i5-4690k vs i7-3770 for Highest Game Performance?

[Matthew-san]

I built my rig around the basis of it running games at 1080p resolution on ultra settings.

Here's what I put together:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
MOBO: ASRock Z97 Extreme3
CPU: i5-4690k
GPU: EVGA GTX 980 Superclocked ACX 2.0
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB 1600 MHz
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 600W

Originally when I bought the i5-4690k I was told it would be able to max games no problem and it has so far. However I've noticed that a large majority of AAA titles suggest a i7 for recommended settings or ultra. I haven't needed an i7 yet. My frames are pretty much always over 60 fps. For some reason though an i7-3770 has been the recommended CPU for most major titles.

Here's an example of the games that recommend a i7:

http://www.pcgamer.com/watch-dogs-system-requirements-announced-specify-64-bit-os-and-minimum-6-gb-of-ram/

http://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-creed-unity-system-requirements-confirmed/

http://www.pcgamer.com/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor-system-requirements-announced-are-higher-than-watch-dogs/

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-witcher-3-system-requirements-announced/

http://www.pcgamer.com/arkham-knight-system-requirements-revealed/

I've already played and beaten the first three games that I linked which were Watch Dogs, AC Unity, and Shadow of Mordor and I can say for certain that the i5-4690k ran them at ultra settings easily (even with Ubisoft's poor optimization).

I'm just wondering if, with my current hardware, would I see any noticeable improvements if I upgraded to a high end i7 like the i7-4790k or i7-5820k? If not then I do't see the point in why developer's are advertising i7's for the recommended requirement for games.

 

[andy_Man]

No benefit in going the i7 for gaming. Go with the i5-4690k
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/5
http://www.techspot.com/review/991-gta-5-pc-benchmarks/page6.html

 

[JackNaylorPE]

They want a 3770 "or better" ..... Haswell and Devils Canyon are "better".

The 4790k will do better generally than a 4690k but very marginally so when overclocked (maybe 0.1 Ghz). At stock, the 4790k is better only because it comes outta the box 14% faster.

As far as x99, 5820k is pretty much a useless step and the Z97 CPUs are faster in gaming. X99 only makes sense if you are using 3 or more GFX cards and use a 40 lane CPU like the 5960x or 5930k

 

[DarkSable]

No. The point is simply to make money.

If the game developers market their games as being high end, elitist, software that pushes computers to their limits, they develop hype around their product, which generates better sales.

 

[tsuneo6]

the recomendations are a bit funny, they list an fx 8350 and an i7 3770k, so yea, what darksable said!

 

[Matthew-san]

Thanks everyone for clearing that up for me, the answers seem to be unanimous that an i7 is not needed for recommended and ultra settings. Thanks for the benchmarks andy_Man. I really wish developers would stop placing the i7-3770 as the pole bearer for gaming at ultra settings. From the performance that I've seen in my games the i5-4690k should be the recommended or another i5 with similar performance.

 

[tsuneo6]

in some games you get a performance boost though, but not many games support hyperthreading. the hyperthtreading kicks in when you're rendering videos, when you stream etc

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Thanks everyone for clearing that up for me, the answers seem to be unanimous that an i7 is not needed for recommended and ultra settings. Thanks for the benchmarks andy_Man. I really wish developers would stop placing the i7-3770 as the pole bearer for gaming at ultra settings. From the performance that I've seen in my games the i5-4690k should be the recommended or another i5 with similar performance.

You have it backwards. Whether it's i7 or i5 is meaningless.

The 4690k and the 4790k are almost equal when both are overclocked
The 3570k and the 3770k are almost equal when both are overclocked

What they appear to be saying is that the recommended range for gaming is 4790K > 4690k > 4770k > 4670k > 3770k > 3570k

The 3770 is a lesser CPU than the 4690k. If they said 4690k, then that would imply that the 3770k somehow deficient which is not .... what they are saying is that anything in BOLD text is good

 

[Matthew-san]

Interesting, I always thought that the i7-3770 was either slightly more powerful or about the same compared to the i5-4690k. Thanks for enlightening me.

 

[DarkSable]

Depends on what you're using it for. It does have the four extra hyperthreads, but it's an older architecture, so it's marginally slower.

Also, Jack Naylor, just to clarify... yes, that is exactly what they are saying. However, it's still marketing BS - I've got an i5-3570k and play those games perfectly fine even on stock clocks. I would be astounded if a sandy bridge i5 didn't also do the same.