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i5 v i7 for gaming

arcon33

arcon33

arcon33

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20 Jan 2011
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791
Location
Wigan
I know this question has been asked a million times but I have been planning on getting a i5 4690k for my new gaming rig, is it worth spending the (nearly £100) extra on a 4790k? I won't be doing any editing or anything just purely gaming, I'm thinking would the arrival of dx12 make use of the extra threads on the i7? also I eventually will sli gtx 980 and I've heard the i7 can make a difference in multi gpu setups, but in real world gaming is it worth it?
 
Toughie. I am considering switching myself and more than likely will from my 4690K. I had the 3570K with 2 x 670s and was bottlenecked on BF4 for example but then fine on other games.
 
i7 as minimal gains over an i5 for games and dose not warrant the extra ££'s how ever if you going to got dual top end GPU's then yes an i7 is needed.

780ti / R9-290 and better would need an i7 in my view, but if your just getting 2 270x's then you dont need an i7
 
P4Clock said:
i7 as minimal gains over an i5 for games and dose not warrant the extra ££'s how ever if you going to got dual top end GPU's then yes an i7 is needed.

780ti / R9-290 and better would need an i7 in my view, but if your just getting 2 270x's then you dont need an i7
Click to expand...

He is looking at 980s so definitely a i7 :)
 
if you dont have the 4790k or motherboard yet, i would go x79 or x99.
980's are high end so 2 would be better at x16/x16 with quad channel ram and a i7

used x79 board are going for £80-£120 for an ok board.
 
Can anyone please enlighten me as to why a 4690k wouldn't be ideal for two high end cards? Glad I saw this thread was about to add a second 970
 
harry5522 said:
Can anyone please enlighten me as to why a 4690k wouldn't be ideal for two high end cards? Glad I saw this thread was about to add a second 970
Click to expand...

Is it because DX11 uses a single thread of cpu, so a slow(er) cpu can starve the potential performance in dual gpu...if yes..it will become less of an issue with DX12
 
harry5522 said:
Can anyone please enlighten me as to why a 4690k wouldn't be ideal for two high end cards? Glad I saw this thread was about to add a second 970
Click to expand...

the CPU will bottleneck the cards. depending on the OC will depend on the GPU power loss. on 980's it will be more then 970's but will still be there.
i had 2 x 7950's that was been held back by a 4670 so 2 x GTX 970/980 would be held back by 4690

BUT.... it all depend on the ras your gaming at. if you at 1080 adding a second 980 would just be stupid. that said trying 4k with one 980 would also be stupid
 
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P4Clock said:
if you dont have the 4790k or motherboard yet, i would go x79 or x99.
980's are high end so 2 would be better at x16/x16 with quad channel ram and a i7

used x79 board are going for £80-£120 for an ok board.
Click to expand...

Now that is another can of worms you have opened for me lol just as I think I've nailed down my spec it's back to the drawing board. Tbh i know now is not a good time to be buying as we have new sockets, cpus, gpus etc around the corner but I have no system atm and I want it all up and running by the time witcher 3 arrives. My plan was to get a gigabyte black edition z97 now then be able to get the swap/upgrade in the future to a skylake/cannonlake rig and sell the cpu towards the new one
 
Well atm I'm 1080p 970strix 4690k @4.6 and this Friday I was going to upgrade (once my cheque clears :() to dual 970 and get a rog swift so 1440p and preferably higher frame rates.

EDIT : sorry arcon33 I feel as though I'm slightly abusing this thread to my own benefit. Hope you don't mind my couple of questions of similar subject.

-Harry
 
harry5522 said:
Well atm I'm 1080p 970strix 4690k @4.6 and this Friday I was going to upgrade (once my cheque clears :() to dual 970 and get a rog swift so 1440p and preferably higher frame rates.

EDIT : sorry arcon33 I feel as though I'm slightly abusing this thread to my own benefit. Hope you don't mind my couple of questions of similar subject.

-Harry
Click to expand...

Not at all mate as I'm absorbing all the info on here, I'm only recently back on the pc scene after a couple of years out of the loop so I have lots of catching up to do so any questions, answers and information is all good :)
 
harry5522 said:
Well atm I'm 1080p 970strix 4690k @4.6 and this Friday I was going to upgrade (once my cheque clears :() to dual 970 and get a rog swift so 1440p and preferably higher frame rates.

EDIT : sorry arcon33 I feel as though I'm slightly abusing this thread to my own benefit. Hope you don't mind my couple of questions of similar subject.

-Harry
Click to expand...

@1440 two 970's would be nice, i would think 1 will do the job however to keep a nice high frame rate and have high setting 2 would be needed.

right now i have 1 x R9 290X @ 1440 and i play at medium setting just to be safe untill i add my second GPU Friday.

i had 2 7970's @ 1440 and the second GPU was need to get passed low setting at a good frame rate.
 
arcon33 said:
Now that is another can of worms you have opened for me lol just as I think I've nailed down my spec it's back to the drawing board. Tbh i know now is not a good time to be buying as we have new sockets, cpus, gpus etc around the corner but I have no system atm and I want it all up and running by the time witcher 3 arrives. My plan was to get a gigabyte black edition z97 now then be able to get the swap/upgrade in the future to a skylake/cannonlake rig and sell the cpu towards the new one
Click to expand...

What resolution would you want to be gaming at? 1080, 1440 or 4k.
the monitor you chouse is the most important thing think here.

2 x 980 @ 1080 is stupid
2 x 280x @ 4k is stupid
but 2 x 280x @ 1080 will cover you for the next 5 years, and as we are going for 2 x 280x that an i5 will do just fine.

however it all go's back to the res you want to game at
 
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I plan on getting a gsync (or freesync if the 3xx series lives upto the hype) 1440p @144hz monitor. I'd be starting off with one gpu then probably get another later in the year
 
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