Xeon or i7?

[dhurda471]

Hello everyone.

So, I've recently planned out my dream gaming rig (so I have something to save for!).

The main concern is that I've heard a few people say that similar Xeon CPUs, when compared to an i7, are actually quite relieving for those who want to save on a budget and still get sweet performance. This is due to the fact that Xeons are almost identical to i7's, however they're cheaper because of their lack of integrated graphics.

The CPU in question here is an i7-4790k. My question is -

Is the above stated true? Should I opt for a comparable Xeon to save a bit of money and still retain performance (since I'll have a dedicated video card)? And if so, could you recommend a Xeon for me? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Darkbreeze]

The above stated IS true. It's the same silicone. The E3 Xeon 1231v3 and 1241v3 are the same as an equivalent clock speed i7 from the same generation, in this case, Haswell Refresh (Non-K, no overclocking) without graphics. Clock speeds may be off by maybe 100mhz depending on the model, but gaming performance is the same regardless. So is performance in applications.


http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/intel-cpu-bx80646e31241v3%2Cintel-cpu-bx80646i74790/

 

[lazyboy947]

Pretty much, other than clock speed, and the integrated graphics there are the same internal chip. The xeon support ecc memory, and maybe some different instruction sets, or features like vt-d but most wont make a difference

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... 1) There are no "K" versions thus no OCing with Xeon.
2) 3770/4770 models E3 1240 V2/V3 1155/1150 are the Common low $$ i7 ones.
3) There are Xeon models with IGT a "5" at the end will denote this.
4) You can save alot more $$ with used on EBAY... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-E3-1240V2-3-4GHz-Quad-core-CPU-/151711152482?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2352b07962
And isn't this the whole reason to get a Xeon? There are always alot Xeons available due to server upgrades... I got mine for $200 shipped.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/socketType.html#id1 1155 V2
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/socketType.html#id7 1150 V3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Xeon_microprocessors

 

[synphul]

How long do you plan to save for? There's nothing wrong with saving for a build but I think you'll be better off getting an idea of what you want first. Say your goal pc right now, to get an idea of cost. Save up and then look to make a build. Things can change quickly in tech and things can come up in real life that cause to put a build off for awhile. My circumstances aren't everyone's but I can remember looking forward to a 2500k when they were released. By the time I was able to make the upgrade, I ended up with a 4690k because one thing or another came up that put off a new build.

Skylake is coming out soon likely in the next couple months, z107 boards have already started to make appearances so they're in production. New gpu's are starting to appear, the radeon 300 series is around the corner. It depends on what you plan to do with your system. Purely or mostly gaming, all around pc, video editing etc. It might also be worth (since you're saving already and don't have a budget in hand to buy right away) waiting for win10 and some actual dx12 benchmarks to come out.

If you're on a tight budget and use a lot of heavily threaded programs that make good use of hyperthreading, a xeon might be a good choice. Aside from lacking the igpu, it also lacks the speed of the 4790k. Not everyone wants to overclock though I've seen a fair few who wish they had an unlocked cpu to get a little more performance out of it later on and you can't if it's a locked core. Higher resolutions typically put more load on the gpu than the cpu but each game is different. Some scale well from i7's to i3's while others are still cpu heavy. Balanced systems almost always work better than cutting corners on a cpu just to put the most expensive gpu possible in a rig.

With current hardware, the 1231v3 would be the best budget option since they run around $245 or the 1241v3 which is 3.5ghz (3.9ghz turbo) which is the same as a stock 4690k i5 with ht for $265. Beyond that it's close enough in price you'd probably be better off with the 4790k. No telling what skylake's unlocked i7's are going to bring. Some games ht helps, others you're better off with more speed. The i5 4690k comes real close to the 4790k in a lot of games at the moment. I still think if you're in the middle of saving you'll end up faced with a whole new batch of options like z107 boards with ddr4 by the time you're ready to build. A build assembled on paper now will be slightly outdated.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The 100mhz difference between the Xeon E3 1241v3 and the i7-4790 is not going to make any measureable difference on any gaming title or application. Overclocking on Haswell Refresh doesn't offer that much in the way of gaming performance gains either in most cases. So those arguments are mostly moot. If you want to overclock, get an unlocked i5 or i7. If you will NOT be overclocking, an E3 Xeon is probably the better option.


There is however the additional consideration that with the i-series chips, i3, i5 and i7, if your GPU ever has issues or takes a powder, you can at least use the integrated graphics for mainstream computing tasks until the GPU card is replaced or the issue is resolved. Aside from that, there's not much else to say.

 

[synphul]

I thought the op was talking about the 4790k not the 4790. Even without overclocking the 4790k comes with a base speed of 4ghz and turbo of 4.4ghz, almost 20% faster than the xeon without even overclocking it. It's hard to say what's great for 'gaming' since one game runs like a turd on everything, the next is heavily cpu intensive and the next after that may go easy on the cpu and require heavy graphics.

I'm sure the xeon would do fine for several years as well. The only drawback is if games a couple years from now need more juice (we don't know until it happens) there's no way to get around it except to replace it with something faster with a locked core. A lot of cpu's will play games great right now, even the i3 will.

 

[lazyboy947]

Really any modern intel cpu with four cores and above 3.2ghz should do great in any game, and the 1241 v3 is only 500mhz slower, which should show no real difference in games compared to 4ghz. If the OP is not going to or does not want to overclock then the xeon is great for saving money.

I know quite a few people who went with the k sku i7 and a overclocking motherboard and cooler and didnt touch the clock speed from stock as they have yet to need the extra performance one is running a 2600k with a gtx 670 and the other with a 3770k and gtx 980 and both run their cpu and gpu at stock clocks. I even lowered my OC on my 5820k from 4.3 back down to 4ghz just because my cpu utilization is low enough in games that it doesnt effect anything.

 

[synphul]

Definitely agree, there's no point in spending extra on features if they'll go unused. It's easy to be made to feel that a solution will be under performing just because there are overkill solutions available. Some lower budget amd's sort of 'need' the overclocking as a means to help even the playing field and compensate for the lower ipc but with modern 4+ core intel cpu's it's more of a perk, not a necessity. Obviously only a perk if someone enjoys overclocking or wants the added speed, has little value if it's a 'chore' someone doesn't want to fool with. When I've seen overclocking become useful for games is when the cpu is aging, not playing the current games while the cpu is current. Depends on the game's requirements, in the past it's allowed me to hold off upgrading for another year or two by being able to push an older gen cpu 1 generation 'newer' with an oc.

When my current 4690k is to the point that it's falling behind a little, the oc will give it a performance bump that will allow it to run slightly stronger than a stock skylake equivalent. I still figure skylake to bring about 10% performance improvements over haswell, but some have speculated 20%. My current oc gains the 4690k 24% performance over a stock 4690.