i5 vs i7 Gaming

Anencephalus

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So I've been doing some reading and apparently the i7 and i5 don't have a significant difference for gaming. I've read that the i7 uses threading that isn't used for gaming and that i5 is more than enough.

I've switched from AMD to Intel and I don't know much about intel's processors except for the fact that they are better/more efficient. So I would be grateful for any advice :)

My next build will last me the next few years so will a i5 be a perfect fit?
If so, which CPU? Please pair with a mb if you can.
 
Solution


Honestly there are not that many games that properly use many CPU...

NBSN

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An i5 is plenty...depending on your budget and overclocking needs I would strongly suggest something along the i5-4690k

Update:
What sort of budget are you looking at? And what sort of GPU setup are you considering? If you just want to use a single GPU, and no overclocking, then that would mean a different motherboard. Of course wanting the option to either Crossfire or SLI (or do them both), that also matters a lot.
 

NBSN

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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HccMTW
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HccMTW/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.97 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($128.79 @ Newegg)
Total: $338.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-12 01:45 EDT-0400

Is a decent combination.
 

Anencephalus

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How does this build look?

Edit: Is the case fine? I originally had it for a build with a different mb
 

NBSN

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It looks decent. What about the hard drive?
 

jasonite

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Here's the deal: you do not need hyperthreading on a CPU if you are gaming, which is the main selling point of the i7. The main thing that hyperthreading helps with are video editing, 3D rendering, and heavy multi-tasking. With an i5 you have 4 cores, so one core (or two or three) can run your game while another one can take on the task of your web browser or something light. Hyperthreading's main point is a processing trick for more efficient scheduling of the work to be done by your CPU. Most of the work done in gaming is done through your GPU (which does the rendering), not your CPU. Most games on the market simply can't take advantage of more than a couple of threads total. Hyperthreading is not nearly as good as more cores, but remember that unless you do a lot of 3D rendering, video editing or heavy-multitasking you don't even need a lot of those.

The i5 is the perfect fit, and the 4690k is the best choice and value for gaming IMO. If you are overclocking get the "K" version, otherwise save some money and get the non-K.

If you are overclocking, the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC FORCE is the fastest OC mobo in the H97 or Z97 chipset. If you're not OC'ing then I recommend most any Asus or Gigabyte H97 or Z97 mobo. The Asus Z97-A or the more affordable Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H are good pics.
 

jasonite

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As far as case, IMO you can not do better than the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, and it's affordable too! Multiple award-winner, great for air or water cooling, room for at least 7 fans if you want it. If you want a mid-tower I think the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer is one of the very best for under $100.

If you are OC'ing, use a cooler, but if you are not, there is no need for one.

J
 

NBSN

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Honestly, for a case all you need is something with a few fans if you are doing air cooled components. 3-4 fans should be plenty using Intel and NVidia products. Even AMD product would be okay with that. Stock heatsink will be fine. Sure a stock heatsink if not good for overclocking, although people still use them. But it is something you could use for a while and get the system going. Worse case scenario you decide to change the heatsink later on... no big deal.

So, stock heatsink is fine. And as long as the parts fit in the case and it has a few fans you are good.
 

Anencephalus

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Alright thanks I will probably stick with that case.




I have been doing heaps of research on this and even found multiple threads on Toms Hardware about this topic and it seems to be split 50/50.

Half the people say i5 is fine, the other half say games will be using hyper-threading in the future so get i7. They also use multi-cores in consoles that support their side.

So I am not sure. Since I am looking to buy a build for the next few years, I wouldn't mind dropping another $100 for an i7 if in the next year or 2 hyper-threading will actually be used more.

Thoughts?
 

jasonite

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Here's a thought. Hyperthreading has been around since 2002. It's now 2014 and still virtually no games use more than one or two threads. If it really is worth your peace of mind to get it, go for it but you will need a better cooler than the one you have picked if you want to OC it. Otherwise it's unnecessary, and save yourself the money.
 

NBSN

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Honestly there are not that many games that properly use many CPU cores, and that is likely to change the next few years. If you really want to be on the safe side then i7 is a great way to go. But if you look at the performance of i5 quad cores to the AMD fx 8 cores, they are very comparable. But that is primarily due to the structure of the cores and processes. Since I don't know if AMD or Intel CPUs will increase in cores, threading capabilities, proper usage of them by developers, etc...I could not really say that an i7 is a must. If you are just gaming, then an i5 would be plenty for the next 3-4 years...probably even the next 5-6 years.

I personally went with an i7-4930k because I do multi tasking of gaming, recording, streaming, etc at once. So, it is all really up to you.
 
Solution


As I said, if you can afford it, get it. Because more games are starting to be more cpu intensive, like battlefield 4, witcher 3, far cry 4, any new games will be utilizing the quad cores or more on the cpus, the i5 4690k is always above 90% cpu usage on bf4 and I don't think developers will not try to take advantage of the potential of hyperthreading, not to mention it'll last a bit longer than i5's do too, maybe 1 or 2 years longer
 

leeb2013

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having used both an I5 (4.4GHz) and a Xeon 3.5GHz (I7) in my rig (both the same price so there is no other advantage of choosing either other than performance) I can say that I prefer the Xeon. Most AAA games can now utilise >4 cores and readily do so. Windows is also good at spreading work over all cores.
I have a gadget that monitors all 8 threads and they are all in use at different times/sometimes the same time. eg. allinone video converter uses all 8, BF4, Watchdogs, Thief etc. Don't forget that even games using only 4 threads, Windows does stuff in the background on the other threads.
In BF4, I saw my CPU usage drop from 50-60% to 30-40% when I switched from the o/c I5 to Xeon.

A bonus is the Xeon runs very cool, so goes nicely in a small case.
 

Anencephalus

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Thanks again everyone for the help I really appreciate it and with such fast responses.

I just did one more sweep through google regarding debates and I'll probably go with the i5 but I checked out some hardware reqs. Far Cry 4, which the series have always been cpu intensive games, is recommending my cpu which makes me feel more confident.
However,
I just saw recommended for Watch Dogs and it recommends the i7 4770k :(
If a game currently released is recommending i7, wouldn't that mean games in the near future require the same specs?
 

NBSN

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Well, one thing that is going on is that game developers/publishers are not taking the time to properly code games and they are overstating the specs required to play them. Its kind of like one of the recent Call of Duty game I think, it was required to have 8 GB of RAM, and if you did not have 8 GB of RAM it would not even play. Then people found the work around and soon after a patch was issued. The game did not need anywhere near that amount though. It seems that the games get more media attention from being bad ports or overstated spec requirements.

Update:
By the way, Watch Dogs for PC was a horrible port. Very dated graphics and looked better on consoles. Saw plenty of videos and steams of the game and it should have ran with a dual core CPU.
 

Anencephalus

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Alright well I will probably be going with the i5. Worst case scenario I can't run COD 47 2 years from now on ultra (no I don't play cod but I'm sure they'll be up to that number by then)

Thanks so much for the help guys I really appreciate it. Was not expecting a solution within an hour or 2 of posting this thread.
 

jasonite

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Even the most intense, multi-threaded games (like BF4) do not use more than 60% of a CPU, and this is coming from one of the experts at Asus. More cores are for more multi-tasking, or for video editing, etc. The i5 will see you through every game that will come out in the next year or two, and if you want to upgrade to an i7 for some reason, go for it then. There is no game out there that the i5 will not run spectacularly. Glad you chose it.

J