These are Intel processors from the 10th, 11th, and 12th generation series.
These are Intel processors from the 10th, 11th, and 12th generation series.
This means adding the different versions lets you reach around $11,400 at $200. It's 15% higher than $170 for the $10,400 model and offers about a 30% performance increase. You'll likely need to spend at least $250 on the 5600x, which doesn't really improve its performance compared to the $11,400 option.
I wouldn't purchase any of these chips. I'd avoid both and opt for the 12600k instead. However, that's my preference. Making budget choices is tough because there are always reasons why one option seems better than another, or marginally more so in this case, slightly less in another.
It'll take quite some time before I require more than the 11400 provides. Within the under $200 budget, this chip performed best and remains so. A few users have different priorities, but for gaming and light audio tasks—especially after moving most work to a Mac—it's ideal and should last a while.
You're referring to what I understand as a comparison between chip speeds and performance. Generally, I'd expect a 5GHz 8700K to beat both the 10400 and 11400 chips, though the improvements on the 11400 are modest. For gaming purposes, I think these chips will become outdated soon. A 5GHz 8700K is roughly equivalent to a 10600K at 720p, which seems unlikely to make a big difference.
This discussion focuses on gaming as the primary context, based on typical usage patterns.