Gaming CPU : i3 4170 vs i5 4690k?

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spence9514

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Hey guys, I'm fairly new to pc gaming, and I've made the decision to build my first gaming rig. My basic setup is going to consist of an Asus z-97 sabertooth mark 2 motherboard, 16 GB of ram, and I'm going to be using SSD's for my storage for the operating system and my games. Right now my biggest problem is that I'm not sure what to get for my processor and GPU. I'm currently debating between an i3 4170 and an i5 4690K for the processor. Depending on what processor I buy, I'll either get an EVGA GTX 970 or 980.

The main games that I'll be playing will be ARK: Survival Evolved, Fallout 4, the new Final Fantasy VII, and For Honor. I'll probably play other games as well, but those are my main 4 that I'm wanting to play. I'd like to play these on mid to high settings and consistently run 40-50 fps.

I don't really anticipate doing much multitasking beyond something simple like listening to Pandora when I'm gaming.

What I was wondering is whether I should go for the i3 and get the 980 or if I should opt for the i5 and the 970. I'm currently leaning towards the i3 because I know the GPU is the most important part for gaming, and if I went for the i3, I wouldn't lose as much money if and when I decided to upgrade to an i7.

If you guys could give me some insight and advice on what to do, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks!
 
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whether you lightly multitask or not, the two cores in the core i3 will always be inadequate in a time when more and more games are using more cores. software (games) and multitasking - in both cases the 4 core i5 will be better than 2 core (hyperthreaded) core i3.

as for the gfx card, depends on your display/gaming resolution. both 980 and 970 are good for 1080p. however, since amd has launched it's r9 fury x gfx card i've been reading rumors about nvidia considering price cuts. whether it is true or if cuts trickle down to 980 and 970 remains to be seen but i hope you're able to hold off gfx cards a little longer.

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roscoe303

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With the mobo you selected I would go with the i5 4690k as well if you have the money. The mobo you have would allow you to do some overclocking with the i5 if you ever venture down that path. You probably wouldn't NEED to upgrade to the i7 later if you went ahead and grabbed the i5 now
 
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spence9514

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If I stuck with the i3 and the 970, do you think I would still be able to manage 40 fps on mid settings for those games?

If I do opt for the i5, would a 4590 suffice, or would the 4690k be worth the extra $30? I don't know the first thing about how to overclock a cpu so I'm not sure which would be better for me.
 
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de5_Roy

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whether you lightly multitask or not, the two cores in the core i3 will always be inadequate in a time when more and more games are using more cores. software (games) and multitasking - in both cases the 4 core i5 will be better than 2 core (hyperthreaded) core i3.

as for the gfx card, depends on your display/gaming resolution. both 980 and 970 are good for 1080p. however, since amd has launched it's r9 fury x gfx card i've been reading rumors about nvidia considering price cuts. whether it is true or if cuts trickle down to 980 and 970 remains to be seen but i hope you're able to hold off gfx cards a little longer.


when the core i3 becomes inadequate, you might be forced to consider buying an i5 anyway, so you might end up paying for 2 cpus.
the 4590 is locked as well as it's a few hundred MHz slower than the 3.5 GHz i5 4690k. even if you don't o.c., the 4690k still has the highest default base clockrate.
 
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spence9514

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So if I had one of my friends show me how to overclock, the 4690k would definitely be the better choice right?

And as for the time frame, I probably won't be buying the GPU till the very end. Right now I'm still trying to get a few other financial things sorted out. The main reason I'm asking now is I have a wishlist on newegg.com and I'm hoping to snag a few parts if they go on sale. I probably won't be finishing the rig till mid October.
 
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bignastyid

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The 4590 is a multiplier locked which makes overclocking alot more difficult as you can only set the multiplier for the turbo value and after that you have to use the base clock which also overclocks the ram and pci-e bus. If you are going to overclock stick with an unlocked K cpu. If you don't plan on overclocked then get a non k version. Also of you are not overclocking you dont need to get an expensive Z97 board designed for overclocking. If you dont plan on SLI then you could get a cheaper H97 board, if you do plan on SLI then just get a cheaper z97 that supports SLI and doesnt have all the extra overclocking features.
 
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de5_Roy

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the i5 4690k will be better regardless of o.c. due to it's faster base clockrate i.e. it runs faster by default, compared to other i5 cpus.

october? that actually opens you up for the new skylake cpus as well. i didn't mention skylake because i haven't read anything concrete other than rumors that it'll be desktop first and a core i5 6600k and an i7 6700k unlocked cpus will launch. those will be the successors of current i5 4690k and 4790k cpus. those will likely launch at the same price points as the current 4690k and 4790k did at launch. i hope you keep these in consideration as well. intel has managed to slightly improve (5-9%) with each generation, so the upcoming cpus will likely be slightly faster than current ones. i am not saying that to diminish the 4690k, but it's something to consider.
better: if you live near a microcenter, you may be able to snag an i5 4690k/6600k for cheaper than from newegg.
 
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spence9514

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Alright thanks guys. I really appreciate it. For now, I'll choose the 4690k and I'll see about getting it overclocked.

I'll definitely keep an eye on the skylake processors and see about them when they come out.

You guys have been amazing. Thank you so much
 
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bignastyid

bignastyid

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If your aren't building till October I'd wait for skylake. Save up your money and come back and ask a question about the best gaming build for your budget and you will likely get several builds posted to make the most of the budget.
 
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de5_Roy

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about skylake - it's rumored to use the latest ddr4 ram whish is incompatible with current ddr3 platforms. currently newegg has several dual channel ddr4 kits (2x 8GB):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600521523%20600006072&IsNodeId=1&Description=ddr4&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=90
so you need to keep your eyes on ddr4 kits as well.
skylake cpus will use lga1151 socket, so it'll require new motherboards (for your purpose, one with Z170 chipset).

this is about as much known atm. more info will be coming out in the next few months and i've read that the cpus will launch in august. make sure to check THW news for the latest on skylake.
 
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Justin Millard

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Do not buy the SSD yet. Prices of SSDs are coming down fast at the moment. So what you can buy in September will probably be cheaper than what you can buy right now. I have seen massive price drops in 500GB and above SSDs over the past three months.

Cases and power supplies won't change much. If you see one you like at a good price then go for it.
Most mid tower cases are very good.

A 650w modular PSU will give you easy cable management and plenty of spare power to make sure your power supply is never stressed. As a rule you want to be able to provide 20% more power than what your system needs so it operates at best efficiency and doesn't throw out extra heat into the case. Power supplies slowly provide less and less electricity over their life span so that is another reason to keep that buffer.
The main advantage of silver and above power supplies is not so much the power savings (unless you use a massive amount of power running SLI), but the extra energy efficiency means less heat in the case so your GPU will stay cool more easily.
 
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