PC Gamer Presents - PC Hardware Handbook - May 2018

STACKED UP

PRICE (£) CINEBENCH R15 (POINTS)

Single

Multi

(Higher is better)

ASHES OF SINGULARITY (FPS)

1440p/high

1080p/low

(Higher is better)

7

75 %

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3.5

3.6

3.6

3.5

3.7

3.6

4.0

Base clock speed (GHz)

ESSENTIALS

3.7

4.0

4.0

3.7

4.7

4.3

4.0

Turbo clock speed (GHz)

4

8

6

4

6

6

4

Cores

4

16

12

8

12

6

4

Threads

Group Test

PROCESSORS

7

6

However, as soon as Ryzen came along it instantly

looked like poor value, despite the high clock speed

meaning it held its own when gaming.

Intel’s response? The Core i7-8700K. With 50%

more cores it brings the fight to AMD’s finest in

multithreaded workloads while its 3.7GHz-4.7GHz

clock speed means it still has a big advantage.

What’s more, it overclocks well. With an Maximus X

Hero I managed to push all six cores to 5GHz.

This is all reflected in its benchmarks where it

tops the Cinebench single-thread test and almost

beats the 1800X in the multithread test. In games, it

dominates, topping all but one of the tests.

The only downside is that it’s still pricey

compared to AMD’s range. Even the eight-core

1800X is cheaper, and though the 8700K holds its

own in multithread workloads, it’s not that good.

However, with a strong lead in clock speed, the

8700K is still the clear choice for those

seeking pure gaming performance,

without too much regard for price.

INTEL CORE i7-8700K

http://www.intel.com £355

The i7-7700K was the ideal for gamers who weren’t on a

budget. Its four hyperthreaded cores, 4.2GHz base

speed and 4.5Ghz turbo boost offered a perfect balance

of single and multithreaded performance.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

AMD Ryzen 5 1500X

AMD Ryzen 3 1300X

AMD Ryzen 7 1800X

AMD Ryzen 5 1600X

Intel Core i5-8600K

Intel Core i3-8350K

Intel Core i7-8700K

105

152 545

45.2 52

155

155 812

45.8 67

180

161 1240

45.2 64.6

330

159 1619

42.9 68.1

155

174 670

46.3 70.2

240

188 1072

43.7 84.2

355

207 1543

45.6 93.5