Computer Specifications

[Raptor83]

Well for one the 2600K is more expensive then the 4790k. It's 400 dollars on amazon.
Still 4790K is still superior then a 2600K by at least 20%. Not to mention that the 99% of the users doesn't know or doesn't want to OC.
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-2600K/2384vs621

Besides, OP was talking about 2500K.

1. price difference is not important for those who already have 2600K - keeping it doesnt cost anything (if someone is building a new PC, 6600K makes much more sense)
2. difference is barely a few %, when they are at the same frequency
3. people who are not interested in overclocking are not likely to have K version (which cost slightly more than non-K version)

 

[Zaku]

1. price difference is not important for those who already have 2600K - keeping it doesnt cost anything (if someone is building a new PC, 6600K makes much more sense)

OP doesn't have a 2600K. 6600K is a fine choice, but it's still slower then the 4790K

2. difference is barely a few %, when they are at the same frequency

You can see the difference on the benchmark.

3. people who are not interested in overclocking are not likely to have K version (which cost slightly more than non-K version)

That's only partially true. The K version usually has a higher base clock as well. 4790 is at 3.6, and the K at 4.0. that 0.4ghz extra is easily worth 10-20 more bucks.

 

[mbrownii]

Ok, a little depressed to find out my MacBook Air probably won't run HOI4 or Stellaris..

 

[Evan05]

Ok, a little depressed to find out my MacBook Air probably won't run HOI4 or Stellaris..

Not having a dedicated GPU for gaming is pretty much unacceptable.

 

[Immortal88]

i5 2500k & gtx970 all the way

 

[spartansociety]

If you want the best bang for buck I suggest to get an i7 4790K. You can get one for 300-320 bucks. The 5930k costs almost twice as much, and its not so much better for gaming.
Also don't forget that you'll also need a new motherboard for it, just as @LordOfWar16 wrote.

6700K is also fine, it's about the same as the 4790K, but it costs 40 more. On the plus side you can use DDR4 with it, but memory speed doesn't really matter for gaming if you have a good processor and video card.

Was looking at the 5930k because of the amazing discount they were offering, must have been some sort of mistake on their part.

Have been umming and ahing for ages between.

6700k at 4.7 and 5820k at 4.6 for almost he same price (plus a bit extra for the x99 motherboard).

When I buy it will be through these guys, they guarantee overclocks and delid/apply thermal paste/re-seal the skylake CPU's for 50 bucks which is awesome.
https://siliconlottery.com/

Agree the skylake will be faster, especially in paradox games etc BUT...at the rate of CPU increase going on at the moment, I will be keeping this for years and I can see a point in a year or 2 where many games are taking advantage of more cores....then the 5820k will be the best choice by far.

 

[Zaku]

Was looking at the 5930k because of the amazing discount they were offering, must have been some sort of mistake on their part.

Have been umming and ahing for ages between.

6700k at 4.7 and 5820k at 4.6 for almost he same price (plus a bit extra for the x99 motherboard).

When I buy it will be through these guys, they guarantee overclocks and delid/apply thermal paste/re-seal the skylake CPU's for 50 bucks which is awesome.
https://siliconlottery.com/

Agree the skylake will be faster, especially in paradox games etc BUT...at the rate of CPU increase going on at the moment, I will be keeping this for years and I can see a point in a year or 2 where many games are taking advantage of more cores....then the 5820k will be the best choice by far.

The 6700K has a base clock of 4.0 Ghz, and the 5820K has it at 3.3.
You can OC them to around 4.6 or 4,7, but you can do it with the 4790K as well. Mine runs around 4.8ghz when I need it. (tbh 90% of the games don't need an oc processor.)

If you want the more modern approach, I still suggest to get the 6700K, because it's
1. Cheaper(at the retailer you linked.)
2. more powerful.

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-5820K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-6700K/2579vs3502

Not many games will use more then 4 cores in the next 10 years.

 

[spartansociety]

Next ten years is a VERY big call. Direct x 12 may drastically increase the number within the next 2 years or so. With silicon lottery the base clock ceases to matter. I admit the 5820k has lower IPC but its not that bad. If im going to upgrade from a 2500k and spend money on a mobo and cpu plus maybe ram i want as bigger increase as I can manage. I could easily imagine that the new games for paradox being considered now are direct x 12, and will take advantage of a bunch of cores.

 

[Zaku]

Next ten years is a VERY big call. Direct x 12 may drastically increase the number within the next 2 years or so. With silicon lottery the base clock ceases to matter. I admit the 5820k has lower IPC but its not that bad. If im going to upgrade from a 2500k and spend money on a mobo and cpu plus maybe ram i want as bigger increase as I can manage. I could easily imagine that the new games for paradox being considered now are direct x 12, and will take advantage of a bunch of cores.

It's your money, you can spend it however you want, if you want a 6 cored processor then knock yourself out. They are not the best choice for gaming though. You will either get one with slower base clock(which matters the most for games), or pay double or even more amount for it.

Just don't expect miracles. It won't be faster then a strong quad core processor for gaming for a long time.(at which time it will be already obsolete) At the present most games only use 2 cores. PDS games only use 1 core(with some multithreading) with the Clausewitz engine. Even if they build a multi core engine it won't use 6.

Maybe 10 years was a bit exaggeration, but considering most of the PC gamers today use 2 or 4 core machines game developers will create games for those machines in the near future. 6 core support for most games is a long long time away.