Which CPU should I get?

[nicedude80]

Currently I have selected the intel i5 4690, but I was wondering if there is a higher performing CPU out there for the same price or lower. I would like at least a quad core 3.5 ghz. Also I would like to stay with this z97 as well.

CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116989
GPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462
Mobo: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132118

 

[Mac266]

You could get a Xeon E3 1230 v3, its a bit more expensive but has hyperthreading.

 

[owismail]

If you're going for gaming then don't pick the Xeon E3 1230 v3. The Xeon series are produced for server systems, NOT FOR GAMING you can google it if you want, i would say stick with your choice, the i5 4690.

 

[Mac266]

Actually, the Xeon will play games fine, it is in fact one of the most highly reccommended CPUs on these forums.

The E3 1230v3 is binned from the same dies as an i7 4770.

If you are put off by the (false) rumors surrounding the Xeon, the get the i5 4590, which is better value and almost exactly the same performance as the 4690.

 

[Obnoxious]

I'd recommend the Xeon E3-1230v3 in your price range. It's performance is on par with the i7-4770 whereas the Xeon is cheaper. It costs a little more than your i5 however, but the Xeon (similar to the i7) is quad-core with Hyper Threading; that's 4 cores and 8 threads (the OS will effectively see it as 8 cores).

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $284.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

It should be noted that the Xeon's are not designed for overclocking, nor are any other CPUs unless they are suffixed with a "K." For example the i5-4690K is designed for overclocking, whereas the i5-4690 (notice it does not have a "K" on the end) is not. Your motherboard supports overclocking as it's a Z97 motherboard; a H97 would not be for overclocking.

Again to answer your question, for a little more I'd go with the Xeon. It performs similar to an i7, which is superior to your select i5.

All the best.

 

[nicedude80]

I'd recommend the Xeon E3-1230v3 in your price range. It's performance is on par with the i7-4770 whereas the Xeon is cheaper. It costs a little more than your i5 however, but the Xeon (similar to the i7) is quad-core with Hyper Threading; that's 4 cores and 8 threads (the OS will effectively see it as 8 cores).

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $284.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

It should be noted that the Xeon's are not designed for overclocking, nor are any other CPUs unless they are suffixed with a "K." For example the i5-4690K is designed for overclocking, whereas the i5-4690 (notice it does not have a "K" on the end) is not. Your motherboard supports overclocking as it's a Z97 motherboard; a H97 would not be for overclocking.

Again to answer your question, for a little more I'd go with the Xeon. It performs similar to an i7, which is superior to your select i5.

All the best.

One thing though, I noticed it is only 3.3 ghz, where the i5 4690 is 3.5 to 3.9, wil this Xeon still outperform the latter? And if so by how much? Will my gpu start to bottle neck it?

 

[Obnoxious]

The frequency of the CPU is irrelevant when comparing an i5 to an i7, Xeon or any other processor. Frequency of a processor is not as important as it used to be, a 3.3GHz Xeon will outperform an i5-4690K even at 3.9GHz. To illustrate this point, a Pentium 4 with an overclocked frequency of 7GHZ would be absolutely annihilated by the i5-4590T at 2GHz. You may only compare frequency when both processors possess the same micro-architecture, for example the i5-4430 (3GHz) vs. the i5-4460 (3.2GHz); they're both the same except for their frequency.

With all that said, the frequency is irrelevant and the Xeon is a better processor whichever way you look at it. The Xeon won't bottleneck your GPU; you can even purchase the GTX 780 or GTX 690 and you're still good with the processor. The GPU doesn't necessarily bottleneck your CPU, however if you want better graphical performance you could purchase a better GPU; not that the GTX 770 is weak but you could purchase a R9 290 for the price you're paying.

The Xeon E3-1230v3 is quite a signification margin better than the i5, remember that the Xeon is similar in performance to the i7-4770 but at a fraction of the cost.

To conclude the above, the Xeon E3-1230v3 is significantly better in performance over the i5, and you could get a better GPU for the price you're paying (the GTX 770 you've selected is overpriced). Why not go with something like this?:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($115.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $800.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

In your first post, if you were to purchase the i5, GTX 770 and the ASUS Z97-A you selected, it would have cost you 865.94, whereas with the above, you're getting more [performance] with your money for $65 cheaper. It's also worth noting all prices in this post are in CA Dollars.

All the best.

 

[nicedude80]

The frequency of the CPU is irrelevant when comparing an i5 to an i7, Xeon or any other processor. Frequency of a processor is not as important as it used to be, a 3.3GHz Xeon will outperform an i5-4690K even at 3.9GHz. To illustrate this point, a Pentium 4 with an overclocked frequency of 7GHZ would be absolutely annihilated by the i5-4590T at 2GHz. You may only compare frequency when both processors possess the same micro-architecture, for example the i5-4430 (3GHz) vs. the i5-4460 (3.2GHz); they're both the same except for their frequency.

With all that said, the frequency is irrelevant and the Xeon is a better processor whichever way you look at it. The Xeon won't bottleneck your GPU; you can even purchase the GTX 780 or GTX 690 and you're still good with the processor. The GPU doesn't necessarily bottleneck your CPU, however if you want better graphical performance you could purchase a better GPU; not that the GTX 770 is weak but you could purchase a R9 290 for the price you're paying.

The Xeon E3-1230v3 is quite a signification margin better than the i5, remember that the Xeon is similar in performance to the i7-4770 but at a fraction of the cost.

To conclude the above, the Xeon E3-1230v3 is significantly better in performance over the i5, and you could get a better GPU for the price you're paying (the GTX 770 you've selected is overpriced). Why not go with something like this?:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($284.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($115.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($399.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $800.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

In your first post, if you were to purchase the i5, GTX 770 and the ASUS Z97-A you selected, it would have cost you 865.94, whereas with the above, you're getting more [performance] with your money for $65 cheaper. It's also worth noting all prices in this post are in CA Dollars.

All the best.

Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I think that nvidia supplies better software and I personally like them better,however I could be proven wrong. The only thing is I can go any more expensive, I need to make it cheaper. So I will look into that.

 

[Obnoxious]

Indeed I understand your point. Personally I'm quite fond of AMD's performance per price, but I too prefer Nvidia. If you'd like to stick with the GTX 770, you could go with this:

Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $329.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

The above is $125.98 cheaper than the GTX 770 you want to purchase, but has 2GB VRAM instead of 4GB. You can save $194.99 if you settle for a GTX 760, that's if you desire. Again however, AMD does provide more affordable GPUs whilst not comprising on the performance.

All the best.

 

[nicedude80]

Indeed I understand your point. Personally I'm quite fond of AMD's performance per price, but I too prefer Nvidia. If you'd like to stick with the GTX 770, you could go with this:

Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $329.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

The above is $125.98 cheaper than the GTX 770 you want to purchase, but has 2GB VRAM instead of 4GB. You can save $194.99 if you settle for a GTX 760, that's if you desire. Again however, AMD does provide more affordable GPUs whilst not comprising on the performance.

All the best.

I think I might just go with those 3 things you recommended. Is the r290 better than the gtx 770? Also can you put it in crossfire? The only thing is I am going to keep my mobo, as I quite like it. I would like the 4 gb VRAM because I will have one 1080p and one 720p monitors and I will be playing modded games such as arma 3

 

[nicedude80]

Also will this (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182272) power supply be able to run the r290?

 

[Obnoxious]

I think I might just go with those 3 things you recommended. Is the r290 better than the gtx 770? Also can you put it in crossfire? The only thing is I am going to keep my mobo, as I quite like it. I would like the 4 gb VRAM because I will have one 1080p and one 720p monitors and I will be playing modded games such as arma 3

Yes the R9 290 is better than the GTX 770; reading some reviews online comparing the two, according to them the R9 290 can get up to 20 frames more than the GTX 770 at most. The R9 290 can also be put into 4-way CrossFire without the need for an interconnect bridge.

Also I can understand the requirement for 4GB VRAM, especially as you're planning to use more than one monitor.

By the way, the PSU will support the R9 290.

All the best.

 

[nicedude80]

I think I might just go with those 3 things you recommended. Is the r290 better than the gtx 770? Also can you put it in crossfire? The only thing is I am going to keep my mobo, as I quite like it. I would like the 4 gb VRAM because I will have one 1080p and one 720p monitors and I will be playing modded games such as arma 3

Yes the R9 290 is better than the GTX 770; reading some reviews online comparing the two, according to them the R9 290 can get up to 20 frames more than the GTX 770 at most. The R9 290 can also be put into 4-way CrossFire without the need for an interconnect bridge.

Also I can understand the requirement for 4GB VRAM, especially as you're planning to use more than one monitor.

By the way, the PSU will support the R9 290.

All the best.

That gigabyte r290 one had bd reviews on newegg, could you recommend a higher rating one that is under or equal o 440 canadian.

 

[nicedude80]

What does it mean whn it says crossfirex support card? Can I only use it as a second card?

 

[Icaraeus]

It means it supports crossfire, which means you can use the same GPU with the same GPU (total 2 GPUs). Almost all GPUs support Xfire or SLI.