Upgrade to i7-4790k

EAUGH · June 8

So I'm now considering an upgrade to the i7-4790k, but found the psu and cpu cooler might not keep up while I also found people saying its fine.

Also how much should I pay for it?

I have an optiplex 9020 MT with these components added:

GPU: Nvidia GTX 1660-Ti

SSD: Patriot P210 512GB

HDD: Toshiba MQ01ABD100 1TB

RAM: 2x Samsung M378B5173EB0-CK0

Thanks

LanerJ · June 8

For a 4790K you should expect to pay 60-80 used. You could drop the K and get a standard 4790 for 35-60, the main difference is the lack of overclocking and a reduction in clock speed (that is decently significant). Keep and eye on eBay for a bit and you should be able to find a good deal.

Terrorgod · June 8

Its not a bad idea to do that upgrade if you can find it cheap enough, tho another option could be to keep that tower as a backup, and look on aliexpress or ebay for cheap older AM4 bundles that could be in the same cost ballpark as that older cpu, but leave you with alot more headroom.

If you do go the 4790k route, definitely see if there is a cooler upgrade that fits in your case as those optiplexs generally dont use standard options and tend to be underpowered. Also cross reference a tool (google is your friend) to make sure you have enough headroom on your powersupply as if you are rocking the stock one that came with that PC it might be tight with the GPU already installed. (Dont forget to pull the powersupply out as they tend to have markings letting you know how much they can output on the unit itself).

End of the day, it depends on what you are trying to do, budget, expected gains, and location. But also dont skimp on research just to make sure everything works, and you get the best value for your dollar.

Agall · June 8

33 minutes ago, EAUGH said:

So I'm now considering an upgrade to the i7-4790k, but found the psu and cpu cooler might not keep up while I also found people saying its fine.

Also how much should I pay for it?

I have an optiplex 9020 MT with these components added:

GPU: Nvidia GTX 1660-Ti

SSD: Patriot P210 512GB

HDD: Toshiba MQ01ABD100 1TB

RAM: 2x Samsung M378B5173EB0-CK0

Thanks

You'd be better off buying a budget Ryzen 3000/5000, Intel 12/13th series CPU than getting a 4790k in 2023 for gaming. Its old enough architecture to substantially hold back even a 1660ti in any MMO/multiplayer games.

Keep in mind this is 4K ultra with the best GPU on the market, but still translates. Not saying you should buy the 7950x3D instead, but most newer CPUs will get within spitting distance versus the potential 1/3rd the stuttery performance you'd get with an older architecture. Still put out some impressive framerates, but generally a poor experience.

EAUGH · June 11

On 6/8/2023 at 4:35 PM, Agall said:

You'd be better off buying a budget Ryzen 3000/5000, Intel 12/13th series CPU than getting a 4790k in 2023 for gaming. Its old enough architecture to substantially hold back even a 1660ti in any MMO/multiplayer games.

Keep in mind this is 4K ultra with the best GPU on the market, but still translates. Not saying you should buy the 7950x3D instead, but most newer CPUs will get within spitting distance versus the potential 1/3rd the stuttery performance you'd get with an older architecture. Still put out some impressive framerates, but generally a poor experience.

I get it, yes I will get worse performance, but I don't think right now I need to get a whole new mobo just to get more than if I go with this CPU. Thanks for the suggestion though.