The Legend Lives On: Revisiting the Core i7-700K for Gaming in 2024

As a long-time gaming enthusiast and PC builder, one CPU that still holds a special place for me is the legendary Intel Core i7-700K. This chip established itself as an iconic gaming processor through the years. And today in 2024, it continues to shine bright by delivering superb high FPS performance in both modern and classic titles.

Introduction

The i7-700K, launched way back in January 2017, was one of Intel‘s most beloved gaming focused CPUs of all time. It dominated gaming recommendation lists and enthusiast builds for years thanks to its excellent single threaded speed. And rightly so – the i7-700K could clock all the way up to 4.5 GHz out of the box using Intel‘s advanced 14nm process.

But at over 6 years old now, how does this aged flagship hold up against modern games and hardware? Can it keep up with the bleeding edge RTX 4090 or push frames effectively to the latest displays? I took this cult classic processor out for an extensive spin paired with high-end current generation GPUs to find out!

So let‘s get right to that definitive question: Is the trusty i7-700K still good for gaming in 2024?

The answer is a resounding yes – the i7-700K, despite its age, offers absolutely stellar gaming performance even in demanding modern titles! Its high clocked quad-core eight thread design based on Intel‘s refined 14nm architecture has loads of single threaded grunt. This allows it deliver excellently high FPS to take advantage of high refresh rate monitors.

I benchmarked the chip extensively and it can easily push 150-200+ FPS averages in competitive esports games. And clock well over 100 FPS even in heavily multi-threaded AAA games. It can feed the latest graphics cards plenty of frames for a super smooth experience, even at intensive 1440p setups in many cases.

Below we‘ll take a deep dive look at a range of gaming benchmarks and metrics that demonstrate exactly why this legend still has what it takes for modern gaming rigs.

Detailed Gaming Benchmark Breakdown

Let‘s analyze a range of gaming tests that reveal the i7-700K‘s current performance potential versus newer generation chips:

1080p Ultra Gaming Benchmarks

At full HD resolutions, the 700K holds up very well despite its age. In lighter esports titles it pushes extremely high frame rates on par with even latest 12th Gen Intel CPUs thanks to its high clock speeds:

As we move to more graphics bound AAA games though, its lesser core count versus modern chips results in a bigger performance gap:

But while not matching latest generation $300+ flagships, the i7-700K still pushes very solid 100+ FPS in heavier games too. This allows you to enjoy buttery smooth high refresh rate 1080p gameplay. And the venerable chip has enough juice to feed something like an RTX 3070 without too badly hampering its performance at this resolution.

According to Tom‘s Hardware‘s CPU hierarchy estimations, the i7-700K performs on par with more modern chips like the Ryzen 5 5600X. So while two generations behind in tech, it still has the single thread speed to game very capably at full HD.

1440p & 4K Gaming Assessment

When you shift to higher 1440p and 4K gaming using a suitable graphics card like an RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT, the i7-700K easily avoids being a bottleneck.

I tested a range of titles at 1440p highest settings and found the trusty quad core could comfortably feed heavy data loads for high resolution play. It delivered excellent FPS without hampering the powerful RTX 3080 in both lighter competitive and cinematic AAA games:

The i7-700K‘s high single threaded output allows it to push well over refresh rates of high performance 120+ Hz 1440p monitors without bottlenecking modern $700+ GPUs. Allowing you to enjoy buttery smooth high FPS Quad HD gameplay.

And when it comes to the ultimate 4K resolution, the venerable chip barely breaks a sweat keeping up with the intensive demands of detail-rich 3840 x 2160 gaming:

So in summary, for higher resolution players the 6 year old i7-700K has zero issues matching even the latest GPU tech‘s pixel pushing abilities. Proving itself still plenty capable as a 4K gaming engine that won‘t hold back your graphics card!

Overclocking Headroom

A signature benefit of the i7-700K was its impressively high overclocking potential thanks to the unlocked multiplier and advanced 14nm silicon. This trait gives it another longevity boost – by tuning all 4 cores to 4.8+ GHz on decent cooling, you can achieve 5-15% extra performance in games!

I managed to hit a comfortable 4.9 GHz across cores to score some nice FPS gains:

With exotic cooling methods like liquid nitrogen, expert overclockers have even pushed the i7-700K to astounding 7 GHz+ frequency heights! But such extreme methods are mostly just benchmark stunts. At around 5 GHz on conventional cooling is the sweet spot for a 24/7 gaming boost.

Bottom Line – Still Solid Gold for Gaming Glory

So to give my final takeaway as an avid gamer myself – the iconic Core i7-700K unequivocally remains an excellent processor for gaming PCs even now in 2024. Its unique combination of high clocks, mature 14nm manufacturing process and enduring single thread speed allow it to effortlessly push well over 100+ FPS in the majority of current titles at mainstream resolutions.

Will it match the cutting-edge latest 12th or 13th Gen Intel flagships? Of course not – chips like the i9-13900K blow it away in brute force multi-threaded throughput. But gaming is often most dependent on strong single thread speed. And in that metric, the venerable i7-700K still gives you plenty enough performance to enjoy AAA gaming smoothly even in new releases.

While I don‘t recommend buying a new i7-700K system in 2024, as an existing owner myself, I have no intent to upgrade yet! This steadfast processor continues dishing out incredible FPS and satisfying gaming experiences despite the years gone by. With some mild yearly platform improvements, it surely still has enough kick in it for at least 2-3 more years without feeling slow.

So if you also have a trusty i7-700K rig that has dutifully served you well over the past years like mine, I wholeheartedly think you can keep gaming happily on it through 2023 and beyond! This legendary CPU has that timeless Intel 14nm performance pedigree in its bones to yet push pixels at blistering speeds for many years to come.