PC build i7-4790K VS i7-6700K? Which one is better?

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gyonin

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May 14, 2015
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Hey! I'm building a new PC and i have hard time deciding which CPU should i get - i7-4790K or i7-6700K?

I am well aware that each CPU needs a different motherboard and RAM. I would use PC for 1440p gaming at high fps and streaming as well as video editing and making flash animations - would be using Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe After Effects and MAYBE Adobe Premiere. I'm going for as silent as possible PC.
Other components would be:
GPU: Asus strix GTX 980Ti
CPU cooler: NOCTUA NH-D15S (i think this one is compatible with both CPUs?)
RAM: 16 or 32 GB
Motherboard: Asrock Z170 Extreme6+ LGA1151- ASRock Super Alloy (for i7-6700K) OR ASUS Z97-PRO Wi-fi ac (for i7-4790K)
Case: Fractal Desing Define R5 (without window)
Storage - bunch of SSD - any recommendations?

My budget is around 2500$ USD. Which would perform better and how much of performance there really is?
 
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Compuser10165
I would either go with Skylake i7 6700k build or an X99 build (i7 5820k) because in my opinion it is worth it to pay a little extra (100-150$) for the new features of the Z170 chipset (in case you are going with that). As others said, the Z170 chipset is Skylake's biggest advantage even when comparing to X99, but if you need the extra cores of X99 go for it. P.S. I am also building a pc with the i7 6700k and I have chosen similar components (the extreme 7+ mobo simply because it had a combo on it but otherwise I would have went with the extreme 6+), I recommend 16 or 32gb of DDR4 3000mhz CL 15 if you go with Skylake (My choice was Corsair Veangeance LPX). In terms of storage I have went 250gb Samsung Evo ssd + 1tb WD hdd but for I...
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overco

overco

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Sep 1, 2015
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The 6700k and 4790k perform roughly the same in normal situations but the future of DDR4 vs DDR3 is big. I just bought a 4790k because the 6700k's weren't very much available so I should have waited ONLY BECAUSE OF THE DDR4 FUTURE. Otherwise they are too close in perfomance to justify just that.
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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Dec 7, 2009
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Each new release of a series of CPU's is generally anywhere from 5% to 10% faster than the previous version. And Haswell was 2 generations ago now.

In addition, the Z170 chipset has implemented a whole bunch of new things. The old PCIe 2.0 lanes between the chipset and the CPU are now PCIe 3.0 lanes. Latency has been lowered dramatically in some cases. 10GB SATA express ports exist now. M.2 x4 (32GB/sec) slots now exist, and there can be 2 or 3 of these if the motherboard designers design that in. But even 1 M.2 x4 slot will do over 1400MB/sec with a M.2 x4 SSD. If there are more than 1 M.2 slot, Intel RST will support both SATA and M.2 devices in a Raid setup. I am still not sure if that can be an all inclusive SATA + M.2 raid, or would be SATA as a raid, and a separate M.2 only raid. We will find out as soon as someone tests things out and writes about it.

NVMe is included now, which is a very low latency protocol. Some Z97 motherboards supported this, but all Z170 motherboards should come with this by default. While some NVMe devices exist today, the real show stopper will come next year when Intel and Micro start producing their Optane devices (using their XPoint [spoken as CrossPoint nonvolatile memory] that are 1000 times faster than todays SSD's and last 1000 times longer than them as well. These should be capable of something in excess of 7500MB/sec in NVMe PCIe format. And that is not a typo.

So the Skylake CPU's are nice, but the Z170 chipset is the biggest upgrade in my opinion.
 
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guanyu210379

guanyu210379

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Mar 30, 2007
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i7 6700k vs i7 4790k are roughly the same.
Z170 vs Z97 is the main key that you should go for Skylake instead.
If you need really tons of RAM and/or tons of threads, if you work more on editing/rendering, etc., X99 could be very interesting too.
I even recommend more that you take i7 5820k or i7 5930k for that need.
 
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Compuser10165

Compuser10165

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Sep 12, 2015
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I would either go with Skylake i7 6700k build or an X99 build (i7 5820k) because in my opinion it is worth it to pay a little extra (100-150$) for the new features of the Z170 chipset (in case you are going with that). As others said, the Z170 chipset is Skylake's biggest advantage even when comparing to X99, but if you need the extra cores of X99 go for it. P.S. I am also building a pc with the i7 6700k and I have chosen similar components (the extreme 7+ mobo simply because it had a combo on it but otherwise I would have went with the extreme 6+), I recommend 16 or 32gb of DDR4 3000mhz CL 15 if you go with Skylake (My choice was Corsair Veangeance LPX). In terms of storage I have went 250gb Samsung Evo ssd + 1tb WD hdd but for I recommend one of three options:
1. 250gb 850 evo for os+programs+ 500gb 850 evo (also add a hdd if you need extra storage).
2. Samsung SM 951 256gb+ 500gb evo (again, also can add a hdd)
3. (Which I would choose in your place): 500gb 850 evo(I don't think the pro is worth the extra cost but you can go for the pro version if you want,)+ 2tb WD Caviar Black
4. Other combinations.
 
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