i5 4670k or i7 4790k for overclocking? ( MSI z97 gaming 3)

[lawlumad]

Hello there,
I am currently using msi z97 gaming 3 ( i know its not the best MB for OC) and i5 4690 and Hydro H100i GTX cooler
Recently i found some good deal from CL
i5 4670k for $ 180
or
i7 4790k for $ 250
Both are new. I would like to overclock. Mostly i just play witcher 3 and dragon age and running some virtual machine, watching movies.
Which CPU should i pick?
Thank you

 

[TofuLion]

go with the i7 if running VMs especially if you are doing it while gaming. the extra threads will benefit you.

OC potential is hit or miss with either chip, but you can expect at least 4.5 GHz with either.

 

[photonboy]

It seems a waste of money to me.

If you get the i5-4690K and overclock to 4.5GHz then you can theoretically gain a 15% performance boost (i5-4690 is 3.9GHz thus 4.5/3.9) but it's unlikely you'd notice a difference in reality.

The i7-4790K does have hyperthreading, but it's hard to say what benefit that would be even if using VM's at the same time (not sure why you would).

IMO it's a waste of money and there are much better places to spend that money such as better speakers, mouse or just bank it.

 

[photonboy]

http://www.techspot.com/review/1006-the-witcher-3-benchmarks/page5.html

The above shows for Witcher 3 no benefit with a better CPU, so do your research and see if there is any benefit at all for the scenarios you use.

 

[TofuLion]

3 FPS is definitely a benefit. especially when you are comparing CPUs. by that logic you might as well get an FX 8350

 

[photonboy]

3 FPS is definitely a benefit. especially when you are comparing CPUs. by that logic you might as well get an FX 8350

In general, any CPU within a few percent can be grouped as "identical" due to margin of error.

(It's 97FPS vs 100FPS so only 3%. Maybe if it had been 30FPS vs 33FPS or 10% that would be worth discussing)

The FX-8350 may do similarly here (almost i5 but not i7) but definitely not in other games so we look at the big picture. Also, let's not forget that the PRICE difference between the i5 and i7 could also be put towards a better GPU so in that scenario the i5 would make more sense.

*Okay, I'll change my answer to:
"shows a 3% difference which IMO hardly justifies the cost difference"

There. Happy now?

 

[TofuLion]

OP already has an i5-4690. if there is a performance issue that is CPU related, then an upgrade to a 4690K really isn't going to make very much difference. sure you can gain 15% increase in core frequency but this doesn't always translate to the same increase in gaming performance. in that same article it shows absolutely no increase in performance from overclocking.

i've run my own tests with different clock speeds and hyperthreading on and off, and under heavy multitasking (such as gaming, recording, and running a VM), the hyperthreading shows a performance increase even over a higher clock speed without hyperthreading.

IMO if you're going to upgrade the 4690 (and intend some moderate to heavy multitasking), may as well go with a substantial upgrade and not just a 15% boost

 

[Karadjgne]

The i7k will benefit in certain situations, no doubts on that. At $250 for new it's also a bargain. Personally I'd get the i7,forhet the i5k, that's a side move at best. Then sell you current i5 and recoup some cash. Paying @$100-150 for a i7 4790k after all is said and done is still a good deal, whether you OC or not, which honestly doesn't benefit that particular cpu much anyways.