4th gen i54440 vs 4th gen i74770

[dannyro]

Hello
Looking to purchase a new Pc because my old one is dying, and assuming everything else is the same, would you go with an i54440 or the i74770 ($100 more on the same rig). Basically-is it worth paying an extra $100 for the i7 instead of the i5?

I do some gaming, internet, music, and other stuff (nothing too CPU intensive. I am putting a decent video card in the rig. Any help is appreciated.

Dan

 

[Techhog]

Nope. Might want to consider the i5 4670 (not the 4670K since you don't want to overclock). What are the rest of your specs by the way?

 

[DigDog]

no offense but thye whole "no overclocking" thing is just insane. nobody is asking you to go to 5Ghz but a mild overclock should be feasible to anyone who reads AT. 4670k and that's it - stock cooler n all.
(cheaper than the 4770 as well, and if you wait until cyber monday, probably you'll be able to get a 4770k for $200)

 

[nwo]

I got my i7 4770k for $199 at Micro Center about 10 days ago. I also had a friend pick me up an i5 3570k for my other rig @ $149... Micro Center has already announced that they will once again have the i5 3570k for sale at $149. However, i7 4770k will be $249 instead of $199.

Either way, what it comes down to is the fact that it is not worth spending extra $$$ on the 4770k if your main focus is casual PC use (games, internet, music, and other non-CPU intensive applications). Go ahead and get the i5 4670k if you want to go with the new socket.

Or, if you want to go the last gen route (which there really is no significant performance difference at the moment) I would highly recommend an i5 3570k, especially if you can grab it from Micro Center or any other place @ $149.99... A thing to note here is that Staples will price match Micro Center's prices, chat to them online about it and they said they were willing to refund me for the difference after the purchase was made.

I definitely think it is worth spending an extra few bucks on the unlocked "k" version because as DigDog said, overclocking is so simple nowadays that in most cases it doesn't require anything special (RAM or cooling) like it used to back in the day. You can still get a slight OC using the stock cooler, or you can pick up a decent cooler for 10-15 bucks on black friday.

 

[Termie]

The OP hasn't mentioned anything about being near a MicroCenter, so those prices aren't necessarily relevant.

OP - the 4440 is actually a bit underpowered due to its low Turbo clock. While the 4770K definitely isn't the right choice for you, I'd suggest you step up to at least the 4570, if not the 4670. Also, as an FYI, Amazon has the 4670K for $220 right now, which is quite a good price if you're buying mail-order.

 

[dannyro]

I was looking at Dell again actually. Those were the cpu choices. I don't know how to build myself I do have a micro center near me .

 

[Jacky60]

4770K. Some games e.g. Crysis 3 or Battlefield 3 and 4 us the extra threads and this trend can only continue. For $100 compared to the i5 assuming you want to keep the rig for a while get the 4770k. Mine does 4.8Ghz although I tend to run it at 4.6ghz. Great chip and it's the fastest you can get and will last a long time. Also the 4770k is better for video editing if you do it or ever choose to. Building yourself is great fun and their are loads of good you tube instructional videos (Asus do a good one). It does require some balls to pluck up the courage to do it but if you go slow and careful and check you work its incredibly rewarding. I built my current rig although last time I got a pre-overclocked bundle of mobo CPU, cooler and memory. This time I saved about £220 ($300) which meant my SSD HD was effectively free and I got a faster PC to boot! A friend of mine spent almost twice as much as I did on my previous i7 920 on his i7 920 rig from an online retailer like Dell and got a crap case, non-upgradeable PC that was incapable of any overclocking so ran at a snail like 2.6ghz whereas mine has done 4ghz for five years. . Some retailers sell pre-tested overclocked bundles that are really easy to slip into your case-overclockers UK but but I'm not sure about the US. Also assuming you don't get a totally locked PC get the K CPU version as pretty much all of them have at least 200-400Mhz headroom. Mine would be crawling along at 3500mhz not 4600mhz if I'd bought the non K and hadn't overclocked and some games (e.g.Arma3) really benefit (to as much as going from 40/45 to 60fps) at the higher clock speed.

 

[dbr1]

no offense but thye whole "no overclocking" thing is just insane.

Just curious: can you tell me the change in life expectancy of a CPU or other system components after overclocking?

 

[tweakboy]

Its worth it if your a professional.. gl

 

[nwo]

Just curious: can you tell me the change in life expectancy of a CPU or other system components after overclocking?

Depends on temperatures under load... But let's face it... You're not going to be running the same CPU for more than 5-6 years if you plan on keeping up with new games and tech in which case OCing will certainly not prevent you from getting that many years out of it. And as far as the GPU goes, same rules apply.

 

[Jacky60]

Realistically five years is and was the longest by far I have owned a CPU but I suspect the trend will continue unless there's a computing breakthrough because there are few generations left before we have to go quantum or something else. But with all the hand-helds and tablets with lots of low power cores everything I think will be more multithreaded. Games especially because the new consoles have more than four cores. CPU's are designed and built unlike almost all other consumer products to run forever. I have been on this forum over ten years and a member for nearly four and I never heard a report of a CPU die. Graphics cards yes frequently but CPU's seem really robust to the point that as long as they keep under 90-95c ideally 10c lower they keep going long after they are obsolete. If your $300 CPU dies in four and a half years a replacement on Ebay will cost $40.

 

[dbr1]

But let's face it... You're not going to be running the same CPU for more than 5-6 years if you plan on keeping up with new games and tech...

Currently running my Q6600 and true, it is 6 yrs old and I will plan to replace with a 4770 for running not games but photo/video editing.

But the system will be passed on to my daughters, who already have one PC built around an old E6300 which is adequate for what they do. My wife uses a PC with a Wolfdale E8400 for internet browsing and movie streaming. With an SSD now, her system still does everything she needs.

I have a PC with an old e2180 in my garage that I use to pull up owners manuals, instructions, and find parts for repair and other projects.

And as the arc of performance improvements continues to flatten out reasons to upgrade will become even less compelling.

So the question of how many years do I shave off the life of CPUs and systems to get something like a 10% performance boost is important to me at least.

 

[AkumaX]

Currently running my Q6600 and true, it is 6 yrs old and I will plan to replace with a 4770 for running not games but photo/video editing.

But the system will be passed on to my daughters, who already have one PC built around an old E6300 which is adequate for what they do. My wife uses a PC with a Wolfdale E8400 for internet browsing and movie streaming. With an SSD now, her system still does everything she needs.

I have a PC with an old e2180 in my garage that I use to pull up owners manuals, instructions, and find parts for repair and other projects.

And as the arc of performance improvements continues to flatten out reasons to upgrade will become even less compelling.

So the question of how many years do I shave off the life of CPUs and systems to get something like a 10% performance boost is important to me at least.

your components list is eerily similar to mine ^_^

 

[dbr1]

your components list is eerily similar to mine ^_^

Love the Intel Core 2s.

 

[sequoia464]

I have a question on the 4440 as well; I just picked one up for $139 - will not be doing any gaming whatsoever.

I'm replacing an AMD setup with a 8320 running @4200 MHz - from what I have read performance should be roughly equal??

Usage will be Office apps and a construction takeoff and estimating program that uses a some large TIFF and PDF files.

 

[nwo]

So the question of how many years do I shave off the life of CPUs and systems to get something like a 10% performance boost is important to me at least.

Yep. I know where you are coming from. I still have a socket A Athlon XP 2400+ rig which I am keeping as a backup/server as well as a socket 939 athlon 64 4200+ and an Opteron which I will most likely use for mining.

Like I said, the amount of years you shave off the CPU by overclocking is proportional to the temperature increase. The hotter the CPU runs, the more stress it is under, and the more likely it is to fail than the same CPU running at lower temps. Which is why if you are overclocking you should always consider investing a bit of $$ into an aftermarket HSF because you can easily gain 10-30% more performance for $10-20 more.

 

[ehume]

I was looking at Dell again actually. Those were the cpu choices. I don't know how to build myself I do have a micro center near me .

Now is the time for learning to assemble your own. I saw the Micro Center catalog for this weekend. An i7 4770k is $249 (catalog, page 5), a Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H for $129 (page 19). The Carbide 300R (reviewed at AT here) goes for $47.99 (page 16). Some RAM, $54.99 for a Corsair CX600M (page 17), and you can walk out the door with the makings of a computer.

After your machine is going, you either re-use your mouse, keyboard and monitor, or buy new. When (not if) you are ready to OC you can research and buy a heatsink online.

I used Dells for years. But I built my first rig when my then-current Dell suffered a motherboard failure. I find rolling my own to be a most enjoyable pastime. And overclocking for later. Eventually, the bug will bite, and you will want a current tech cooler when it does. No hurry on that.

But Saturday is the perfect day to score the main parts a computer, cheaply. In a way, I wish I could justify making a new one.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

argh we need microcenter back here in the bay area.....

 

[amitkher]

no offense but thye whole "no overclocking" thing is just insane. nobody is asking you to go to 5Ghz but a mild overclock should be feasible to anyone who reads AT. 4670k and that's it - stock cooler n all.
(cheaper than the 4770 as well, and if you wait until cyber monday, probably you'll be able to get a 4770k for $200)

B85 vs. Z87, k vs. non-k, stock cooler vs. basic aftermarket cooler, warranty vs. none vs. overclock protection . All this can easily cost $50-80 which buys better graphics card, SSD vs. only HDD, beer etc.