From the Sandy Bridge review "The Core i7-2600K is tempting at $317 but the Core i5-2500K is absolutely a steal at $216. "
https://www.anandtech.com/show/4083...el-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested
So a lot of people bought a 2500k, but the writing was on the wall.
I ran it for a year and bought a 2700K / Z77 after Ivy Bridge turned out to be meh.
Bought the 4790K because that was the last hurrah of Intel and mainstream DDR3 (had 16GB then, still do, still good)
But everyone that bought a 2600K was way better off in the long run vs the no HT i5.
And they kept selling the same thing, just faster, until Ryzen came out.
Then we get 14++ Coffee Lake Refresh (but the 8700K is still being made and sold)
9900K MSRP $488 and 9700K MSRP $374.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/13400/intel-9th-gen-core-i9-9900k-i7-9700k-i5-9600k-review
Intel prices are proportional (2011 vs 2018) though, which is funny.

I feel like the 9700K is a bad buy and is just going to turn out to be like the 2500K.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/4083...el-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested
So a lot of people bought a 2500k, but the writing was on the wall.
I ran it for a year and bought a 2700K / Z77 after Ivy Bridge turned out to be meh.
Bought the 4790K because that was the last hurrah of Intel and mainstream DDR3 (had 16GB then, still do, still good)
But everyone that bought a 2600K was way better off in the long run vs the no HT i5.
And they kept selling the same thing, just faster, until Ryzen came out.
Then we get 14++ Coffee Lake Refresh (but the 8700K is still being made and sold)
9900K MSRP $488 and 9700K MSRP $374.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/13400/intel-9th-gen-core-i9-9900k-i7-9700k-i5-9600k-review
Intel prices are proportional (2011 vs 2018) though, which is funny.

I feel like the 9700K is a bad buy and is just going to turn out to be like the 2500K.