Do I really need an i7 for witcher 3?

[MadMorigan]

Hey, I've been wondering,

The recommended specs for witcher 3 have i7. My plan originally was to wait for skylake but it seems like skylake is only gonna offer a small performance gain. So now I'm thinking of getting a 4690k + msi gaming 5 mobo and hope that the performance will not be horrible.

Please let me know what you think

 

[rentakelplakband]

the recommended cpu (not the minimum) is an i7-3770. The i5-4690 actually rivals and often outperforms the 3770. So i would definitely go for the i5.

Some benchmarks so you can compare them yourself:
http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/17016-intel-core-i7-4770k-och-i5-4670k-haswell/1
links to an article which include serveral benchmarks with the 4690k and the 3770.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph8227/65066.png

 

[Zerk2012]

Your not going to need a i7 that 4690K will run it just fine the video card is going to matter most.
The last game that recommended a i7 was Watch Dogs and everybody was saying the i5 was not for gaming any more but guess what the people that upgraded to a i7 for that game get the same results as the i5, even the i3 is very close in performance.
http://www.techspot.com/review/827-watch-dogs-benchmarks/page5.html

 

[BigMuffinMan]

the recommended cpu (not the minimum) is an i7-3770. The i5-4690 actually rivals and often outperforms the 3770. So i would definitely go for the i5.

Some benchmarks so you can compare them yourself:
http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/17016-intel-core-i7-4770k-och-i5-4670k-haswell/1
links to an article which include serveral benchmarks with the 4690k and the 3770.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph8227/65066.png

I definitely agree. For gaming only there's just no need for an i7.

 

[MadMorigan]

Dang, that's awesome that i5 are still great. I was seriously looking at used i7's because they're so overpriced compared to i5s...

 

[U6b36ef]

I know this thread is old. However Someone might gain something if I post.

I have the i5-4690, and I sort of wish I had bought the 4790K. At the time I purchased, the i5 was £160, and the 4790 or 4790K was about £260. Now the 4790K is £309.

However there are games where the 4690 struggles, though other factors could have been involved. Other factors meaning, IE11 open in the background when playing games. I have found I need to shut down other tasks. Otherwise the CPU can max and cause a hitch in games.

Looking back I can't recall if I had IE11 open when playing the following games. However two games come to mind where the CPU was not enough. Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and Borderlands The Pre Sequel.

The Witcher 3 will run the 4690 very high with apps open in the background.

In busy areas in AC:S, the CPU would max and frame rate drop below 60fps. In BL:TPS, when bits were flying everywhere, it caused drop in fps.

Someone commented to me that their 4790K was playing AC:S perfectly. I have to conclude either I didn't have background tasks shut down. Or the i7 is better.