Which i5 for gaming (no overclock)

YarManYak

Honorable
May 30, 2013
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Hi guys, I'm looking for a new i5 CPU and although I could compare all of them on CPUboss etc, I don't really understand all the threads and clock speeds and how they equate to gaming performance so which i5 CPU is best for gaming with no OC'ing? (budget is very important so alot of emphasis on bang for your buck if possible)
> i5 4440
> i5 4460
> i5 4590
> i5 4690
(any others I haven't come across but in the same price range, around £150 but nothing above £160-70 please)
This will be put into a system with a GTX 760 and GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 MoBo, 600W Corsair PSU. Only looking for gaming performance as normal stuff like browsing the internet, as far as I know would be pretty indistinguishable.
Thanks in advance, YMY.
 
Solution


The 4690 totally worth it in the long run. It worth it more than getting a better GPU now in my opinionbecause if you get less powerfull CPU and, maybe in 1-2 years, you get a power graphics card of...
Go for the i5 4460(actually any of those things would do)

it is cheap , offers no bottlenecks for your card and anyway even the 4460s full potential is unused in any of the games of today

so going for anything higher would be a bit of a waste(on the other hand if you can spare and plan on keeping that rig for long a 4690 would do good)

hope this helps!
 


Thanks for the reply, I do plan on keeping this for as long as possible but that £30 is quite alot (being a student), definitely worth it in the long term in your opinion?

 
The 4440 if it means you can upgrade to a 970 instead. Any of them are top tier for gaming, money is better spent on higher gpu to pair with it.

also you dont need to get such an expensive motherboard unless you want the features. A Z board is pointless because you arent overclocking, so you could either save a lot of money getting a H81, or if you want more sata ports and moreusb 3 ports and other features then look at a H87/H97 board.
 


The 4690 totally worth it in the long run. It worth it more than getting a better GPU now in my opinionbecause if you get less powerfull CPU and, maybe in 1-2 years, you get a power graphics card of that time, having a better CPU will aleviate the bottleneck problem. It is a long shot to talk now for two years into the future but who knows. I stayed with a core 2 duo E6600 for 6 years without a problem, all games maxed and changed it last year.
 
Solution


Any suggestions on a good mATX mobo for usb 3.0s etc with SLI support but without the cost of OC'ing features? If I could find a cheaper alternative I could then go for the 4690 which would be nice

 
Thanks everyone for all the really good answers, Toms hardware really is the best place for advice. To ask one final question, in terms of gaming performance and future proofing would this set up be pretty decent for the next few years (thats a pretty long time and alot can change but best guesses please)
> i5 4690
> Z87M-GAMING Mobo
> Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 Case
> 600W Builder Series Corsair
> Some unbranded 8gb RAM (bought a pre built PC which I realise now that I should have just built my own)
> GTX 760
 



Why do you want the SLI support? Better off just spending the extra on a 970 instead of a 760.
 


I already have 1 GTX 760 and I only use one monitor so from what I have read, having SLI GTX 760 gives better performance at normal resolutions whilst being cheaper then buying a 970.

 


In all fairness, the SLI capable boards, in M-ATX are not much more than a quality H97 board. I do agree, that if going H97 and lower end i5 means better gpu, to go that route.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($118.99 @ Directron)
Total: $118.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-22 10:48 EST-0500

 


You would be better off selling the current 760 and putting the money towards a 970 instead:

1) Dont need a SLI motherboard
2) Lower power requirements
3) Less heat and noise
4) No hassle of SLI profiles for the games, and if the game supports SLI or not.

760 SLI may match a single 970 in some things, but the rest of the time the 970 will be more consistent in its high performance.
 


Very true, but most people using single GPU can get away with using a H81 board unless you really need tons of ports. The amount you get on H81 is enough for most people - That said I would always want the extra features but many people just dont need them or care.
 
My personnal opinion is to go for a better CPU than GPU. Way better value over time. For example: 1 year ago I bought an i5 3450 and a 7950. The i5 still work today with ease and will be able to run the GPUs for some time, maybe some years. The 7950 on the other hand is now on the medium end of cards while it was on the high end then.
 


You are right in part, its worth getting a cpu that will last a while and not bottleneck any GPUs, but is it worth getting a 4690 over a 4440? I doubt it.

Would you be any worse off now with a i5 3350? I doubt it.
 
Only reason I have a k series chip, is because I need something same day, and Microcenter's combo deal was cheaper than getting a locked i5. My i5 2400, which now resides in my file server/extra gaming rig, still does just fine. Any i5, sandy bridge or newer, is still sufficient to handle pretty much any single GPU card you want to throw at it, and many SLI setups as well.
 
So I didn't realise newegg had a UK site and have found very well priced 4670k and 4690 cpu's. The 4670k is only £8 more. I have never OC'ed before but if I wanted long term gaming performance with good settings and high fps (with light video editing), which would be the better choice? (essentially, in the long term, does OC'ing give a boost in performance enough to make it better then the 4690), unfortunately they don't have any 4690k's.