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Which CPU for dual GTX 980?

ForkIt
By ForkIt
in CPUs, Motherboards, and Memory
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When it comes to gaming, would it really be smart to get an Intel Core i7-4790K for a dual GTX 980 or 970 setup? Or would a good i5 be enough to not get bottlenecked?

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An overclocked i5 4590k should be fine tbh. But if you have the cash to burn, i'd try for the i7.

Shot through the heart and you're to blame, 30fps and i'll pirate your game - Bon Jovi

Take me down to the console city where the games are blurry and the frames are thirty - Guns N' Roses

Arguing with religious people is like explaining to your mother that online games can't be paused...

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both the i7 4790k & i5 4690k have only 16 PIE lanes so sli means 8X8 and both cpu's can OC to roughly 4.4 -4.6 Ghz so they should perform the same in sli, the HT in the i7 well not boost the sli setup  

I5 3570K@ 4.4 - GIGABYTE Z77- Kingston 8G 2400 RAM - MSI GTX980 - HAF-X - 27'' ROG SWIFT + 32'' LG IPS - OCZ 250G SSD + WD 4TB HDD - ASUS XONAR DX -Noctua NH-D14

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both the i7 4790k & i5 4690k have only 16 PIE lanes so sli means 8X8 and both cpu's can OC to roughly 4.4 -4.6 Ghz so they should perform the same in sli, the HT in the i7 well not boost the sli setup  

pie lanes wouldnt be a problem.

4790k wouldnt help for sli, but for work it will be well worth it.

G3258 - Sabertooth Mk. I - 560 Ti - 530 240GB - R4 - 750 G2

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5820K would make it a lot more expensive.

x99 mainboards and ddr4 ram isnt cheap.

IMO it justifies the price.

 

But i wouldn't recommend an i5...i am just that kind of person :P

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I personally wouldn't risk it with the i5 if you wanna go SLI 980. You may or may not get bottlenecked but you'll be cutting it close either way.

 

i7 4790k or 5820k IMO. 

 

5820K would make it a lot more expensive.

x99 mainboards and ddr4 ram isnt cheap.

it depends on the deals you find. 

 

This is my X99 build and as you can see I only paid a small premium over a comparable z97 built: 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3ctv23

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The i5 would do fine IMHO. you could always get a higher end CPU if the budget allows. Even my 2500k at 5ghz would still do with 2x 980's

Welp

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depends a bit on the games you play.

i would go with a 4790K.

 

especialy if you are an huge fan of Watchdogs and such.

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For 980 SLI you shouldn't even consider anything less than 4th gen i7 CPUs. You want a CPU that can feed those badboys in CPU heavy games.

i7 9700K @ 5 GHz, ASUS DUAL RTX 3070 (OC), Gigabyte Z390 Gaming SLI, 2x8 HyperX Predator 3200 MHz

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If your going dual 980s then your probably going gaming so I would recommend a i7 4790k (LGA1150) with a clock speed of 4 GHZ and nice overclocking.

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An i5 when at the same clock speed as an i7 will perform the same, even during SLI. If you are really concerned and have the budget for it, by all means get the i7, but there are currently no benchmarks that show an i7 outperforming an i5 in single or multi-GPU configurations when both processors are at the same speed.

"I genuinely dislike the promulgation of false information, especially to people who are asking for help selecting new parts."

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I really don't know what to believe. :(

A few games may benefit from an i7, but for the most part you're fine with an i5

Part of the Q6600 club

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Don't waste your money get two 970s. Or Two 780 Ti's which you can get new for $400 each now on amazon. Buying the flagship is always a bad idea, look at the 780 Ti was a $700 card just a few months ago. Now you can buy it new for $400.

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Has anyone ever benchmarked that?

It should be fairly easy to find out if there actually is a game that would benifit from an i7. :/

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I personally wouldn't risk it with the i5 if you wanna go SLI 980. You may or may not get bottlenecked but you'll be cutting it close either way.

 

i7 4790k or 5820k IMO. 

 

it depends on the deals you find. 

 

This is my X99 build and as you can see I only paid a small premium over a comparable z97 built: 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3ctv23

Another reason whey I too went x99, look at your estimated wattage. :)

A full build estimated at <450.

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I think SLI in general won't give u that huge jump, but when u got another $550 to spend on an extra GPU, I would expect u to spend $100 more to get i7.  ;)

My rig:

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K

Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO

Graphics Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB GDDR5

RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB

SSD: Samsung SSD 840 EVO-Series 250GB

HDD: Seagate Barracuda HDD 1TB

Monitor: ASUS PG278Q ROG Swift 27-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor

Cooling: Corsair CPU Cooler H100i

Power Supply: Corsair Professional Series Platinum Power Supply AX860i

PC Case: Corsair Graphite Series White 760T

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Dual 980's and an i5 is just dumb, get the i7

 

Not for gaming. For gaming, an i7 has very little benefit. For gaming and streaming, sure, but for just gaming, I wouldn't bother with an i7

 

A 4690k won't be a bottleneck for the cards, and 8x/8x is just fine for the sli config

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770k | Mobo: MSI Mpower Max | Cooling: Cryorig R1 Ultimate w/ XT140 front Fan | GPU: EVGA GTX 770 Dual SC SLI | Case: NZXT H440 | Case Fans: Phanteks PH-140SP x5 | PSU: EVGA Supernova P2 1000W | RAM: 16GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer | SSD: Kingston HyperX 3k 120GB | HDD: Seagate Barracude

Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 | Mouse: Razer Deathadder 2013 | Headphones: Sennheiser HD438s | Mousepad: Razer Goliathus Control | Monitor 1: Benq XL2430T | Monitor 2: BenQ RL2455HM 

 

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