Is 4th gen i7 4790k compatible with Msi H81M-P33 board

[Kruppyman96]

So I want to upgrade my cpu without having to upgrade my whole pc since its 3 years old now. I thought the i7 4790k would be compatible since it has the same socket as the motherboard I have. On pcpartpicker it says that it may not work. Could someone tell me if it will work. Thanks

Also on the intel website it says the graphics video max memory for the 4790k is 2gb. My msi 980 has 4gb. does that mean I wont be able to use half of the memory that card has.

here is my current build. https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Kruppyman96/saved/Qn6TwP

 

[ss202sl]

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu

 

[dudmont]

Go to MSI's website and check for chip compatibility. https://msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu
According to the website, the 4790k is not compatible.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Yes, that processor will work. You will need to update the bios version 1.4 in order for it to work though. So you will need a working CPU to update the bios.

Ignore the Intel graphics memory requirement. That is for integrated graphics. Since you will be using a video card, integrated graphics will be turned off and it will not matter.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Go to MSI's website and check for chip compatibility. https://msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu
According to the website, the 4790k is not compatible.

Scroll halfway down the page in the compatibility section and you will see the haswell refresh processors identifying the 4790k.

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu

 

[Virtual_Singularity]

So I want to upgrade my cpu without having to upgrade my whole pc since its 3 years old now. I thought the i7 4790k would be compatible since it has the same socket as the motherboard I have. On pcpartpicker it says that it may not work. Could someone tell me if it will work. Thanks

Also on the intel website it says the graphics video max memory for the 4790k is 2gb. My msi 980 has 4gb. does that mean I wont be able to use half of the memory that card has.

here is my current build. https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Kruppyman96/saved/Qn6TwP

I7-4790K will work on that board. Same question has been asked here many times before, but here's the most recent, if it's any more reassuring for the OP http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3113678/1150-work-msi-h81m-p33.html

 

[dudmont]

Go to MSI's website and check for chip compatibility. https://msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu
According to the website, the 4790k is not compatible.

Scroll halfway down the page in the compatibility section and you will see the haswell refresh processors identifying the 4790k.

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu

My answer is what you get when you're in a hurry. To everyone, pardon my sillyness.

 

[nubbsauce]

If you do get that Mobo, make sure that the BIOS is flashed to the latest version. If it has a version that is BEFORE the 4790K update, it will NOT work.

 

[Kruppyman96]

Go to MSI's website and check for chip compatibility. https://msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu
According to the website, the 4790k is not compatible.

Scroll halfway down the page in the compatibility section and you will see the haswell refresh processors identifying the 4790k.

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/H81M-P33.html#support-cpu

Sorry everyone. I never received an email that anyone replied to my post so I forgot about this thread over time. Thanks for everyone's help.

So you said to update with a working cpu so that means update before installing the new one, correct? Also you say to update to 1.4 but there are updates up to 1.9 Should I use the most recent update or the 1.4 update? Thanks again for the help all.

 

[dudmont]

Check the web page for the mobo, there will be info on "bios", scroll down till you get to bios revision 1.4, it's the first bios with Haswell-R compatibility. Any of the bios' after will also be compatible. It's possible, not likely, that somewhere on the web is an "unofficial" bios for the board that supported overclocking, with the Pentium 3258 in mind, it might also allow you to overclock a 4790k. I would down load the latest bios, 1.9. Get that ready to do the flash and then do an in-depth search for any unofficial bios that might allow overclocking.

 

[Kruppyman96]

Check the web page for the mobo, there will be info on "bios", scroll down till you get to bios revision 1.4, it's the first bios with Haswell-R compatibility. Any of the bios' after will also be compatible. It's possible, not likely, that somewhere on the web is an "unofficial" bios for the board that supported overclocking, with the Pentium 3258 in mind, it might also allow you to overclock a 4790k. I would down load the latest bios, 1.9. Get that ready to do the flash and then do an in-depth search for any unofficial bios that might allow overclocking.

OK thanks for the help

And just to make sure I can update the bios anytime before I get the new cpu and it will still work. Right?

 

[dudmont]

Fire it up with your old cpu, do the bios update and then install the new cpu. I wasn't kidding, I'm not positive if that particular mobo had an unofficial bios that supported overclocking, but many of them(H 81s) did, specifically for the 3258.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Fire it up with your old cpu, do the bios update and then install the new cpu. I wasn't kidding, I'm not positive if that particular mobo had an unofficial bios that supported overclocking, but many of them(H 81s) did, specifically for the 3258.

He is right, I am pretty sure that board can overclock with the right bios. But dont expect a great overclock. The board was not designed for overclocking. There are not enough power phases and the VRMs wont go far. But every little bit helps.

By the way, be careful updating your bios. If you load another board model's bios it can brick your system. So take your time and make sure your getting the right bios for that model board.

Also, I dont recommend updating through windows. Sometimes there can be problems. I would put the bios update on a USB and update it from the bios menu. Your manual will show you how.

 

[dudmont]

If you do find the bios, that allows you to overclock, I would suspect that you'll need to run slightly higher than normal voltage(as opposed to a 87/97z board that's designed for overclocking), in order to insure that your chip gets at least the minimum voltage necessary for a given overclock. So, I have a z87 xpower(very high end overclocking oriented board), I run my 4790k at 4.5 on all cores and it requires 1.18 volts to accomplish that stabilty wise. In your case, if you were running my cpu on your board, i'd bet that 1.18 volts wouldn't stabily run this chip, due to more fluctuations in power, you'd probably need something like 1.20 or so, in order to guarantee that the chip had at least the minimum voltage.
Lots of info on overclocking the haswells(and all intel unlocked cpus for that matter). Do a search in the forums here.

 

[Kruppyman96]

If you do find the bios, that allows you to overclock, I would suspect that you'll need to run slightly higher than normal voltage(as opposed to a 87/97z board that's designed for overclocking), in order to insure that your chip gets at least the minimum voltage necessary for a given overclock. So, I have a z87 xpower(very high end overclocking oriented board), I run my 4790k at 4.5 on all cores and it requires 1.18 volts to accomplish that stabilty wise. In your case, if you were running my cpu on your board, i'd bet that 1.18 volts wouldn't stabily run this chip, due to more fluctuations in power, you'd probably need something like 1.20 or so, in order to guarantee that the chip had at least the minimum voltage.
Lots of info on overclocking the haswells(and all intel unlocked cpus for that matter). Do a search in the forums here.

Ok. Everything you guys have said is super helpful. I watched a video from msi that showed how to update the bios and it looks pretty simple. Thanks again.

 

[787jet]

Thank you! U helped me as well.