Should I upgrade my i7-4790?

[Donut]

Greetings! I currently have an i7-4790 non K CPU. I want to upgrade and get a boost in speed with a new generation Intel chip and overclocking. I am looking at either an i5-7600K or the i7-7700K.

 

My questions is if either would be a worthwhile upgrade over what I currently have and if so, is the i5 or i7 better? My concern is that the i7 may be overkill and not worth the extra cost.

 

I have 1920x1080 monitor and a 1060 6GB and will keep those but obviously upgrade the motherboard and RAM. Thank you for the advice!

Edited June 9, 2017 by =BJM=

[Pilotasso]

Just dont go from I7 to an I5 even if you can cranck up MHz. Youll actually losing out performance.

 

Go for the new I7, though I suspect a new GFX would likely get you a bigger boost for less money.

[dburne]

Since your current chip is not the K version, it may be worthwhile upgrading to the 7700K. I would get a closed loop water cooler like the Corsair and overclock that puppy between 4.5 and 5 GHz. Your current chip is 3.6 GHz with turbo to 4 Ghz.

 

Of course though that means new motherboard, ram, etc... not a cheap proposition.

 

Alternatively, you could get say a 1080 Ti card which should give a decent boost as well, and upgrade your mainboard and cpu maybe next year with maybe a new generation of CPU... and that 1080 Ti will still be a great card.

 

I am running an I-7 4820K @ 4.50 GHz, had thought about doing something this year but decided to wait till next year myself...

 

Decisions decisions lol.

Edited June 9, 2017 by dburne

[Demon_]

For DCS, an i7 and an i5 are the same (the "K" version at the same speed). For DCS the i7 (the K) don't worth the extra cost.

Your system (i7 4790) run DCS at 4Ghz.

 

Again

 

 

Try to find an i5 4670K, i5 4690K. And overclock him.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Demon_

[David OC]

I just upgraded to the 7700K, asus maximus ix hero board, Corsair AIO water cooler and running an overclock stable at 4.8.

 

My old PC was an older i5 4770 with GTX 1070 and ASUS 27-inch, 2560 x 1440, 144Hz, 1ms, G-SYNC. The main reason I upgraded was to push this expensive monitor some more. The frames are not crazy better, the system holds the fps solid much better now, no shutters when zooming in and moving around quickly, it's just much more fluid when flying, hard to explain just how much better it is.

My next upgrade is the card to a 1080 ti, so I can get right into VR more for the upcoming F/A18 and carrier landings, I have heard we should see this at the E3 event next week.

It's about balancing the whole system for good playability brianjmac, DCS 2.1 needs more tweaking to get the most out of our systems still. I can hold 60 - 70 fps over Normandy with max settings, using NVIDIA control panel to set MSAA and Anisotropic values and zero them out in DCS, works for me for now.

 

I think your best bet for now is to try and get the K chip like Demon_ said and overclock it, for the best bang for you buck. If you upgrade to the 7700K you should then look at new screens and card to re-balance the system out, more money, VR? If you have the system then...

 

We had a discussions about 144Hz and 4K screens here. I would not go back to 60Hz, perhaps 3440x1440 @ 100Hz G-SYNC ASUS PG348Q cRazy expensive at the moment and you will need the 1080ti to push that monitor.

 

-

 

 

Edited June 10, 2017 by David OC

[Swam-e]

I would wait for the i7-7740X. The next generation equivalent to 7700 with same price.

[BitMaster]

I would wait for the i7-7740X. The next generation equivalent to 7700 with same price.

 

But it will be the x299 chipset as well, so the pice is rather uninviting.

 

The good thing, the TIM should be proper with those CPU's.

 

 

I love my 5G-Kaby..BUT OH BOY...temps get hairy without delidding it when fully stressed.

 

For DCS you dont need delidding till 5.2GHz, but if you stress all cores you wont see any core below 85°C, rather 90ish !

 

That is so bad, looking at the Ryzen5 next to me, a nice overclocker as well and settling at ~60ish°C when fully oc'ed to 4G. That's how you do it !

 

Intel has to catch up !!!

[David OC]

Reading up on get 5G with the Kaby, Why doesn't Intel use a better compound? This article said by De-lidding and replacing the thermal paste got a 13~15 Celsius drop in core temperatures and reduce Vcore to 1.28V with a Dual radiator AIO. 55C That's a massive temp drop!

 

I'm sitting at 4.9 1.32V temps around 70 with full load, which matches up with the article. This is just using a default ASUS gamers overclock modified and Performance profile for Dual AIO in Corsair link, Corsair Vengeance DDR4 XMP 3466.

 

I can now see why you guy's bump up these cpu's, the sim is so smooth at these settings.

[toutenglisse]

I use the standard "gaming OC" mode on my 7700K + air cooler dark rock and bequiet ice grey thermal paste - 4.8 Ghz on all cores and in DCS 2.1/1.5 a temperature between 50 and 65 degrees according afterburner graphs.... with only short peak at 72-75° starting the game (kaby lake normal behavior according intel).

I've choosen I7 because hyperthreading no more a panality and standard MB OC at 4.8 seems to me enough (and absolutely no tweaking) with no problem and no need to put water on it ?

Brianjmac does the 1 more Ghz Worth the invest in comparaison to your current chipset ? I don't know but I think it's not the only technical point that changes between the 2 gen.

[Hadwell]

I use the standard "gaming OC" mode on my 7700K + air cooler dark rock and bequiet ice grey thermal paste - 4.8 Ghz on all cores and in DCS 2.1/1.5 a temperature between 50 and 65 degrees according afterburner graphs.... with only short peak at 72-75° starting the game (kaby lake normal behavior according intel).

I've choosen I7 because hyperthreading no more a panality and standard MB OC at 4.8 seems to me enough (and absolutely no tweaking) with no problem and no need to put water on it ?

Brianjmac does the 1 more Ghz Worth the invest in comparaison to your current chipset ? I don't know but I think it's not the only technical point that changes between the 2 gen.

 

water cooling isn't really required, basically it works the same as normal air cooling, except the water brings the heat futher away so it can be dumped directly out of the case... surface area is surface area, so long as you have good fans to dump the heat, doesn't matter if it's metal or water...

[Pilotasso]

I would wait for the i7-7740X. The next generation equivalent to 7700 with same price.

 

Forgive me but that is technically a bad advice.

 

The only reason that the 7740X exists is for Mhz E-peen and for Intel marketing the single thread crown, which is losing importance in real world usage.

 

 

You leave 28 PCI-E lanes disabled on the motherboard with that chip. And then you might as well buy Z270.

 

 

At this time I recommend waiting for coffee lake chips months down the road (6 core+ strong single thread on mainstream), or get a R5 1600 now (X or non X they cost similarly) if you cant wait that long.

[David OC]

Going by the article, it's only a 6C difference between Dual AIO and good air cooler when after 5GHz.

 

I added dual AIO for when using Photoshop and editing videos, the PC is near the family room and I want it to be quiet with a decent mild overclock at times when not simming, that's why I went for the Fractal Design Define R5 + AIO. She's very quiet when in stealth mode, she just needs a few more fans tho, Push / Pull too.

 

Edited June 10, 2017 by David OC

[Konovalov]

Forgive me but that is technically a bad advice.

 

The only reason that the 7740X exists is for Mhz E-peen and for Intel marketing the single thread crown, which is losing importance in real world usage.

 

 

You leave 28 PCI-E lanes disabled on the motherboard with that chip. And then you might as well buy Z270.

 

 

At this time I recommend waiting for coffee lake chips months down the road (6 core+ strong single thread on mainstream), or get a R5 1600 now (X or non X they cost similarly) if you cant wait that long.

100% agree. Either get R5 1600 series or wait another few months for arrival of Coffee Lake 6 core with Z370 board. The 7740X is a joke.

[Swam-e]

100% agree. Either get R5 1600 series or wait another few months for arrival of Coffee Lake 6 core with Z370 board. The 7740X is a joke.

 

I have an old I7-3770k with an non oc mobo P8h77-v le (LGA 1155) and i´m planning an upgrade. I did some research trying to match a good price/speed cpu and i got to the 7740x. I will have to buy a new mobo anyway. So you guys think it´s a bad choice based on my info?

 

So the Coffee lake which will be the newest generation, will use an old chipset motherboard( z370)? Not the x299? :unsure:

[BitMaster]

Reading up on get 5G with the Kaby, Why doesn't Intel use a better compound? This article said by De-lidding and replacing the thermal paste got a 13~15 Celsius drop in core temperatures and reduce Vcore to 1.28V with a Dual radiator AIO. 55C That's a massive temp drop!

 

I'm sitting at 4.9 1.32V temps around 70 with full load, which matches up with the article. This is just using a default ASUS gamers overclock modified and Performance profile for Dual AIO in Corsair link, Corsair Vengeance DDR4 XMP 3466.

 

I can now see why you guy's bump up these cpu's, the sim is so smooth at these settings.

 

Yep !

 

Despite my 2600k wasnt s slow cpu either, the difference in smoothness is beyond description.

 

Have you delidded yours yet ? with 4.8 I get around 85 max in prime95-avx.

DCS is 60-65°C at 5G. Prime is 100°C top core in prime95-avx at 5G :(

[BitMaster]

Going by the article, it's only a 6C difference between Dual AIO and good air cooler when after 5GHz.

 

I added dual AIO for when using Photoshop and editing videos, the PC is near the family room and I want it to be quiet with a decent mild overclock at times when not simming, that's why I went for the Fractal Design Define R5 + AIO. She's very quiet when in stealth mode, she just needs a few more fans tho, Push / Pull too.

 

 

Next time when you need to buy a water loop, go DIY David !

 

You save money in the long run and its much easier to deploy more radiator surface, multiple inside or external as I have, no need for fans unless you really go hard at it. I can run mine very long without any fan at 5G and dont need any fan at all for stock cooling ( CPU & GPU ).

 

I do have 3 case fans permanently running to have an airflow over the board, but those I can hardly hear.

 

External is Silence ! 9 x120mm area, 7cm thick, HEAVY...cools a lot without fans...and if needed, spin up either 9x 120 or as I do...4x180mm, very low noise

Edited June 10, 2017 by BitMaster

[Demon_]

I have an old I7-3770k with an non oc mobo P8h77-v le (LGA 1155) and i´m planning an upgrade. I did some research trying to match a good price/speed cpu and i got to the 7740x. I will have to buy a new mobo anyway. So you guys think it´s a bad choice based on my info?

 

So the Coffee lake which will be the newest generation, will use an old chipset motherboard( z370)? Not the x299? :unsure:

 

 

Start a new thread.

[David OC]

Next time when you need to buy a water loop, go DIY David !

 

You save money in the long run and its much easier to deploy more radiator surface, multiple inside or external as I have, no need for fans unless you really go hard at it. I can run mine very long without any fan at 5G and dont need any fan at all for stock cooling ( CPU & GPU ).

 

I do have 3 case fans permanently running to have an airflow over the board, but those I can hardly hear.

 

External is Silence ! 9 x120mm area, 7cm thick, HEAVY...cools a lot without fans...and if needed, spin up either 9x 120 or as I do...4x180mm, very low noise

 

Yep, maybe next upgrade BitMaster.

 

7cm thick! I'm not building a hot rod.

 

Will this do the trick? What water pump would you recommended for this? :lol:

 

 

On a side note, what water pump do you use on your system?

 

-

[Demon_]

What a coincidence, my Ram truck has the same :shocking:

[FragBum]

Yep, maybe next upgrade BitMaster.

 

7cm thick! I'm not building a hot rod.

 

Will this do the trick? What water pump would you recommended for this? :lol:

 

 

On a side note, what water pump do you use on your system?

 

-

 

You could ditch the fan with the surface area of that radiator. :P

[Kev2go]

I just upgraded to the 7700K, asus maximus ix hero board, Corsair AIO water cooler and running an overclock stable at 4.8.

 

My old PC was an older i5 4770 with GTX 1070 and ASUS 27-inch, 2560 x 1440, 144Hz, 1ms, G-SYNC. The main reason I upgraded was to push this expensive monitor some more. The frames are not crazy better, the system holds the fps solid much better now, no shutters when zooming in and moving around quickly, it's just much more fluid when flying, hard to explain just how much better it is.

My next upgrade is the card to a 1080 ti, so I can get right into VR more for the upcoming F/A18 and carrier landings, I have heard we should see this at the E3 event next week.

It's about balancing the whole system for good playability brianjmac, DCS 2.1 needs more tweaking to get the most out of our systems still. I can hold 60 - 70 fps over Normandy with max settings, using NVIDIA control panel to set MSAA and Anisotropic values and zero them out in DCS, works for me for now.

 

I think your best bet for now is to try and get the K chip like Demon_ said and overclock it, for the best bang for you buck. If you upgrade to the 7700K you should then look at new screens and card to re-balance the system out, more money, VR? If you have the system then...

 

We had a discussions about 144Hz and 4K screens here. I would not go back to 60Hz, perhaps 3440x1440 @ 100Hz G-SYNC ASUS PG348Q cRazy expensive at the moment and you will need the 1080ti to push that monitor.

 

-

 

 

 

 

at this rate given the cycle of yearly cards ( or sooner) you may as well just wait it out with the 1070 till the Pascal refresh ( 2000 series of cards) rather than just upgrading again to the 1080 ti while being a clear improvement is still from the same generation.

[Hadwell]

does anyone know when the 2000 series cards (doesn't make sense, should be 1100 series cards) are coming out? while i agree the 1070 is a pretty new card, it is a hell of a lot slower than a 1080ti, and if you want the performance, and don't want to wait another 6 months or more for another 10-15% more performance than you could have right now, you could just sell the 1070...

[BitMaster]

Yep, maybe next upgrade BitMaster.

 

7cm thick! I'm not building a hot rod.

 

Will this do the trick? What water pump would you recommended for this? :lol:

 

 

On a side note, what water pump do you use on your system?

 

-

 

 

I use an Eheim Ceramic Pump :

http://shop.watercool.de/epages/WatercooleK.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/WatercooleK/Products/30710

 

it sits on top of my external radiator and is the highest point, so bleeding is easy.

 

 

You can use any radiator AS LONG AS the materials used dont react with each other.

Since most cpu/gpu blocks are pure copper you cannot use any aliminium parts in that loop.

If the radiator has copper tubes it's all good, the bigger the better ;)

 

The Laing D5 is maybe the most used pump in DIY Loops. If you choose the PWM version you can tune the speed and it should be sufficient for such a large cooler as well. You can always add a 2nd pump. YOu should know that the length of the loop is not a problem once in motion, what counts more is height difference and tubing size, high-flow vs.narrow finned small-flow systems. Most blocks and rads are for high flow designs meanwhile.

 

I wanted the least possible inside the case. With this setup I am technically pleased, which goes before looks. The Quick-Conns allow easy dissembling and reconfiguration if for example the GPU is taken out I can connect the QC's male-female so it's 1 loop again with iGPU. Also I can deattach the ext. rad and carry both 1 by 1. Refilling is easily done externally, I have flushed it 2-3 months ago after cleaning the cpu block, which took like 30L water until it was thoroughly clean again...and stays clean. Last run was 2 years without any work needed, water level and condition was excellent. I use deminerlized water only with a knife tip of citrus acid added to fight fungus. Any colour will clogg your fins over time, just a matter of how long it will run without problems if you add colour additives. I opted for an UV-tubing and added my old UV-Tube to have some UV-effects...which I never see cause it's all under the table..LoL...lots of LEDs and UV for nobody haha.

 

Honestly, looks come far behind functionality in my world.

[David OC]

Nice setup!

 

Yeah, I’m more for practicality than all bling bling myself, the misses would kill me if it set this up near the living room.:)

 

So there needs to be a good balance here between volume and speed to get enough flow over the chip and still get the water cooled enough through the rad, interesting.

 

Having that extra length out of the case, I.E. having more water in the system, would help cool the water down more here, I guess.

[Kev2go]

does anyone know when the 2000 series cards (doesn't make sense, should be 1100 series cards) are coming out? while i agree the 1070 is a pretty new card, it is a hell of a lot slower than a 1080ti, and if you want the performance, and don't want to wait another 6 months or more for another 10-15% more performance than you could have right now, you could just sell the 1070...

 

dont think there is an exact date yet. however 2080 and 2080 ti ( not 1100 series because marketing) will have either GDDRX6 and or 2nd generation HBM ( current 1080 and 1080ti have only GDDR5X) which is definitely something to look forward to. all other 2000s series ( or volta) careds will reportedly be based on 12nm architecture ( 1000 series had 16nm,which was a huge jump from 28nm 900 series) as well as cheaper than 1000 series card upon release.

 

However If you need a card right now badly because your not satisfied with the 970 - 1070 jump, sure go for the 1080ti.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Kev2go