i5-4670 upgrade - go 4770k or build a new system?

[xelario]

Hi,

I'm currently on i5-4670 and GTX970. Want to upgrade both, but don't know what to do with CPU. I don't stream or edit videos, only game.
Should I milk every last drop of my current system by getting i7-4770k (can't find used 4790k for sale) or go with a new system?

 

[King_V]

I don't know that you'd get a huge performance gain. Your i5 is 3.4GHz base, 3.8GHz boost. The i7 in question is 3.5/3.9 base/boost, but will allow for overclocking if your motherboard supports it.

The larger L3 cache on the i7 may help a little, but I don't think a lot of games will benefit from the hyperthreading that the i7 offers. Some will, but I can't speak on which ones, as that's outside of my knowledge.

My guess is that the CPU upgrade won't give you enough of a boost to justify the cost outlay. Or even much of a noticeable boost in performance for gaming.

Upgrading the video card may give you benefits, with the added bonus that you can take the new video card to the new system.


BUT - is your current setup lagging or giving you any disappointments in terms of gaming performance?

 

[drkatz42]

really tough call imo. used 4770k for around $200+ and add another $60 at least for a cooling solution. that chip runs hot and I'm seeing people get 4.2ghz to 4.5ghz with overclock. some games will appreciate the extra threads but def not all. my thoughts are you'd spend close to $300 on the "upgrade" and likely not experience much of an upgrade in the gaming experience.

 

[sizzling]

Are you gaming at 60Hz or 144Hz?

Are you experiencing any CPU bottlenecking at the moment?

 

[MRBANG1]

I don't really think going the I7 would give you any increase you can tell in games. If all you do is game, perhaps a Geforce 1070 would still provide a noticeable increase until you can upgrade the rest of the platform. Also if your system does not support overclocking, you are really in a tight spot with another haswell CPU regardless.

 

[AgentLozen]

Pleeeeease don't upgrade your CPU. An i5 4670 is completely adequate for modern games. I would only think about upgrading it if you know for CERTAIN that you use software that utilizes a better CPU. For that matter, there's not a huge difference between an i7 4770 and an i5 4670.

Buy a better video card if that's what you want. DON'T upgrade your CPU. The jump is NOT worth it.

 

[teknobug]

^ that depends, some new games are hitting 100% CPU used on quad cores now and less CPU load on an i7 (or Ryzen).

 

[xelario]

Some more context. I plan to get an ultrawide monitor, which lead me to thinking about a GPU upgrade, but I'm afraid my CPU would bottleneck something like 1070 a bit. For example, http://thebottlenecker.com/bottleneck-calculator/ says my CPU is too weak and there's a 16% bottleneck. And I play Squad, which is still early in development and is very CPU limited right now. It will supposedly become better, but still, I think it will benefit greatly from a stronger CPU (assuming I could overclock the 4770k).

My motherboard is ASRock H87 Pro4, so it doesn't support normal overclocking, but it has "Non-Z OC", so in theory I could overclock with it, as seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLrk5WAA0Y8

I already have a decent enough cooler (Scythe Ninja 2 Rev B.), so it wouldn't add cost. Considering all this I have three options:
A. Get a used 4770k and try to overclock, thus extending the life of my current system somewhat.
B. Build something new for a lot more.
C. Save my money and buy nothing 😉

 

[King_V]

Well, I'm not quite sure how that site comes to its conclusions, but I plugged a few things in, and it seems that, at least up to 8% bottlenecking is considered having the CPU and GPU working great together. I don't think the 16% bottlenecking you're seeing is much to worry about.

I know ZERO about Squad, so I can't speak with any authority whatsoever how much it's dependent on CPU clock speed vs thread count vs GPU power.

Me, personally, I'd likely go with the widescreen monitor first, then see how things go.... but, this is given the disclaimer about not knowing how much your current setup is holding back Squad.