Is a CPU upgrade worthwhile?

[Cuddles McDeath]

I have a PC that built a few years ago (first time doing so), and I'm wondering if it is worthwhile upgrading the CPU. From what I know of the limitations of my motherboard, I was thinking of changing the CPU from an i5-4690 to an i7-4770. Is it okay to purchase a used CPU, or should I avoid that? Part of me would just simply like to build a new PC from scratch but I anticipate having to deal with several upcoming expenses that would make building a totally new PC unadvisable.

Thanks for any advice you may have!

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name TYSONPC
System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model Z97M-D3H
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz, 3501 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. F6, 12/23/2014
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.17134.619"
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 15.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 10.4 GB
Total Virtual Memory 18.2 GB
Available Virtual Memory 11.9 GB
Page File Space 2.38 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

[vadim]

There is nothing wrong with used CPU.

[Wichtelman]

vadim の投稿を引用：

There is nothing wrong with used CPU.

second that

[Obsessive Power]

I'll third that.

Nowt wrong with buying a used processor. Just do some quick checks with the seller as you would, but it should be all good.

[Cuddles McDeath]

Thanks for the info.

[Trevor]

Yea it be worth the upgrade on the CPU what cooler are you using ?

[Cuddles McDeath]

This is the cooler: CORSAIR HYDRO SERIES H55 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler, 120mm Radiator, 120mm Fan

[ugafan]

what gpu do you have?

[Cuddles McDeath]

GeForce GTX 970.

[_I_]

a 120mm aio is no better than a 212evo or similar 120mm air cooler

4690k oc'd to 4.5+ can be as good as current cpus in current games

[[☥] - CJ -]

I'd try to get an unlocked K CPU, would be a waste of that board to not use one

[hawkeye]

I would say no. The issue is that going to an i7-4790k cpu just adds hyperthreading. I doubt there would be much difference with a gtx970.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzpYOHuSfaM

But if you did want to upgrade in-place, then an i7-4790k would be the one to get.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/overclocked_cpus.html

In comparison the entry level 9th gen i5-9400f combo (cpu, mobo, memory) is about the same price as a used 4790k and offers about 10% better performance.

[upcoast]

If you're not willing to build new then the i7 4770/4790k/ xeon is the only other option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3-3umAgcE4

Are extra cores/ threads worth it, imho yes in 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc08ZPc30Zs

Might be interesting to OP also ^.

[Adelin]

Hello,

i7 4770k is nice yep.

I bought a grand macho rt cooler to begin overclock of cpu.
I tryed oc 4670k at 4.2ghz:

4.2ghz oc in creed odyssey helped fix cpu fps been choppy.
cpu usage 100% reduced to 97% up to 98%

My rx570 8gb at 1400mhz and 1900mhz timing level 1 in overdrive, is used at 100%. 1920x1080, fps around 35 to 60 mix max setting low clouds and fog, high shadow no aa ...

In this game, there is the need of a better gpu than rx 570 / 580 if res is higher than 1920x1080 and you wanna keep mix of high medium settings.

But off course, cpu usage with 6490k or 4670k without overclock would be a bit high.

I guess you may try to get a cheap 4770k .
I dunno if it does worth it if you pay it high price, ryzen 3 and newer intel cpu will come later in the year.
And it's money not kept for a better cpu / gpu.


You may keep your oc 4690k:

Good per core performance compared to modern cpu @ stock.
Minus bad multicore score that won't rise much with overclock.

Till ryzen 3 or newer intel cpu arise.




blabla:

On linux with a killer network i have 1gbps internet bandw. testing different sites.
laptop with a bad cpu, 40% usage only.

4670k @ 4.2ghz, with i217-v and latest intel driver.

Iget 800 Mbps instead of 500 Mbps cpu at 3.8ghz ( cat 6 ethernet, 1gb connection )

Overclocking with buggy i217v latest driver from intel helped.

I'm not alone with this bug ?
It's amazing you need over 4.4 ghz to obtain almost full bandwith.

Anyway i hope you find a solution to get better cpu performance with same chipset :)
Gtx 970 is still a nice graphic card, been paired with a gtx 970, it's possible better cpu won't fix lot of things, till you get a multicore optimised game where it would shine :)

[ShadowLID]

It depends on the price of the I7-4770K it looks like on ebay they are down to around $120-145 this if worth it in my opinion the I7-4790k is better but not for the prices listed on ebay over twice the price of the 4770k. Also only buy a K or you will be wasting your money overclocking them is easy. 8 threads is the minimum I would go. When I built my Intel 4770k system everyone said oh just buy the I5 you dont need more than 4 cores blah blah blah. Well Rainbow Six siege uses all 16 threads of my Ryzen 2700x @ 60% utilization at times. So games are using 8 threads an up now. Rainbow 6 Siege uses 85-95% of my Intel I7-4770K@4.3 with a GTX 970 also. Far Cry 5 uses the same 85-95% utilization of the I7-4770K. So for now the I7-4770k is still a great chip that will play all games out no problem but I feel like in a year in a half it will really start to show its age just keep that in mind.

[Overseer]

You just have to be careful that you don't get scammed by shady sellers when it comes to used CPUs. People do remove heatspreaders to disguise weaker CPUs with one from a broken advertised one. So you have to run tests to see if it all lines up.