Upgrade from i5-4690 ?

[Nayleen]

Hello folks,

I'm currently running an i5-4690 with an Asus Maximus VII, 8GBs of memory.

Had a GTX970 until a month or so ago, swapped it into my other computer and now sporting a 980Ti in this one. In the vast majority of games it performs flawlessly at 1440p and max settings but in other more CPU intensive games (Guild wars 2 for instance) I seem to be CPU bottlenecking in a densely crowded areas (I can desactivate shadows and turn off supersampling but my FPS still says the same. In very crowded areas it can go as low as 30ish, while normally the game runs at 100+).

Since my other computer is in dire need of a CPU upgrade as well (GTX970 coupled to an i5 750 makes me cringe, talk about *that* bottleneck) I'm wondering what kind of gains I would see if I replaced the 4690 with an overclocked i7-4790k.

What are your thoughts ?

PS : I've looked into the Skylake option as well and while it is notably pricier every single review I've seen tends to point towards very marginal gains compared to the Haswell i7.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Even overclocked 4790Ks hit the sub-40FPS wall in extreme encounters. I would read a lot before I made that decision.

Picked at random: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2yix2z/so_just_how_beastly_a_pc_do_you_need_to_run_gw2/

I don't think Skylake will do much better either.

 

[Nayleen]

Even overclocked 4790Ks hit the sub-40FPS wall in extreme encounters. I would read a lot before I made that decision.

Picked at random: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2yix2z/so_just_how_beastly_a_pc_do_you_need_to_run_gw2/

I don't think Skylake will do much better either.

Yeah I'm not expecting a huge difference in those kind of situations, though I would probably sleep better at night knowing that nothing is holding my beast of a GPU back

The main reason I'm considering this upgrade in the first place is because I need to change the i5 750 in my other computer, which gives me two options :

Put my i5-4690 in there as well as a new cheapish mobo and then may as well go for something even bigger in my main gaming rig (I've regretted not getting a K cpu ever since buying the 4690)

Go for skylake in the other rig and keep mine as is. The price of skylake CPU/RAM/MB is not in favor in this and I don't use that machine enough to warrant a 6600k...

 

[DonkeyOatie]

It's hard to know how informed and realistic some posters are. Sorry if I treated you as being ignorant.

I'm still a fan of the i7 4790K while the prices are where they are now, and even better if you can get to a Microcenter.

Unless it is a Ranger, the Maximus VII boards have the power and VRM to overclock that Haswell well and 'big air' should be enough. From my overclocking experiments over the summer I would suggest faster memory, at least 2400Mhx Trident X, or Mushkin Redline if you can find it. Running the memory at 2400Mhz will give a modest performance boost, with the premium over 1600Mhz worth the cost, and even more if you can overclock past 2700Mhz.

The ASRock Z97M OC Formula is $100-ish with rebates and a decent overclocking board that I happen to use and reviewed here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-z97m-oc-formula-motherboard,4259.html

 

[Nayleen]

It's a Ranger, knew I forgot a word in there The price difference at the time compared to a Hero was pretty massive and not worth that extra mile.

If I'm being realistic I'm thinking a 4.6-4.7 OC would be nice enough (haven't OC'd anything in ages besides my GPU with GPU Tweak...). Doubt I can achieve that with my current cooler (EVO 212) but since my other rig needed a new case to replace the old Antec P180 (too much noise, too much heat) I'm getting a new one which will let me go either with massive air cooling or water cooling in the near future.

Memory wise I was planning an upgrade for both computers so shifting my DDR3 1600 to the second rig and getting some speedier sticks for the main machine is definitely in the books (66€ for 8Gb of Trident X 2400Mhz, a drop in the water compared to the price of the CPU).

So with a Ranger, a decent cooling system (I kinda want to go with water this time around but I keep reading mixed things about AIO solutions so need to read up more on that) and new DDR3, how realistic do you think 4.6/4.7 is ?

Once I've got a 4790k / 980Ti combo in the first computer and a 4690 / 970 in the second one I think I'm free of any upgrades for a few years to come..

 

[DonkeyOatie]

It's going to depend on the 'silicon lottery' TurboBoost is 4.4Ghz. I have a 4790K waiting for a student to finish a Science Fair project and I expect 4.6 and hope for 4.7. 4.6 on that board is not an unreasonable expectation, but a below average CPU may not get you there at voltages you will like. You won't need AIO. You can use one if you want to, but a 'big air' cooler should do the business. You should not be pushing the voltages high enough to worry. With that motherboard, I'd consider a down-draft cooler like the Noctua NH C14, to help cool your motherboard and VRM.

 

[Nayleen]

Yeah I came to the same conclusion myself last night after more research regarding water vs air cooling. I had settled on a Noctua NH-D15 though, will have to read up on the C14.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Check out the compatibility list from Noctua and make sure the cooler will fit on your board without blocking the first PCI-e x16 slot. I needed to use the NH D15S.

The C14 is a slightly less powerful cooler, but it is a top-down cooler, so it helps with motherboard cooling too, and your lesser VRMs may need the help.

 

[Nayleen]

Check out the compatibility list from Noctua and make sure the cooler will fit on your board without blocking the first PCI-e x16 slot. I needed to use the NH D15S.

The C14 is a slightly less powerful cooler, but it is a top-down cooler, so it helps with motherboard cooling too, and your lesser VRMs may need the help.

D14 and D15 are both cleared for my mobo as per Noctua's website so that shouldn't be an issue.

The D14 and C14 are pretty much priced the same, I have a natural inclination towards the D14 since I'm used to tower coolers though. Do you think the C14 would make that much of a difference cooling wise ?

(again they're both priced pretty much the same, so I can get either, just can't decide atm it seems)

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Your motherboard is weaker that I would want and power management and delivery is a concern. If the power delivery overheats, it will limit your overclock further, beyond the limitation of your board. By going with the C14 you will get a bit of help. I'm not saying DO IT!. I'm only saying that I would use the C14 in your circumstances. It might not matter, but...

 

[Nayleen]

Your motherboard is weaker that I would want and power management and delivery is a concern. If the power delivery overheats, it will limit your overclock further, beyond the limitation of your board. By going with the C14 you will get a bit of help. I'm not saying DO IT!. I'm only saying that I would use the C14 in your circumstances. It might not matter, but...

Just thought I'd update this.

Eventually went with the D14 (that thing is absolutely MASSIVE), fans are using the ultra low noise adapters and only have the two 140mm fans that go with the new case (Fractal Design Define S), i7-4790k chilling at 40°C in idle, 4.4Ghz.

I've ordered a couple more 140mms for the case (extra exhaust on top & intake on bottom) to see how it goes, once I get some new memory chips in (mine will only very slightly overclock, something like 1632Mhz ) we'll see how far the i7 can go with burning my house to a crisp.

Thanks for the answers & advice, while I may not followed all of it it was greatly appreciated

(oh, and as predicted the FPS boost in GW2 isn't exactly mind boggling. But the GTX970 in the other rig is quite happy to have some breathing room with an i5-4690 instead of an i5 750 )

 

[Nayleen]

Replaced an old fan, added a couple new ones and now sitting at 33-34°C idle @4.4Ghz.
New RAM should get here in a few days, there shall be much overclocking (well, we'll see exactly how much).