Intel 6th Gen i5 6500 good enough for gaming?

[Knavery]

Hey all,
I just upgraded from a quad-core AMD 4.2 ghz, which was a couple years old, to an Intel 6th Gen i5 6500. I've never gone with Intel before, but the dude at Microcenter said this would be WAY faster than my AMD even though it's only a 3.5 ghz (better technology and all). I also went with the Z170-AR ASUS MB and some new DDR4 memory that works well with that MB and chipset. I've always built my own computers, but haven't really kept up with technology. Will the 6500 be good enough for gaming and what not or should I return it and get the 6600k or something? There's a 30 day warranty, but I'm not sure if that's a wise idea, or is even an acceptable thing to be doing. Thanks!

 

[LTC8K6]

The i5-6500 is indeed way faster than your old chip. It's plenty for gaming.

The 6500 is 3.2ghz with turbo up to 3.6ghz.

 

[Sheep221]

It's a good CPU, congratz on your purchase.

 

[Knavery]

Thank you much! That's good to hear. I don't have the foggiest idea what the old chipset was, but it was a couple years ago I built out the machine and it wasn't even a top of the line AMD CPU.

 

[dark zero]

Nope... If you want gaming in long term, you had bought the K version since it can freely overclock.

And now depends if the chip is old or has the new 'features', you can still OC the processor to have all their inner power making it better than already is. If is the newest ones, you can still OC it, but you should buy an Asrock board with SkyOC to overclock the chip.

Despite is not top of the line, your i5 is a very wise desicion. If you overclock it, you can get more performance and have the processor more time.

Also... AMD has not Top of the Line. All their current chips are bottom of the barrel (except the octacores FX which are mid range) and competes only with Atom. Even VIA will be better than AMD now with the new 16 NM process.

 

[sm625]

Buy a 6700k

 

[Knavery]

Nope... If you want gaming in long term, you had bought the K version since it can freely overclock.

And now depends if the chip is old or has the new 'features', you can still OC the processor to have all their inner power making it better than already is. If is the newest ones, you can still OC it, but you should buy an Asrock board with SkyOC to overclock the chip.

Despite is not top of the line, your i5 is a very wise desicion. If you overclock it, you can get more performance and have the processor more time.

Also... AMD has not Top of the Line. All their current chips are bottom of the barrel (except the octacores FX which are mid range) and competes only with Atom. Even VIA will be better than AMD now with the new 16 NM process.

Yeah. The 'K' version would have been better, but I'm not sure it'd be THAT much better. I don't typically overclock my CPU anyway. I've never had any problems playing what's out there. And if I did, it was usually a GPU limitation. Right now, I have the GeForce GTX 970. If the 6500 smokes my AMD, that's all I really need to be concerned about.

 

[RussianSensation]

Hey all,
Will the 6500 be good enough for gaming and what not or should I return it and get the 6600k or something? There's a 30 day warranty, but I'm not sure if that's a wise idea, or is even an acceptable thing to be doing. Thanks!

I would change it to a 6600K if the cost is minimal to you but keep in mind you'd need to spend $25-30 on a heatsink since 6600K doesn't come with one. Sooner or later (in 3-4 years, the extra overclocking headroom will help). i5-6500 may be good now, but a 4.5-4.7Ghz i5-6600K will give you the necessary breathing headroom down the line vs. a 3.3Ghz i5-6500 when the CPU bottlenecks start to show up.

I will put a disclaimer. I have to follow-up a bit to see if the standard non-K chips can still overclock with a BLCK. Seems before the latest mobo BIOSes they could hit 4.5Ghz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrfTcXQlsbs

"This review was written before Intel made clear its intentions to lock down on unofficial overclocking on non-K series processors. At the time of writing, this avenue is still open but as and when it closes we will update with specific options open - or not - to users."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-intel-skylake-core-i5-6500-review

I think later on Intel removed BCLK overclocking on i3/i5/i7 non-K but I'd like someone with those chips to confirm.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10021...egular-cpu-bclk-overclocking-is-being-removed

Another option is you can keep the 6500 and then in 3 years sell it and get a used 6700K/7700K to drop in into your Z170 board. This could be a good option too because in 3-4 years the HT on the 6700K/7700K will help even more as we move into the DX12 era of multi-threaded games.

Either way congrats on your new system!!

 

[lopri]

It is a good chip. 6700K costs a whole lot more ($350 v. $200) for little.

 

[Knavery]

I would change it to a 6600K if the cost is minimal to you. Sooner or later (in 3-4 years, the extra overclocking headroom will help). i5-6500 may be good now, but a 4.5-4.7Ghz i5-6600K will give you the necessary breathing headroom down the line vs. a 3.4-3.6Ghz i5-6500 when the CPU bottlenecks start to show up.

It would be minimal, but I'd have to pull the fan off the CPU, and the last time I tried that, the CPU ripped out of the MB with the arm down.

 

[SAAA]

The day a 6500 won't be enough you'd rather change it and upgrade all the pc too.
A GHz more from a 6600K won't be worth a candle vs newer platforms and architectures, yes even tough ipc iprovements have slowed down.
Plus as someone suggested you could upgrade for cheap in a few years to a compatible i7 and enjoy more threads/speed.

Btw I have the slight feeling that both LGA Skylake/Kabylake with eDRAM could be the top gaming cpus for the next few years, even vs 6 cores at similar prices, just for that extra cache and ipc. Also they *should work with current motherboards so that's a possible upgrade path too.

 

[Knavery]

The day a 6500 won't be enough you'd rather change it and upgrade all the pc too.
A GHz more from a 6600K won't be worth a candle vs newer platforms and architectures, yes even tough ipc iprovements have slowed down.
Plus as someone suggested you could upgrade for cheap in a few years to a compatible i7 and enjoy more threads/speed.

Btw I have the slight feeling that both LGA Skylake/Kabylake with eDRAM could be the top gaming cpus for the next few years, even vs 6 cores at similar prices, just for that extra cache and ipc. Also they *should work with current motherboards so that's a possible upgrade path too.

Good point. What I'll probably do is keep my machine the way it is and when I upgrade in a couple years, I'll just give my better half this machine. Unless she buys another one, which I'm sure she won't, this will be much better than what she has. I'd probably think differently if everyone in this thread said the 6500 sucks for gaming. But since there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to swap it out, I don't think I will.

I do appreciate the feedback from both camps. Thanks!

 

[Knavery]

I would change it to a 6600K if the cost is minimal to you but keep in mind you'd need to spend $25-30 on a heatsink since 6600K doesn't come with one. Sooner or later (in 3-4 years, the extra overclocking headroom will help). i5-6500 may be good now, but a 4.5-4.7Ghz i5-6600K will give you the necessary breathing headroom down the line vs. a 3.3Ghz i5-6500 when the CPU bottlenecks start to show up.

I will put a disclaimer. I have to follow-up a bit to see if the standard non-K chips can still overclock with a BLCK. Seems before the latest mobo BIOSes they could hit 4.5Ghz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrfTcXQlsbs

"This review was written before Intel made clear its intentions to lock down on unofficial overclocking on non-K series processors. At the time of writing, this avenue is still open but as and when it closes we will update with specific options open - or not - to users."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-intel-skylake-core-i5-6500-review

I think later on Intel removed BCLK overclocking on i3/i5/i7 non-K but I'd like someone with those chips to confirm.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10021...egular-cpu-bclk-overclocking-is-being-removed

Another option is you can keep the 6500 and then in 3 years sell it and get a used 6700K/7700K to drop in into your Z170 board. This could be a good option too because in 3-4 years the HT on the 6700K/7700K will help even more as we move into the DX12 era of multi-threaded games.

Either way congrats on your new system!!

Oh and this is a great write-up. Thanks man! I can learn a lot from this response.

 

[kaesden]

It would be minimal, but I'd have to pull the fan off the CPU, and the last time I tried that, the CPU ripped out of the MB with the arm down.

That only happens on old cpu's with really old thermal paste that's basically turned into glue over years of heat cycling. with a fresh cpu and fresh paste there's no chance of that happening. Not to mention the way modern intel cpu's are designed and retained, its impossible to happen now days anyway.

 

[nerp]

My advice? Ignore the overclockers. you have a great chip. Runs circles around your old chip. Great for gaming. Save the money wasted on coolers, heatsinks, all that stuff and buy a nice video card. Returning that CPU and overclocking will cost you needless money and give you what, 5 to 10 fps more in games you're already getting 80 to 150 fps? not worth it.

 

[DigDog]

Russian Sensation is one the greatest assets of this forum

but - he's overdone it this time.

yes, the 6500 is a great cpu. also yes, the 6600k is better, but many people will not see a difference.

let's say we compare a 6500 (with boost, 3.6Ghz) and an overclocked 6600K (more expensive, plus you need a motherboard that can overclock, plus a CPU cooler) that runs at 4.6Ghz - a whole Ghz of difference.

today, you run your games, and they look perfect on both CPU. unless you install a frame monitoring software, you would not be able to tell the difference between say, 100fps and 130fps.

in a few years, games become more advanced, and take more cpu power to run; one day, you find that a game runs badly on the 6500, but runs decently on the 6600k.
PC computing is more like a brick wall than a smooth curve - when the hardware performance dips below the point where you notice .. you notice.

BUT, by the time your 6500 becomes too slow, you will probably be able to buy a new CPU. i would expect that 6500 to be a solid performer for about 3 years.

The real difference is ... it's easier to sell a 6600K second-hand, than a 6500. So, for people that change their CPU *before* it becomes obsolete, it might be worth to buy the more desirable model, for higher resale value. But in your case, i say to stick with the 6500.

 

[wingman04]

I have a i5 2500k and at stock speeds it drives my GTX 970 to it's maximum potential. Then the skylake i5 6500 25% faster than the i5 2500k.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I have no intention to be snooty but surely people can see $80 B150 board with a $350 6700K is a better deal than a $150 Z-board board with a $200 6500 in most circumstances. What is an extra $80 over like 3 years while enjoying a better CPU in the same time?

 

[Sheep221]

Stock 2500k or 760 is good for most new games, his 6500 will be valid gaming CPU for a very long time,I really doubt it will ever bottleneck anything.

 

[DigDog]

What is an extra $80 over like 3 years while enjoying a better CPU in the same time?

well, if you don't have, that extra $80 .. then it's a lot of money.

 

[IEC]

There is one major exception where faster CPUs are always worth it:
MMOs

They are CPU bound more than GPU bound in busy situations so a 6700K overclocked to 4.5GHz will run circles around a 6500, and your minimum FPS won't tank as hard.

 

[DigDog]

i politely disagree. i think both a 6500 and a 4.5ghz skylake will obliterate the framerate of just about any modern MMO, and you will only really see the difference once the CPU is 4-5 years old.

 

[Sheep221]

There is one major exception where faster CPUs are always worth it:
MMOs

They are CPU bound more than GPU bound in busy situations so a 6700K overclocked to 4.5GHz will run circles around a 6500, and your minimum FPS won't tank as hard.

RTS games are CPU intensive, MMOs not so much. MMOs are just as every FPS game - GPU intensive.

 

[Sonikku13]

MMOs in crowded cities, such as Idyllshire in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward - CPU intensive.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I think you got hosed on that board though if that's what the salesman was recommending. No way you need a $150 ten phase board for running a $200 65W locked cpu. Unless you're running overclocked DDR4 or plan to use two GPUs.