Solved! Upgrading CPU for VR! (i5-6500 > i7-7700k vs i7-8700k)

[Nervly]

I currently own an i5-6500 with 8GB RAM and a GTX 1060 3GB. My motherboard is a MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon. Most games I play are alright though sometimes I experience a lot of ghosting when spinning my head due to the FPS drops and some actually stutter when something faster's going on in the game. I've checked my Task Manager and it seems to be my CPU. On VRChat, when I'm in a room with maybe over 12 people, it'll start lagging really bad and my CPU usage is usually way up there when that happens. I was just playing Seeking Dawn with all graphical settings on max and my GPU was at 20% iirc but my CPU was constantly between 90% and 100%, my RAM at ~4,5GB used. I experienced a lot of ghosting and during battles it would sometimes stutter. On SairentoVR I need to pull all settings down so it doesn't stutter while fighting too and even then it still lags sometimes. I didn't check Task Manager with this game yet but considering my previous experiences, it's probably taking a toll on the CPU as well. What do you guys think?

As for the CPU, I was considering on upgrading to the i7 7700k. I heard the 8700k would be a good choice too but I'd need to upgrade my motherboard as well which means having to basically rebuild my whole computer from scratch which is not something I'm really willing to do besides spending the extra money. Now, I'm a bit indecisive between the i7-7700 and the i7-7700k. If I got it right, then the difference should be that the K variant is ready for overclocking and has a slightly higher clock speed than the non-K variant. Does this make a difference in VR? I've never overclocked anything before but I don't think it's something I'd mind trying out if it makes a big difference, though I'd certainly need to get a good cooler. I'm currently using my i5's stock cooler and I'm aware the 7700k does not bring a stock cooler so if I did go for it, what cooler would be a good choice? Is this choice worth over going with the 7700 and its stock cooler?

Pricing wise, I can get the 7700 for 350€ (~$405) and the 7700k for 379€ (~$440) and I wouldn't need to get a new motherboard. The 8700k runs for 430€ (~$500) but I'd also need to get a new motherboard which would likely be the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon, which goes for around 180€ (~$210). So I'd be spending a little over 200€ ($230) extra if I went for the 8700k.

 

[13thmonkey]

The extra cores will do a lot for you, giving you 'spare' cores for more trivial tasks like chat. The HT cores in the i7's will be similar but not as effective. Tests are however showing that in synthetics the 8C8T 9000's series is beating the 6C12T 8000 series, which gives you a hint as to how much better real cores are than HT cores BUT those tests are very intensive where HT cores are still borrowing cycles from the phys core, where the demand is more intermittent HT could be good enough.