Need powerful 8-thread intel CPU for Witcher 3 (quick reply needed)

[Wayfall]

CPU: Intel Haswell Quad Core i5 4460 3.20GHz
COOLER: Cooler Master Hyper TX3
GPU: NVidia GeForce MSI GTX 970 4GB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600Mhz 2x4GB Dual Channel 8GB Kit
MOBO: ASRock Z97 Anniversary (Socket 1150)
PSU: EVGA SuperNova G2 550W 80Plus Gold Rated Modular
SDD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
HDD: 1TB Western Caviar Digital
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
MONITOR: LG ISP 1920x1080
CASE: Corsair Obsidian 750D Windowed Full Tower
FANS: 1xCorsair SP140mm back exhaust fan (need replacing), 2xNoctua Redux 120mm top exhaust, 2xCorsair SP140mm front intake (need replacing), 1xNoctua Redux 120mm bottom intake.

Hi community.

i recently got the game on 50% off sale and the games stays at 60fps mostly at high but stutter lots when in towns as the CPU usage near maxes out.

Can someone recommend which Xeon or i7 i should get so i don't need to upgrade for a good 1-2 years, so pretty much the best on offer but i wont ever be overclocking.

Once i know then i will order it tonight.

Cheers

 

[alexkensit]

Hi,
The 6700K is a good buy. If you want a cheaper alternative and want to stay on the still fairly recent Z97 platform ( a solid platform by the way), the 4790K is a good option. If you have the cash, splash out on something like a 5820K which has six physical cores and twelve threads. Do be aware though you will have to invest in an X99 motherboard, and these can be VERY expensive.
Alex Kensit

 

[Wayfall]

Okay i've ordered that, also to double check my board is okay with the cpu?? No blue screening will happen right? (i have the latest BIOS)

 

[SpeedTrainer]

Okay i've ordered that, also to double check my board is okay with the cpu?? No blue screening will happen right? (i have the latest BIOS)

Of the ones he listed, your motherboard is compatible with the 4790k, not the other two.

 

[Wayfall]

Okay i've ordered that, also to double check my board is okay with the cpu?? No blue screening will happen right? (i have the latest BIOS)

Of the ones he listed, your motherboard is compatible with the 4790k, not the other two.

Ye sorry i ordered the i7 4790k and just so you lot all know i have checked my BIOS version and it is at V1.60 which was for update for 5th generation CPU's
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97%20Anniversary/?cat=Download&os=BIOS

i don't think i need to bother with the V1.90 right?

 

[hamster66]

Your pc is still very good so no need to change anything except for cpu. So 4790K is the way to go.

 

[SpeedTrainer]

Correct, you shouldn't have to bother with it.

 

[SoNic67]

I always use the latest BIOS on my computers, it's just good practice. I would upgrade before changing the CPU.
The newer BIOS (1.90) for your board say "update the microcode". That CPU update alone might save you a LOT of headaches in the future.

 

[synphul]

I don't know if the bios is recoverable on that board or not, your current bios should support the 4790k just fine. Some bios can be flashed via usb which only helps if you have a usb stick with the original bios on it. It's not a dual bios board (no backup bios) so I'm not sure if a bios update gone wrong will brick your board or not. If it's not broke why fix it.

Bios have come a long way from where they used to be but issues can still happen and when it goes south it can be a problem. Especially if it was a risk taken just because there's something newer. Newer isn't always better (consider windows updates and all the things they break). The 4790k has been supported since that board released according to asrock, all bios versions fully support the 4790k. So unless the 4790k changed somehow (doubtful) it should be supported.

I don't know if you plan to overclock or not since the 4790k is a k series and you've got a z board. Overclocking may be a little limited, that was an inexpensive board designed with overclocking the pentium g3258 in mind (as stated on their site). The low power phase count may not be enough to push very high overclocks on the i7.

 

[Wayfall]

Naa not overclocking, i'm just getting it due to it being the best for the board so I don't need to upgrade for a long while. I will certainly see an improvement in Witcher 3, Fallout4 and Mad Max which will be cool.

I'm right in saying my current BIOS versions is fine right, I'm not that confident in updating BIOS's?

Hopefully there wont be any complications when I install the CPU.

Also can I ask temp wise will my current recently new Cooler Master Hyper TX3 be okay to keep the heat down.
-With the stock cooler on my i5 I was getting 50-60C under load
-With the new cooler with the i5 I get a cool 30-40C under load which is awesome

What temps would I get with my current cooler with the i7 as I hear its a hot CPU? Also I hear the turbo boost is a major factor in the temp.

Thanks!

 

[synphul]

It should do ok, the i7 does run a bit hotter. Hyper threading keeps the processor cores busier, tends to add a couple degrees to the temps. It's also the fastest clocked cpu out of the box. The 4460 goes up to 3.4ghz under turbo boost, the 4790k goes up to 4.4ghz - a full 1ghz faster on each of the 4 cores. 4.4ghz would be considered a moderate overclock on an i5 4690k without even overclocking the i7.

All you can do is try the tx3 with it and see. It may work fine with good case cooling and ambient temps in the low 20's C. The tx3 doesn't work as well as say a hyper 212 evo and at lower fan speeds is about the same as the intel stock cooler.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2401&page=5
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2763/cooler_master_hyper_tx3_i5_cpu_cooler/index6.html

The t4 is similar, and here's how it stacked up to the 212 evo. The t4 is supposed to be slightly better than the t3/t3 evo.
http://www.dvtests.com/cooler-master-hyper-t4-test-and-review/

All you can do is try it. If your temps stay within reason then you're set. If not then consider something like a cryorig h7. A bit smaller than the 212 evo with better cooling and a bit quieter than the 212 evo. Also no ram interference using offset heatpipes (the cooler tower is shifted slightly away to completely clear all the ram slots).

 

[Wayfall]

It should do ok, the i7 does run a bit hotter. Hyper threading keeps the processor cores busier, tends to add a couple degrees to the temps. It's also the fastest clocked cpu out of the box. The 4460 goes up to 3.4ghz under turbo boost, the 4790k goes up to 4.4ghz - a full 1ghz faster on each of the 4 cores. 4.4ghz would be considered a moderate overclock on an i5 4690k without even overclocking the i7.

All you can do is try the tx3 with it and see. It may work fine with good case cooling and ambient temps in the low 20's C. The tx3 doesn't work as well as say a hyper 212 evo and at lower fan speeds is about the same as the intel stock cooler.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2401&page=5
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/2763/cooler_master_hyper_tx3_i5_cpu_cooler/index6.html

The t4 is similar, and here's how it stacked up to the 212 evo. The t4 is supposed to be slightly better than the t3/t3 evo.
http://www.dvtests.com/cooler-master-hyper-t4-test-and-review/

All you can do is try it. If your temps stay within reason then you're set. If not then consider something like a cryorig h7. A bit smaller than the 212 evo with better cooling and a bit quieter than the 212 evo. Also no ram interference using offset heatpipes (the cooler tower is shifted slightly away to completely clear all the ram slots).

Ye I have thought of getting the Cryorig cooler next month anyway, its just annoying it takes a week to deliver as its only available on one site now.

What is the max temp I should be looking at as if 70-80C is safe then i'm fine with it till I get s better cooler, I also ordered a better fan (Noctua A9) for the cooler as the cooler master fan isn't the best.

 

[synphul]

The fan may help a degree or two but the majority of the issue is the cooler itself. It only has 3 heatpipes and therefor can only disperse so much heat regardless of which fan is on it. Not saying a new fan (provided it moves more air) won't help at all but not near as much as a better designed cooler. The tx3 is a 7yr old cooler design and was a budget cooler when it was introduced to the market. You can't expect too much from it. The 4790k didn't even exist back then.

Mid 70's would be considered safe, pushing 80c and up normal use is getting pretty warm and should really be a bit cooler.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html

 

[Wayfall]

So any hotter than 80C and I should worry, I think with my good case cooling and room temp I should get around 70C

 

[Spencer_10]

Out the box it uses too much votage, and the temps are high. I down volt mine by an offset of -75 mV on the core and cache and it seems fine. only uses 50 watts.
I have also change it so all cores run up to a maximum of 4.2 ghz. as to go the extra 200mhz on all 4 cores takes a lot more power and the difference in speed doesn't seem worth it.

idle 35c under load when gaming 60c

at stock it goes to 75-80c under load with a freezer cooler.

 

[Wayfall]

Well I don't feel confident underclocking sorry, I may get the independent computer store near me to under-volt the i7 at some point as I have no clue on that subject.

 

[Wayfall]

Well I will certainly get rid of the max usage that I getting with the i5 4460 at least which will be great. The i7 will be a big bump up.

 

[alexkensit]

It will. A warning though, the 4790K does run a quite hot, even with an aftermarket cooler.

 

[Spencer_10]

Its easy to downvolt using Intel extreme tuning utility in windows

 

[Wayfall]

Is there a video online somewhere that could show me how to just down volt the i7 4790K for the very reason of getting the temp down?

 

[Wayfall]

Also cooler wise could I get the PH-TC14PE cooler then use a AK-CBFA04-15 4pin PWM 2 into 1 power Splitter cable (https://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa-pwm-fan-splitter-supports-2-pwm-fans-from-a-single-motherboard-pwm-header) to connect the two fans to my board as I only have 1x4pin PWM header which is for the CPU.

 

[Spencer_10]

Its really easy and there are many protections built in so you don't break your CPU

Down volting

1) If You disable like in the picture , Turbo boost max power

2) Then you just move cache and core offset slider to the left,
for 42x multiplier on the 4 cores
-75mv is safe (can do -85mv but after this you get power throttling @4.2ghz)

2b) or if you want to setting up an extra cool profile ,
x35 (3500 mhz) -120mV is safe and then it only uses 30 watts and will be 40c at load.
I have mine set to 35x 99% of the time , unless I have a very demanding game and I want 5-8 fps more

Saving

When you make a setting you , Apply then save it as a profile, under profiles you click on your save, click show values , then apply.

You can have multiple profiles saved.

Stress testing

When you stress test it,
If you blue screen then its not getting enough power. And the Core frequency should draw a nice straight line over time.

Thermal throttling

If enabled in your bios, once it gets to 80c it will throttle down.
( I have this turned off, and instead set cut off point where PC will restart at 90c)

 

[Wayfall]

So what your saying is get the program then turn turbo power thingy off then put multiplier to 4.2 (I thought this CPU did 4.4GHZ boost) then put the volt offset to 75 (what are all the number after the 75 for?) and I should be done then right.

 

[Spencer_10]

Actually unless done in the Bios, you cant have all 4 cores running @ 44x through the program at once.
Have to fiddle with disabling the turbos, and turning off hyper threading etc in the bios... to do overclocking.

Yes at stock it will turbo to 4.4ghz for short bursts but this will make gaming inconsistent.

But to get that extra 200 Mhz, and have at set to 44x (4.4ghz) it uses 90watts!

Where as downvolted at -75mv on core and cache, and locked to max 42x 4.2gz it only uses 50watts.

In picture below, all the settings in yellow are the ones that have been changed over the default stock profile.

Not many at all.

Always stress test after changes, to make sure it can hold frequency for 5 mins ok.

 

[Wayfall]

You've not explained what all the numbers after the -75 are for.

Also when I change these settings what do I use to stress test the thing, even when I have no idea why stress test are suppose to help.

EDIT: You said in a previous post " I down volt mine by an offset of -75 mV on the core and cache and it seems fine"... what did you mean by change the cache offset mV??