Intel LGA 1150 i5 vs i7 gaming

[DarkTron]

Hello!

I plan on buying a gaming PC which i wanna build up myself, but I got a question about the performace for gaming of the following 2 processors:

- i5 4690
or
- i7 4790

I won't overclock my system so I wouldn't take the K versions. The rest of my setup will be:

- Motherboard: H97 something from Asus or MSI
- Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 2x8GB RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or 970

Which processor of those 2 do you think is better in price/performance for gaming League of Legends, Minecraft modpacks with shader, Heroes of the Storm, Garrys Mod, GTA V and games like that?

Thanks for every help

 

[Stevo97]

i5 I still urge you to get the K series. I also urge you to NOT use the stock intel cooler it's terrible.

 

[Samat]

i5 4690 + GTX 970 is better than i7 4790 + GTX 960, on most games you won't notice the difference between the i5 and i7. i5 has definitely better price/perforformance of these 2.

 

[HiggsPrime]

Hello DarkTon,

i5 4690 will suffice and will do all the jobs that you mentioned. However, If you are looking for just few 10-12FPS more then got for i7. Also I know you dont want to go for K sereis coz you dont want to overclock but do consider for your build as it will greatly help your give more performance. In the end its your choice.

ANy questions ask here again. Hope this helps

 

[DarkTron]

i5 I still urge you to get the K series. I also urge you to NOT use the stock intel cooler it's terrible.

So you think I should get the K edition although I won't overclock it? And if I don't overclock either one of those, is the stock cooler really THAT bad? (because I didn't plan on getting another cooler)

 

[Swordkd]

The i7 only beats an i5 in a handful of games, so I'd save the money and put it towards the rest of your system. With that being said, if you aren't going to buy a "k" series Cpu, don't buy those particular models of Cpu's. For an i5, right now I'd only suggest the i5 4460. Difference is only 300mhz in clock speed, and 64 dollars. Not worth it at all. You could benchmark and show a difference in performance, but you'd never notice it in the real world.

:edit: The stock Intel cooler *is* crap, but it'll be fine. It's only designed to give just enough heat dissipation for that processor at that speed, nothing else. For that, it does just fine(my wife has an Ivy Bridge 3350p running off the stock cooler for 2+ years, zero issues), but for anything more it just doesn't cut it. If you live where it is extremely hot(Arizona, SoCal, that type of thing) I would suggest getting something better, but otherwise, don't worry.

 

[DarkTron]

i5 4690 + GTX 970 is better than i7 4790 + GTX 960, on most games you won't notice the difference between the i5 and i7. i5 has definitely better price/perforformance of these 2.

OK, well thank you

Do you have any recommendations on what graphics card I should get? So which brand of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or 970

 

[Samat]

i5 4690 + GTX 970 is better than i7 4790 + GTX 960, on most games you won't notice the difference between the i5 and i7. i5 has definitely better price/perforformance of these 2.

OK, well thank you

Do you have any recommendations on what graphics card I should get? So which brand of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or 970

Definitely 970 if your budget allows it, if it is tight you could drop the cpu down to i5 4460 (like Swordkd suggests anyway). You will get more performance by spending on the gpu than cpu.

 

[Stevo97]

i5 I still urge you to get the K series. I also urge you to NOT use the stock intel cooler it's terrible.

So you think I should get the K edition although I won't overclock it? And if I don't overclock either one of those, is the stock cooler really THAT bad? (because I didn't plan on getting another cooler)

Yeah I kind of figured you didn't plan on getting another cooler. I'll say this my sister ran the stock cooler using her gtx 970 and HWmonitor temps were hitting the high 80's to low 90's CPU which is pretty warm. I do think the Temps for the i5 and the i7 4770k is around 105c Max, but in any case you're going to want a different cooler I can't imagine running high 80's to low 90's is a good thing while gaming all the time.

There's really no need for the i7 unless you multitask alot of stuff in the back ground etc. i5 is perfect if all you plan to do is game, I say get the K series because at least later on if you want to OC you still have the option there.

 

[shakeel amlay]

I5 will be enough for your gaming needs but I highly advise you to get the 'k' version with a Z97 motherboard. It will allow you cpu to last a little longer before an upgrade because it can just be made faster. I you need help with picking a Z97 mobo look at this article ar whatever on Tom's hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2383187/motherboard-tier-list-z97-chipset.html

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

The i7-4790 + GTX 960 will be more future-proof since you can buy another GTX 960 for SLI later on.

 

[DarkTron]

Hello DarkTon,

i5 4690 will suffice and will do all the jobs that you mentioned. However, If you are looking for just few 10-12FPS more then got for i7. Also I know you dont want to go for K sereis coz you dont want to overclock but do consider for your build as it will greatly help your give more performance. In the end its your choice.

ANy questions ask here again. Hope this helps

The whole system is about to cost 1000-1100€, so if i get that i5 I could go for a GTX 970 than if I take the i7 and a GTX 960.
So you think I should get the i5 4690K more than the i7 4790?

 

[DarkTron]

The i7-4790 + GTX 960 will be more future-proof since you can buy another GTX 960 for SLI later on.

Also a good thought, but for the start of this system I would more like to have a better GPU so if needed, I can upgrade the CPU in 1 year

 

[DarkTron]

I5 will be enough for your gaming needs but I highly advise you to get the 'k' version with a Z97 motherboard. It will allow you cpu to last a little longer before an upgrade because it can just be made faster. I you need help with picking a Z97 mobo look at this article ar whatever on Tom's hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2383187/motherboard-tier-list-z97-chipset.html

The problem is: I am not stupid with computers and technic, but I dont really want to overclock my CPU in a 1000€ PC, just because I am scared to crash my system...
And the second thing: The non-K and H97 instead of Z97 I think would be better for price/performance if i dont overclock...

 

[shakeel amlay]

For gaming the i5 is enough and you can then afford a better GPU. If you absolutely feel like you won't ever need or want to overclock go then go for the non k i5. With a gtx 970 or maybe an R9 280x.

 

[Onus]

For most games, including those you listed (only exceptions are some newer titles), the i7 provides no advantage over the i5. The Intel stock cooler is generally sufficient for stock operation; as noted by Frostytech, it is also relatively quiet.
The price difference between non-K and K CPUs isn't that great; unless your budget is tight I'd still get the K versions to give you the option of overclocking later.

 

[Samat]

The i7-4790 + GTX 960 will be more future-proof since you can buy another GTX 960 for SLI later on.

Also a good thought, but for the start of this system I would more like to have a better GPU so if needed, I can upgrade the CPU in 1 year

Intel will release Skylake this year though which will bring a new cpu socket with, so those cpus won't fit the motherboard you buy now (compatible cpus might still be available in a year though, but something to keep in mind).

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

The i5-4690k + GTX 970 will give you more performance out of the box, but the i7-4790k is substantially faster and does not need to be overclocked. It's basically an overclocked i7-4770k. You can get a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 on the cheap and it is considerably better than the stock cooler. The i7 will not bottleneck two GPUs in SLI in the long run.

 

[TNT27]

Hey I suggest you check out the Xeon 1231, its priced about same as higher end i5, and is pretty much an i7 without integrated graphics, hell lot cheaper too.

Gets you i7 performance at the price of an i5.

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

Hey I suggest you check out the Xeon 1231, its priced about same as higher end i5, and is pretty much an i7 without integrated graphics, hell lot cheaper too.

Gets you i7 performance at the price of an i5.

Sounds reasonable, especially when paired with a GTX 970. Good thought.

 

[HiggsPrime]

The whole system is about to cost 1000-1100€, so if i get that i5 I could go for a GTX 970 than if I take the i7 and a GTX 960.
So you think I should get the i5 4690K more than the i7 4790?

i7 4790 and will be suited for your Mobo. if you can afford 970 go for it.

 

[TNT27]

Something like this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($231.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($323.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $978.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-29 14:46 EDT-0400

 

[TNT27]

ssd added about 120$, but i think you will love it if you get one.
You could scratch the ssd, and instead add a set of 16gb ram, which will allow you to multi task easier, and that cpu will multi task just like any haswell i7.

 

[DarkTron]

So to update this a little bit:

I just calculated: For CPU, GPU and Mobo I have about 500-600€ left in my budget. This is calculated without a extra cooler for CPU.

I guess my mobo will cost around 100€ (H97), my graphics card will be like 200-280€ (GTX 960 or 970, at least 4GB VRAM) and then theres my processor. I will definitely get the CPU thats the best for my needs, doesn't matter what it costs. If I get the i7 4790K i will just not upgrade it the next 2 years, if I get an i5 and I end up not liking it i will just upgrade it probably after one year.

So my options for processors are:

- i5 4460 (which I heard quite a lot of now, before I didn't even know it)
- i5 4690 (normal or K, what u guys say)
- i7 4790 (again what u guys say, normal or K)

Keep in mind, i won't overclock it.

And by the way thanks for the many helps in those few minutes

 

[TNT27]

if you are not going to overclock it ever, then get the Xeon 1231! 😀 priced about same as i5, and is just an i7 without integrated graphics. Affords you a top of the line gtx 970 too!