4790K+Z97 or 5820K+X99 ?

silvagti · 4 Sep 2014 at 20:28

R3X said:
Decisions decisions, perhaps both are just as good choices.

This TBH. I think I'm planning on going X99/5820K for the extra cores (which aren't of huge benefit just now but I think will pay dividends in a couple of years time) and the DDR4 memory support. I also like the thought of being able to chuck in an 8-core broadwell CPU further down the line if I need to as well.

Having said that 4790k/Z97 in many ways is better given the performance in non multithreaded apps is potentially superior, due to the improved clock speed, and the £200 saving could be put towards a top end video card which would probably make more of a difference than any CPU/platform if gaming is your thing. Z97 is also a far more stable, mature and reliable platform compared to X99 which is literally just out this week!

Tough call actually....! :confused:

I'd say X99 platform if you're feeling extravagant and have the money to throw at it or Z97/4970k as the sensible bang-per-buck option.

Speaking of extravagance for the first time ever I've been eyeing up some of the benchmarks on the 5960X extreme edition CPU and starting to wonder if it may actually justify spending another £400 on it. It really is a helluva powerful chip especially when you overclock it past 4Ghz. Worrying for my bank balance.......!

smilertoo · 4 Sep 2014 at 23:03

There's no such thing as future proof. Since you're doing nothing that even comes close to stressing a 4970k i would go with that. If you have future plans to run lots of VMs then go for the x99 option.

R3X · 4 Sep 2014 at 23:06

Well will have to make a choice soon!

Its true if I save myself the 200-300 quid not going 5820/x99 route I could put that towards a shiny next gen Nvidia card due soon or a new screen or super fast M2 SSD.

R3X · 4 Sep 2014 at 23:08

smilertoo said:
There's no such thing as future proof. Since you're doing nothing that even comes close to stressing a 4970k i would go with that. If you have future plans to run lots of VMs then go for the x99 option.

only one vm with ubuntu perhaps will make it my download/media movie box
Id imagine a 4790k would still allow me to do that no issues especially with 16gig and ssd ?

Dave2150 · 5 Sep 2014 at 03:10

Combat squirrel said:
There is no such thing as 'future proof' with x99, the next CPU that will go in it will be only 4-5% faster so NOT WORTH IT, also any x99 CPU will not clock anywhere near the z97 setup, z97 with a huge overclock with mature DDR3 will actually be a faster machine than anything a x99 can do FOR GAMING.

A 6 or 8 core CPU is more 'future proof' than a measly 4core.

As the months/years go by, applications/games will utilize more cores.

Zeed · 5 Sep 2014 at 09:15

Dave2150 +1

look how poor new consoles are. With 6 core haswell e you are GAMING SORTED for i would say 4 years on cpu side. Just look how many people still game on I7 920 !!!!

Qitarah · 5 Sep 2014 at 13:00

For gaming You'll be sorted for 4 years on a 4790k as well.

Born_2_Kill_83 · 5 Sep 2014 at 13:03

Would like to see how a 4790k performs on a battlefield game in 4 years time or any other CPU dependant game, guessing you'll perhaps have to turn some settings down

Qitarah · 5 Sep 2014 at 13:04

Yer most likely, guessing you will on any 4 year old CPU though if it's a real CPU intensive game.

malachi · 5 Sep 2014 at 13:57

Lord_ZED said:
Just look how many people still game on I7 920 !!!!

Yep and still have no reason to upgrade....what a great CPU is it

Amatsubu · 5 Sep 2014 at 14:26

TBH, I don't really think a 4790k will struggle that much in 3-4 years' time unless you plan on going 4k with a monster SLI/Crossfire setup. Gaming is becoming more and more GPU dependent and technological advancement from generation to generation is relatively minor (at least in terms of raw CPU power). Just as Lord_ZED said, people still game on i7 920 without any problems.

R3X · 5 Sep 2014 at 16:25

Future proofed is correct but its also flawed in the sense a bloke will find any excuse to upgrade

Regardless I think can't go wrong with either choice, end of next year it will be all about Skylake threads and history repeats itself.

ginjaninja · 9 Sep 2014 at 15:16

I too remember the naysayers when quad core came out (slower cores, not necessary) , and it turned out the [email protected] was the best value, longest lasting computer ever purchased...it was the cores that delivered the longevity. But this time, in the non extreme x99 pricing, we are only looking at 50% more cores 4-6 (not 100% more cores).

If as someone hypothesized 8 cores broadwell (non extreme pricing is a sure thing on X99 some time in the future, even if the ipc is only 5% better, then that would swing it for me...if not then X99 might either be a VERY expensive luxury or perhaps even a folly.

Its a shame that Intel don't make the decision to invest in their premium product easier, by clearly committing to a longer more detailed roadmap. I would have no hesitation if i knew 8 core non-extreme pricing was coming on X99 down the road.

Anyone seen any evidence about 8 core Broadwell for X99 non extreme pricing?

sick-lizard · 9 Sep 2014 at 17:40

if running vm's, more threads = more vm's and with the Z97 platform you will probably find only a couple of the non K i7 cpu's properly support virtual machines (cpu instruction sets) & have 8 threads... I don't believe those issues exist on the X99 platform.. food for thought

edit looks like I'm talking bxxxxx I can't see any Vpro support on the new intel cpu's.... but they all now have directed io etc which is nice

HighlandeR · 9 Sep 2014 at 18:05

I would say an z97 with 4770k would still be good enough and fast enough.

R3X · 9 Sep 2014 at 18:07

sick-lizard said:
if running vm's, more threads = more vm's and with the Z97 platform you will probably find only a couple of the non K i7 cpu's properly support virtual machines (cpu instruction sets) & have 8 threads... I don't believe those issues exist on the X99 platform.. food for thought

edit looks like I'm talking bxxxxx I can't see any Vpro support on the new intel cpu's.... but they all now have directed io etc which is nice

I would only realistic be running 1 or 2 VMs, think it would make much difference with an 4790k?

Is Vpro a good thing to have if its not supported on the new haswell es?

sick-lizard · 9 Sep 2014 at 19:24

R3X said:
I would only realistic be running 1 or 2 VMs, think it would make much difference with an 4790k?

Is Vpro a good thing to have if its not supported on the new haswell es?

I think all the rest of the shiny VT extensions have superseded Vpro so probably isn't worth worrying about.

imho the 4790K should be fine for that work load, tbh I leave my vms (small lab for geek learning) running even when gaming as its more hassle to reboot em lol and I notice no issues when gaming etc (I suppose it depends what you use the vms for

) and thats on the previous gen haswell kit! 8 threads+ ftw

a66as · 9 Sep 2014 at 20:00

4790k and z97 should last you at least 3 years anyway. most of the games out there are console ports.

If that extra £200 is spare though then why not splash it out

HighlandeR · 9 Sep 2014 at 21:02

perhaps 200-300 bob better off on other upgrades like gpu etc though

R3X · 9 Sep 2014 at 21:04

sick-lizard said:
I think all the rest of the shiny VT extensions have superseded Vpro so probably isn't worth worrying about.

imho the 4790K should be fine for that work load, tbh I leave my vms (small lab for geek learning) running even when gaming as its more hassle to reboot em lol and I notice no issues when gaming etc (I suppose it depends what you use the vms for ) and thats on the previous gen haswell kit! 8 threads+ ftw

Id perhaps use that VM as a download machine running torrent/nzb clients with windows 8 or ubuntu + would have 16gig regardless.

Not sure if that would be taxing too much though, you reckon it will be fine ?