i5 4670k vs i7 4770k for gaming

[WoodenSaucer]

I've heard a lot of people say that the i7 4770k is overkill for gaming and that you only need an i5 4670k because most games don't take advantage of hyperthreading. So the reason I'm asking this is because I'm thinking about the future. If I spend that much money on building a rig, I don't want something that's only good for right now; I want it to last a little while.

So what I'm wondering is how far off into the future do you think it will be before hyperthreading is relevant in gaming? If you consider the future instead of just right now, is it worth it to spend the extra money to get an i7 for how things might be in the next wave of games? What do you guys think?

 

[sunder25]

Personally i think games will take advantage of hyperthreading more and more.
However, at this point a 4770k gives you virtually no advantage gameplaywise.

 

[logainofhades]

If you intend to keep your system for quite awhile, I would probably go with the 4770k, unless you don't want to overclock. I would look then into a Xeon 1230v3 and a B85 Pro4. It would give you more money towards a better GPU. 😉 For example, for a similar cost of a 4770k, z87 board, cooler and a gtx 750ti , you could get a 1230v3, B85 pro4 and a GTX 770.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I haven't looked at Xeons for a very long time. Last I knew, they were only good for servers. Can you guys get me up to speed on that? What are the advantages of using Xeons for gaming?

 

[Powerbolt]

Given that the consoles are now sporting 8 core AMD (Mind you they're not 8 physical cores, but rather a physical version of hyper threading), I'd say that in the near future studios will start making use of this technology. Maybe in the next two or three years?

Either one would serve you well for years to come, but I would say the 4770K would probably last you five years or better as software and other technology slowly move into supporting Hyperthreading and Quad/Octo core processors. However, as Sunder25 has said, at this point in time there's *almost* no difference in performance between the two.

 

[logainofhades]

I haven't looked at Xeons for a very long time. Last I knew, they were only good for servers. Can you guys get me up to speed on that? What are the advantages of using Xeons for gaming?

The 1230 v3 is nothing more, really, than an i7 without IGP and has added ECC support. They will work in 95%+ of all desktop motherboards. Only a select few don't support them. I often recommend the 1230 v3 with an Asrock B85 pro4. If you want SLI and CF capability, an Asrock Z87 extreme3 is sufficient. If you want raid capability, H87 is a good idea, but the price is so close, you may as well get the Extreme3. The biggest advantage is price. All the Xeon's 1230v3 up to a 1245 v3 are cheaper than a 4770/4770k.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Thank you guys for your input.

I looked into the Xeon, and it's looking more and more like that might be the way to go. Obviously if I'm spending the money on that kind of CPU, I'm not going to use an IGP for gaming. And it looks like the only advantage the 4770k has is a very slight clockspeed increase, and the ability to overclock. Compared to the 4670k, I get hyperthreading at pretty much the same price. If you drop the 'k,' there isn't much advantage at all.

So how important do you guys think it is to be able to overclock a gaming rig?

 

[Powerbolt]

Thank you guys for your input.

I looked into the Xeon, and it's looking more and more like that might be the way to go. Obviously if I'm spending the money on that kind of CPU, I'm not going to use an IGP for gaming. And it looks like the only advantage the 4770k has is a very slight clockspeed increase, and the ability to overclock. Compared to the 4670k, I get hyperthreading at pretty much the same price. If you drop the 'k,' there isn't much advantage at all.

So how important do you guys think it is to be able to overclock a gaming rig?

As time goes on it will probably be increasingly important. Not essential, mind you, but it would be nice to have that extra power to run with bleeding edge technology.