Intel Core i5-8600K
Specifications, where the Core i5-8600K sits for gaming, the graphics card worth pairing with it, and the frame rate the pair returns at every resolution.
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
The Core i5-8600K and the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti return about 88 fps on High at 1440p with neither part wasting the other. A card slower than the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti wastes the Core i5-8600K, and a faster one runs straight into it.
Check current priceon Amazon See the full bottleneck result for this pairCore i5-8600K specifications
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Released | 2017 |
| Cores and threads | 6 cores, 6 threads |
| Boost clock | 4.3 GHz |
| TDP | 95 W |
| Gaming performance index | 59.0 (Ryzen 7 9800X3D = 100) |
| Multithread index | 40.0 |
What these numbers mean for the Core i5-8600K
On our index the Core i5-8600K scores 59.0, which places it 66th of the 83 processors we track and puts it faster than roughly 21% of them.
The Core i5-8600K and the Ryzen 5 3600X land on exactly the same index score of 59.0, so on raw throughput the two are interchangeable and the choice between them comes down to memory, power draw and price on the day.
The Core i5-8600K is tuned for games rather than throughput, scoring 59.0 for games against 40.0 for multithread work, and that shape is the signature of a part built around cache and per core speed at 4.3 GHz rather than around core count, which is what game engines actually use.
6 cores and 6 threads is the range almost every game engine is built around, which is why the Core i5-8600K performs close to chips with far more of both: past about 6 cores the extra ones sit idle during gameplay, because the game thread and the render thread are largely serial and cannot be split further.
A 2017 part, so the platform around the Core i5-8600K matters as much as the chip: expect PCIe 3.0, slower memory support and no upgrade path left on that socket after 9 years. Those cost a few percent on top of whatever its 59.0 index says.
Core i5-8600K frame rate at each resolution
The Core i5-8600K paired with the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti on the High preset with 16 GB of system memory. The processor is the limit at all three resolutions here, so the Core i5-8600K only drops 50% from 101 fps to 51 fps across them and keeps capacity it is never asked for.
| Resolution | Estimated fps | Limited by |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p (1920 x 1080) | 101 fps | CPU |
| 1440p (2560 x 1440) | 88 fps | Balanced |
| 4K (3840 x 2160) | 51 fps | Balanced |
How the Core i5-8600K compares
6 processors sit within 30% of the Core i5-8600K on our gaming index, running from the Ryzen 9 5950X at +29% to the Core i7-11700K at +25%, a window narrow enough that price, memory and power decide it rather than raw speed.
What to pair with the Core i5-8600K, and when to upgrade
Best GPU for the Core i5-8600K
When the Core i5-8600K becomes the limit, the Ryzen 7 5800XT is the next step worth paying for: 75.0 on our index against 59.0, a jump of 27%, which is roughly where an upgrade stops being something you have to look at a counter to notice. See its specs.
Check the Core i5-8600K against your own parts
Core i5-8600K specifications on this page are from Intel, while its gaming index of 59.0 is modelled from published benchmark data for the Core i5-8600K rather than measured on a test bench, and every frame rate above follows from that figure. How we calculate this