CPU To overclock or not to overclock (in an S4 Mini)

[limaalpha0hacii]

I have already ordered an S4 Mini from Josh's secret shop (thanks a ton!) and I originally planned to put an i5-7500 (currently $192) with a Gigabyte GA H270N Motherboard (currently $116). I was looking online at some cpus and my local Microcenter listed an i5 7600K for only $199, what a deal! So many questions popped up in my head:

-Is the increase in TDP worth the extra clockspeed?
-The Gigabyte H270 Board has type 2 usb 3.1, but the ($3 cheaper) AsRock Z270 board doesnt, is type 2 usb 3.1 even worth it?
-If I do decide on the 7600k, would I get this with the H270, or should I get the Z270 instead?
-Since the 7600k draws 91W, would i need to change from an HDPlex 160w to a 300w?
-Would a 7600k even be practical in an S4 Mini given the compact nature of the case and the higher clockspeed of the cpu?

I'm not sure which one I should opt for, and i dont wanna go too far over my budget of around $1200, so I'm going to ask my fellow SFF Forum members. What would you go for in this situation? Yes I know, my choice should depend on what I'm looking for in a system and what noise levels are acceptable and all that jazz. I'd like your opinion, based on whatever you look for in a pc. Your opinions would really, really help. Thanks!

-Larry

Here's the pcpartpicker permalink to my saved parts list: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/limaalpha0hacii/saved/zTYRBm

 

[zovc]

I reckon if the price of the two chips is practically the same, you should opt for the K-series chip.

The main thing to note is--if you're comfortable overclocking--you should have no problems tinkering with undervolting either. The absolute worst case scenario is you spend $7 more on the K-series chip and it runs too hot at stock settings. From there, you just start bumping down the voltage (and the clock speed if you have to) and you should end up hitting around the 7500's 3.4Ghz @ 65W. Probably able to go lower than that if you need. Honestly, even if you end up having to undervolt the 7600K and underclocking it below the 7500's stock speeds, you probably would have had to underclock the 7500 too. The 7600K just comes with way more options and headroom and there's effectively no price difference between the two right now.

For what it's worth, I undervolted and underclocked my i7-4790K in a mini-box M350 to ~3.6Ghz, then overclocked the iGPU as much as I could and everything runs under 75C at load. In the S4 Mini (which I have on order but don't have my hands on), the much improved airflow would probably allow for less undervolting. But also, most CPUs are pretty safely able to run at ~80C--I just personally didn't want to run my chip that hot in that case.

 

[limaalpha0hacii]

I reckon if the price of the two chips is practically the same, you should opt for the K-series chip.

The main thing to note is--if you're comfortable overclocking--you should have no problems tinkering with undervolting either. The absolute worst case scenario is you spend $7 more on the K-series chip and it runs too hot at stock settings. From there, you just start bumping down the voltage (and the clock speed if you have to) and you should end up hitting around the 7500's 3.4Ghz @ 65W. Probably able to go lower than that if you need. Honestly, even if you end up having to undervolt the 7600K and underclocking it below the 7500's stock speeds, you probably would have had to underclock the 7500 too. The 7600K just comes with way more options and headroom and there's effectively no price difference between the two right now.

For what it's worth, I undervolted and underclocked my i7-4790K in a mini-box M350 to ~3.6Ghz, then overclocked the iGPU as much as I could and everything runs under 75C at load. In the S4 Mini (which I have on order but don't have my hands on), the much improved airflow would probably allow for less undervolting. But also, most CPUs are pretty safely able to run at ~80C--I just personally didn't want to run my chip that hot in that case.

I'm probably going to get the latter cpu, but that means getting an overclock (or underclock) capable mobo if i want to over/underclock. The AsRock Z270 is actually cheaper than the Gigabyte H270, but the AsRock has fewer features than the Gigabyte. (on a side note, I'm also considering the G-Unique psu, can I still order one?)