Question Is there something "special" about Intel's i7-4790k cpus?

[Meghan54]

This is probably in the wrong sub-forum, but I just gotta ask......

Been seeing auction prices of Intel cpus bringing what I would consider stupid money....such as the i7-4790k cpus. I've got an old one myself and plan on trying to sell it. Browsing ebay and completed auctions for that cpu reveals the avg. selling price seems to be north of $185 with numerous examples cresting $200.

$185......and my wife's new AMD 3600X cost just about that much.....after sales tax.

So what's so darned special about the 4790k cpu and why are its prices so strong?

 

[trexfromouterspace]

Nothing really. Those older Intel chips can still somewhat keep up in thread-bound applications, and a lot of people who got i5's on those platforms will slot in an i7 as an upgrade to get more life out of their system.

So you have a not insignficant demand for a chip that's no longer being produced. That leads to inflated prices on the used market.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Exactly. If you want a 3600 today, you are buying board + CPU + RAM for the new system. Or you just drop in a chip to replace your i5-4670k (or worse).

 

[fleshconsumed]

It's the last and the fastest intel chip on DDR3 platform. It's the best option for in-place upgrade for a lot of people still using old Z87/Z97 motherboards which keeps resale value high.

 

[scannall]

At $185 it really isn't worth it. You won't get a lot more time out of it, as motherboard components are reaching EOL. It's already quite a bit behind in every metric except 'Mom Box' at this point. And mom would rather have something that will be reliable for the next 5 years or so.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Demand for top of line up CPUs is always high due to users of said platform wanting to upgrade without having to change motherboards.
As a simple drop in, there's nothing more powerful for a board equipped with (chipsets) Z87, Z97, B85, H81, etc

 

[Ranulf]

Its been this way for 8+ years with used intel parts. Sandy/Ivy Bridge was just as bad, still is because those are the top end for socket 1155.

 

[Maxima1]

Exactly. If you want a 3600 today, you are buying board + CPU + RAM for the new system. Or you just drop in a chip to replace your i5-4670k (or worse).

Considering the price, you could have just gotten an i7 from the get-go and had your cake with budget and performance ironically. What's more, at some point someone is left holding the bag, which will probably be them as I assume some are trying to buy time for the new AMD platform at Zen 4 or Intel Meteorlake with goodies like DDR5 and some substantial shrinks.

 

[TheELF]

This is probably in the wrong sub-forum, but I just gotta ask......

Been seeing auction prices of Intel cpus bringing what I would consider stupid money....such as the i7-4790k cpus. I've got an old one myself and plan on trying to sell it. Browsing ebay and completed auctions for that cpu reveals the avg. selling price seems to be north of $185 with numerous examples cresting $200.

$185......and my wife's new AMD 3600X cost just about that much.....after sales tax.

So what's so darned special about the 4790k cpu and why are its prices so strong?

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

Still being sold for $360 so $200 is a bargain /s

 

[Meghan54]

Do appreciate the responses. Just still can't believe the cpu has that much intrinsic value left in it. I tried listing locally but no bites even with the price sub-$100.

I hate dealing with ebay, but I held my nose and listed it yesterday. It's at $175 this morning. Sheesh.

Not complaining by any means...

 

[PingSpike]

Its been this way for 8+ years with used intel parts. Sandy/Ivy Bridge was just as bad, still is because those are the top end for socket 1155.

Its always been this way for as long as I can remember! The top of the line chip holds its value, well past the point where it would make sense to pay for it. Some people have a working platform they want to upgrade and they'll pay a big premium for it. Mid line chips usually drop fairly quickly, there's also a huge supply of those from workstation pulls.

Best play if you have one is really to sell it and buy a cheaper modern platform.

 

[Markfw]

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

Still being sold for $360 so $200 is a bargain /s

Thats outletpc, not newegg. Just on their screen. Always happens with other etailers.

 

[VirtualLarry]

As others have said, this is nothing new. The "Top chip" for any one particular platform, sells used for a long while after it's obsolete, for nearly-obscene prices, because: 1) It's not made anymore, 2) it's a drop-in replacement for someone's existing mobo and Windows' installation, and 3) being the top chip, it is the one most in demand, for those doing a "final upgrade" to their platform.

Or you could do like I did, and get a complete HP SFF rig with an i5-4570 quad-core (came with an i5-4590, as a matter of fact), 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, extra SATA power plug and SATA port on the mobo to add an SSD, ... for only $110 total for the whole shebang. (Well, plus your cost on a SATA SSD.)

Aim a little bit lower than the top chip, and there are some bargains to be had.

 

[Shmee]

Or you could get a Xeon pulled from a server. These get much cheaper over time.

 

[AmericanLocomotive]

Used CPU prices in general on ebay are very bizarre - especially for "Halo" products - no matter how old they are.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T: $130-150
AMD FX-9590: $150-180
AMD FX-8350 $130
New-in-Box AMD FX-60 (This is a CPU from 2005!): $150-300
Even pedestrian CPUs like FX-6300s are going for $60-70.

I get the prices for some of the top-end legendary chips like the FX-60, as that was the fastest ever processor available for Socket 939. But things like the 8350 or X6 1100T going for $150? That's just crazy. That's throwing good money after bad. Even something like a Ryzen 3100 would stomp those chips into oblivion - and that chip costs $99. Use the $50 you saved to get a super cheap A320 motherboard, and then save up a few more pennies to get a cheap DDR4 kit.

 

[TheELF]

Even something like a Ryzen 3100 would stomp those chips into oblivion - and that chip costs $99. Use the $50 you saved to get a super cheap A320 motherboard, and then save up a few more pennies to get a cheap DDR4 kit.

Yeah good luck running XP on that or on a new intel chip,let alone even older or more obscure things.
People don't by those for a new build they do because they have to.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Nobody should be running XP unless it's air-gapped and/or has specialized device drivers that don't work under later versions of Windows.

 

[Meghan54]

Used CPU prices in general on ebay are very bizarre - especially for "Halo" products - no matter how old they are.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T: $130-150
AMD FX-9590: $150-180
AMD FX-8350 $130
New-in-Box AMD FX-60 (This is a CPU from 2005!): $150-300
Even pedestrian CPUs like FX-6300s are going for $60-70.

I get the prices for some of the top-end legendary chips like the FX-60, as that was the fastest ever processor available for Socket 939. But things like the 8350 or X6 1100T going for $150? That's just crazy. That's throwing good money after bad. Even something like a Ryzen 3100 would stomp those chips into oblivion - and that chip costs $99. Use the $50 you saved to get a super cheap A320 motherboard, and then save up a few more pennies to get a cheap DDR4 kit.

And that's what I don't comprehend. I get that some people would rather flush their money down a toilet rather than keep up. But I firmly feel anyone buying a 4790k, for instance, in an attempt to make their "investment" in their current hardware stretch out longer is just throwing good money away. The motherboards aren't made any longer, memory availability is sketchy at best, and spending $200 on a cpu that's 5 generations old instead of biting the bullet and going for current tech seems rather a poor choice of budgeting.

C'est la vie. I'll take their money. I've got my old 4790k system's parts on ebay right now...the 4790k itself is at $175 (4 days left), the Asus Max. VII Gene mb has hit $70 (sound card is dead on it, hence the price hit), and the 16GB (2X8GB) of G. Skill Sniper DDR3-2133 memory is at $52. Darned near going to pay for my wife's upgrade.

Conversely, my wife's old rig, an Intel 3570k cpu, Asus Max. V Gene mb, and 8GB (2x4GB) Patriot Viper DDR3-1600 memory, which is being sold as a bundle, is languishing at $72. Ain't gonna cover squat....not my memory, not the cpu, not the mb...nada. Barely pay for the memory in wife's new computer.

Sad.

 

[PingSpike]

I mean, if a chip gets old enough it becomes a collector's item. And if some one is building a period machine they again will want the halo product if they can get it. I doubt the guy buying the FX-60 at this point is unaware it gets crapped on my low end parts.

 

[SPBHM]

the highest end CPUs of a given platform normally holds some value, since people with old Haswell boards looking for some upgrade will probably look for it.
the 4790K was pretty nice, the first 4GHz i7, also still pretty decent to this day with AVX2 support and not so distant IPC to Skylake/Zen2

 

[Stuka87]

The Devil's Canyon CPU's are the best of the 4000 generation. They cool much better than other 4000 series chips, they clock well, etc. Intel came out with them to address the lackluster cooling (non soldered heat spreaders for instance) of Haswell chips. The 4690 and 4790 are both awesome chips for their time, and easily clock to 4.3-4.5 with very little effort.

 

[Zepp]

Used CPU prices in general on ebay are very bizarre - especially for "Halo" products - no matter how old they are.

New-in-Box AMD FX-60 (This is a CPU from 2005!): $150-300

that is more of a collector's price

 

[AmericanLocomotive]

Yeah good luck running XP on that or on a new intel chip,let alone even older or more obscure things.
People don't by those for a new build they do because they have to.

An FX-8350 or i7-4770 were released a year or two before Windows 10 came out - 12 years after Windows XP. Absolutely nobody is using an i7-4770k to run Windows XP - it'd be driver hell.

that is more of a collector's price

Yes, I acknowledged that at the bottom of my post.

 

[chrisjames61]

Used CPU prices in general on ebay are very bizarre - especially for "Halo" products - no matter how old they are.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T: $130-150
AMD FX-9590: $150-180
AMD FX-8350 $130
New-in-Box AMD FX-60 (This is a CPU from 2005!): $150-300
Even pedestrian CPUs like FX-6300s are going for $60-70.

I get the prices for some of the top-end legendary chips like the FX-60, as that was the fastest ever processor available for Socket 939. But things like the 8350 or X6 1100T going for $150? That's just crazy. That's throwing good money after bad. Even something like a Ryzen 3100 would stomp those chips into oblivion - and that chip costs $99. Use the $50 you saved to get a super cheap A320 motherboard, and then save up a few more pennies to get a cheap DDR4 kit.

Those are prices that sellers list at. They languish for months without being sold for the most part. Things have changed a bit since Covid-19 as prices have risen for just about everything.

 

[AmericanLocomotive]

Those are prices that sellers list at. They languish for months without being sold for the most part. Things have changed a bit since Covid-19 as prices have risen for just about everything.

Nope, I sorted those prices by "Sold and Completed" listings. Those are what they are selling at.