[Explained] Does the I5 8600K Have Hyperthreading?

Some do, but not all though. It depends on the specific Stock-Keeping Unit (SKU). The modern desktop i5 we normally talk about with 4 cores do not have Hyper-Threading (HT). Early i5, later special purpose i5, and most mobile core i5 with 2 cores do have HT.

Also, 10th Gen mobile Ice Lake like i5 1035G1 and Comet Lake i5 10210U have Hyperthreading. Actually, hyper-threading would improve your core i5 CPU performance by smartly increasing the number of processes that the processor can handle simultaneously. So, the CPU can handle more demanding applications much easier.

What Does Hyper-Threading Your Core i5 Mean

Hyper-threading is a process that allows a CPU to divide up its physical cores into virtual cores that are treated as if they are actually physical cores by the operating system. These virtual cores are also called threads. 

Number of Threads in i5-8600K 

The Intel Core i5 Processor provides six cores with each one operating between 3.6 and 4.3 GHz for editing digital content, streaming live gameplay, and running other types of intensive tasks.

Performance of Intel Core i5-8600K 

Intel’s Core i5-8600K has been considered the go-to gaming CPU for mid-range PC builders for years. From a pure performance point of view, the i5-8600K still remains one of the best gaming CPUs around today. 

With the six overclockable cores, a base clock speed of 3.6GHz, and a max Turbo Boost speed of 4.3GHz, the i5-8600K is truly the cream of the mid-range crop. 

Indeed, it offers pretty much exactly the same out-of-the-box performance as its 8th Gen predecessor, both when it comes to games and general desktop duties – and that’s despite having a 100MHz boost applied to its base clock speed and extra 300MHz added to its top Turbo Boost.

It also gives AMD’s Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 5 2600X predecessors a whole thrashing in the gaming department, offering better speeds across the board at both 1080p and 1440p. 

The only place where the Ryzen 5 2600X does manage to catch up to the i5-8600K is in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, where its 1080p performance is almost the same. So, everywhere else, the i5-8600K is the clear winner. 

Admittedly, testing any CPU’s gaming performance is still a bit of a tricky undertaking. However, i5-8600K is costly.

Gaming Performance of Intel Core i5-8600K

Hyperthreading can have a positive impact on the gaming performance of an Intel Core i5 8600K, as it allows for faster processing and improved multitasking capabilities. This means that background processes, such as video recording or streaming, can be run more efficiently alongside gaming, potentially leading to higher frame rates and a smoother gaming experience.

However, the improvement will not be significant for most games and depends on the specific game and system configuration. In some cases, Hyperthreading can also cause additional overhead, leading to a slight decrease in performance. In general, the impact of Hyperthreading on gaming performance is relatively minor and most gamers will not notice a significant difference.

It’s important to consider the specific requirements and preferences of your gaming setup and weigh the potential benefits against any potential downsides before enabling Hyperthreading.

The Bottleneck of RTX 3070 by i5-8600K Hyperthreaded

There is a broad question. But based on the benchmark of 6 games, the Intel Core i5-8600K Bottlenecks the RTX 3070 Ti at 1080p – ultra settings by 24.9% on average. 

This isn’t that bad, but it can be very noticeable in CPU-intensive games. So, you should take a CPU upgrade.  Kingdom Come Deliverance is particularly heavy on the CPU  and will cause a drop of 15-20fps when in NPC dense

Here are some examples:

Game	i9 12900K FPS	Core i5-8600K FPS	FPS Loss	Bottleneck(FPS) Loss%
Grand Theft Auto V	206.6	150.8	-55.8	27%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	185.8	135.9	-49.9	26.9%
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds	184	143	-41	22.3%
Forza Horizon 4	227	171.7	-55.3	24.4%
Apex Legends	232.3	179.9	-52.4	22.6%
Battlefield V	231	170.4	-60.6	26.2%

We can clearly see here that the Core i5-8600K bottlenecks RTX 3070 Ti by 27% at 1080p using ultra-quality settings in Grand Theft Auto V. 

Also, the Core i5-8600K bottlenecks RTX 3070 Ti by more than 22% at 1080p using ultra-quality settings in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon 4, Apex Legends, and Battlefield V. Thus, it is better to look into higher performance CPUs, as they handle gaming better than the Core i5-8600K and some are even a little cheaper.

Conclusion

As the discussion reaches its conclusion, it is evident that the i5 8600k has hyperthreading. It is a processor which is pretty much good enough for gaming and many other kinds of stuff. It is a 64-bit Hexa-core mid-range performance x86 desktop microprocessor introduced by Intel in 2017. 

It operates at a 3.6 GHz with a TDP of 95 W and a Turbo Boost frequency of up to 4.3 GHz. This chip supports up to 64 GiB of dual-channel DDR4-2666 memory and incorporates Intel’s UHD Graphics 630 IGP operating at 350 MHz with a burst frequency of 1.15 GHz.