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Is a i7-4770k worth the extra cost over a i5-4670k for gaming

cheddar

cheddar

cheddar

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Can anyone tell me if it is worth spending the extra $100 (currently in the USA) on a i7 vs getting a i5 for gaming?

I am going to build a new system before Christmas (finally putting my q6600 to rest) and whilst money is not a huge issue I don't really want to spending extra money when I won't see any improvement.

I will be using the PC for gaming and just browsing. Overclocking isn't a big deal at the moment, and even in the future I don't see me doing much beyond air overclocking.

Any thoughts on this subject would be great.
 
Games seem to be moving towards multi threads If multi threading continues to be the way newer games are developed then a 4770k will have a clear advantage.

So for future proofing yes get a i7
 
Whichever one you get, buy a cheap-ish 25 pound air cooler to go with it and overclock it to 4.2ghz to start with (That's doable even with the cheapies). Free performance, no reason not to.

I'd say, 4670k for single cards, 4770k for SLI. You will not run out of power with either one with a just single card.

Yes, someone will now show a 64-player Bugged BF4 multiplayer experience where your FPS dropped for a second due to CPU util.. but I don't think that counts.

I'd get the 4670k for single cards and spend the extra saved on a good cooler for a good overclock.
 
Threepwood said:
Yes, worth every cent. Especially if not overclocking.

You are totally future proof with 8 threads, and the future is coming.
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future proof is wasting money....

buy the i5 today

sell the i5 in a year, buy a new top end i5 sell your old i5

/repeat buy hookers and beer with the money you save

unless money is no object then i7...
 
Socket 1150 is only lasting another generation before Intel change the platform again.

They're moving voltage regulation back to the motherboard (where it should have stayed!!!).
 
edscdk said:
future proof is wasting money....

buy the i5 today

sell the i5 in a year, buy a new top end i5 sell your old i5

/repeat buy hookers and beer with the money you save

unless money is no object then i7...
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We're talking a measly hundred buck here and not having to sell for maybe 4 years.

Even if he got the upgrade itch inbetween now and then the i7 will hold its value second hand much better than the i5.
 
If you are a performance fiend and you want the highest fps in games which utilise over 4 threads, then yes.

Also, the i5 will bottleneck high end GPU setups (i.e. SLI 780 Ti card and crossfire 290X) especially at 1080p in games which are well threaded. They will still be very playable etc, but as above, if you are counting the frames, your performance will be better with the i7.
 
alex_123_fra said:
If you are a performance fiend and you want the highest fps in games which utilise over 4 threads, then yes.

Also, the i5 will bottleneck high end GPU setups (i.e. SLI 780 Ti card and crossfire 290X) especially at 1080p in games which are well threaded. They will still be very playable etc, but as above, if you are counting the frames, your performance will be better with the i7.
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I hope you mean the 4670k will bottleneck high-end dual GPU setups, because there has been no data saying that it will bottleneck any single card, especially with a mild OC like 4.2ghz that's achievable for anyone.
 
Well it's been ages since my last full build, I have relied on OC'ing my poor Q6600 and upgrading the graphics card every year or so but I can tell now that the CPU is struggling.

I am not really willing to drop money on multiple GPU setup at the moment so I am somewhat leaning towards the i5. In saying that, my q6600 has lasted me so long I kind of want to repeat that same longevity if I can with my next cpu.

I was under the impression that barely any games were using all eight threads of the i7, is this a changing thing?

One thing I forgot to mention that I really want a multiply monitor setup, two more than likely, will a cpu upgrade provide any real benefits in this area?
 
Things will always advance and since you want it to last years I would go i7 I always say by the best at the time as it will last you longer than buying second best as by its definition its not as good now so it wont be as good in the future.
 
Right, 2 years ago when I bought my 2500k I should have bought the i7.

As it stands the 2500k will last me another 2 years, but it will need further clocking and I'm limited by how far I can go GPU wise (in dual GPU set up).

If I had gone for the i7 option at the time I would not have these limits and would probably have lasted another 2 years (a 6 year cpu!) the monies saved would have gone into more expensive GPUS to fill that 2 year gap.

Get the i7 now, be future proof, saves you money that you can pump into gpu's later.
 
cheddar said:
Well it's been ages since my last full build, I have relied on OC'ing my poor Q6600 and upgrading the graphics card every year or so but I can tell now that the CPU is struggling.

I am not really willing to drop money on multiple GPU setup at the moment so I am somewhat leaning towards the i5. In saying that, my q6600 has lasted me so long I kind of want to repeat that same longevity if I can with my next cpu.

I was under the impression that barely any games were using all eight threads of the i7, is this a changing thing?

One thing I forgot to mention that I really want a multiply monitor setup, two more than likely, will a cpu upgrade provide any real benefits in this area?
Click to expand...

Well, the assumption is that new games will be more threaded, but no-one knows for sure. They claim to know.

It's hard to run a multiple monitor setup with a single GPU only as you will run out of grunt if you run a triple Full-HD resolution setup and want to play with high quality settings, so you can assume you will need a 2nd GPU (and in that case, 4770k). And the CPU needs to be overclocked.

But if you run a single monitor with a single card, you won't need a 4670k.
 
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Agree with above. The consoles have moved to 8 core platforms so I would imagine that the next gen games over the coming years will be designed to full utilise multi-core CPUs. It's 2013, do you really want to a dual core? That's all an i5 is at the end of the day - a CPU with 2 real cores with 4 available threads.
 
1kiwi said:
Agree with above. The consoles have moved to 8 core platforms so I would imagine that the next gen games over the coming years will be designed to full utilise multi-core CPUs. It's 2013, do you really want to a dual core? That's all an i5 is at the end of the day - a CPU with 2 real cores with 4 available threads.
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NO.

An i7 is a 4-core CPU with 8 threads.

An i5 is a 4-core CPU with 4 threads.

An i3 is a 2-core with 4 threads. (And some of them, 2 threads)

Get your facts straight, that was pretty misleading to anyone new reading it.
 
Make said:
Well, the assumption is that new games will be more threaded, but no-one knows for sure. They claim to know.

It's hard to run a multiple monitor setup with a single GPU only as you will run out of grunt if you run a triple Full-HD resolution setup and want to play with high quality settings, so you can assume you will need a 2nd GPU (and in that case, 4770k). And the CPU needs to be overclocked.

But if you run a single monitor with a single card, you won't need a 4670k.
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It's not an assumption, it's what developers say. Next gen engines are multi-threaded, there's no doubt about that.

You certainly can get better results on a single monitor with a single card with a 4770K over a 4670K if the game is well threaded.
 
Make said:
NO.

An i7 is a 4-core CPU with 8 threads.

An i5 is a 4-core CPU with 4 threads.

An i3 is a 2-core with 4 threads. (And some of them, 2 threads)

Get your facts straight, that was pretty misleading to anyone new reading it.
Click to expand...

He might be getting confused with the mobile i5, which is 2 cores and 4 threads.
 
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