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.
| Processor | 3.7 GHz core_i7 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 3700 MHz |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel HD Graphics |
| Card Description | integrated |
