Intel Xeon vs Intel core i5 4670k

taha2001

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Jan 6, 2014
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Hi guys!!
i wanted to make a rocking gaming machine and was going to buy i5 4670k but as i got a look on xeon i was stuck and confused, want your help to decide weather to buy xeon or 4670k, and i would bes using this for entire gaming and surfing net...
 
Which Xeon? I'd recommend the Xeon1230v3 which is essentially the equivalent of an i7 4770, just with a little bit lower clockspeed.

For an i5 4670k you would need a Z87 board to get the benefits of it being unlocked, whereas you'll be fine with a cheaper B or H series motherboard on the Xeon. As you probably know, the Xeon has 4 cores and 8 threads compared to the i5's 4 cores 4 threads. Those extra 4 threads aren't used much in tha mjority of games - however it seems as if some developers are switching to multithreading so they can come in handy. In addition they would be useful for multitasking especially while gaming, such as recording, livestreaming or even just leaving a movie playing in the background.

Personally I'd go for the Xeon. The difference between it and an i5 4670k is negligible - the i5 can overclock to get better gaming performance. However, you'd need a Z series motherboard and a good aftermarket heatsink, and even so many only top out at around 4.2-4.5GHz, which isn't worth the extra money IMO. I'd say you'd be better off with a Xeon 1230v3.
 

taha2001

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Jan 6, 2014
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Thanks for your reply but I'll wait till tomorrow just in case anybody else wants to share their ideas.well if xeon is better why isn't that popular, I mean mostly people prefer i5 and they usually have them, I guess some people have xeon , why??
 
Because there's a misconception about Xeon's that they aren't for gaming. Which they are, since they perform identically to an i7 of the same architecture with the same clockspeed. i5 4670k's are recommended a lot so people tend to forget about the xeons. Technically the 4670k can be better for gaming since you can get a higher clock speed out of it, but you're also spending more on a motherboard suited for overclocking and a cooler to handle the higher heat output that accompanies it. IMO the Xeon 1230v3, for slightly above the price of an i5 and with the performance of an i7, is a steal, in fact I'm getting one myself soon.
 

DeathAndPain

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Jul 12, 2013
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Yes. JOOK-D never denied that. However, his conclusion that paying slightly more for a CPU that has 200 less MHz pays off just because hyperthreading is arguable. It is a tough decision. Personally, I went for the i5-4670.
 

DeathAndPain

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Personally, I prefer the 4670 (without K) because it is cheaper and still has the higher clock speed. Hyperthreading is not yet an issue with current games, and I believe by the time it gets an issue I will want a new CPU anyway.

I am not a fan of overclocking though. The idea is getting more performance for free, yet with Intel CPUs you pay a lot of money for it, along with other drawbacks, up to the point where it fails to make good sense to me. Which is why I got myself a non-K-4670 and am happy with it.
 

DeathAndPain

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You must be joking! I3 has half the real cores, so i3 is 2 real cores + 2 fake cores (from HT) against the 4 real cores that the i5 has. Plus i3 has no turbo, so i5 also clocks faster.