Intel Core i5-8600K 8th Gen 6-Core CPU Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Intel Core i5-8600K is available now for around £340. That’s a pretty decent price given the performance we’ve seen today, and it is quite a lot cheaper than the i7-8700K, which is around £480! Hopefully, we’ll see AMD price more competitively too, and see some price drops from both sides, as £340 is still a fair chunk of money for most.

Overview

Having tested the Intel Core i7-8700K and the i5-8400, it comes as no surprise that the i5-8600K performs as well as it did. All three 8th Gen CPUs we’ve tested so far have absolutely decimated the competition when it comes to gaming performance. For those building a high-end gaming PC, there’s no content, as the new i5 is a real number cruncher when it comes to scoring high frame rates.

More Than Just Gaming

Obviously, PC’s are good for more than just gaming. No, seriously, you should try other things sometime! The new i5 CPU is a monster, upping the standard i5 core count from four to six, and that means big improvements in everything. When it came to PC Mark 10, it set our highest score to date, making it a multi-tasking superstar. When it comes to day to day performance, it wont disappoint.

While rendering videos, and other heavy-duty tasks, it’s one of the fastest consumer CPUs on the market. Of course, you can get faster from the i7 or the i9, but you’ll be spending a lot of money to pick up one of those. For the average consumer and gamer, the i5 is more than enough.

Z370 or GTFO

Unfortunately, the 8th Generation i5 requires the Z370 series motherboards. These are near identical to the Z270 motherboards in terms of features, but use a revised socket to support the increased core count. This is a shame, but given the performance gains, I doubt many will be too fussed about paying for the upgrade. If you’re on something like the 7700K, maybe upgrading isn’t needed right now. However, if you’re on an older platform, buying Z270 now seems a bit silly, as Z370 offers much better performance.

Pros

• 6 core design
• Great for productivity tasks
• Exceptional gaming performance
• Easy overclocking
• Good thermal performance
• Good efficiency

Cons

• Requires Z370 motherboard

“When it comes to hitting a higher frame rate in the latest games, the Intel Core i5-8600K is one of the best choices on the market today. From improving performance in the office, with multi-tasking, or just all out gaming, the new 6-core i5 is simply amazing.”

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