i7 4790K 4GHz (vs) i7 6700 3.4GHz

[mexicos]

Hi,

Building new system for work, not gaming. Will be multitasking including rendering, photoshop, android studio, media conversion, etc. Windows 7/ 10

Which would be the best pick of those 2 systems, will be getting a new mb and ram to go with, they are about the same price, in theory the 4790k can o/c but I don't generally overclock. In other words which will be better for me - 4790 @ 4ghz DDR3 or 6700 @ 3.4ghz DDR4?

 

[The Grox Empire]

i7 4790K better, it's can be overclocked, doesnt need DDR4 memory and cheaper. The performance differences are very minimal not worth going to i7 6700

 

[guanyu210379]

If you do not plan to OC, consider E3-1231V3 too.
This is like a cheaper i7 4790 but without the iGPU.

 

[The Grox Empire]

If you do not plan to OC, consider E3-1231V3 too.
This is like a cheaper i7 4790 but without the iGPU.

it's clocked lower than i5 making it's worse than i5 in non CPU intensive Games

 

[DonkeyOatie]

At those prices, perhaps none-of-the-above. You may not want to overclock now, but CPU and RAM overclocking will provide direct productivity increases later. I think it would be unwise to eliminate that possibility.

Skylake
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($439.95 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Universal 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($142.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $777.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 08:20 EST-0500

and Haswell

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Universal 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($107.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $591.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 08:24 EST-0500

and behind door 3 Haswell-E!!!
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($372.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Universal 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($142.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $710.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 08:22 EST-0500

The Haswell system is the cheapest, and the Haswell-E is the best for what you want to do, and you would benefit with a mild overclock of all of them.

For no overclocking at all

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($369.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($42.25 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $606.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 08:30 EST-0500

vs

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($42.25 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($83.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $429.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-02 08:31 EST-0500

 

[guanyu210379]

I have been using it since over a year. E3-1231V3 is really the best bang for buck if you do not OC.
The slightly lower clocking is not noticeable in anyway in daily live only benchmarking scores can show that.
For gaming, it is highly not noticeable.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If you do not plan to OC, consider E3-1231V3 too.
This is like a cheaper i7 4790 but without the iGPU.

it's clocked lower than i5 making it's worse than i5 in non CPU intensive Games

Which does not matter in a non-gaming system, and we need Hyperthreading for the OP's tasks, so i5 is out from the start.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I have been using it since over a year. E3-1231V3 is really the best bang for buck if you do not OC.
The slightly lower clocking is not noticeable in anyway in daily live only benchmarking scores can show that.
For gaming, it is highly not noticeable.

Agreed all round the block here and I'm getting 40% better in computation.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

I have been using it since over a year. E3-1231V3 is really the best bang for buck if you do not OC.
The slightly lower clocking is not noticeable in anyway in daily live only benchmarking scores can show that.
For gaming, it is highly not noticeable.

Agreed all round the block here and I'm getting 40% better in computation.

A third vote from me.

OP, it sounds like you're not fussy about overclocking, which is perfectly understandable. Whilst it does offer extra performance, it's more for enthusiasts and hobbyists than those concerned with productivity. The Xeon is ideal for your use, so it's an easy recommendation.

Use the money you save to buy extra RAM or put it towards a better monitor. If you're working with camera RAW files, 16GB of RAM is ideal and an IPS monitor with 100% sRGB gamut will ensure colour accuracy.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If this is a money making computer, then Overclocking is both easy and financially necessary. 10% throughput increase = more gold!

 

[guanyu210379]

OC is usually not needed, when you just freshly bought your PC.
OC could come in handy after a few years, as your PC starts to loose it's edge compared to the better and younger ones. Meaning, you can use your PC longer before you actually have to replace it with a newer one.
I kept my my Q6600 @3GHz for about 8 good years.

So, OC is not really necessity but quite a good alternative to prolong the life time in the future.
It is up to you to do or plan OC.

 

[mexicos]

thanks for all the suggestions all!

 

[ketansuv]

Hi,
As you said you want to build a new system for your work and not for gaming purpose and you are confused to choose between the I7 4790K and I7 6700. Intel I7 6700 will be better choice for you because it gives many advantages over I7 4790K. As you don't generally overclock you should go for I7 6700. As shown on http://www.comparecpus.com/en/intel-i7-4790k-vs-intel-i7-6700/comparison-139-200-0 the price of it is less, the transfer rate is 8 GT/s as compared to 5 GT/s of I7 4790K and the TDP is also less. You should also check more details like bench mark, memories and clock rate. I can't write all the detailed list , so you can refer the above link which I found relevant, which will help you to choose a better amongst the two.

 

[guanyu210379]

I7 6700 vs i7 4790k looking from the processor point of view (minus the ability to OC) is not noticeably different in daily live.
i7 6700 is more interesting mainly because of what the mobo (Z170/H170) can do.

If you really need horse power for work, going i7 5930k is better.

If you are short on budget, E3-1231V3 is the best bang for bucks for now.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

OC is usually not needed, when you just freshly bought your PC.
OC could come in handy after a few years, as your PC starts to loose it's edge compared to the better and younger ones. Meaning, you can use your PC longer before you actually have to replace it with a newer one.
I kept my my Q6600 @3GHz for about 8 good years.

So, OC is not really necessity but quite a good alternative to prolong the life time in the future.
It is up to you to do or plan OC.

I strongly disagree with this sentiment. For a commercial production system, the OP will gain the money-earning benefit from an OC from day one. If there were a 4.5Ghz stock CPU, I would be recommending it. The chief metric for this system is instruction throughput. It needs to be as high as possible from day one, with the caveat that the system must last a good number of years.

Delaying overclocking makes more sense for a gaming system where games get more demanding as time passes.

 

[guanyu210379]

On day one and in the first 1 or 2 years, you are still have the warranty.
OCing, if done right, is quite harmless but you will loose the warranty if you OC your system no matter how.
If something happens, even if it does not come from your OC, the warranty could come in handy.

For a gaming rig, if you have already a top notch processor, it is not yet a bottleneck and since most games rely more on the GPU.
An OCed brand new top-notch processor will waste the extra performance you get by the OC, since most games can not use it.
If you do it after several years, your processor could be already a bottleneck. Via OC, you will notice the extra performance boost right away.

For working, in some cases, OCing from day one could be necessary but if this happens, actually getting a better processor is more recommended, as long as it does not blow your budget sky high, e.g. picking i7 5930k or higher instead of i7 4790k. You can also OC i7 5930k too.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

On day one and in the first 1 or 2 years, you are still have the warranty.
OCing, if done right, is quite harmless but you will loose the warranty if you OC your system no matter how.
If something happens, even if it does not come from your OC, the warranty could come in handy.

For a gaming rig, if you have already a top notch processor, it is not yet a bottleneck and since most games rely more on the GPU.
An OCed brand new top-notch processor will waste the extra performance you get by the OC, since most games can not use it.
If you do it after several years, your processor could be already a bottleneck. Via OC, you will notice the extra performance boost right away.

For working, in some cases, OCing from day one could be necessary but if this happens, actually getting a better processor is more recommended, as long as it does not blow your budget sky high, e.g. picking i7 5930k or higher instead of i7 4790k. You can also OC i7 5930k too.

You keep bringing gaming thinking and logic to this topic. It has its place, but this is not it. This is not a gaming system.

Your advice seems generic and unrelated to this particular topic. For example an i7 5930k is indeed faster than an i7 5820K, but it is essentially just a higher binned chip. Both have similar performance limits when overclocked. If the OP were to buy an i7 5930 which is quite a bit more expensive, and only 200Mhz faster, I would recommend overclocking that to 4Ghz ore more too, and for the same reasons.