What's an i5 equivalent to the i7-4790 Non-K?

[Joosh]

So I've been looking for an upgrade for my PC and settled on the i7-4790, however I was wondering if there is an i5 that gets the same marks for gaming, with a smaller price tag. I heard i7's pack more features than i5 but they aren't really helpful for gaming.

 

[RCFProd]

What you're describing is the Intel Xeon, not exactly the i5. Xeon has 4 cores 8 threads like Intel i7-4790. Only differences are no onboard graphics and lower clock speed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $353.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-18 17:11 EDT-0400

Sure you could always take an Intel i5 for good gaming performance, It's not like you need an Intel i7 at all for gaming. i5-6500 is a good example of a high performer in games.

 

[Ambular]

Really, though, virtually any recent (Haswell or Skylake) i5 would give you good gaming performance. Check it out:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html

Were you looking to replace your motherboard, too? Or do you plan to use the one you've got? If you're sticking with the same board, then you need to choose a processor that works with it. Also, out of curiosity, what processor are you upgrading from?

As far as direct comparisons go, the 4690 is the i5 equivalent of the i7-4790 and uses the same LGA socket. It's slightly cheaper and runs at a slightly faster clock speed than the Xeon, and benchmarks very well for single-core, single-thread performance. But it lacks hyperthreading (which isn't terribly useful for gaming, but might come in handy if you use the PC for other tasks.) https://pcpartpicker.com/product/r8W9TW/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690