Looking for CPU Recommendations

[ClockHound]

I know I can almost get a decent i5 (although, from recommendations, it would be a 4460 and I should avoid them), but I don't know if I want to spend all that money since in 5 years that computer might sit in the basement only to be used for emails and watching cat videos.

Wait. Hold up. I just consulted with my feline overlords and they concur that an overclocked i5 (preferably overclocked i7 that runs hot enough to bask on) is the minimum suitable for watching cat videos. Sacrifices must be made for the cat arts. Get the 4690K and eat cat food for a month. Just not their cat food.

 

[soccerballtux]

16GB Ram 2x8

 

[RussianSensation]

16GB Ram 2x8

For his needs 16GB is a waste of $. Even today 8GB is enough for games and for light office, media consumption, it's more than enough. With his tight budget, his money is better spent going i5 vs. i3 than 16GB of DDR3 vs. 8GB. 16GB should be the last expense after you already max out your CPU budget to i5/i7 unless you know specifically that you need 16GB for Photoshop, etc. RAM is one of the most wasteful components when it comes to making your system feel 'fast' beyond 8GB DDR3-1600, both in terms of speed and size. For example, an i7 4790K system with 8GB of DDR3-1600 would walk circles over your 32GB + FX8310 rig in all benchmarks.

 

[myocardia]

The 4590 is $240 CAD, just $20 over your budget. That's the one you should go for if you do decide to get an i5.

Agreed. The 4590 and/or the 4690K are really the only two CPUs worth considering. Think of it this way. You can either waste ~$140 +taxes and delivery now on an i3, and be forced to upgrade within a year or two, or go ahead and buy the one that you will be forced to buy in a year or two, when every single game requires the added performance of the i5, or save yourself the time, the money, and the trouble, and just buy the better-performing one now. That way, you are able to enjoy the added performance from day one.

BTW, in case you weren't aware, the iGPU in the i5s is considerably faster than the one in the i3s. That 6870 isn't going to last forever, you know, and when it dies, you will be forced to use only your CPU's iGPU, until you are able to get another card.

 

[jji7skyline]

Agreed. The 4590 and/or the 4690K are really the only two CPUs worth considering. Think of it this way. You can either waste ~$140 +taxes and delivery now on an i3, and be forced to upgrade within a year or two, or go ahead and buy the one that you will be forced to buy in a year or two, when every single game requires the added performance of the i5, or save yourself the time, the money, and the trouble, and just buy the better-performing one now. That way, you are able to enjoy the added performance from day one.

BTW, in case you weren't aware, the iGPU in the i5s is considerably faster than the one in the i3s. That 6870 isn't going to last forever, you know, and when it dies, you will be forced to use only your CPU's iGPU, until you are able to get another card.

Are you for real? The i5 is a complete waste of money. From what OP has on the topic post the only option he honestly should be thinking about is an i7. Hyperthreading is a must today, so imagine how important it will be in 3-4 years time. Plus the extra cache will be very, very useful. Besides, an i7-4790 is only like $280! /s

 

[myocardia]

Are you for real? The i5 is a complete waste of money. From what OP has on the topic post the only option he honestly should be thinking about is an i7.

Yeah, I'm completely for real. The OP isn't trying to decide between an i5 and an i7, he's trying to decide between an i3 and an i5. I'm assuming from his posts that he doesn't think that he can afford an i7, which would obviously be much better than an i5, for video encoding.

 

[anelectricmind]

When building any new rig, I tend to favor "overkill." So I offer biased advice.

And if you're choosing a Z97 chipset and motherboard, I just see no reason to short yourself initially on the CPU. Get an i5, I say and that means the "K" processor. The chipset allows you to tweak an i5 or i7 (K) for better overclocks. If you don't intend to overclock at all, a non-Z chipset will reduce the cost of the motherboard as well as the cost of the CPU (non-"K").

But why go dual-core i3, hoping to replace it later? Granted, you may find a used i5/i7/K processor down the road -- you might even "break even." Why trouble yourself with that?

Also, about the Q6600. I'm still using mine for a file-server. You could probably find a refurbished LGA-775 board to replace your dead one at an outfit like this:

http://www.ascendtech.us/intel-lga775-motherboards_cp1_mblga775.aspx

Of course, just looking, I see that the boards I'd otherwise "want" are at the pricey end. If you could find the right board and chipset for ~$50, and IF you WANTED to use that Q6600 for "other duty," there might be possibilities.

My old E8400 is running in my homeserver which is mainly used for File Server / Plex / Torrent. I may end up putting my Q6600 in it and use it for encoding videos also. (only need to convert DVD to mp4 and 7MC files to mp4)

 

[anelectricmind]

Wait. Hold up. I just consulted with my feline overlords and they concur that an overclocked i5 (preferably overclocked i7 that runs hot enough to bask on) is the minimum suitable for watching cat videos. Sacrifices must be made for the cat arts. Get the 4690K and eat cat food for a month. Just not their cat food.

Sir, you win!

(I should have also consulted my three cats at home... I am pretty sure they do more than vomiting on my beds and leaving cat hair / cat hairballs every where)

 

[anelectricmind]

Yeah, I'm completely for real. The OP isn't trying to decide between an i5 and an i7, he's trying to decide between an i3 and an i5. I'm assuming from his posts that he doesn't think that he can afford an i7, which would obviously be much better than an i5, for video encoding.

i7 is a total waste of money for me. Already the idea of thinking of buying an i5 instead of an i3 is hard to swallow...

but I like the idea of the i5-4590 or the i5-4690k that's been suggested lately, especially since I decide to spend a bit more. I loved the idea of the i3 since it was only using 54w or so, and could've run smoothly.

As much as overclocking is fun and all, and a bit future-proof, I still not willing to overclock anything.

 

[anelectricmind]

Quick update to all of you guys (and I can't thank you enough for the valuable information you provided in the past few days)

Looking at a pair of 2x4 DDR3-1600mhz (mainly G.Skill Ripjaws - I built a few PC for others with that RAM, never had any problems) and an i5-4590 on different websites in Kanada, and the total with taxes and shipping runs between 323 and 340 CAD.

Taking into account that I had a budget of 400$ and the MOBO cost 100$, I would only be 40$ over budget. And I would a more than decent i5 quad core.

 

[Burpo]

Good move.. Nice Upgrade

 

[anelectricmind]

Good move.. Nice Upgrade

Wait! Still not bought yet.

It has to go through the W.A.F. first. She doesn't need to know that I doubled that amount I spent on the CPU.

I can tell her that I found a great deal on RAM (which is true - 60$ CAD for 2x4 DDR3-1600 - though I know bought anything from GeIL) but I should also buy the CPU at the same time to save on shipping.

 

[jji7skyline]

I was being sarcastic about the i7 (see the little /s at the end). I stand by my opinion that OP would be best off with an i3-4160.

 

[anelectricmind]

I was being sarcastic about the i7 (see the little /s at the end). I stand by my opinion that OP would be best off with an i3-4160.

Sorry. Thought it was a typo!

 

[jji7skyline]

Sorry. Thought it was a typo!

No problem. Btw apparently there's an i3-4170 now so if you can find that for a similar price to the 4160 you'll be golden. It's got a 3.7Ghz clock speed

 

[anelectricmind]

No problem. Btw apparently there's an i3-4170 now so if you can find that for a similar price to the 4160 you'll be golden. It's got a 3.7Ghz clock speed

I noticed that too through another website's (don't know if I am allowed to name it here) Maybe CPU recommendations.

They switched their i5-4460 recommandation to a i5-4590 in the same price range....

(and honestly, it may sound overkill, but the i5-4590 is very tempting now)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My old E8400 is running in my homeserver which is mainly used for File Server / Plex / Torrent. I may end up putting my Q6600 in it and use it for encoding videos also. (only need to convert DVD to mp4 and 7MC files to mp4)

Actually, that's where my own server "was" a year ago -- rocking an E8400.

It's interesting, no? How we salvage old s***, and when something isn't "working right," spend more ducats in a trade-off between troubleshooting-time and a need for "up-and-running."

The old nForce motherboard and use of its controller (not AHCI compliant) caused a driver conflict showing 1 core constantly loading to 100% through DPCs and interrupts. I should've waited before diagnosing with Latency Monitor, but sprung for a used Q6600 instead. [My original Q6600 is with my brother across town -- permanently]. It was an "OEM Pull" from SuperBiz. Lo and behold! The 100% single-core loading continued until I diagnosed it correctly.

I just flat-out gave the E8400 to a friend. I still have an E8600 that went into the parts locker 2 weeks ago after de-commissioning my brother's system to replace with an i5-3570K. I keep thinking the de-commissioned 780i motherboard may come in handy: the PCI-E x16 slots are PCI-E 2.0.

Here's the weird thing about the DPCs problem. I only needed to socket a PCI-E SATA card into the system without connecting drives to it, and the problem disappeared; the MSAHCI native driver configured to the PCI_E controller, and the conflict disappeared. But at that point, I just decided to turn off the nForce and use the new controller -- actually -- two of them.

The C2D/C2Q/LGA-775 technology is about 9 years old. I think it's great to squeeze years of service out of "old s***" -- I don't need any of the extra speed for my server that newer boards and processors would offer.

But . . . NINE YEARS?!!

I think I once had an IBM-PC transportable that I kept for eight years as a spare. Maybe I should just deliberately budget and schedule a replacement -- for "some future time." Better -- just "budget" some ducats and wait until something "goes south."

 

[anelectricmind]

Actually, that's where my own server "was" a year ago -- rocking an E8400.

It's interesting, no? How we salvage old s***, and when something isn't "working right," spend more ducats in a trade-off between troubleshooting-time and a need for "up-and-running."

I think I spent two weeks troubleshooting what happened. Testing parts by parts. Using my server to the PSU and testing several graphic cards. I was too lazy to the CPU.

Only once in two weeks, I was able to have the MOBO post something. Otherwise, the system started alright, when I plugged my fans on the MOBO (they are usually connected to the PSU), they were running. But I had no lights on from the HDD/Power lights on my case and no ACK lights on the network adapter. I even bought a cheap PC-Case buzzer speaker to hear the buzz the MOBO makes when posting and I had no beeps.

I didn't feel like spending on a sub-par LGA775 mobo. I thought it was a decent opportunity to upgrade my PC (while leaving the girlfriend with her 10 years old Dell P4. To my defense, I offered her several times to upgrade her PC, beginning with at least an SSD that she refused)

 

[sm625]

i3-43xx is useless because you are paying primarily for the extra graphics. Just get an i3-4160 or i3-4170 if possible. i5-4460 is slower under the types of light loads you'll be running.

 

[DrMrLordX]

i3-43xx is useless because you are paying primarily for the extra graphics. Just get an i3-4160 or i3-4170 if possible. i5-4460 is slower under the types of light loads you'll be running.

I mostly agree with you here. That $70 i3-4160 off eBay would have been perfect. Stick that on an H81 board or whatever and sit on it. Z97 if you want to upgrade to a better CPU at some point in the future.

 

[anelectricmind]

Well... in almost an impulse buy... i bought the CPU and the RAM.

Actually, I had to buy drums for my printer. And I found a very decent deal on RAM at the store. And the CPU was a good price, although not the cheapest, but I saved on shipping (free shipping... yeah!) and I saved on one tax because it is shipped outside their province (Kanada, BC, NCIX)...

And the winner is.... i5-4590!!!

Total cost is about 425$ which puts me a little over my 400$ budget. Like I mentionned, I found a bit more money out of my budget that allowed me to go over and splurge a bit on a i5.

Why did I go with an i5 instead of an i3?

I don't know. Because I could? Would I need the extra two cores? I don't know.

For sure, I will get a decent boost in performance while encoding videos (although, I don't sit in front of my computer to see handbrake encode - I just batch everything).

I am a Web Developper, it's not like I need a killer CPU to compile anything that I build.

As for gaming, which was the main concern... I don't know. For sure, I will not question whether I will be able to play the latest games or not (I know, my 6870 might hold me back a bit). And I may even be able to run pcsx2 decently now!

Always feel good to treat yourself to something good, and be like the cool kids and have a decent computer (I am getting old and/or tired).

So anyway... thanks everyone who shared their thoughts. I think you helped me alot with my decision. (i3 vs i5... check! if i3, then i3-4160... I was going for the i3-4360. And as for the i5, I was looking at the 4460, which you were all right... might not worth it compared to the i5 in terms of clock speed and turbo performance)

 

[crashtech]

It's hard to go wrong with what you got. Overkill for some things, but like extra horsepower under the hood, it's nice to have in those times when it's needed or wanted. Plus, the i5 is a real crowd pleaser around here, so you will be popular with the cool kids!

 

[anelectricmind]

It's hard to go wrong with what you got. Overkill for some things, but like extra horsepower under the hood, it's nice to have in those times when it's needed or wanted. Plus, the i5 is a real crowd pleaser around here, so you will be popular with the cool kids!

Maybe it was the horsepower that I was missing to play the games I have in my library. Well.. most of my games would run on my Q6600 for sure, but they would have probably needed to be tweaked individually. With a CPU like this one, I may start to game again (now that the kids are older also!)

 

[DrMrLordX]

Hope it works out for you. You would definitely not have found an i3 that would have been much better than that (just would have been cheaper, that's all).

 

[escrow4]

Hmmm, I still would have sprung for a 4690 but that will do. Better than any i3.