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Replacing a failing i7-4790k 4GHz... Intel or AMD?

Loony BoB

Loony BoB

Loony BoB

Associate
Joined
10 Mar 2007
Posts
210
Yep, another of these threads. I did read over everything in this thread as it was very much in line with my original questions, however I was still left pondering how things would match up for me personally as I don't sit on 1080p or have a 1080Ti or anything like that, which people seemed to throw around in the comments a lot.

I'm looking for a new SBD+CPU, currently I'm on an Intel set. Can you guys help me weigh up AMD vs. Intel for the following workload?

Current Spec (no overclocking)
- Retiring: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor
- Retiring: Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
- Retiring, because DDR3: 4x AMD Gamer 4GB PC3-19200C11 2400MHz

- Keeping: 2x Asus PB287Q monitors both running off DisplayPort at 1440p
- Keeping: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming Edition 4096MB
- Keeping: 750W PSU
- Keeping: 1x SSD
- Keeping: 3x HDD

Activity
- Buttloads of internet, Excel, Discord, Skype etc.
- Variety gaming on one screen in 1440p (mostly Rocket League, Minecraft and FFXIV with other games at random)
- Game streaming via OBS
- Art streaming via OBS (traditional requires 2x cams, digital requires 1x cam, 1x Photoshop)
- Remote work via Citrix

Like the person in the thread linked earlier, I'm not planning on overclocking at this point.

What would match up with my activity + existing spec? Would a drop in GHz impact my performance in notable ways? Any feedback is welcome, especially if you can basically sum up the pros and cons. From my vague understanding of the other thread, it looks like "Gaming Performance vs. Non-Gaming Performance: Pick One"
 
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Looks like if I grab a £190 AMD CPU and ~£120 on DDR4 RAM then that leaves me with £190 to play with on an AMD board. That's doable!

No idea how good the 1600 CPU is though. And still no clue on what to look for on a system board other than the basics.
 
No overclocking planned. With that board it looks like I can get £150 of 3200 RAM with the 1600x CPU with a touch of change. Still gutted that DDR4 has got so pricey!
 
Thanks everyone so much for your input so far. For a bit of clarification and detail...

- While my PC is technically up and running this second, it takes more and more attempts to boot once shut down (to the point that I'm refusing to shut it down unless I absolutely have to!) and I'm not sure I can wait months before purchasing. With this in mind, I'm unsure an 8700k is going to be the solution unless there is a reveal by the end of August that says "Hey, guess what, you can buy it right now and get it within a couple of weeks!"
- Someone mentioned getting another 1150 CPU, however this assumes it really is the CPU that is at fault and not the system board. Unfortunately I'm not able to pinpoint which of the two is the problem. While the possibility of just replacing one item and being done is really nice, it still leads to the possibility I'll replace both items and if I'm going to do that I'd rather get them new and "up to standard".
- Again, to anyone posting in the AMD vs Intel wars, much preferring just the pros and cons to be posted for both sides rather than just "well you may as well go for this". I get the gist of the pros and cons as follows, correct me if I'm wrong...
--- Intel is better for single core/thread computing, which means better for some games which as far as I'm aware includes Minecraft, which I do play with large modpacks on occasion.
--- AMD is better for multi-core/thread computing, which means better for streaming and general PC usage, which I do a lot of and often.
--- No idea which is better for 1440p gaming?
--- Compared to my i7-4790k, anything running 4GHz per core should be equally as competent at minimum, and much better in terms of single core (if Intel over 4GHz) or multi core (if AMD) depending on which manufacturer I go for.

Let me know if all of that sounds right.

FWIW if the benefits will give me enough to warrant it, I'll consider going over £500 but it'd need to be seriously beneficial when dealing with bang-for-buck to warrant that. However, considering the spec of my graphics card (980, not quite a 1080Ti) and the fact that I don't mind 40-60FPS so long as I can play at 1440p, I'm not sure anything will really warrant it at this point... God knows what the future holds but I'll deal with such things in time. Hopefully I can run Star Citizen (or more notably Squadron 42 as I prefer LAN/single player) by the time it's finally out. :p
 
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Sorry, I should clarify that I'm talking about booting of the PC itself, not the OS - it's currently restarting over and over and this can happen about 50 times before it eventually actually boots. The OS boots very fast once it gets there. Check my thread history for details on that end.

EDIT: Changed the wording on my previous post to hopefully avoid further queries. Is the rest of my post accurate?
 
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What PSU do you have?
- EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply, recently replaced my old PSU after these problems started happening, no difference.

What SSD??
- Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)

Is the CPU running very warm??
- 45 idle atm, it's all good on that front.

Is the fan on the cooler spinning fine??
- Yep. CPU fan, PSU fan, 3x case fans all good (and pleasantly quiet).
 
Have tried...

- Removing every SATA, all non-CPU fans and the graphics card at once
- Swapped out PSU
- Tried all four RAM sticks individually one at a time.
- Removed every cable and reattached, removed CPU, cleaned up thermal paste and reapplied.

All the above attempts lead to no change to the issue.

It's either the CPU or the MB at that point, can't think of anything else. Not keen on spending a chunk of cash on a 1150 CPU or 1150 board just to find out I guessed wrong.
 
Loony BoB said:
Thanks everyone so much for your input so far. For a bit of clarification and detail...

- While my PC is technically up and running this second, it takes more and more attempts to boot once shut down (to the point that I'm refusing to shut it down unless I absolutely have to!) and I'm not sure I can wait months before purchasing. With this in mind, I'm unsure an 8700k is going to be the solution unless there is a reveal by the end of August that says "Hey, guess what, you can buy it right now and get it within a couple of weeks!"
- Someone mentioned getting another 1150 CPU, however this assumes it really is the CPU that is at fault and not the system board. Unfortunately I'm not able to pinpoint which of the two is the problem. While the possibility of just replacing one item and being done is really nice, it still leads to the possibility I'll replace both items and if I'm going to do that I'd rather get them new and "up to standard".
- Again, to anyone posting in the AMD vs Intel wars, much preferring just the pros and cons to be posted for both sides rather than just "well you may as well go for this". I get the gist of the pros and cons as follows, correct me if I'm wrong...
--- Intel is better for single core/thread computing, which means better for some games which as far as I'm aware includes Minecraft, which I do play with large modpacks on occasion.
--- AMD is better for multi-core/thread computing, which means better for streaming and general PC usage, which I do a lot of and often.
--- No idea which is better for 1440p gaming?
--- Compared to my i7-4790k, anything running 4GHz per core should be equally as competent at minimum, and much better in terms of single core (if Intel over 4GHz) or multi core (if AMD) depending on which manufacturer I go for.

Let me know if all of that sounds right.

FWIW if the benefits will give me enough to warrant it, I'll consider going over £500 but it'd need to be seriously beneficial when dealing with bang-for-buck to warrant that. However, considering the spec of my graphics card (980, not quite a 1080Ti) and the fact that I don't mind 40-60FPS so long as I can play at 1440p, I'm not sure anything will really warrant it at this point... God knows what the future holds but I'll deal with such things in time. Hopefully I can run Star Citizen (or more notably Squadron 42 as I prefer LAN/single player) by the time it's finally out. :p
Click to expand...
Sorry to quote my own post, guys, but to avoid getting lost in all the fault diagnosis etc. that I've gone through, can someone please confirm if my understanding in the above post is accurate?
 
Razor: Yeah, no dice on BIOS. :( SATA cable irrelevant at this point as it happens even with no SATA devices connected at all.

Any word on confirmation of my understanding in the earlier post? Sorry to keep asking. xD
 
Razor: I wish PC down time was something I could manage! However, if I do manage to get either of them replaced I figure I can sell them off and get a little cash back. No idea how best to do that mind you but I figure I can ask here at the time it happens ;)

Thanks again everyone! Looks like Ryzen is the way to go at the moment.
 
Holy crap :o That is niiiice. Okay I'm definitely upgrading now. xD Time to figure out a bundle and I guess this means I can afford a wee bit more than I thought.
 
CAT: Yep, tried powering from a different room with a different power cable. No dice.

Any general feeling on 1600X vs. 1700 for single core speed vs. multi core speed?

My most commonly played games are FFXIV (multicore), Rocket League (no idea) and Minecraft (single core), with other games dotted about but I can't imagine any of them will be more demanding on single core use than Minecraft with a massive modpack.
 
Hearing that if you don't OC (I don't at this point, haven't felt the need generally) then 1600X is better, and it also allows me for marginally cheaper RAM too. So that's a plus.

I'm thinking...
Asus Prime B350-Plus AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - Stock Code MB-69G-AS
Kingston Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-21300C15 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX426C15FBK2/16) - Stock Code MY-230-KS

Putting me at £250 out of pocket. And then it's the 1600X vs. 1700. So much conundrum. 3.7GHz enough? I dunno. Do I need eight cores over six cores when I've been doing fine up until recently with 4GHz @ 4 cores? Such decision making. Exciting to spend a little again in some weird way though.

EDIT: After much looking around, think I'll go for the 1600X and just use my existing direct contact cooler as it's still good as far as I can tell. The fact I'm not so interested in overclocking is what's making me think 1600x is the better choice for me.
 
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Just don't want to risk replacing the board with another 1150 just to find out it won't resolve the problem. It's a gut call and I've already done that with the PSU to no effect and it's not a great feeling to spend that money for nought. Thankfully having a spare 8 year old PSU won't hurt as I do run two PCs and PSUs don't have such compatibility issues! At this point I figure I can get an upgrade, fresh gear with fresh warranty and sell some of my old stuff to cut back the costs notably, so may as well upgrade and avoid any further potential redundant replacements of old parts.

I'm not really keen on overclocking mostly because I'm a fan of stability and warranty. Will it really make that much of a difference with the faster RAM? I mean, everything else is pretty good already. Also, if I buy 3200 RAM and just don't overclock the board for now (leaving myself the potential to overclock later when I grow some balls or something), will it still function okay, allowing me the option down the line?
 
Aye. Thankfully all this went down with three months left on the Intel warranty. If it had happened three months later I'd have been rather ****** off. xD

Any thoughts on the RAM question (end of my last post)?
 
Man, I wish I had the kind of money to throw around to upgrade my 980. :D But it's not faulty and not giving me issues so far, so it shall stay on for now.
 
Temps seem fine, especially for the 4790k which I understand runs hot and is really happy even at a relatively high temp. The CPU and/or MB are the issue but it's not temperature related as far as I can tell. Feel free to read the last 40 posts or so and the previous thread I made about the fault diagnosis you want background details, but upgrading a GPU would be pointless if I retained a CPU and/or MB that was dying fast.
 
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