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Canageek
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i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:24 am

So back in September I got some hardware at the Techreport North meetup, and intended to use it to build my first gaming computer. Now a combination of being busy and lack of funds has kept me from actually progressing on this until now. However, with my Christmas bills out of the way, and Boxing day coming up, I was thinking now would be a good time to start building this thing. I've decided to get something partway between the Editor's Choice and The Sweet Spot.

The hitch I've encountered is that the motherboard I scored at the meetup is a Gigabyte PV67A-UD4, which doesn't support anything newer then Sandy Bridge. So I looked into buying a ASUS Z87-A after poking around in the Christmas guide, which costs me $145 on NewEgg (Damn Canadian prices). Coupled with that, plus the fact I'd rather not overclock is leading me towards the i5-4670, again, based on the Christmas guide. Then I noticed that the i7-2600K has almost the same performance as the i7-3770K, which is only a tiny bit under the i7-4770K, and the i7-2600K will work with the motherboard I already have. (Based on http://techreport.com/review/25293/intel-core-i7-4960x-processor-reviewed/11). Well, I thought that was a no-go, as NewEgg.ca is out of stock on them, however, NCIX has them in stock for $361.98. Now, that is way to much for a processor that old- I can get a i7-4770K for less then that on NewEgg.ca, but given that I'd then not have to buy a new motherboard for $145 the costs balance out almost exactly.

So, am I crazy for considering buying a chip from 2011 so I can use the motherboard that I got for free? Should I just toss it on Craigs list or ebay and buy the ASUS Z87-A? Heck, am I even looking at CPUs in the right power range for some moderate non-twitch gaming? I mean, anything is going to be better then my current T510 ThinkPad...
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Wirko
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:26 am

362 sounds awfully lot in any decent currency. You might be able to get a 2600K plus a SSD buying used - that's what I would do if I weren't after the latest tech.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Intel-Core-i7-2600K-3-4-GHz-Quad-Core-CM8062300833908-Processor-/321277455145?pt=CPUs&hash=item4acda0eb29
 
puppetworx
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:30 am

I would buy a 2500K used (more of them available then 2600K and less demand, plus they will both overclock roughly the same).
 
Phaleron
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 4:51 am

Look on craigslist and ebay my friend for a used i7

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Intel-Core-i7-26 ... b0f&_uhb=1

Or the i5 as stated above if you're going with an after market cooler and OC'ing.
 
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:26 am

If you don't overclock, the 4670 seems a good deal with lower consumption for regular tasks, gaming, etc. If you do multimedia encoding or use heavy threader applications, the i7 is the most sensible choice despite being a 2011 CPU.
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Canageek
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:07 pm

Wirko wrote:
362 sounds awfully lot in any decent currency. You might be able to get a 2600K plus a SSD buying used - that's what I would do if I weren't after the latest tech.


Phaleron wrote:
Look on craigslist and ebay my friend for a used i7
Or the i5 as stated above if you're going with an after market cooler and OC'ing.

How safe is it buying used? Computer parts seem like something that would be risky, as I might have something that has been badly overclocked in past, there would be no warranty, etc.

puppetworx wrote:
I would buy a 2500K used (more of them available then 2600K and less demand, plus they will both overclock roughly the same).

I don't want to overclock; I'm a fairly cautious person and don't trust myself not to damage the machine, as I'm just starting out.
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vargis14
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 4:14 pm

Overclocking a i7 2600k or 2500k is pretty easy and risk free.....most will right on stock voltage hit 4ghz. Plus you could just use Turbo mode and set all 4 cores to 4 ghz and leave everything else alone.

Anyway I would go with 8 threads over 4 even if the i7 CPU's are Hyper Threaded cores. Also the Sandy Bridge CPUs are much easier to keep cool. Just pop a 30-35$ Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO Tower Air cooler on it and call it a day.

Once you realize how safe it is Overclocking Sandy/Ivy Bridge CPU's you will end up at 4.5+ ghz like most of us here.
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Canageek
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 4:54 pm

vargis14 wrote:
Overclocking a i7 2600k or 2500k is pretty easy and risk free.....most will right on stock voltage hit 4ghz. Plus you could just use Turbo mode and set all 4 cores to 4 ghz and leave everything else alone.

Anyway I would go with 8 threads over 4 even if the i7 CPU's are Hyper Threaded cores. Also the Sandy Bridge CPUs are much easier to keep cool. Just pop a 30-35$ Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO Tower Air cooler on it and call it a day.

Once you realize how safe it is Overclocking Sandy/Ivy Bridge CPU's you will end up at 4.5+ ghz like most of us here.


That is an interesting idea, and those used i7-2600K are tempting. So you recommend the 2600K? I could always buy one now, then get the aftermarket cooler and start overclocking later when I have some more money.
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:44 pm

Get an i5 2500K and crank up the clocks. Unless you are running uber-video card, the 4 thread i5 is unlikely to be a bottleneck in most games. Look at TR's review of Sandy Bridge, most gaming results were so close for the i5 vs i7 as to be within the margin of error. If you are going to use the PC for other stuff as well, 8 threads might be a benefit, but gaming, well it's not much of a benefit... here's an example:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r285176 ... Benchmarks

TLDR, unless you're running two 7950s in CrossFire, an overclocked I5-2500K is plenty capable, at least at higher screen resolutions - no doubt the i7-4770k would show more of a lead at lower resolutions. IMO if you're not paying more for the graphics card than the CPU, you're probably buying too much CPU for a gaming rig. :wink:
 
Canageek
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:28 pm

Fair point, though most of the i5-2500K I can find are only marginally cheaper then the i7-2600K. This one is http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Intel-Core-i5-25 ... fresh=true so I've put in a bid. If the price goes too high then I might as well get the other processor, since why not.

What do you mean by lower resolution? I'm looking at a 24", 1920 x 1200 monitor with either a R9 270X or a R9 280X (I haven't made up my mind yet if I want to pay more and put up with the louder noise). Would that count as lower resolution?
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captaintrav
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:24 am

Canageek wrote:
Fair point, though most of the i5-2500K I can find are only marginally cheaper then the i7-2600K. This one is http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Intel-Core-i5-25 ... fresh=true so I've put in a bid. If the price goes too high then I might as well get the other processor, since why not.

What do you mean by lower resolution? I'm looking at a 24", 1920 x 1200 monitor with either a R9 270X or a R9 280X (I haven't made up my mind yet if I want to pay more and put up with the louder noise). Would that count as lower resolution?


True enough, I didn't really check the prices, on getting your hands on a Sandy part, myself I'd lean more towards getting something like the i5 3570K for ~250$, since I'm not much of an OCer any more, the lack of headroom on post-Sandy Bridge parts would be less of a concern.

I'm pretty sure 1920x1200 is high enough resolution that the video card is going to be the bottleneck in most modern games unless you turn the graphical detail down, or have a top-end video card. What I meant by "low resolution" is more like 720p or maybe even 1600x900 -> 1920x1200 is 2.3 mega pixels, 1600x900 is only 1.44 megapixels.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:11 am

You might have to update the BIOS for everything to work right, but the latest BIOS for that board supports Ivy Bridge as well. http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloa ... x?pid=3759
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Canageek
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Fri Dec 20, 2013 3:01 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
You might have to update the BIOS for everything to work right, but the latest BIOS for that board supports Ivy Bridge as well. http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloa ... x?pid=3759


That is the GA-P67A-UD4-B3, I have the GA-P67A-UD4. I know, I read that and got all excited then realized I was looking at the wrong model.

captaintrav wrote:
True enough, I didn't really check the prices, on getting your hands on a Sandy part, myself I'd lean more towards getting something like the i5 3570K for ~250$, since I'm not much of an OCer any more, the lack of headroom on post-Sandy Bridge parts would be less of a concern.

Yeah, but sadly that won't run on the GA-P67A, and if I'm upgrading to a new motherboard for $130, I might as well go Haswell, right?

captaintrav wrote:
I'm pretty sure 1920x1200 is high enough resolution that the video card is going to be the bottleneck in most modern games unless you turn the graphical detail down, or have a top-end video card. What I meant by "low resolution" is more like 720p or maybe even 1600x900 -> 1920x1200 is 2.3 mega pixels, 1600x900 is only 1.44 megapixels.

Oh, I see what you mean; Even if I wasn't pushing the graphics card due to resolution, if I'm not pushing the graphics card then I might as well turn antialiasing, shadows, reflections, etc up until I do anyway, right?
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vargis14
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Sat Dec 21, 2013 8:25 pm

I am running my 2600k in that same motherboard the P67-UD4-B3. If the board is not a B3 version it has the sata controller screw up on the original cougar point chipset. I would stay away from the non B3 p67-ud4 boards. Ill take my 2600k with 8 threads over any I5 IVY or Haswell chip.

On another note Believe it or not Intels 32nm sandy bridge chip use less voltage then their IVY Bridge a 22nm TOCK shrink of sandy and Haswell's 22nm chip when overclocked. Intels 22nm process leaks and since they do not solder the Integrated Heatsink onto the CPU silicone they run much hotter and are a good bit harder to keep cool.

I have nothing but good things to say about my Gigabyte board. It has a great 12 phase power VRM design with decent cooling. It also has at least 14 USB2 ports but I have only 13 utilized, the 8 on the back IO panel, 2 more via a USB2 PCI bracket, the 2 Front USB2 ports on the case and one on my Universal card reader in my floppy front bay.For USB3 I have 2 USB3 ports on the back IO panel and another 2 on a PCI bracket. As for sata connections I wish it had more then 6 internal, 2 sata3 and 4 sata2. But at least it has 2 Sata3 Esata ports that I put one to good use with a Thermaltake Blackx hot swap HDD dock that is around 6 years old.

As for sound Realtek's ALC889 codec works very well I have no EFI noise at all and it has great stereo separation.

Overclocking on it is a breeze with its old school bios. Running the F8 bios. There are some custom modded Bioses out there but I do not want to mess with it if it is not broke. Even though it comes with 2 Bios chips just in case of a bad flash it will goto the backup automatically so you pretty much cannot kill or brick the board updating the Bios.

Let us know what you end up picking up.
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Canageek
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Tue Dec 24, 2013 2:51 am

vargis14 wrote:
I am running my 2600k in that same motherboard the P67-UD4-B3. If the board is not a B3 version it has the sata controller screw up on the original cougar point chipset. I would stay away from the non B3 p67-ud4 boards. Ill take my 2600k with 8 threads over any I5 IVY or Haswell chip.


Yeah, I have the non-B3 version. What is the problem with it you mention?
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derFunkenstein
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Tue Dec 24, 2013 8:35 am

Canageek wrote:
vargis14 wrote:
I am running my 2600k in that same motherboard the P67-UD4-B3. If the board is not a B3 version it has the sata controller screw up on the original cougar point chipset. I would stay away from the non B3 p67-ud4 boards. Ill take my 2600k with 8 threads over any I5 IVY or Haswell chip.


Yeah, I have the non-B3 version. What is the problem with it you mention?

http://techreport.com/news/20326/intel- ... -shipments
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vargis14
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Tue Dec 24, 2013 10:01 am

It is a degradation of the 4 sata2 ports on the motherboard possibly degrading over time, the 2 faster sata3ports are unaffected. If the Sata2ports do go wonky on you it says it will not damage your devices and they should work fine in another system.

Now that I think about it if you put your HDD's on the 2 Sata3 connectors your HHD's should never have a problem.
And just use the sata 2 ports for optical disk drives...since they do not get used a ton.

Also if you need more sata ports you could get a Esata HDD, SSD DOCK that hooks to a Esata port since it has 2 Marvell 6gbps Esata ports. They will let a SSD hit top speeds, sure the intel sata ports are a tiny bit faster but not enough you would know the difference.

Or you could buy a PCI or PCI-e sata card for more ports internally if you need it.

I also think they sell Esata to sata connectors/ cables that you could run from the Marvell Esata ports into the inside of your case for 2 more 6gbps sata connectors.

The bottom line is you have many workaround's to get buy the problem, also you could use them and have no problem whatsoever.
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Canageek
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:36 pm

Cool, that sounds like what I would have done anyway, so no worries; and apparently only a 5% chance I'd get hit with it anyway. Good enough for me to save up some money for a new MB CPU combo in 3 years or so.
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Geonerd
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:55 pm

Canageek wrote:

How safe is it buying used? Computer parts seem like something that would be risky, as I might have something that has been badly overclocked in past, there would be no warranty, etc.

I don't want to overclock; I'm a fairly cautious person and don't trust myself not to damage the machine, as I'm just starting out.


If buying off Fleabay, look for a seller who specializes in breaking old business computers. These are unlikely to have been abused.
If buying from an individual, casually ask "How well does it OC?" If he replies, "It hit 6GHZ, easy!", this may not be the chip you want. :lol:

A mild OC, using only multipliers and FSB, will, IMO, not hurt a thing. (Just be sure it's running correctly. It's remotely possible to corrupt critical files system if the computer is dropping the occasional bit.) On the other hand, bumping the voltage increases heat/power and potential semiconductor degradation significantly.
 
Canageek
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Re: i7-2600K vs i5-4670 if the total cost is the same?

Tue Jan 28, 2014 2:09 pm

Geonerd wrote:
Canageek wrote:

How safe is it buying used? Computer parts seem like something that would be risky, as I might have something that has been badly overclocked in past, there would be no warranty, etc.

I don't want to overclock; I'm a fairly cautious person and don't trust myself not to damage the machine, as I'm just starting out.


If buying off Fleabay, look for a seller who specializes in breaking old business computers. These are unlikely to have been abused.
If buying from an individual, casually ask "How well does it OC?" If he replies, "It hit 6GHZ, easy!", this may not be the chip you want. :lol:

A mild OC, using only multipliers and FSB, will, IMO, not hurt a thing. (Just be sure it's running correctly. It's remotely possible to corrupt critical files system if the computer is dropping the occasional bit.) On the other hand, bumping the voltage increases heat/power and potential semiconductor degradation significantly.


Man, I wish I'd known that before I bought it. Other dumb thing I did; Took so long to get my parts together that I probably can't get a refund if it doesn't work. Ah well, if I'd waited longer I'd be even more screwed by the exchange rate; I already paid far more then I wanted to due to the dollar going from about par, to 91 cents US during the auction.
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