i7-4790K to replace AMD FX 8350

[Beholder88]

I'm thinking about upgrading my rig from an AMD FX 8350 and going Intel. I've been searching through benchmarks and pricing and motherboards and dear God there's a lot of information out there. I mainly play games and don't do anything as far as video editing or other heavy apps that might need a million cores. I've seen some people suggest that the 4790 would be better for heavier tasks aside from gaming and have even recommended something lower. I've also toyed with the thought of getting a 6800k, but even the 4790 had better benchmarks in some situations. Thoughts?

 

[exroofer]

Keep in mind the cost of a new Windows license, if your current OS is an OEM.
It is unlikely, though possible, that you would be able to re use the same Windows license.
Thus making the cost of your upgrade perhaps more expensive than is "worth it"
If I was swapping, I would go with latest gen/ddr4 build. possibly waiting for the next cpu release from Intel.
I have an 8350, and could not justify the $500-600 CAD cost of swapping to a 4790.
Your mileage may vary.

* Zen AMD cpu releases early next year some time, which could create downward pricing pressure on the cpu market. Something to consider if your current set up is still doing everything you ask of it.

** Also something to consider, next gen games will "likely" be DX12/Vulkan graphics api, something which lends itself along with games being more and more multithreaded to making an 8350 still more than adequate for a home gaming system for the next year or two.
Again, your mileage may vary on this issue.

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

When you switch platforms, you may as well go with current gen since the transition costs are about the same. The current value sweet spot is probably the i5 6600k, until Kaby Lake drops, est. Q1 2017. Going to the 6700k or 6800k is a fairly steep jump in price, and the gains are primarily in highly threaded applications and multitasking.

If you can wait, I'm with exroofer. We should see official benchmarks for both Zen and Kaby within the next month or two and get a better sense of what to expect in regards to pricing. In the meantime, a GPU upgrade would probably net you more gaming performance now even if it's bottlenecked, and could migrate into the new rig.

 

[Beholder88]

Yea, when you put it like that it makes sense. I've never done an I tel build and have always been faithful to AMD. If Zen lives up to all the hype, we'll have to see how many variations there will be and what effect there might be to pricing across the board. My 8350 rig is doing what I ask, as I'm not throwing anything too extreme at it.