Which CPU?

[martward]

Hi everyone,

 

I have recently purchased an 1150 mobo (sli krait z97s) and a G3258. I was thinking of using the G3258 temporarily and am now looking for an upgrade. I hoped to use it a couple of months, but I (naively) expected more from the CPU and don't want to use it during my Masters (which I start next week).

Since I am upgrading ahead of schedule, my finances are a bit low so I have two options:

 

1) Buy a new Xeon 1231 v3 (€265)

2) Buy a second hand 4790k/4770k (€275-€300) 

 

I expected more 4790k's to be available second hand with the release of skylake, but it's still a little hard to find anything. I also am a little hesitant of buying a second hand CPU (especially an unlocked one). My budget does not allow me to buy a 4770k or 4790k new, not for a couple of months.

 

What I will do

Mostly running Pythong scripts (with a lot of for and while loops), Matlab (lot of linear algebra and statistics) and a little gaming.

I will not be buying a very high end GPU (max GTX970) and when I game I am more than content with high settings at 1080p and 35+ fps.

I will be buying a new system in 2 years probably, so no need to "future proof".

 

All advice is welcome

[Agazed]

Do not get a 4770k.

 

I would go with a 4790k as you can overclock and get much more performance. 

[RollinLower]

i would probably go for the Xeon if i where you, since gaming isn't your top priority.

a new CPU is always better than a second hand one, since there is no real way of telling what it has been through, except if you know the person who previously owned it.

[FatPenguin]

i7 4790k you can over clock a Xeon you can not.

[martward]

i7 4790k you can over clock a Xeon you can not.

Yeah I know, but I'm not sure whether or not I really care about overclocking since I don't intend to game very heavily.

[FatPenguin]

Yeah I know, but I'm not sure whether or not I really care about overclocking since I don't intend to game very heavily.

Ohh then the Xeon for sure you will still be able to run games with a decent GPU.

[SpeedKingManu]

4790K's and 4770K's overclock exactly the same... 4790K's are not binned. Same silicon as the 4770K.

 

Silicon lottery...

 

Grab the cheapest you find.

[incarnate]

Yeah I know, but I'm not sure whether or not I really care about overclocking since I don't intend to game very heavily.

Overclocking has very little gaming improvements unless you're bottlenecked. The biggest gains are made in productivity work.

Having said that, I'd still recommend the xeon. You have no idea how hard any given used i7 was pushed