Z97 vs X99

[JTyran]

So, two builds with different prices:-

 

Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark S (the all white one)

Intel Core i7 4790K

8GB Hyper X Fury DDR3 1866MHz

 

Vs

 

Asus X99-S

Intel Core i7 5820K

8GB Panram DDR4

 

Both with assorted extras like CPU cooler.

 

The X99 build costs £120 more, the Motherboard is actually slightly cheaper and the CPU is only £40 more and its the RAM that really inflates the price. Most Benchmarks place the 4790K as being better at games but for how long? Games and other software are starting to take advantage of more cores now, would this make the six core CPU better in the future than the quad core even if benchmarks show its slightly ahead with current games/software?

 

My idea behind both CPUs being overkill instead of an i5 is that I can spend more now and not have to worry about upgrading the board and CPU for at least three years or so,  my 3770K is more than enough and I don't need to upgrade but my finances are great at the moment and it seems the best time to plan for the future. The guts of my current machine are being bundled into a quiet(ish) new HTPC build.

 

I should add I prefer the aesthetics of the X99 board as it will suit my white and black Corsair 760T very well, not sure if its £120 worth of preferring though.

[C0LL0SS0S]

for gaming Z97 will be good for atleast 2-3 years

[IP man]

for gaming Z97 will be good for atleast 2-3 years

^this

 

X99 for work

[Prastupok]

^ This. For gaming, z97 wins. X99 is more geared to those who do heavy work. The slower clocked X99 chips won't be taken advantage of in games, where the z97 ones will shine.

 

Edit: IP man, you beat me to it.

[Fate]

How about you keep on keepin on with your 3770k, save the money you've got now, and when the time comes to upgrade, pull that cash out and upgrade? Going from 3770k ---> 4790k is no where near the cost imo.

[IP man]

^ This. For gaming, z97 wins. X99 is more geared to those who do heavy work. The slower clocked X99 chips won't be taken advantage of in games, where the z97 ones will shine.

 

Edit: IP man, you beat me to it.

[Maslofski]

ive you feel like the 120 pounds is worth the boost for non gaming stuff then go for it

[JTyran]

How about you keep on keepin on with your 3770k, save the money you've got now, and when the time comes to upgrade, pull that cash out and upgrade? Going from 3770k ---> 4790k is no where near the cost imo.

 

 

Admittedly this would be the best option but for a couple of things, if I stash the better part of £700 away I would end up spending it on something shiny. Plus I have already bought all the HTPC parts for when I do upgrade over the next couple of weeks.

 

The other thing is I'm due an upgrade of the core of the system, I typically work it on a 18 month-Three year system which is why I have the money for this particular upgrade.

 

Motherboard and architecture upgrade every three years and a CPU upgrade every eighteen months, normally I would bung an i5 in and get the i7 eighteen months after that but this time as I have the funding I want to leap straight ahead and get as good a CPU as I can.

 

The general consensus seems to be that the Z97 is better (which I'm not disagreeing with) but as you say the jump from Sandy Bridge to Haswell-E isn't really worth it so does the Z99 upgrade with more cores lending itself to better multithreading in the future and DDR4 being the future for RAM even if its at the early adoption stage now.

 

Its a risk as it might be even longer before games really need that many cores (or it might not now its becoming essential for x86 octocore consoles, some games are already wanting 3770 & 4770 CPUs for recommended specs), if I can get cheaper RAM it will make more sense because thats whats adding the cost.