Is there any noticeable difference between the i5 4690 and the i5 4690k in this build?

shadomaster

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Oct 20, 2013
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I know that the i5 4690k is overclocable on some motherboards but other than that is there any other difference? I just don't understand why intel would make two cards that are about the same price and are only different because one is overclocable.

This is the build that i am looking at:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xsCPvK
 
Solution
As said before, if you're planning on OC'ing the CPU, there is a clear difference.

If you don't plan on OC'ing your build...don't spend the extra cash for the unlocked 4690K.

mrt3

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Dec 27, 2014
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there will be noticeable difference between the i5 4690 and the i5 4690k after OCing, as i5 4690 is a locked Cpu so the i5 4690k is a clear winner. Actually k stand for unlocked/overclockable cpu for intel
 

shadomaster

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Oct 20, 2013
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They are the same price though. That's what i don't get. the 4690 is $217.99 and the 4690k is $215.00. Also, how do you guys like the gaming build I made? I changed it a bit: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/pXZTD3
 
The build looks quite nice, except your PSU. It is of lower quality. I would also recommend getting the GTX 970 over the 980, as you only loose about 25% graphics power (which comes out to about 10- 20 fps on average in most games).

I would suggest going with something more like this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($116.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($73.95 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($369.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Directron)
Total: $1090.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-24 19:48 EST-0500
 

ThanatosFX

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Feb 13, 2015
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The price difference isn't too much if you're planing to buy one get the one with "K" letter, this does not mean you're forced to overclock it but it means you have a hidden weapon under your command that one day you might need to use it and get more performance as games and software are getting more demanding with time.

Good luck!!
 

RazerZ

Judicious
Ambassador
There's a difference between the two, one can be overclocked as you said. From what I've seen the performance gained from overclocking a haswell i5 will be marginal when it comes to gaming. The money saved from going from a 4690k to say a locked 4440 or 4460 can be put towards another part such as a SSD, or you could just pocket the savings. Many enthusiasts like to overclock for a hobby as well even if it means paying a higher price just to be able to say they got a certain number on a synthetic benchmark. Just remember it's real world performance that's important.

For the same price as a 4690k you could look into a Xeon 1230/1231 V3 which performs like a locked i7 without integrated graphics.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-4790k-i5-4690k_5.html#sect0 - As you can see there is no large performance gain in the games tested at a 1080p resolution.