i5 4570 vs i5 4690k

[SavageShadows]

I'm building my wife her first rig as a surprise. For the CPU, its for sure going to be an LGA 1150 socket CPU. Has to have integrated graphics in case I can't fund the GPU for a little while, so the Xeon line is out of the question. And i7's are above the price point.

I have my choices narrowed down to two processors. I can pay the retail cost for a brand new i5-4690K and be able to overclock it with the ASRock Z97M OC Formula I'll be using, which would cost $210, but I'd be waiting a couple weeks to order it. Or, in my local market, somebody is selling an i5-4570 that I could buy before my other parts even arrive for $150 and I could probably talk them down to $130. My top pick is the 4690K for the OC overhead, on top of newer tech and full warranty. Though the cheaper price of the 4570 leaves more money to buy the GTX 970 sooner.

Here are the details about usage and whatnot. SSD for main storage, Win7 Pro, 8GB 1866MHz RAM to be increased later. User is reluctant to transition to PC for gaming, but only because she doesn't like keyboards (but she's fine with using the XBox One controller wired), and she just doesn't feel like changing, so she'll be able to transition relatively smoothly. Gaming will maybe be 1/4 to 1/3 of the use, if that. And she'll be transitioning from XBox 360, so doesn't need to be able to handle crazy 4K use or anyting, just needs to be able to handle titles for the next two years on very high - max settings on 1080p. No video rendering or photo editing for the foreseeable future, so main concern is if either will ll bottleneck the GTX 970 on those settings or similar in the next two years.

Not looking for other suggestions. Just looking for opinions on which of the two is recommended in this case.

 

[bootcher]

Either cpu coupled with a gtx 970 will run about anything on max settings at 1080p. The 4690k is the better cpu. The difference in fps will be low between the two cpu's, when running with that gtx you will not notice a difference.

 

[ferwindjacks]

Here is my opinion: Go with the i5-4690k. You dont upgrade CPUs like you do GPUs, so the unlocked processor will be nice later down the road when you want to pump more juice out of it, or even if you want to do that right away. Don't forget you can OC the Intel HD graphics as well.

You might have to wait a bit longer for the 970, but in the long run your wife will find better performance with the unlocked CPU. OCing really does make a huge difference in games, and you'll be missing that with the 4570.

BTW, the 970 is amazing. Hope you're excited for this build.

Also a note, the 1866 ram might be overkill, but I don't know your intentions with it.

 

[SavageShadows]

I have a 980 running with a 4790k myself, so I'm excited for her to finally get something like this rather than her dinky excuse for an ultrabook that is lucky to have a bottom of the line i5.

The 1866 is the same price as the 1600 I'm looking at, so that will avoid me feeling like OCing the RAM and screwing something up. Just more stability at a higher level so there's less to go wrong or worry about.

CPU performance really is almost linear with increased MHz when comparing similar hardware, so that's why I'm already leaning toward the 4690K. I'm just looking to see if I can find a compelling argument for the 4570 before I rule it out for sure, because there really is quite a jump in price.

 

[CTurbo]

Go with the 4570. The difference in real world performance is zero, even if the 4690k is overclocked a little. You could save even more money by going with the 4570 because you could pair it with a cheaper H97 motherboard and you wouldn't need to buy an aftermarket cooler.

The choice is very easy IMO.

 

[ferwindjacks]

I'll still stick to my guns. Gonna leave this thread here. http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-4690K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4570/2432vs2770

Savage, are you in the US? Why not just order these online? The price difference isn't as big.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372&cm_re=4690k-_-19-117-372-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116896&cm_re=4570-_-19-116-896-_-Product

 

[CTurbo]

I would even take the 4570 even at new pricing. You can see how much money you can save. Almost $75 when compared to a 4690k that is ready to overclock. I also assure you that you will not be looking for or needing more cpu grunt if you opt for the 4570.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bdyZFT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bdyZFT/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.58 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($61.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $251.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 19:19 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yYNpmG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yYNpmG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.92 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $325.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-24 19:22 EST-0500

 

[anbello262]

I say you get the 4570. I don't really see a point in overclocking, other than the thrill of overclocking itself.
As for gaming performance, the difference is negligible, and the price difference is quite big. You would be better off getting a locked processor and upgrading every 2-3 years than getting an overclockable processor and upgrading every 3-4 years.

I will consider a 4690k overclocked to 4.5 GHz, as that's the most common overclock. I'll also consider the 4570 to work at its turbo boost speed at all times, since most good motherboards make it so. Therefore, it's the same chip, 4.5 GHz on one case, and 3.6 on the other. That's a 20-25% difference, best case.

After all, a 25% CPU performance difference doesn't mean 25% more fps now. FPS will be the same now.
25% CPU performance difference only means it will last some more time before you need to replace it. Probably not 25% more time, but close.

So, it would be the difference between upgrading every 3 years and upgrading every 4 years.
Base on that, I don't think it's worth it to spend a lot more money on an overclockable CPU+MOBO+Cooler.


And all of this is coming from a person with a 4690k overclocked to 4.5GHz. Not worth it unless you do it for the thrill of overclocking (reason why I bought the "k" one). You will get the same performance now, and probably that won't change in the next 2 years.

 

[Maxwell4ME]

The i5-4690K http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPRWB9G will last you a lot longer than the 4570 will. The 4570 is a locked processor that will not allow for much overclocking. You can stretch the 4690K much further by overclocking.

 

[ferwindjacks]

Don't know the validity of the last post, but it's well known that overclocking can decrease you overall lifespan.

CT, you can't say that the overall price will be 70 dollars more when you put a more expensive mobo in pcpartpicker than the one the OP already has. It wasn't specified, but I believe he already had the Asrock. It is true, however, that the OP will need a better CPU cooler to OC. However, since the 4690k is only 10 bucks more on Newegg, the final price will actually be 30-40 dollars more than the 4570. Worth it to me.

Overclocking is negligable in games? Please. Games such as Arma 2/3 and DayZ are heavily CPU intensive and I have seen frame boosts across the board since OCing my 4770k to 4.4ghz. You might not see any improvements if you're playing something like League in your free time...