i54690k vs 15-4460

[adza botchway]

Im building a gaming pc soon. I cant decide which cpu i should ACTUALLY go with. This my parts list so far http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xthRmG
So i want to go with the 4460 because even if it were overclockable, i wouldn't do it. i just dont want to OC anything. But if i go with the 4690k, id be spending 60 dollars more and i can spend that money on a nice SSD for games and stuff. I really dont know which one i should go with /: please help! I've heard that the 4690k is much much more powerful than the 4460 and also vice versa, that its not much more powerful. Id be willing to wait on the SSD if the 4690k is really worth it but i just dont know if it is.

 

[Winly]

If you are overclocking (you may do it later ) then the 4690K is the only way to go if not the 4460 is a better buy.
The 4690k is a better CPU (when OC can give you better performance, kind of future proof) but if you are in a budget go for the 4460.

 

[InvalidError]

The unlocked CPU make no sense unless you intend to overclock them and if you want to overclock, you need a motherboard with better quality VRM and an aftermarket heatsink, so you need to add another ~$60 to the CPU's own price. You may also want to use fancier memory, that's another $20.

If you do not overclock, the 4690k gets you less than 15% extra performance. Not really worth the 30% higher retail price.

 

[adza botchway]

If you are overclocking (you may do it later ) then the 4690K is the only way to go if not the 4460 is a better buy.
The 4690k is a better CPU (when OC can give you better performance, kind of future proof) but if you are in a budget go for the 4460.

Im not overclocking at all and i never will. Im on a loose 500 dollar budget, meaning i can go to 600ish if i want/need to. Im gonna add a gtx 970 soon too.

 

[Winly]

The unlocked CPU make no sense unless you intend to overclock them and if you want to overclock, you need a motherboard with better quality VRM and an aftermarket heatsink, so you need to add another ~$60 to the CPU's own price. You may also want to use fancier memory, that's another $20.

If you do not overclock, the 4690k gets you less than 15% extra performance. Not really worth the 30% higher retail price.

that's correct. In my opinion the OP is better off with the 4460.
Great answer BTW!

 

[adza botchway]

The unlocked CPU make no sense unless you intend to overclock them and if you want to overclock, you need a motherboard with better quality VRM and an aftermarket heatsink, so you need to add another ~$60 to the CPU's own price. You may also want to use fancier memory, that's another $20.

If you do not overclock, the 4690k gets you less than 15% extra performance. Not really worth the 30% higher retail price.

I really do not need fancier memory hahaha. I genuinely do not need better memory. crucial ballistix sport 2x4gigs is perfectly fine 😛 Also, i didn't even realize the mobo doesn't have a heatsink on it lol. thanks for pointing that out, ill switch it out

 

[Blueberries]

The difference is as much as 5 FPS or as little as none, but generally you probably won't notice the difference between the two when playing video games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JI58nS2oIo

The 4690k is worth the $60 and the better processor, of course. I would advise you get the 4690k and overclock it even if you don't want to, you will gain performance for free even with a strong single / dual profile like 4.7/4.5/3.9/3.9. If you really really really don't want to overclock the 4690S is a great option and may even prove better for you if you have a noisy or underefficient CPU cooler.

The 6600k is better than all of the above of course and is on a 14nm lithography and a newer chipset, it also costs a hair more, but you get DDR4.

 

[InvalidError]

I would advise you get the 4690k and overclock it even if you don't want to, you will gain performance for free

The CPU itself costs $60 extra. A motherboard with z97 chipset instead of h97 and better VRM design to improve chances of hitting faster stable OCs using smaller core voltage bumps will add $20 or more. A decent aftermarket heatsink like the 212 EVO costs ~$30 and going up one or two tiers on memory speed/timings for 16GB to open up all overclocking options add one more $20. The difference is ~$450 vs ~$320. $130 is not what I would call a "free" performance increase over the i5-4460.

The i5-4690k is 15% faster stock for ~36% higher CPU+RAM+MoBo+HSF cost, so you need to achieve at least a 19% overclock to break even on bang-per-buck.

 

[Blueberries]

I would advise you get the 4690k and overclock it even if you don't want to, you will gain performance for free

The CPU itself costs $60 extra. A motherboard with z97 chipset instead of h97 and better VRM design to improve chances of hitting faster stable OCs using smaller core voltage bumps will add $20 or more. A decent aftermarket heatsink like the 212 EVO costs ~$30 and going up one or two tiers on memory speed/timings for 16GB to open up all overclocking options add one more $20. The difference is ~$450 vs ~$320. $130 is not what I would call a "free" performance increase over the i5-4460.

The i5-4690k is 15% faster stock for ~36% higher CPU+RAM+MoBo+HSF cost, so you need to achieve at least a 19% overclock to break even on bang-per-buck.

I meant that a light overclock versus leaving the chip at stock clockrates is essentially free other than a slight bump in power draw. Should have phrased that better

 

[InvalidError]

I meant that a light overclock versus leaving the chip at stock clockrates is essentially free other than a slight bump in power draw. Should have phrased that better

I figured that was what you meant. But nearly nobody would pay for a K-chip aiming for nothing more than a 'slight' bump over the cheaper non-K version's stock speed.

For a K-chip to really make sense, you have to at least have the intention of going all-in at some point. In this case though, OP said he has absolutely no intention of ever overclocking, so the most that might ever be worth considering for him is the i5-4690.

If we ignore the budget and bang per buck considerations, then the i7-4790k could possibly make sense for a non-overclocker due to its higher stock boost speed than its non-k counterpart.

 

[Blueberries]

I don't know about that. The K chips are binned chips and for most people a stronger single and dual thread is the reason they pay for an IPC increase. You can definitely push these chips beyond 4.0GHz without changing turbo voltages or generating too much heat, especially if you leave the 3C/4C maximum turbo speed at 3.9/4.

4.5/4.5/3.9/3.9 is a 12.5% increase over the dual core performance of a 4690, and much better than the 3.4GHz maximum turbo of the 4460. 4.5GHz is a 32% clockrate increase from 3.4GHz. That's bigger than the IPC jump from Ivy Bridge to Skylake. (for example)

It all comes down to if that's worth $60 to you. For me, it is, and that's all relative.