Does the 0.4 GHZ make a big difference?

[Jjon_]

I've been looking for new parts for my PC for a long time now, and I've come to the decision to get a GTX 970 + I7 4790 + MSI H97 GAMING 3 Intel H97. First I thought i'd get the K version and a Z97 mobo for overclocking, but I dont really want to overclock and with the GTX 970 that would be kinda expensive because I'd have to get a better cooler too. Also it doesnt really make any difference in gaming, and otherwise just a little difference, and it could damage your CPU right? So I thought i'd just get the non K version, but it doesnt have 4.00GHz. Will that make a big difference perfomance wise? Should I get the K version even if I dont overclock?

Also, I've heard that the 3.5 VRAM issue with the 970 could be a problem, should I go with a 8192MB MSI Radeon R9 390 instead? I know the R9 390 also is a bit better perfomance wise, but takes much more power.

Thanks in advance  

[Morgan MLGman]

I've been looking for new parts for my PC for a long time now, and I've come to the decision to get a GTX 970 + I7 4790 + MSI H97 GAMING 3 Intel H97. First I thought i'd get the K version and a Z97 mobo for overclocking, but I dont really want to overclock and with the GTX 970 that would be kinda expensive because I'd have to get a better cooler too. Also it doesnt really make any difference in gaming, and otherwise just a little difference, and it could damage your CPU right? So I thought i'd just get the non K version, but it doesnt have 4.00GHz. Will that make a big difference perfomance wise? Should I get the K version even if I dont overclock?

Also, I've heard that the 3.5 VRAM issue with the 970 could be a problem, should I go with a 8192MB MSI Radeon R9 390 instead? I know the R9 390 also is a bit better perfomance wise, but takes much more power.

Thanks in advance  

Instead of going for the non-k version, get the Xeon E3-1231v3 and instead of the 970 get R9 390. Both are better in price/performance ratio. Or if the Xeon is much cheaper consider getting a 390X if it fits your budget =)

[Mikjul]

K version can OC... overclocking is free performance gains, so really yes it makes a big difference.

[Muz]

The vram can make a big difference later on in future games, I'm getting the MSI 390 soon so I recommend that, similar performance.

[Benji_w]

I've been looking for new parts for my PC for a long time now, and I've come to the decision to get a GTX 970 + I7 4790 + MSI H97 GAMING 3 Intel H97. First I thought i'd get the K version and a Z97 mobo for overclocking, but I dont really want to overclock and with the GTX 970 that would be kinda expensive because I'd have to get a better cooler too. Also it doesnt really make any difference in gaming, and otherwise just a little difference, and it could damage your CPU right? So I thought i'd just get the non K version, but it doesnt have 4.00GHz. Will that make a big difference perfomance wise? Should I get the K version even if I dont overclock?

Also, I've heard that the 3.5 VRAM issue with the 970 could be a problem, should I go with a 8192MB MSI Radeon R9 390 instead? I know the R9 390 also is a bit better perfomance wise, but takes much more power.

Thanks in advance  

 

There IS no issue with the 4gb of vram on the 970, windows 10 uses the full 4gb it's just windows 7 can't use it fully, as for overclocking, the fx8350 imo does incredible things when clocked to 5ghz.

[comicsansms]

There IS no issue with the 4gb of vram on the 970, windows 10 uses the full 4gb it's just windows 7 can't use it fully, as for overclocking, the fx8350 imo does incredible things when clocked to 5ghz.

NO,

Just NO.

The FX 6300 is the ONLY FX CPU that should be bought, and for most cases it is still not recommended.

[Bittenfleax]

get the Xeon E3-1231v3

A Xeon will not help AT ALL in gaming. The single core performance will not be up to standard. They are designed for multiple cores and threads and CPU intensive tasks such as servers and rendering. You can get an i5 for A LOT cheaper with the same performance as a Xeon and i7 in gaming.

[D2ultima]

There IS no issue with the 4gb of vram on the 970, windows 10 uses the full 4gb it's just windows 7 can't use it fully, as for overclocking, the fx8350 imo does incredible things when clocked to 5ghz.

You are wrong.

[JefferyD90]

I've been looking for new parts for my PC for a long time now, and I've come to the decision to get a GTX 970 + I7 4790 + MSI H97 GAMING 3 Intel H97. First I thought i'd get the K version and a Z97 mobo for overclocking, but I dont really want to overclock and with the GTX 970 that would be kinda expensive because I'd have to get a better cooler too. Also it doesnt really make any difference in gaming, and otherwise just a little difference, and it could damage your CPU right? So I thought i'd just get the non K version, but it doesnt have 4.00GHz. Will that make a big difference perfomance wise? Should I get the K version even if I dont overclock?

Also, I've heard that the 3.5 VRAM issue with the 970 could be a problem, should I go with a 8192MB MSI Radeon R9 390 instead? I know the R9 390 also is a bit better perfomance wise, but takes much more power.

Thanks in advance  

The power draw is negligible between a 390 and a 970.  And as far as that is concerned the VRAM issue with the GTX 970.  Personally I think you should go for the Z170 platform, but you haven't made a bad decision.  The .4Ghz isn't something to sneeze at though, that coupled with the ability to overclock could easily mean .8-1.0 Ghz difference.

[jimakos234]

-snip-

Get the 390. People need to realize that the power it may draw wont be that noticable, maybe 2 bucks more on the bill, IF they are at 100% load , 12hours a day,everyday.

[Morgan MLGman]

K version can OC... overclocking is free performance gains, so really yes it makes a big difference.

Oh man... This isn't entirely true what you said. Of course you can spend retarded money on retarded products for minimal performance gains, but no reasonable person would.

Example: getting a Titan X for gaming instead of 980Ti.

Now, if you get the Xeon E3-1231v3 or 1241v3, you experience this much:

Performance difference and the price difference is 85 US $ + getting a cheaper H81/B85 motherboard and no need for an aftermarket cooler make it much, much cheaper.

If your budget is limited as OP's, the Xeon is a wayyyy better option, you can put that saved 120$ into a better GPU which would make a way bigger difference.

[Mikjul]

Oh man... This isn't entirely true what you said. Of course you can spend retarded money on retarded products for minimal performance gains, but no reasonable person would.

Example: getting a Titan X for gaming instead of 980Ti.

Now, if you get the Xeon E3-1231v3 or 1241v3, you experience this much:

Performance difference and the price difference is 85 US $ + getting a cheaper H81/B85 motherboard and no need for an aftermarket cooler make it much, much cheaper.

If your budget is limited as OP's, the Xeon is a wayyyy better option, you can put that saved 120$ into a better GPU which would make a way bigger difference.

Eh? he said the K version, perhaps read? i said the 4790K because overclocking will net big increases.

[D2ultima]

A Xeon will not help AT ALL in gaming. The single core performance will not be up to standard. They are designed for multiple cores and threads and CPU intensive tasks such as servers and rendering. You can get an i5 for A LOT cheaper with the same performance as a Xeon and i7 in gaming.

Are you silly?

 

The Xeon 1231 v3 is basically a haswell i7 without an iGPU. It performs the same at the same clockspeeds as other i7s in the haswell family. If other i7s are at a higher clockspeed, then fine. However if the OP isn't going to OC or use Quicksync, then it's not a bad chip to acquire.

[typographie]

Also, I've heard that the 3.5 VRAM issue with the 970 could be a problem, should I go with a 8192MB MSI Radeon R9 390 instead? I know the R9 390 also is a bit better perfomance wise, but takes much more power.

 

The "3.5 GB issue" is less of an issue than a social phenomenon. The 970 is not VRAM-limited in any scenario where the 970 would otherwise be capable of playable performance. You need a very contrived, extreme testing scenario to even see the difference in the memory partitions, and by then you'd be at 10–15 FPS anyway.

 

That said, the R9 390 can still be slightly faster in some games, and it's priced well. I just don't think VRAM is the reason to take one over the other.

[Morgan MLGman]

A Xeon will not help AT ALL in gaming. The single core performance will not be up to standard. They are designed for multiple cores and threads and CPU intensive tasks such as servers and rendering. You can get an i5 for A LOT cheaper with the same performance as a Xeon and i7 in gaming.

i5-4690k has 12% better single-core performance than Xeon E3-1231v3 and is 25% slower in multi-threaded tasks. It also costs about the same and requires a Z97 motherboard + a good cooler which makes it even more expensive. You clearly don't know much about these CPUs, it's basically an i7-4770 without the iGPU.

[WaitForMeImOnDialUp]

get the k version everyone who doesnt regrets it later.

[Bittenfleax]

Are you silly?

 

The Xeon 1231 v3 is basically a haswell i7 without an iGPU. It performs the same at the same clockspeeds as other i7s in the haswell family. If other i7s are at a higher clockspeed, then fine. However if the OP isn't going to OC or use Quicksync, then it's not a bad chip to acquire.

I am talking about compared to an i5 not an i7. He does not even need an i7 for gaming, let a lone a Xeon...

[JefferyD90]

There IS no issue with the 4gb of vram on the 970, windows 10 uses the full 4gb it's just windows 7 can't use it fully, as for overclocking, the fx8350 imo does incredible things when clocked to 5ghz.

You do realize that the GTX 970 VRAM issue is a HARDWARE limitation that no amount of software could ever correct.  Now, obviously, the drivers could help to mask the VRAM by flushing it more often or something...  But, Windows 10 itself will make NO contribution to anything.  Even so, the VRAM issue is negligible at best.  Even when you do push it to use 4GB of VRAM you'll only loose about 5% performance or so.  And if it was only 3.5GB of VRAM you'd loose close to 50%.

 

And while I am a huge AMD fan, I personally haven't owned a Intel product since the Pentium III days, I cant recommend buying a 3 year old platform from anyone.  If you really wanted to get a AMD based build you should invest in the A88X platform.

[Bittenfleax]

i5-4690k has 12% better single-core performance than Xeon E3-1231v3 and is 25% slower in multi-threaded tasks. It also costs about the same and requires a Z97 motherboard + a good cooler which makes it even more expensive. You clearly don't know much about these CPUs, it's basically an i7-4770 without the iGPU.

You can use a stock cooler. I did for 1 year. And please state how many games use mutli-threads and more than 4 cores....

 

Also, where I am a Xeon E3-1231v3 is £40 more than an i5-4690k...

[Snooli]

4460 or 1231V3 if you have money for Zboard and a cooler.

 

390 beats 970 in DX11, and 980 in DX12. There is NO reason to buy the 970.

 

1231V3 is stronger than a 4690K OCed to 4,5Ghz(if you are lucky to get there)

[juretrn]

A Xeon will not help AT ALL in gaming. The single core performance will not be up to standard. They are designed for multiple cores and threads and CPU intensive tasks such as servers and rendering. You can get an i5 for A LOT cheaper with the same performance as a Xeon and i7 in gaming.

Isn't this Xeon a 4790 without the HD4600 core?

[maestro0428]

Xeons can be a great buy if you aren't into overclocking.  Especially the 1231v3.  Would you notice 400mhz in daily use?   Prolly not on the desktop, but in games and pro apps, you would.  My advice would be to go with the k/z97 set up as maybe you will want to overclock at some point.  Hey its free performance!

 

As far as graphics go, I still shy away from the 970 cuz of that 500mb of slow memory on it, not that it matters in most cases.  Just don't like hampered hardware.  But, I really only use Nvidia cards these days cuz of CUDA and stronger drivers.

[Morgan MLGman]

Eh? he said the K version, perhaps read? i said the 4790K because overclocking will net big increases.

How do I put this: He said that he decided to go for the 4790 non-k version, I told him to get the Xeon cause it's only 5% slower than the 4790 and it's 50% cheaper.

The Xeon is a better choice over here. If you think otherwise then sorry but you're stupid.

Overclocking does increase performance, I agree, however If I had 700$ to spend for a CPU, motherboard and a GPU, this would outperform the 4790k setup:

4790k - 700$

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($327.99 @ SuperBiiz)

CPU Cooler: Thermalright MACHO 120 REV.A 46.2 CFM CPU Cooler  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($92.98 @ Newegg)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card  ($239.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $700.94

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-11 09:21 EDT-0400

E3-1231v3 - 700$

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: Asus Z87-A (NFC Express Edition) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($59.00 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390X 8GB Tri-X Video Card  ($399.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $701.98

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-11 09:23 EDT-0400

See my point now?

[Jjon_]

Instead of going for the non-k version, get the Xeon E3-1231v3 and instead of the 970 get R9 390. Both are better in price/performance ratio. Or if the Xeon is much cheaper consider getting a 390X if it fits your budget =)

Wait, so the  Xeon E3-1231v3 actually performs the same as the I7 4790 non K even in mutitasking + editing and stuff like that?Because I wont use my PC for gaming only, maybe also some 3D programs in the future.

Does it also perform the same at the K version of the i7, because the i7K has 4.00 GHz and the  Xeon E3-1231v3 only has 3.40. How big is the difference?

[Mikjul]

"I've been looking for new parts for my PC for a long time now, and I've come to the decision to get a GTX 970 + I7 4790 + MSI H97 GAMING 3 Intel H97. First I thought i'd get the K version and a Z97 mobo for overclocking,"

 

Only thing i answered.