Core i7-8700K Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.7GHz Turbo Unlocked LGA1151 300 Series 95W

Got this for a new gaming rig I was setting up. The first Amazon package came as an empty box. The CPU box had clearly been compromised at some point at the Amazon Warehouse (I'd have to assume) and it had no CPU inside, only the documentation. Amazon was quick to send me a new one, and it wasn't a huge setback since I was still awaiting the motherboard and case. Second package arrived just fine. You know what you're paying for here. This is a really high performance CPU with the capability to be overclocked to your heart's content, and (while nothing is "future-proof") it should stay relevant for a few years to come. Paired with a nice GPU (1070 GTX in my case) it's able to run literally anything I throw at it. Shadow of the Tomb Raider can run with nearly all settings maxed out/at high. It blasted through most stress tests I threw at it, and managed to score a 1456 on Cinebench's CPU test, hitting only 71 deg C at most. This CPU (obviously) comes with no dinky stock Intel cooler, so I'm using a Corsair H100i v2 for cooling here, and it pays off in BOUNDS. I can OC stable to 4.9GHz (what I have it running at now) and it runs cooler, both at idle and under load, than my last CPU did with its beefy Coolermaster heatsink/fan. Albeit, the radiator fans can get a bit noisy at times, but I've been tweaking my OC profiles to reduce noise and I've gotten the noise factor down a bit. Overall, I'm immensely satisfied. This is the first time (since the days of the 8800 GTX) that I've had a "relevant" gaming PC, something that can actually run modern AAA titles, and my quality of life has improved drastically as a result. No more FPS drops when I try and watch Twitch while playing Overwatch. No more stuttering and lagging when the OS decides to run some CPU-intensive garbage in the background while I'm gaming. It's pretty amazing. Here's the full build, for anyone interested. I wholeheartedly recommend this build to anyone looking to upgrade or build their first gaming PC, and it's relatively budget friendly compared to pre-built options, especially if you can snag some or all the parts on sale: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor Corsair - H100i v2 70.69 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler Asus - PRIME Z390-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory Kingston - A400 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card NZXT - H500 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case Corsair - 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply Whole build totaled out to about $1,300 after mail-in rebates.

Pros: -Outstanding gaming performance. -Just about the fastest single threaded performance you can get. -Over-clocks fairly well w/o deliding. (A good quality cooler is a must). -6 cores/12 threads is no slouch for content creators & productivity either. -Will be a viable CPU for many years to come. Cons: -Difficult to acquire. -A little pricey due to scarcity. (I paid $419 which I think is reasonable). -Non-soldered integrated heat-sink...they used thermal paste instead so depending on your situation it can run warm. -To really push the limits of over-clocking, deliding is recommended, along with water cooling. Other Thoughts: I bought this CPU in order to finally make a leap up from my trusty i5 2500k Sandybridge that I'd been using since 2011. I have zero regrets. This thing is super fast. DO NOT buy from greedy scalpers. Just be patient and diligent and you can snag one for a reasonable price. ***My build:*** i7 8700k (Mild OC @ 4.8Ghz w/ 1.24 Vcore) Arctic Freezer 240 AIO water cooler MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon 16Gb DDR4 3200 Corsair Vengeance RGB Samsung 960 Evo M.2 250gb Powercolor Vega 56 (Do not overpay for these either. At $450 or less, there is no better value, especially for free-sync). EVGA SuperNOVA 750 Gold 80+ Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Full Tower (Fantastic, roomy case) "New Pixio" 27" 1440p 144Hz Free-sync IPS panel monitor (Sexy monitor and perfect companion for Vega 56/64).

Pros: -Easy with either Intel XTU or programs that supports overclocking. Motherboards with overclocking support and UEFI also easy. -Wide stable clock range, like advertised: 3.7 Ghz to 4.8 Ghz. IMO, a future-proof consumer CPU - 6 Cores 12 threads. Multitasking is ever more easy peasy. Although there are several CPUs that has more core and threads, but those prices are for business purposes, I believe. Cons: -Just like other testers have found out, temps can be crazy. At idle, without any tampering/delidding of the CPU, it runs at 27 centigrade even with MSI Frozr Core L (Air cooler) and Gelid Xtreme thermal compound. Running Prime95 for 15 minutes, full load went close up to 80 centigrade. Heat is death for every computer component. Some CPUs previous to this one can run idle temps lower than ambient with just an air cooler and decent thermal compound. -Because of the wide clock range, there is little room for going above 4.8 Ghz. However, my current setup cannot fully test the clock ceiling of the component without possibly destroying it. I’ve came to this conclusion based off articles and enthusiast testers. -Price. Maybe. It’s the new hype for many Intel customers. And also availability. This will be remedied soon enough, as Intel plans to make more assembly line in places, which probably lowers the price. Other Thoughts: Upgrading from i7-2600, (non K mind you) this component is the answer for me. It is, as some previous iterations of the 14 nm lithography, as an optimized and core/thread-added CPU. Basically, it is a minor upgrade if you are already within the 14 nm tech. TLDR: I like this CPU coming from a 2nd gen i7. Current rig: Fractal Design Define R5 Windowed, with x2 140mm Case Fans MSI Z370 Gaming M5 Motherboard. MSI Core Frozr L Air Cooler Nvidia GTX 970 GPU G.Skill DDR4-3600Mhz 16GB Memory Module EVGA 600W 80+ Silver PSU non-modular Gelid Solutions Xtreme Thermal Compound.

8th/9th Gen CPU I still really like as far as processing power and quality. Have it matched up with a gtx 1080ti and can still play any AAA games with low to mid settings for my kids CPU.

My second computer build i decided to build with Intel this time and it has been a much easier process to setup and overclock. I purchased the 8700K when it was new more than a year ago and have been using it since. Coming out of the box already running at 4.7GHZ on all cores is super impressive. I have always been a hound for speed so this makes it easy for me. Overclocking is a snap with Intel's easy overclocking utility that comes with alot of tools for stability testing as well. I tended to use Intels software for benchmark runs, and my Motherboard software for daily driving overclock. Now not every chip is the same and even if you have an 8700k, you may not see the same performance that i have been lucky to achieve. It's called the silicon lottery for a reason and I think I just got lucky. My Results are as such: highest Overclock achieved was 5.3 GHz on all cores. no problems and it worked just fine. For normal use i leave it at a nice and round 5 GHz and temps have not gone past 55c with a corsair AIO liquid cooler. So temps dont get hot, and it overclocks and is happy to sit there with no problem. I really dont know what else i could ask for since 6 cores/12 threads is more than enough for any workload i currently throw at it. In all gaming performance, i have not encountered any issues that are CPU related. Overall i couldnt be happier with my CPU. Pros: High Clock Speed Easy to overclock 12 Threads Cons: At time of writing is more expensive than a 9700K

Delidded this gem to push the overclock to 5.0ghz. Currently gaming with a 3080 and the avg frame difference between a I7 12700K or a 13700K is 10fps when gaming at a higher res like 1440p or 4K. For me to upgrade my CPU would be for consistent FPS/ higher 1% lows, meaning, less frame drops. Most games I play don't drop low enough to be annoying, but games like Apex or Warzone, which are the worst offenders for frame drops, are games I no longer play anyway and would probably benefit the most with an upgraded CPU. Avg fps with a 3080 on medium-high settings for games like Apex/Destiny 2/Warzone 1 and 2 were Around 144-240fps at 1440p depending on the scene. This is still great for PVE games too, where frame drop consistency isn't that big of a deal, especially with DLSS. Cyberpunk on ultra 4K and DLSS on performance + ULTRA RTX was around 70-90fps depending on the scene I plan on upgrading when games get better, hopefully by end of this year or the next, just for higher lows on 1440p. But overall, this is a GOAT CPU, especially on higher resolutions. You'll notice as CPUs get better, the rate at which you upgrade starts to increase. Before, it used to be "upgrade in 4-5 years". Now it seems closer to 3 years. If you game on 1080p, you will see a higher difference in avg fps with better CPUs than this than if you played on 1440p. So you're better off investing in a 12700K or above at this time.

Only reason I am writing this review as a 1 star is because on this particular CPU... it states 1151 socket, so I matched it with 1151 motherboard thinking I would be ok. I am going from AMD which I have never owned an Intel. I have been having a hell of time experiencing some issues with getting everything up and running. Anyway, after i got everything up and connected with double and triple checking connections... the machine booted up and then powered right back off. After digging into some research, on the back on my motherboard box I noticed that it supports 6th and 7th edition Intel CPU's..... this CPU is 8th edition ...but has 1151 socket. My point here.... the socket type should match up with the motherboard and SHOULD work, but to me Intel is greedy and wants more money .... so you have to buy special mobos..... just my two sense here. So thankfully amazon is cool as shit, they are awesome with refunds btw. I returned that mobo for one that supports 8th edtion Intel CPU 1151 socket. After I got all of it connected again... it would start up and go right back off.....but this time the CPU light above the 24 pin power connecter was lighting up. Come to find out.... the CPU was DOA , or something happened when I fired it up in the other MOBO that didn't support the 8th edition Intel CPU. Got my fingers cross as I have exchanged the CPU for an replacement. I know some of this is my fault ....but I'm not taking all of the blame here haha! If a CPU says 1151 socket... plain and simple... the MOBO that accepts 1151 socket should work!!!!!!! I shouldn't have to dig into all the particular info on the mobo and find out every little detail to see if the CPU will match and work with the MOBO.... stupid !! I'm done venting.... wish me luck when the replacement CPU comes in. ps: Will change review after getting the CPU up and running and actually testing it out compared to my FX 8 core AMD that I have had. CPU works, review changed as this CPU paired with my system is 100 billion percent faster. Loving it!

Overall this CPU is quite nice and works well for just about anything you could hope do with it.There are obviously some CPUs with more cores that will work better in specialized tasks such as video editing but once again this CPU really fits the jack of all trades role. Personally I think it functions best as a gaming CPU due to how well it overclocks combined with how well it performs in single thread benchmarks compared to most multi-core CPUs. Worth noting that the 8700k's single thread speed is comparable to the 7700k. Although the 8700k is a bit more future proof due to two extra cores it has over the 7700k. The biggest downside i've experienced is that this CPU can and WILL run hot so be prepared to buy top of the line cooling. Preferably water cooling. Overall the CPU itself is excellent and checks off most of boxes in things you want out of a CPU. The biggest problem is how expensive things become when you factor in all the things you'll probably need to buy. Remember at the very least that you'll need to buy an entirely new motherboard with the 8700k. Potentially DDR4 and a high end cooling solution assuming you don't already own these. Due to the price I would only advise upgrading to this if you are currently running on an extremely dated CPU. If your CPU is only a few years only then just hold onto your money for awhile and wait for something better.