Intel Core i7 8700K 6-core LGA1151

The 8700K is old but far from obsolete. For 100 bucks, it's one of the best budget CPU upgrades you can make.

The single-thread score of 2713 in PassMark is what caught our eye. That's well above average in our database, and it means snappy everyday performance in apps that don't use all six cores. The multi-thread score of 13553 is solid but nothing special by today's standards. What surprised us is how well this chip holds up for its age. The 95W TDP is reasonable, and being unlocked means you can squeeze more out of it if you have decent cooling. Just don't expect it to keep up with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D in heavy multi-core workloads.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D absolutely destroys this chip in gaming and multi-core workloads, but it also costs way more and needs a new motherboard and DDR5. The Dell Xeon E5-2637 V2 is a server chip that's worse for everyday use. The Phenom II X6 is ancient history. For the money, the 8700K is the best value here if you already have an LGA1151 board. If you're building new, skip all of these and look at a modern Ryzen 5 or Core i5.

At around 100 USD on the US market, this is a steal if you need a capable CPU for an older LGA1151 board. The EUR 192 and GBP 142 listings are less exciting, but still reasonable for what you get. If you're building a budget gaming rig or upgrading an old office PC, this is worth it. If you're starting from scratch, you're probably better off putting that money toward a newer platform.

The Intel Core i7-8700K is the old reliable of the CPU world. Six cores, twelve threads, and a 4.7GHz boost clock that still holds up surprisingly well for a chip from 2017. It's not going to win any benchmark crowns against modern silicon, but for the price this renewed unit is going for, it's a seriously tempting budget option. The one thing to know? This is a proven workhorse that still punches above its weight for everyday productivity and gaming.

If you're building a brand new PC from scratch, this isn't it. The LGA1151 platform is dead, and you'll be stuck with no upgrade path. Go get a modern Ryzen 5 or Core i5 instead. Also skip this if you need ECC memory support or serious multi-core performance for rendering or server workloads.

The Core i7-8700K is a fantastic budget pick for anyone with an existing LGA1151 system. It's not a future-proof choice, and the renewed status adds some risk, but the performance per dollar is hard to beat. If you need a cheap upgrade to breathe life into an old PC, this is the chip to get.