4790k upgrade advice

[Amatsubu]

Hi,

I think it's finally the time to upgrade my 4790k, had it almost since release and it's been a champ but it's starting to show its age in some games and also in music production.

I've been out of the loop for quite a while, should I go straight to Alder Lake 12600(k)? If so, any decent 1700 boards that will do the trick without breaking the bank? I might do some moderate OC'ing (if even that) somewhere down the road, nothing to heavy.

If not Alder Lake, what other options would be worth looking into that aren't eye-wateringly expensive and will last a couple of years? Don't mind going Ryzen.

My GPU is 2070S, will also upgrade it when it starts struggling more at 1440p and the prices settle down.

Thanks for the help

 

[SkyTerran]

The i5 12600K is a lot better than the 12600 non-K - as it has extra 4 E-cores.
If you're not going to do overclocking Gigabyte Z690M DS3H DDR4 is a decent budget board. Intel has pushed the K CPUs to the limit - any overclocking will require expensive motherboard and cooling.
The problem with 12600K and the like is they only work well under Windows 11 and Linux, but not under Windows 10 (the OS needs to know the difference between P and E cores). Also some applications have issues with the new architecture.
You can save a few pounds by buying the F variant - Intel Core i5-12600KF. Gigabyte Z690M DS3H DDR4 + Intel Core i5-12600KF can be bought for around £375.
A good AMD alternative is Ryzen 7 5700G - the price has gone down a lot recently, AM4 motherboards are very cheap, works well under Win 10 and has no app compatibility problems. The G-series Ryzens only support PCI-E 3.0 (as does your current GPU), if you want 4 get a 5000 X-series Ryzen.

 

[Amatsubu]

Thanks for the advice!

I forgot that W10 won't recognise E-cores properly.

I'm fine without OC'ing, the 12600k will probably have enough power to last a good few years for what I do.
The problem is, I think I'm kinda upgrading at a bad time. If I go 12600k, I know I'll be tempted to get a DDR5 board and 16gb of DDR5 to start me off, which is not really sensible now as DDR5 is far from maturing and the prices are pretty bonkers. On the other hand, if I go with DDR4, I'll be changing the mobo sooner (if DDR5 matures into a game-changer, which might not happen for a few years). I know full-well that future-proofing isn't really possible but still.

The other way of doing this is getting something like a 5600X at the best price I can, pair it up with a decent mobo on the cheaper side, smack 16-32gb of fast ram on it and just wait. It'll most likely offer a lot of grunt for gaming and music for quite a long time and I could stay on W10 for the time being. The leftover budget could go into a GPU upgrade when prices go back to normal (more or less) and something worthwile comes out.

I don't have to upgrade this week or anything, so I'll most likely wait for AMD's 3D cache offerings to see if there's enough in them to go all out. If not, I'll have to decide between Alder Lake on DDR4 or 5 + jump to W11 and a "stopgap" 5600X with everything on a budget. Neither option will be too bad going from Devil's Canyon, I suppose

 

[Amatsubu]

The more I think about it, going Alder Lake on DDR4 makes sense when I compare pricing to Ryzen 5600x in my country. DDR5 is not worth it now.

I could even go full budget with 12400F (faster than 5600x and good price), cheaper DDR4 mobo and 16-32gb of fast ram and that would probably last me a good while. Decent leftover budget as well for a future switch if need be or GPU upgrade.

What would you do in my place? Budget and squeeze everything out of it till the next significant advancement in tech or go bugger now? I'm leaning towards the first option but suggestions are more than welcome

 

[Kirby Wurm]

Personally I'd go 12400F with a decent cheap B660 board and DDR4, will last a good while without breaking the bank and has enough performance that you'd notice strong benefits from a new GPU at 1440p.

 

[Amatsubu]

Definitely seems a very sensible option and a capable chip for the stuff I do.

I was pondering going B660 and 12700 non-K for those 8P + 4E cores but I'm not sure if I'll get enough out of it to be worth the price difference versus the 12400F in the long run.

When you don't upgrade for so long you get tempted into grabbing the best thing you can but I'm not sure that's sensible in this case. It was the same when I chose the 4790k over the 4690k those 7 years ago, I felt it was worth it overall but the price difference was less between the two.

 

[Kirby Wurm]

When you don't upgrade for so long you get tempted into grabbing the best thing you can but I'm not sure that's sensible in this case. It was the same when I chose the 4790k over the 4690k those 7 years ago, I felt it was worth it overall but the price difference was less between the two.

That was a sensible choice, I went for the latter then felt compelled by games like Battlefield One (maxing all four cores) to get an 8700K about 4 years later. I suppose it all depends on whether it's going to be a stopgap or longer term solution. With a B660 it would support the next gen of Intel CPUs (Raptor Lake) so you:d have some upgrade path at least. It is a tough choice, moreso than GPUs I find, purely because they're generally expected to last longer.

 

[Gilbert89]

That was a sensible choice, I went for the latter then felt compelled by games like Battlefield One (maxing all four cores) to get an 8700K about 4 years later. I suppose it all depends on whether it's going to be a stopgap or longer term solution. With a B660 it would support the next gen of Intel CPUs (Raptor Lake) so you:d have some upgrade path at least. It is a tough choice, moreso than GPUs I find, purely because they're generally expected to last longer.

Same boat I was in - Went for the 4690K and all was well until BF1 and BF5 came out and it was maxing out the CPU for fun.

I recently went 12400F/Z690 and the performance is plenty for my usage (Gaming)

 

[Amatsubu]

That was a sensible choice, I went for the latter then felt compelled by games like Battlefield One (maxing all four cores) to get an 8700K about 4 years later. I suppose it all depends on whether it's going to be a stopgap or longer term solution. With a B660 it would support the next gen of Intel CPUs (Raptor Lake) so you:d have some upgrade path at least. It is a tough choice, moreso than GPUs I find, purely because they're generally expected to last longer.

Yeah, my 4790k went through 3 or 4 GPUs and I agree it's easier to pick a GPU. I know that considering 12700 is probably just stupidity on my part because I know 12400 and a cheaper board will do just fine.
The thing is, will I be bothered to switch CPUs sooner?
Will the 2 additional cores and 4 E-core make enough of a difference? Who knows, but it's tempting to get something better

@Gilbert89 Any particular reason you went with Z690 for 12400F rather than the cheaper boards? Are you planning to drop in a Razor Lake K CPU?

 

[Gilbert89]

Yeah, my 4790k went through 3 or 4 GPUs and I agree it's easier to pick a GPU. I know that considering 12700 is probably just stupidity on my part because I know 12400 and a cheaper board will do just fine.
The thing is, will I be bothered to switch CPUs sooner?
Will the 2 additional cores and 4 E-core make enough of a difference? Who knows, but it's tempting to get something better

@Gilbert89 Any particular reason you went with Z690 for 12400F rather than the cheaper boards? Are you planning to drop in a Razor Lake K CPU?

No educated, technical reason other than I wanted a WIFI Board and whenever I researched the cheaper B660 Boards with WIFI they were either Out of Stock, m/ATX and cheaper (I wanted ATX) or a more expensive model board with WIFI ending up costing more than the WIFI Z690 I bought.

Despite having no interest in it for now, who knows If I may end up with a K CPU and having a Z690 means I should be able to Overclock If I choose too, I have little knowledge in that field with new 12th Gen CPU's to be honest. I think in terms of Overclocking 12th Gen it's perhaps where the more expensive, better power delivery, better VRM cooling boards come into play especially for the high end CPU's.

The system is only used for gaming and will never have to deal with a overly power hungry CPU with tons of cores.

I went with a MSI Z690 Pro WIFI costing £188 which included a FREE SSD (Part of a promotion) It's a Budget Z690.

 

[Amatsubu]

No educated, technical reason other than I wanted a WIFI Board and whenever I researched the cheaper B660 Boards with WIFI they were either Out of Stock, m/ATX and cheaper (I wanted ATX) or a more expensive model board with WIFI ending up costing more than the WIFI Z690 I bought.

Despite having no interest in it for now, who knows If I may end up with a K CPU and having a Z690 means I should be able to Overclock If I choose too, I have little knowledge in that field with new 12th Gen CPU's to be honest. I think in terms of Overclocking 12th Gen it's perhaps where the more expensive, better power delivery, better VRM cooling boards come into play especially for the high end CPU's.

The system is only used for gaming and will never have to deal with a overly power hungry CPU with tons of cores.

I went with a MSI Z690 Pro WIFI costing £188 which included a FREE SSD (Part of a promotion) It's a Budget Z690.

Oh, ok, doesn't sound like a bad at all with the SSD and you always have the option to go for a higher-end K chip. I don't think I'll be overclocking this time round because it's significantly more heat and power draw with these Alder Lake chips for not that much benefit so it's either 12400f + a decent B660 board or 12700 with H670.

Those entry-level Z690 boards aren't that much more expensive than H670 but I think I'd just he tempted to go DDR5 and 12700K then abd there's nor much point in it.

 

[Kirby Wurm]

I know that considering 12700 is probably just stupidity on my part because I know 12400 and a cheaper board will do just fine.
The thing is, will I be bothered to switch CPUs sooner?

This is why I have a 5900X when a 5600X would have done! I had the money at the time and thought why not? I also fancied more cores than my 8700K as otherwise it wouldn't have felt a worthy upgrade hehehe. In hindsight it was definitely the wrong decision seeing as it's mostly for gaming, but on the flip side I'll be keeping it for a good while methinks, and it's a lesson learnt.

 

[Amatsubu]

This is why I have a 5900X when a 5600X would have done! I had the money at the time and thought why not? I also fancied more cores than my 8700K as otherwise it wouldn't have felt a worthy upgrade hehehe. In hindsight it was definitely the wrong decision seeing as it's mostly for gaming, but on the flip side I'll be keeping it for a good while methinks, and it's a lesson learnt.

Yup, this is going to kill me Upgrading from a 4c to a 6c doesn't sound as great as to a 12c but I know this is just vanity I do work with music though and that can push a CPU quite hard but still. The 12400f is just such great value if you don't go overboard with the mobo, I don't trust some of those cheaper boards though.

I have to sleep on it for a while

 

[JGF111]

Same boat. 4790K here (ol' Betsy) that is finally starting to feel a bit creaky. My pattern is buy high and then ride it out for a good 6 or 7 (or 8) years so while the 12900K is really tempting me, I'm absolutely waiting until fall where I will have to choose between Zen4 and Raptor Lake (and a new video card too).

 

[Amatsubu]

Same boat. 4790K here (ol' Betsy) that is finally starting to feel a bit creaky. My pattern is buy high and then ride it out for a good 6 or 7 (or 8) years so while the 12900K is really tempting me, I'm absolutely waiting until fall where I will have to choose between Zen4 and Raptor Lake (and a new video card too).

4790k was a beast but yeah, it's getting a bit long in the tooth now. There are so many choices that I don't really know what to do, unlike back in the days.

I usually do the same as you but I wouldn't go higher than a 12700 as I don't see the point. I could go K with Z690 but I don't think there's much to be gained from from OC'ing these except excess heat and power draw.

I'm also curious how much better Razor Lake and Zen 4 will be.

Maybe get myself set up with a better mobo with 12400f and the drop a Razor Lake i7 later?

Also, there's not much price difference between the better B660 boards and entry-level Z690 like the Tuf so I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to just get something like the MSI Z690-A in case I change my mind about OCing. Unless they're much worse quality of course.

 

[Cyber-Mav]

if you have to upgrade today then alderlake. if you can wait till end of this year then you got options from am5 and intel.

 

[Amatsubu]

if you have to upgrade today then alderlake. if you can wait till end of this year then you got options from am5 and intel.

It's not that urgent but I was thinking next month. I can feel limitations with what I'm doing in DAWs and my 2070S is visibly bottlenecked in some games I really wanted to play. For example, with how poorly optimised Elden Ring is, it's practically unplayable on 4790k but it would be on Alder Lake with some minor hitches.

What's really holding me from upgrading is that I'm still thinking about the best option, I don't want to regret it in the long run because I very rarely upgrade platforms.

There's always Razor Lake to switch to later if I can be bothered, it depends if it's big enough of a step-up to warrant an upgrade, preferably I'd rather get a solid upgrade now and ride it out until DDR5 makes sense.

The worst thing is that a 12400f makes the most sense but I still want to get something better for no reason.

 

[mickyflinn]

It's not that urgent but I was thinking next month. I can feel limitations with what I'm doing in DAWs and my 2070S is visibly bottlenecked in some games I really wanted to play. For example, with how poorly optimised Elden Ring is, it's practically unplayable on 4790k but it would be on Alder Lake with some minor hitches.

What's really holding me from upgrading is that I'm still thinking about the best option, I don't want to regret it in the long run because I very rarely upgrade platforms.

There's always Razor Lake to switch to later if I can be bothered, it depends if it's big enough of a step-up to warrant an upgrade, preferably I'd rather get a solid upgrade now and ride it out until DDR5 makes sense.

The worst thing is that a 12400f makes the most sense but I still want to get something better for no reason.

Agree 12400f makes most sense but think of getting something better as treating yourself as you would a better or bigger car.

 

[Amatsubu]

Agree 12400f makes most sense but think of getting something better as treating yourself as you would a better or bigger car.

It really does, and now I don't even feel there's any sense in looking for a middle ground.

It's either going all the way down budget route with 12400f + good b660 or straight to 12700k(f) on z690.

Once I hit 12700 areas I just don't feel there's any point in skimping since I'm way past what's reasonable The price difference between non k and k is just too small to not have better control over the CPU even if I don't plan on heavier OC'ing and I don't think B660 will support Razor Lake if I wanted to sell the CPU and switch later. Especially that there seem to be pretty solid 690 boards that aren't much more expensive than the better 660 ones.

Do the K chips run noticeably hotter than locked variants? Heard there's some room for undervolting here and that made me more interested in tinkering with this, maybe it's possible to get better temps and a slight OC if I'm lucky, also better control over the chip in general.

Very hard decision TBH, way harder than 7 years ago, when I just picked the 4790k and was done with it, easier and cheaper mobo choice as well. Doesn't help that 12400f is such a little beast.

 

[mickyflinn]

It really does, and now I don't even feel there's any sense in looking for a middle ground.

It's either going all the way down budget route with 12400f + good b660 or straight to 12700k(f) on z690.

Once I hit 12700 areas I just don't feel there's any point in skimping since I'm way past what's reasonable The price difference between non k and k is just too small to not have better control over the CPU even if I don't plan on heavier OC'ing and I don't think B660 will support Razor Lake if I wanted to sell the CPU and switch later. Especially that there seem to be pretty solid 690 boards that aren't much more expensive than the better 660 ones.

Do the K chips run noticeably hotter than locked variants? Heard there's some room for undervolting here and that made me more interested in tinkering with this, maybe it's possible to get better temps and a slight OC if I'm lucky, also better control over the chip in general.

Very hard decision TBH, way harder than 7 years ago, when I just picked the 4790k and was done with it, easier and cheaper mobo choice as well. Doesn't help that 12400f is such a little beast.

B660 will have the same upgrade path as z690 just the lack of k chip overclocking ghre2 the multiplier.

There is the middle ground like the 12600k with those 4 extras e cores and higher clock frequency which does require more power, hence more cooling but nothing crazy. 12700k is a step above worth 2 extra p cores and potentially longevity .

Look more at your useage before deciding.

12600k and b660 isn't bad option imo a bit like a Volkswagen Golf gti not to pretty but plenty under the hood