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i7 4970k vs 5930k, which one?

FL630

FL630

FL630

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i7 4790k vs 5930k, which one?

Hi,

I am picking my next CPU and have been offered a rather good rate on a 5930K, though still more expensive than a 4970k.

Is the upgrade worth it? Both will run an Intel 730 SSD and 16GB ram.

I'd like to game at 1440p, with max settings, though as my monitor is a 60Hz monitor I don't need a million FPS. I'd like to get GTA V working at max, that's my benchmark.

I also do a fair amount of image editing, but my current Dell laptop still serves me well with a i7-2xxx, 6GB ram and GT555M, so I don't see it as too stressful.

I would also like to do some video editing, but nothing major.

Will I see many gains going X99 vs Z97? I will be overclocking and eventually water cooling.

And to save another thread, can someone tell me in one word if a GTX 970 will run something like GTA V in 1440p maxed out at 60fps, or shall I go GTX 980, or GTX 970 SLI?

Thanks!
 
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depends in on the price of the CPU as its a big budget difference , and with no price mentioned it's hard to say. I'd be inclined to go with the 5930k but again it's the price difference . It will help in productivity and video editing. but with image editing I'm unsure how much of a difference if anything you'd see . Any single card bar the Titan x ( and even then it's a big ask ) can't max GTA @ 1440p , you'd be looking at an SLI or Crossfire config for max settings at that res , and even my self with a 5820k & 2 980s can't max it @ 2560 x 1080p and keep a solid 60 , I have to make sacrifices on grass and advanced settings .

Haswell e , is a fun platform for overcloking and don't really see there full potential untill pushed over 4ghz where they reall come into their own
 
Wow, I didn't know that GtA V was that intensive, perhaps I should lower my expectations.

Price difference, About £150, but I'm scraping my budget with the 5930K, which potentially I could pile into other things such as a second GTX970 to SLI my rig?
 
You'll not notice a difference in most games in all honesty and with DX12 on the horizon a quad core Intel processor is set to become even more overkill for gaming, if you're a power user the 5930K is around 50% more powerful though assuming you'll overclock.

If it's only costing you an extra £150 (does that include DDR4?) I'd probably go with the 5930K as it will probably still be rocking along at the upper end of benchmarks in 5yrs time and it doesn't have the temperature issues associated with the LGA115x platform.
 
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Well actually there are a lot of games when you benchmark them for CPU performance you see ci7 49xx/5xxx series pull away from the Quad Core cpu's like 4770K/4790K etc, but the "problem" is that these differences only show in resolutions like 720p where you rule out the GPU as limiting factor - in those kind of resolutions you can really see the difference in CPU performance. However as 90% of gaming today is happening at 1080p and most still use 1 GPU it's always the GPU showing to be the limiting factor and hereby all the differences in CPU strength gets evened out and the differences between the CPU's appear to be minor.
 
FL630 said:
Wow, I didn't know that GtA V was that intensive, perhaps I should lower my expectations.

Price difference, About £150, but I'm scraping my budget with the 5930K, which potentially I could pile into other things such as a second GTX970 to SLI my rig?
Click to expand...

You'd be far better piling that into a second GPU , but remember irregardless of the 970 "vram issue" you are going to hit the vram wall at that res even if you have ample horsepower . It's optimised no doubt but still requires a fair chunk of vram at 1080p I could use 4gb. So settings are always going to need to be adjustted , it's just so happens a couple of settings that lower vram usage also lower CPU usage anyway.

For the better gaming experiance , bung it into the GPU

For better overall productivity go for the 5930k .whilst it is put 50% in synthetic benches and some productivity suites , it almost never scales like that in the majority of real world applications , a more appropriate 10-20% boost in highly threaded apps is best case scenario
 
No that's the extra price for the processor + motherboard and SSD. I guess DDR4 is another cost.

Longevity is something I'm aiming for, so if I can future proof for £150 then it might be tempting.

But here and now, it's not a huge upgrade?
 
FL630 said:
No that's the extra price for the processor + motherboard and SSD. I guess DDR4 is another cost.

Longevity is something I'm aiming for, so if I can future proof for £150 then it might be tempting.

But here and now, it's not a huge upgrade?
Click to expand...

I upgraded from X79, 4930K, 2133MHz DDR3 to X99, 5820K, 2400MHz DDR4. I gained around 9% in better overall performance. However I also only did the upgrade because I could do i for less than £150 after selling my old hardware...and also because I needed more SATA 3.0 ports ;)
So no it's not going to be a hughe upgrade right now, but it could perhaps be a good platform for the next 2011v3 CPU's in line later that would bring more performance to the table.
I had my X79 base system since late 2011 and went through the upgrades of ci7 3820, 3930K and 4930K. I never had a platform lasting for so many years in main PC. I think it was money worth invested.
 
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He could always go SLI later though and perhaps with more modern GPU's to boot, if he goes 4790K/SLI now then admittedly that's a better short term solution (and cheaper) but it's a bit of a dead end in terms of CPU unless he upgrades again later.
 
Oops yes my bad! I posted that far too early after next to no sleep sitting on a train on the way to an airport, precise numbers aren't for that time of the morning!

You all bring up valid points, exactly what I'm thinking too, there are pros to 5930K with single GPU and pros for the 4790K and SLI GTX 970.

It's not a huge difference in costs, so that part says just work a few extra hours and buy it, but the other half of me says don't waste your money for a marginal gain vs a 2nd graphics card.
 
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I would personally go SLI. I personally think that even in 3 years time you will see a better performing game on the sli 970 over a 5930. DX12 coming along too.... i have yet to find a game that even gets close to maxing my 4790k out (i am running it at 4.8) but not even close even in GTA with everything on max @ 1080p

However others will argue the fact of Vram running SLI on a 970 but its still going to perform better than more CPU horsepower. TBH even my old i5 2500k can handle anything that i throw at it game wise. (4.8ghz also) games are definitely only limited by GPU currently even if it is down to poor optimisation.
 
I've just upgraded from a 3770k to a 5930k.
Can't say I've noticed any difference so far. I got a titan x at the same time so I don't see me buying anything else for the next 5 years. Other than maybe another graphics card in a few years time.
 
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