To buy an i5 4690k, wait for the new intel generation to drop in price, or look for better performance in overclocking?

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

I'm not quite sure if i will get a huge performance upgrade by switching to an i5 4690k. The reason i want to switch is because i get really bad fps in many games, and i believe my cpu is bottlenecking my R9 290.
Another factor is also overclocking. I'm not really into overclocking, even though i have a Corsair H100.

So basically my question here is, should i buy an i5 4690k now, wait for the Haswell-e to drop in price, or keep my AMD fx 8350 and try to OC it for better performance?
(Sorry for my bad english and formatting btw)

Edit: I mostly play CS:GO, Arma games, DayZ, H1Z1 and some of the newer games.

Elemential · Mar 25, 2015

I don't really think the prices of the haswell-e processors will drop anytime soon
It's a good choice to alt for a fx 8350 and overclock it if you are planning to do a lot of video editing etc
I say wait for the summer sales
Prices should drop a lot

shanetemple14 · Mar 25, 2015

i dont believe your cpu is bottleknecking, try updating drivers?

Justin Millard · Mar 25, 2015

8350 is a great CPU. Just put a good cooler on it and overclock it if you find it slows down.
I can link you to another thread I was commenting on where someone using a R9 290 and 8350 was getting 80FPS in Dying Light.

What power supply are you using?

dextermat · Mar 25, 2015

While the price drops will be minimal (i5 4690k), I would wait for next generation, paired with ddr4.

Unless your fx-8350 is really holding you down.

Elemential · Mar 25, 2015

I say just oc your CPU
It's good enough for current gen but if you have the money
Then go for the i5

Justin Millard · Mar 25, 2015

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2585133/8350-bottleneck-290.html

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

Justin Millard :

I'm using a Corsair AX 760 PSU.

shanetemple14 · Mar 25, 2015

elemential he mentions it when he says "or keep my AMD fx 8350"

Justin Millard · Mar 25, 2015

Also are you just getting bad frame per second when online?
It might just be the servers you are playing on causing the slow down.

I'm just stating the things that are easy to identify to start with.
Your system should be getting good frame rates.

You could also try installing a better cooler on your CPU. That can help a lot with those AMD CPUs.
EDIT: Just saw you already have a good cooler. Weird.

Justin Millard · Mar 25, 2015

Yeah, that PSU should be brilliant for your needs. I can't work out where the bottleneck is. Sorry!

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

shanetemple14 :

I have updated all drivers to the most recent just a week ago.

Justin Millard · Mar 25, 2015

Are your temperatures good? Are you noticing any weird graphical errors? It sounds like you have built a very good system and I doubt you installed it wrong so I would be looking for evidence of faulty parts that you can get free replacements for.

geofelt · Mar 25, 2015

Haswell-E is not likely to be a good pick if you have any budget considerations.
And, it is looking like the broadwell offerings for current Z07 motherboards will no be cpu improvements, but integrated graphics improvements.

Today, the 4690K is as good as it gets for gaming.
If you are not into overclocking, look at a 4790K which will run at 4.0/4.4 stock.
It might be worth the extra $100 to you.

I think your games are somewhat cpu dependent and are single threaded. To that extent a FX chip is not a good match. FX cores are slow and extra ones are not helpful.
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You could also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

shanetemple14 · Mar 25, 2015

Ducktamer :

hmm ok well im not sure you should be getting good frames.btw what settings do you play games at?

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

Justin Millard :

I think my H100 is decent enough? Also, i just feel like i could get a lot more fps with better single core performance for games like csgo and Arma games

InvalidError · Mar 25, 2015

If you look at Intel's pricing, most of its chips are more expensive now than they were a few years ago, so your hope for price drops will most likely get crushed. I do not remember Intel announcing price drops on their CPUs in several years. For example, the i7-4960X which launched with an MSRP of $1000 now retails for about $1250 and the i7-3970X that came before it retails for ~$1700, $700 more than its original launch price.

So if you want an Intel CPU, waiting for lower prices is futile - most of their higher-end chips' prices go up over time rather than down. If you want to wait for something, wait for desktop Broadwell in a few months or Skylake which should launch later this year.

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

shanetemple14 :

In CS:GO and Arma which i play the most, i play with everything on low, and in csgo my fps is around 160, but frequently drops to around 120

Justin Millard · Mar 25, 2015

CS: Go doesn't need a better CPU. It runs fine on laptops. Yeah, I edited my comment when I saw you have a good cooler.

ARMA 3 however is a big CPU power hog and I have seen it have issues on AMD CPUs before.

Justin Millard · Mar 25, 2015

What frame rates do you get on ARMA 3 on medium settings? If it is still over 50FPS I would not worry.

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

Justin Millard :

No graphical errors, even though i get some rubberband lagging (i think it's called? Its like a frame freezes for a very short time) from time to time, and my temps on GPU is 75 under load and cpu is 45 under load.

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

Justin Millard :

I get mostly 30 fps, sometimes when theres like nothing happening i touch 50.

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

Justin Millard :

Hmm, just seems wierd a lot of people get easy 300+ fps while i drop under 150 sometimes, and thats really crucial since im running with a 144hz monitor.

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

geofelt :

Haswell-E is not likely to be a good pick if you have any budget considerations.
And, it is looking like the broadwell offerings for current Z07 motherboards will no be cpu improvements, but integrated graphics improvements.

Today, the 4690K is as good as it gets for gaming.
If you are not into overclocking, look at a 4790K which will run at 4.0/4.4 stock.
It might be worth the extra $100 to you.

I think your games are somewhat cpu dependent and are single threaded. To that extent a FX chip is not a good match. FX cores are slow and extra ones are not helpful.
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You could also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

I should be able to overclock, so i might want to save 100$ on that. Also, when i decrease my resultion in csgo, i 10-20 fps increase, but shouldn't a R9 290 be able to handle such games just fine, while the fx 8350 might lack behind, since it can only utilize half of the cpu?

Ducktamer · Mar 25, 2015

One other factor i might need to mention is, i really enjoy watching livestreams while i play some games, and i get a really huge fps decrease by doing that, will the i5 4690k improve that, or will it be the same?

To buy an i5 4690k, wait for the new intel generation to drop in price, or look for better performance in overclocking?

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