link for anti-ad reasons, and you may be looking for a different bundle anyway, but I paid £790 for an i7 6800k, 16GB DDR4 ram, decent Asus mobo and corsair H80i cpu water cooler. Feel free to PM me for a link though.

25% overclocking on a hex core processor, and I still get 3 years warranty? Yum.

TO answer your original line of query, it's GPU that rules the roost here. I definitely noticed a performance boost when I rebuilt to the new CPU, but if you're making sacrifices between the two for ED, sacrifice the CPU.

 

[Beavis Tingleball]

in terms of a top-tier gaming system, the i7 6700k is exactly where it needs to be. I could actually use a bit more than it has to offer but it certainly does the job. If it performed any less than it does (@4.8ghz) I might feel a bit of buyers remorse. I'd suggest going with the 6700k and call it a day.

 

[shadragon]

See, I just don't know how much the CPU impacts VR performance per se, but I've read that the more important factor is the GPU. Is this true?

Few people do understand this relationship. It changes from game to game because of how they are programmed.

In Elites case, the GPU carries the heaviest load. A decent i5 will do you just fine. Invest your money in a decent GPU and quality gaming mobo that does not throttle data flow. VR takes the need for a decent PC to a new level. Luckily, there are budget options that will give you reasonable performance.

http://www.techradar.com/how-to/computing/pc/how-to-build-an-affordable-vr-ready-pc-1318136

 

[Raptoyd]

Not sure what your budget is but am very pleased with the I7-4790K on a reasonable ASUS board V97 Pro with 32 1600MHZ RAM. Will run any GPU full boar and sure there are even better choices now as that was 2 years ago but because of that it is reasonable. You want today's best you will pay for it.

 

[Asp Explorer]

I'm still running an ancient 3570k at stock speeds - and it does just fine in VR. As Shadragon said - GPU is more crucial here.

 

[Raptoyd]

I'm still running an ancient 3570k at stock speeds - and it does just fine in VR. As Shadragon said - GPU is more crucial here.

Agree after a certain point that statement became very true don't know exactly where that point was but about 3 years ago.

 

[Zenith]

This is exactly the same path I went down last Christmas for PC parts.

Yes, save yourself some cash and get yourself the i5-6600 (notice not the K version). The quoted speed is 3.3GHz, but that turbos to 3.9GHz under full load.
The i5-6600 retail version (not OEM) comes with a stock heatsink/fan which is more than adequate for everyday use.
The i5-6600K has the capability to be overclocked, but doesn't come with a heatsink so you need to source a 3rd party heatsink.

Use the cash you save from the CPU to upgrade your graphic card from 1060 to 1070. You will see more of an improvement with that upgrade than any other.
Combined with a good Z170 motherboard and DDR4 RAM, you have the opportunity to upgrade the i5 to an i7 with a drop-in upgrade at a later date.

This is the guts of my PC build. I have an old GTX 760 in mine, but it is a drop-in upgrade for the graphic card whenever I get around to it.
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/gDP3wV

 

[Globusdiablo]

...An i5 would mean I'd be able to get a 1070 over a 1060, or whatever the equivalent card is in a few years when I have enough. (I'm poor. Can only put at best £30 a week aside. That said I appreciate that is quite lucky in the wider picture.)

I did a lot of searching on this, and yes, the i5 6600k is the perfect gaming CPU. Overclocks easily to 4.3 Ghz. The big i7s are for complex multirendering and what not. A traditional game doesn't utilise it.

It's all about the GPU for gaming rigs.

 

[Lordxenu]

Ive just upgraded my cpu from a 3570k to 6700k im running a gtx 1060 and ive gone from being bottlenecked by cpu (constantly at 100% utilisation) to bottlenecked by gpu.

I think a decent i5 would be fine but i run alot of stuff with vr (vr overlay elite companion app discord voice attack and some software to split my sound out for a buttkicker) just running elite vr wouldve probably been fine with the 3570k definately go for the gpu.

 

[Shadowdancer]

CPUs are mostly irrelevant for games these days. You can buy pretty much any cheap midrange chip with 4 or more cores and it will be fine.

 

[dubsdj]

The Graphics card and PSU are the first things you want to invest in and don't try and save money on those because they are the most important. If your current MB supports the newer graphics card then make use of it.

processor, RAM and MB can wait until you have saved up a bit more money later down the line.

 

[Caramel Clown]

Really something like an i5-6600K won't become a bottleneck for a good few years ahead. There's really little reason to get these monster CPUs, considering that games with good engines put their load on GPU. It just makes more sense.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

I have an i5 2500k, admittedly overclocked to 4.4, but that is fine for VR. My GPU though could do with an update, but that costs more then what I can afford at the moment.