4770K my only option for 3-Way CrossFire ?

[Dive5885]

Title says it all.

 

I had a talk with one of my Tech friends and he says the 4770K is my only option for my 3-way crossfire setup..

 

Before I make any purchase I want to get more opinions.

 

Is the 4770K really my only option?

 

If not what would you suggest?

 

Thanks!

[PokémonTrainerFour]

4690K and up are your options

[Deletive]

Unless you go x99. yes

[Jodomcfrodo]

5820k if you have the money. 

 

BTW get the 4790k over the 4770k. 

[Enderman]

4790k is better

[Aniallation]

I had a talk with one of my Tech friends and he says the 4770K is my only option for my 3-way crossfire setup..

He doesn't know what he's talking about. Even a Celeron G1820 has 16 PCIe lanes, enough for 3 way crossfire. Use any LGA 1150 CPU you like that suits your needs. If it's only gaming an i5 will do perfectly, you don't need an i7 unless you do things like rendering or video editing. 

[MasonIsPurple]

Well, AMD only requires 4x PCI-e lanes, so any CPU with 12 lanes or more will do fine. But really, if you're going 3-way, don't cheap out on the CPU. 

[Dive5885]

5820k if you have the money.

BTW get the 4790k over the 4770k.

My budget is $400 for a cpu & motherboard

He doesn't know what he's talking about. Even a Celeron G1820 has 16 PCIe lanes, enough for 3 way crossfire. Use any LGA 1150 CPU you like that suits your needs. If it's only gaming an i5 will do perfectly, you don't need an i7 unless you do things like rendering or video editing.

Its for gaming.

I asked him if he was sure and he said he was.

That's why I came here to get more opinions

[Faa]

My budget is $400 for a cpu & motherboard

Get a board with a PLX chip and the 4690K.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-Z97XGGT&c=CJ

[Jodomcfrodo]

My budget is $400 for a cpu & motherboard

Well you're not getting a 4770k then. Sounds like an unbalanced build to me.

[Aniallation]

Its for gaming.

I asked him if he was sure and he said he was.

That's why I came here to get more opinions

If it's just for gaming then a great option is definitely a 4690K

Get a board with a PLX chip and the 4690K.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-Z97XGGT&c=CJ

I thought CF can work with PCIe x4?

[deathjester]

Title says it all.

 

I had a talk with one of my Tech friends and he says the 4770K is my only option for my 3-way crossfire setup..

 

Before I make any purchase I want to get more opinions.

 

Is the 4770K really my only option?

 

If not what would you suggest?

 

Thanks!

 

Since you are in the U.S. check if a Microcenter is in state. If so? Buy the 4790k there because they are like 260-280 or something and you get a motherboard discount as well. If not? Welp, prob get a I5k. They are both the same gaming. I7 just renders video and streams a little better. It isn't like an I5 is horrible at streaming though.

 

Now if you can wait for a month or so? Last year pre black friday Microcenter dropped the 4770k's down to 199 bucks and motherboard discount deal still applied. 

 

In addition Staples Online chat matched the price from Microcenter. Others vendors also price matched. So if you can wait a bit? I would do that. The deal hit a week or two before black friday and they sent me the ad in an email. I actually avoided having to wait in line. So sign up for their newsletter and try to price match if you can.

[Dive5885]

Since you are in the U.S. check if a Microcenter is in state. If so? Buy the 4790k there because they are like 260-280 or something and you get a motherboard discount as well. If not? Welp, prob get a I5k. They are both the same gaming. I7 just renders video and streams a little better. It isn't like an I5 is horrible at streaming though.

Now if you can wait for a month or so? Last year pre black friday Microcenter dropped the 4770k's down to 199 bucks and motherboard discount deal still applied.

In addition Staples Online chat matched the price from Microcenter. Others vendors also price matched. So if you can wait a bit? I would do that. The deal hit a week or two before black friday and they sent me the ad in an email. I actually avoided having to wait in line. So sign up for their newsletter and try to price match if you can.

Yeah I do have a Microcenter near me!

That would be a good idea to wait then!

If it's just for gaming then a great option is definitely a 4690K

By any chance.

Would a 3770K be better than the 4690K ?

I might be able to get a deal on a 3770K that's the only reason I'm asking.

[deathjester]

Yeah I do have a Microcenter near me!

That would be a good idea to wait then!

By any chance.

Would a 3770K be better than the 4690K ?

I might be able to get a deal on a 3770K that's the only reason I'm asking.

 

Games? Prob  slower until we have total adoption on a low level API and then the older I7 may be faster. Streaming. Rendering video. Yeah the 3770k would be better.

 

Really all depends on the overclock from Sandy and up. They can all trade blows, but if you get a low clocking 3770k it would be quite a bit worse than a 4790k. 3770k and 4770k? 

 

Single core matters a lot up to about 4 cores for gaming. Here are overclocks and single core scores from LTT users. The best odds is devil's canyon though. Even at 4.4-4.6 ghz which they should all hit Haswell is very fast. 4770k can get stuck at 4.1 3770k, mb matters a bit more than Haswell. On Haswell any z87/z97 is going to overclock well, all depends on the chip. I would say 4.4-4.5 is more common on Ivy than Haswell, but that is like 3.9 on a 4770k. Not 3.9 turbo (2 cores) but 3.9 on all cores.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlC81MjwelBgdEZNV3l6aHl1eUNwSUR4Rml0MXMzN1E&usp=sharing#gid=1

 

Also on Microcenter site, add any motherboard (even a premium not listed in their combos) and you should get 40 bucks off or something buying both. Don't have to give them your CC number or anything, it should show total before that and discount.

 

Like I said though, all depends on if you can wait a bit. There is no promise the 4790k will hit 199 bucks or even the 4770k, but the 4790 might hit 250 and MC already has a price close to that. The 4770k might drop to 199.99 again though. Microcenter literally destroys everyone on MB/CPU when you buy both. Other items? Not so much. Ram usually better on pc part picker. PSU, hit or miss. Same with case. GPU's? Definately buy them online usually. I don't know if Microcenter has Sapphire and Powercolor PCS + cards and those would be the two brands to buy for tri crossfire probably. I checked mine and they didn't have them, so I bought my R9 290 online. 

 

You may only end up saving like 30 bucks on cpu/mb if you are gonna buy the 4790k. Unless you are getting a hell of a deal on the 3770k I would prob grab the 4790k. Safest bet and you are paying an I5/MB price compared to another vendor.

 

Emulation, like Dolphin Emulator? That is the one thing where Haswell is pretty far ahead. Not to many other things use newer Haswell instructions but they could in the future. Like I said. Haswell is the safest bet and Devil's Canyon is the safest bet. If you had to pay 340 at newegg for one? Then I would consider the 3770k. 

[DirkW]

I thought CF can work with PCIe x4?

 

Yes, CF can. SLI would be a different story though...

[i_build_nanosuits]

i strongly advise against 3 way crossfire/sli...not worth it...go with dual cards.

[Prokart2000]

4690K and up are your options

this, any of these cpus are enough

[Aniallation]

Would a 3770K be better than the 4690K ?

I might be able to get a deal on a 3770K that's the only reason I'm asking.

At the same clock speeds it will be around 5-10% slower. However Ivy Bridge usually overclocks better then Haswell

[Astralify]

Get the 4790k. Games are starting to utilize more and more threads and more L3 cache seems to benefit frame times. Do not invest in i5. I would even go 5820k.

[adnank77]

Any Processor Based on Z87 or Z97 Chipset can do 3-Way Crossfire OR 2 Way SLI 

 

Any Processor based on X99 Chipset can do 3-Way SLI and 3-Way Crossfire. 

[Dive5885]

i strongly advise against 3 way crossfire/sli...not worth it...go with dual cards.

To be honest with you I really don't care.

I heard this about a thousand times already.

Not going to change my mind.

Get the 4790k. Games are starting to utilize more and more threads and more L3 cache seems to benefit frame times. Do not invest in i5. I would even go 5820k.

I can't go X99 with a $400 budget..

[Aniallation]

Get the 4790k. Games are starting to utilize more and more threads and more L3 cache seems to benefit frame times. Do not invest in i5. I would even go 5820k.

No they're not. Many new games today and that are on the way (haven't been released or have only been released in beta) still don't use more then 4 cores. Some not more then 2.

[Dive5885]

No they're not. Many new games today and that are on the way (haven't been released or have only been released in beta) still don't use more then 4 cores. Some not more then 2.

So pretty much the options are this.

 

Minimum : 4th Gen i5

 

Recommended : 4th Gen i7

[Aniallation]

So pretty much the options are this.

 

Minimum : 4th Gen i5

 

Recommended : 4th Gen i7

No, minimum would be an overclocked G3258, recommended is an i5 (2nd/3rd/4th gen whatever)

[Dive5885]

No, minimum would be an overclocked G3258, recommended is an i5 (2nd/3rd/4th gen whatever)

Okay.

 

It seems like everyone is saying all kinds of things on what to get.

 

A little confusing.

 

Just need to make it clear and really understand what I need for my setup.