Well, stepping back for a minute, there are actually two paths of i7 CPUs to look at.wclem wrote: Here is a question: for the money would it be worth it to step up to the i7 over the i5? Or, would you go with the i5 and wait for price drops in a year or two on the i7?
First, you have the top end CPUs for socket 1151 (currently), which are slightly better - they support hyperthreading (basically, stacks instructions to make one core act like two...which works well for some workloads, but can be slower on others). Higher stock clocks, and a little more cache.
For gaming, the difference between the two - when there even is a difference - largely comes down to clockspeed. Hyperthreading is pointless (or a slight negative) for games.
An overclocked i5 6600k pretty well runs neck and neck with an i7 6700k (Digital Foundry's example for instance ). More typically, things will be GPU limited, and there'll be next to no actual difference between the two.
If budget were no issue, then an i7 is objectively better, but for gaming purposes, it's typically more logical to put the extra $90-100 into the GPU.
That said, if you also use the machine for 3D rendering, video editing, or something else that hyperthreading actually helps, then it may be worth spending on.
The other i7 route is jumping to Intel's higher end platform, currently socket 2011. That nets a whole host of upgrades, like quad channel RAM, more PCIe lanes, and at this point, 6+ physical cores and a ton more cache on the 6800k series of CPUs. 'course, you're not just spending $200+ more for the CPU then. The motherboards are pricier, matched RAM kits are pricier...it's just a far more expensive proposition.
For the right application, the extra cost can be well worth it. For gaming, it's not really logical. You'd get a lot more out of putting the extra few hundred bucks into the GPU. Or banking the extra cash and upgrading again in 2-3 years instead of 5+.
