i7-2600 or i7-2600K?

JaidynM · 19 Jul 2011

I'm not sure whether to buy the i7-2600K ($316) or the regular i7-2600 ($286). Will I see much difference in performance?

Wishmaster · 19 Jul 2011

If you want to Overclock the 2600-K.
If you do not care about overclocking the 2600.

Performance will be the exact same at the default speed.
The only difference is the K is unlocked, making it the ideal choice for overclockers.

JaidynM · 19 Jul 2011

But the i7-2600 can still be OC'ed?

vaidas3 · 19 Jul 2011

JaidynM said:

But the i7-2600 can still be OC'ed?

i think it can be OC'ed with right motherboard, but not to the same extent as k, and its more difficult to do so.
so if you really want to OC, K is better.

IMHO if you dont really need +4 virtual (HT) cores that i7 adds
more value is in i5 2500k or if you dont want to OC 2400 best performance per $

JaidynM · 19 Jul 2011

I might go with the K then. I have no current plans for overclocking but I have a feeling that I will in the future. Thanks for your help everyone.

bobkn · 19 Jul 2011

vaidas3 said:

JaidynM said:

But the i7-2600 can still be OC'ed?

i think it can be OC'ed with right motherboard, but not to the same extent as k, and its more difficult to do so.
so if you really want to OC, K is better.

IMHO if you dont really need +4 virtual (HT) cores that i7 adds
more value is in i5 2500k or if you dont want to OC 2400 best performance per $

The overclockability of the non-k Sandy Bridge CPUs is typically a few percent - hardly worth bothering with.

With the unlocked multiplier, 4.2 GHz is usually easy. 5.0 may be difficult with air cooling.

essenbe · 19 Jul 2011

The only other real difference is on board graphics wit the 2600 not with the K version.