What would be a "default" CPU choice for a basic box in 2K18?

escrow4

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2013
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Had me wondering. I've scrapped all but one of my PCs and moved to a PS4 but I am wondering. I built my current desktop early last year with an i5 7600 non K. For general usage minus gaming but everything else (think the box that sits there until it dies doing it all except for gaming) what would be the "standard" go to choice?

An i3 8100? A Pentium?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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Mainstream? Probably i3-8100. Maybe i5-8400 for a OEM branded box, they seem popular. (Some with 16GB Optane Memory too, for under $500 USD here in the States.)

Enthusiast? i5-8600K probably. Or if you swing AMD, Ryzen 5 2600(X).

Curious, though, if you got that early last year, why didn't you get an AM4 platform? Still tied to Intel for some reason? 1080P PC Gaming?

The Ryzen 5 2600 is only $164.99 USD at Newegg US. That's fairly cheap, all things considered. Cheaper than the i5-8400 by a bit.
 
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SPBHM

Diamond Member
Sep 12, 2012
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i3 8100 = i5 7500 more or less,

it's a very good CPU for gaming for the money,

but the i5 8400 is not far from the 7700K for gaming, so it's basically all you need,
the AMD stuff tends to be bellow this, but it's not that far and with some OC/good memory it can catch up.

it's just that, the i5 8400 will do it with the cooler box and very cheap ram/h310 board all stock.


you can game on a Pentium G5400, better than on the PS4 for sure.
it struggles with some games, but runs mostly OK.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
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There is no basic cpu for a box. It all depends how low you are willing to drop on the performance. If you just need internet and youtube, there's a cpu for that.
However, practically speaking there's no reason to go below a 8400. The resell value is so stronk, you are basically just borrowing $200 from your future self. And it does anything you could ask.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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Right now I wouldn't build anything with less then a 4 core CPU for a basic box. For a mid-range rig? Six core. And on from there.
 
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BSim500

Golden Member
Jun 5, 2013
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Had me wondering. I've scrapped all but one of my PCs and moved to a PS4 but I am wondering. I built my current desktop early last year with an i5 7600 non K. For general usage minus gaming but everything else (think the box that sits there until it dies doing it all except for gaming) what would be the "standard" go to choice?

An i3 8100? A Pentium?
As others have said, an i3-8100 = an i5-7500 (4C/4T @ 3.6GHz, 6MB Cache, 2400MHz RAM, 65w, etc) minus 100MHz on the 1-2T turbo, so other than the +300MHz that separates i5-7600 vs i5-7500, why not just keep the i5-7600? For non-gaming (web / office), even a Pentium G5400 will do though it makes little sense to buy one or change to Coffee Lake if you've already got a Kaby quad + motherboard just for Word / funny cat videos on Youtube. Even for gaming depending on what you run, 4C/4T's are fine for 19,990 out of 20,000 games on Steam if 60Hz is the target. As you said, just keep it and run it into the ground.
 
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cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
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Even with the core race in full motion .. I struggle to find use for the 4 I got. I mean I might get 4 fps more for one singular AAA title with a few cores more but...
 
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I would say 4/4 is definitely enough for basic use. I would go 8400 for anything more than light gaming with a 1060 or higher level gpu.
 

Insert_Nickname

Diamond Member
May 6, 2012
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Depends on your definition of a "basic box".

Entry level Facebook/Email/Youtube/Office 1080p box = Athlon 200GE or Pentium G4560/G5400
Mainstream non-gaming = 2200G/2400G or 8100
Mainstream gaming GTX1060+ = 2600(X) or 8400

That's it currently.

Other CPUs I consider if there is a special usage case.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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Depends on your definition of a "basic box".

Entry level Facebook/Email/Youtube/Office 1080p box = Athlon 200GE or Pentium G4560/G5400
Mainstream non-gaming = 2200G/2400G or 8100
Mainstream gaming GTX1060+ = 2600(X) or 8400

That's it currently.

Other CPUs I consider if there is a special usage case.
Actually the 2200G/2400G is capable of low end gaming. Even recent AAA titles if you don't mind 720p....
 

PeterScott

Platinum Member
Jul 7, 2017
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If buying new, then bang for the buck, and keeping some low end GPU performance, I would lean toward the 2200G.

Though if I had i5-7600, I would just keep that.
 

Insert_Nickname

Diamond Member
May 6, 2012
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Actually the 2200G/2400G is capable of low end gaming. Even recent AAA titles if you don't mind 720p....

They're plenty capable. Which is very handy for a general purpose system.

However I do recommend a discrete card for gaming, if at all possible. It just isn't sometimes, and they're a perfect fit for those cases.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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For those of you that dont know, the OP has a i5 7600.
Why would anyone suggest anything more for a basic box?
 
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whm1974

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Jul 24, 2016
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They're plenty capable. Which is very handy for a general purpose system.

However I do recommend a discrete card for gaming, if at all possible. It just isn't sometimes, and they're a perfect fit for those cases.
Yeah for a while there video cards were fairly high. Still a bit higher then I like.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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For those of you that dont know, the OP has a i5 7600.
Why would anyone suggest anything more for a basic box?
Well I wouldn't if he already has the hardware. In his case I would get a bigger SSD or better video card, or depending on his usage, more memory.