• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

is there a point getting a 'K' Intel CPU even if I don't overclock?

S

swapjim

Member
I know that CPUs that have a 'K' in their name are overclock "friendly". I'm not an overclocker. Is there any other benefit having a K CPU?
 
Yes - K-series CPUs have higher clockspeeds than non-K CPUs, at the expense of having higher power draw, and in the case of Skylake, not coming with a cooler.
 
It's only worth it in the cases of the 4790K and 6700K. Both have such high stock clocks that you don't even really need to OC them for anything other than fun.
 
Only if there lacks an equal locked sku. An unlocked i5 makes little sense, but that 4790K with a turbo 4.4 GHZ stock looks quite the appealing deal.
 
So the benefit is a higher clock. It's like it's overclocked from the factory. Now I need to check the temperatures, power consumpsion, and clock speeds to see if it makes sense.

Excellent! Thank you, all.

I have a few complimentary questions.

Yuriman said:
Yes - K-series CPUs have higher clockspeeds than non-K CPUs, at the expense of having higher power draw, and in the case of Skylake, not coming with a cooler.
Click to expand...

You mean a stock Intel cooler, yes? Should I be interested in these things? Does it keep the CPU cool while being low noise? It sounds pretty low noise to me.

Also, why didn't they include their stock cooler? Do the K CPUs heat so much that the stock cooler is inadequate?

Phynaz said:
Only the 4790k, as there is no equivalent unlocked CPU
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't get that. There is no i7-4790?
 
Last edited:
I suppose you could view it as a factory OC, as it is clocked higher than the non K versions, but the reality is, current CPU's are pretty darn easy to OC. It seems like a waste not to take advantage of that. Just make sure your cooling is decent.
 
No, the older k-parts actually lack vt-d support compared to non-k parts, so it was actually strictly worse if you don't overclock.
 
jihe said:
No, the older k-parts actually lack vt-d support compared to non-k parts, so it was actually strictly worse if you don't overclock.
Click to expand...

most people don't care about vt-d

a lot of the K CPUs have higher default clock than the non K version with the same model number (like 4770 vs 4770K, 4790 vs 4790K), on Sandy Bridge the K CPUs had the better IGP (2500K vs 2500, same clock but one had GT2 and the other GT1 IGP)

4790K made perfect sense for people who didn't overclock due to the much higher stock clock.
 
ShintaiDK said:
Unless you use pass through its not used. Even in VM its an extremely tiny niche. More importantly you need motherboard/BIOS support for it to work as well.
Click to expand...

My cheap-ass motherboard seems to support it, as it informs me that the CPU doesn't support it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top