I'd be grateful for advice on which of these would be best for P3D4 (and possibly X-Plane 11).

Core i7-7740X 4.3GHz Quad core  4.3GHz  8MB L3

Core i7-7800X 3.5GHz Hex core  3.5GHz  8.25MB L3

I would prefer air cooling. The 7800 is £50 dearer than the 7740. 

Thanks!

The 7740k is nothing more than a binned 7700k on an LGA 2066 socket sized pcb.  It's also got a slightly higher tdp.  This means you pay for an hedt Mobo but can't utilize all of the hedt features such as more pci express lanes and quad channel memory.  If a hexa-core is your thing, the i7-8700k is releasing next week and already looks quite compelling.  Supposed to be a monster overclocker, but time will tell. Sorry to introduce more variables into your choice! 

Thanks.

I know about the i7-8700k but it'll be at a hefty price. 

Sorry to be badly informed, but does 'binned' mean what it sounds like? 

Binned just means hand-picked for better overclocks.  And the MSRP on the 8700k is supposed to be $359 USD, so not that hefty of a premium.  Personally since seeing how all 8 of my 6700k's threads are at 65% or higher with almost full right sliders, I'm quite keen to see how those 6c/12t 8700k's do in p3dv4!

Edited October 2, 20178 yr by OneWhoKnocks53
More info.

Hmm...am in a quandry now. I suspect demand will be high in UK pushing prices way up for a while!  I assume it will make a lot of heat, so water cooling? 

21 hours ago, betelgeuse said:

I assume it will make a lot of heat, so water cooling? 

No, that's a matter of personal preference.  I have had good luck with my H115 AIO (and delliding, 22c drop, no joke!) but there are plenty of capable air coolers that will handle a modest overclock.

Good news! I hate the idea of water whizzing around all those electronics. Illogical, I know! 

You persuaded me to wait. I waited a long time already so what's another week or two?

Thanks for your advice.

1 hour ago, betelgeuse said:

You persuaded me to wait. I waited a long time already so what's another week or two?

No problem, I'll be doing a platform upgrade to an 8700k if the initial reports are promising as well!

Have you a mobo in mind?  I read that the i7-8700K will need Intel 300 series. 

Not yet, but I've gone with the Asus Rog Hero series for my last two builds.

23 hours ago, betelgeuse said:

Have you a mobo in mind?  I read that the i7-8700K will need Intel 300 series. 

Also, the Gigabyte Aorus Gaming series are looking absolutely beautiful.  The UEFI bios makes things easy from what if been following.

42 minutes ago, OneWhoKnocks53 said:

Also, the Gigabyte Aorus Gaming series are looking absolutely beautiful.  The UEFI bios makes things easy from what if been following.

I always build my own. But the last time I was short of time and I got it built by a 'specialist' FS outfit. It has a Gigabyte board whose UEFI BIOS is impossible to access, even with a PS2 keyboard and all the USB slots empty, as sugggested by Gigabyte. This means I cannot o/c as planned.

Maybe things have improved but it seems I am not the only one who has had problems getting into Gigabyte BIOS.

I'm going for ASUS this time. I always did before and never had a problem. They make great boards!