Upgrading cpu, intel 4th gen

[Aren John]

Currently i have a i5 4590, bclk overclocked, all cores synced so it runs at 3810mhz all cores, but its getting kind of slow 

 

I found a deal, a 4790k + a decent 280mm aio all in good condition for just 50 USD. Should i get that and overclock the 4790k? or should i save up for a completely new system?

I feel like it isnt worth it and a 4790k would be fine for me for atleast a year

 

I have a asus z97 motherboard, a rtx 2060 (any potential bottleneck on that?), 2x8gb ddr3 and a good psu

 

also how hard is it overclocking that ddr3 ram?

[Zodiark1593]

If you’re playing primarily older games, throwing in a non-k 4790 is decently cost effective for the performance, and is plenty great for general usability. Wouldn’t recommend the K version, as it’s double the price for not a lot more. Speaking from experience (my desktop has this CPU), even Cyberpunk (a bit old at this point) bottlenecks pretty heavily on it, though is generally playable.
 

if you’re looking to play newer stuff though, the performance increase is a pittance to the CPU firepower modern games demand. Would recommend saving up for a new system if modern gaming is your jam.

 

Additionally, there’s also the problem of Windows 10 EOL which you’ll need to find some means to circumvent. 

[Aren John]

48 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

If you’re playing primarily older games, throwing in a non-k 4790 is decently cost effective for the performance, and is plenty great for general usability. Wouldn’t recommend the K version, as it’s double the price for not a lot more. Speaking from experience (my desktop has this CPU), even Cyberpunk (a bit old at this point) bottlenecks pretty heavily on it, though is generally playable.
 

if you’re looking to play newer stuff though, the performance increase is a pittance to the CPU firepower modern games demand. Would recommend saving up for a new system if modern gaming is your jam.

 

Additionally, there’s also the problem of Windows 10 EOL which you’ll need to find some means to circumvent. 

Whats the windows 10 problem? also how much do you think i could overclock the 4790k with the 280mm aio

[YoungBlade]

1 hour ago, Aren John said:

Whats the windows 10 problem? also how much do you think i could overclock the 4790k with the 280mm aio

Windows 10 is losing support in October. You can extend it by signing in with a Microsoft account and using One Drive, but even then, you only get another year. Come October 2026, Windows 10 will no longer be getting security updates or fixes. And to get official Windows 11 support, you'd need an 8th gen Intel or Ryzen 2000 series CPU or newer.

 

Pretty much any 4790K should be able to make it to 4.5GHz all core. If you got lucky, you could get 4.8GHz. But it's not going to be that impactful in terms of the actual performance improvement. Even if you got a golden sample that clocked to 5GHz, it would be slower than an i3 12100.

 

If you're going to be sticking with this platform, I wouldn't recommend spending the premium on a 4790K. Just get a much cheaper 4770 or 4790 non-K. It's not worth throwing much money at such an outdated system.

[Zodiark1593]

4 hours ago, Aren John said:

Whats the windows 10 problem? also how much do you think i could overclock the 4790k with the 280mm aio

The non-K version boosts to 4.0 GHz. The K version will boost to 4.4 GHz stock. And overclocking tends to put it from 4.5-4.8 GHz. While stock clocks were pretty high for the time, overclocking Haswell (even the Devil's Canyon line) wasn't great, barring a golden sample, and even then, they turned into furnaces. These were pushed pretty close to the limit out-of-the-box, so an OC will not be a game changer.

 

Just get the non-K, and ride it out for as long as you feel like. Half the price, and you get the penultimate chip for that platform. And it runs happily on the stock cooler too. 

[Mick Naughty]

Having done it a few times, I’d just get the K version and a cheap delider. Add some lm and oc the heck out of it. A 280aio would handle that well. 
 

[Aren John]

10 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Having done it a few times, I’d just get the K version and a cheap delider. Add some lm and oc the heck out of it. A 280aio would handle that well. 
 

just got the 4790k, stock clocks, prime 95 stress test with all avx disabled the cpu goes to about 76c with the arctic 280mm aio, is this normal?

[Mick Naughty]

10 hours ago, Aren John said:

just got the 4790k, stock clocks, prime 95 stress test with all avx disabled the cpu goes to about 76c with the arctic 280mm aio, is this normal?

Yea. Gotta keep in mine the Tim is very old under the ihs. Which is why, even if you don’t do Liquid Metal, I would swap the tim with normal paste. 
And depending on the mobo, maybe too much voltage. 

[Aren John]

1 hour ago, Mick Naughty said:

Yea. Gotta keep in mine the Tim is very old under the ihs. Which is why, even if you don’t do Liquid Metal, I would swap the tim with normal paste. 
And depending on the mobo, maybe too much voltage. 

what i noticed is that 2 of the cores are at like 80 during a stress test, the other half is at like 59, is this normal? i have a strong feeling that the aio  isnt making full contact 

[YoungBlade]

7 minutes ago, Aren John said:

what i noticed is that 2 of the cores are at like 80 during a stress test, the other half is at like 59, is this normal? i have a strong feeling that the aio  isnt making full contact 

That could be a sign that the AIO isn't making even contact. It could also be an indication that the thermal paste between the CPU die and the IHS has started to have issues, either pumping out or drying out over time. The CPU is over a decade old at this point. 

 

I'd try the remount first to see if that's the issue. Failing paste would require a delid to address, which is more involved.

[Mick Naughty]

25 minutes ago, Aren John said:

what i noticed is that 2 of the cores are at like 80 during a stress test, the other half is at like 59, is this normal? i have a strong feeling that the aio  isnt making full contact 

Everything is normal given the sample size. Always check the work first. Been mentioned a few times, it’s old and needs replaced. Prime is worst case. No need to focus on it now. Only if you plan to push an overclock and want a quick stress test. 

[Dedayog]

On 8/24/2025 at 11:49 AM, Aren John said:

Currently i have a i5 4590, bclk overclocked, all cores synced so it runs at 3810mhz all cores, but its getting kind of slow 

 

I found a deal, a 4790k + a decent 280mm aio all in good condition for just 50 USD. Should i get that and overclock the 4790k? or should i save up for a completely new system?

I feel like it isnt worth it and a 4790k would be fine for me for atleast a year

 

I have a asus z97 motherboard, a rtx 2060 (any potential bottleneck on that?), 2x8gb ddr3 and a good psu

 

also how hard is it overclocking that ddr3 ram?

How long does it take you to save up money?  We literally cannot know what is best for you without relevant information.

 

Is $50 a big deal to you?  Do you have a job?  

 

If I were you, I'd get the CPU and AIO.  Though an AIO that was for a 4790K is old as hell in AIO terms, FYI.

 

If you can save up money vs when you WANT a new machine... well that's on you.