i5 Multitasking vs i7?

[I Hendrycks I]

Hey, in my old PC I had an i7 (it died) and I use to be able to play any game on one screen while watching a movie or Youtube on the other. After getting a whole new rig I got an i5-6600K and now if I try watching a movie, Youtube, etc, the video will sometimes completely freeze in certain instances like processing the next turn in Civilization V. Is this because an i5 is worse at multitasking or do you think something else is going on? It's really annoying because I let the person at the store influence me into 'saving' $200 by going for the 6600K vs the 6700K but now one of the main things I like to do on my computer is hindered quite a bit.

 

Thanks in advance!

[I Hendrycks I]

1 minute ago, CUDA_Cores said:

first of all, you should've kept your 4790K. It was still a perfectly adequate processor for the job. And yes, that i5 will not be able to multitask as well as even a last-gen i7 due to the fact it only has 4 threads.

My entire computer was ruined by a combination of a power outage and my super old power supply dying - I didn't have a choice.

[anybodykek]

I agree. Why did you discard your i7 4790K? It is one of the BEST CPUs.

[ARikozuM]

5 minutes ago, I Hendrycks I said:

Hey, before I had an i7-4790K and I use to be able to play any game on one screen while watching a movie or Youtube on the other. After getting a whole new rig I got an i5-6600K and now if I try watching a movie, Youtube, etc, the video will sometimes completely freeze in certain instances like processing the next turn in Civilization V. Is this because an i5 is worse at multitasking or do you think something else is going on? It's really annoying because I let the person at the store influence me into 'saving' $200 by going for the 6600K vs the 6700K but now one of the main things I like to do on my computer is hindered quite a bit.

 

Thanks in advance!

Did you reinstall Windows?

[I Hendrycks I]

1 minute ago, CUDA_Cores said:

the CPU was probably still good, you could've picked up a cheap used motherboard. 

I checked the processor in my friend's computer and it was definitely fried. I wouldn't just dump a whole computer away without checking all the parts. That wasn't even what this thread was about - I was simply asking if i5 vs i7 was why my multitasking was so bad. I have always gotten i7s so I don't have any real experience with running an i5 until now.

[I Hendrycks I]

3 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Did you reinstall Windows?

It was an entirely new rig with the i5. After most of my parts got fried I just sold off any that were still working and started fresh. 

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, I Hendrycks I said:

I checked the processor in my friend's computer and it was definitely fried. I wouldn't just dump a whole computer away without checking all the parts. That wasn't even what this thread was about - I was simply asking if i5 vs i7 was why my multitasking was so bad. I have always gotten i7s so I don't have any real experience with running an i5 until now.

Did you install all the necessary drivers? Did you check if your RAM passes Memtest? Can you list your entire rig? What browser do you use? Is hardware acceleration enabled?

 

An i5 won't affect multi-tasking on a desktop as it would in hard-work scenarios like rendering. I would check if your RAM passes Memtest.

[I Hendrycks I]

8 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Did you install all the necessary drivers? Did you check if your RAM passes Memtest? Can you list your entire rig? What browser do you use? Is hardware acceleration enabled?

 

An i5 won't affect multi-tasking on a desktop as it would in hard-work scenarios like rendering. I would check if your RAM passes Memtest.

Ya I checked everything on the PC as soon as I built it. I made the PC a good year or so ago but I've been dealing with this multitasking issue and it's been annoying me. I have the disposable income to just go buy an i7 but I'd like to make 100% sure that that's the issue.

 

I use Chrome and hardware acceleration is enabled.

 

Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K OC @4.5GHz

Cooling: NZXT Kraken

Motherboard: ASUS Z170-A
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 @2400MHz
GPU: ASUS Strix GTX 1080 OC
PSU: EVGA 850W..I can't remember 100%, it's either the G2 or P2.

 

For the OS I use a Samsung Evo Pro and I've got a second one for work programs and my most played games. I've got a 3TB WD hard drive for everything else.

[Carlos1010]

Why did you get rid of your i7?

[I Hendrycks I]

1 minute ago, Carlos1010 said:

Why did you get rid of your i7?

Bad troll?

[ARikozuM]

I would reinstall Chrome or try Firefox before anything. Do you have XMP enabled in BIOS?

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, I Hendrycks I said:

Bad troll?

At this point you should set your best answer to "They died". At least for the mean time.

[I Hendrycks I]

2 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

I would reinstall Chrome or try Firefox before anything. Do you have XMP enabled in BIOS?

Ya I've tried Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, IE, it's all the same unfortunately. I do have XMP on but I've tried with it off and manually setting the timings and RAM clock. I've tried without any overclocks at all on the CPU and GPU to no avail as well.

[ARikozuM]

Just now, I Hendrycks I said:

Ya I've tried Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, IE, it's all the same unfortunately. I do have XMP on but I've tried with it off and manually setting the timings and RAM clock. I've tried without any overclocks at all on the CPU and GPU to no avail as well.

Is the SSD the PRO or EVO? What OS? I don't think the i7 is going to help since most of these programs rely on RAM for their performance. But if you want it, go for it.

[I Hendrycks I]

8 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Is the SSD the PRO or EVO? What OS? I don't think the i7 is going to help since most of these programs rely on RAM for their performance. But if you want it, go for it.

My bad, I haven't looked at SSDs in a while, the OS SSD is the 840 Pro and the other is an 850 Evo. I also have over-provisioning on so that the SSDs always have some breathing room. 

 

I'm running Windows 10 64bit and I always keep it up to date. I'm not in the preview mind you. It just doesn't make sense because the RAM passes memtest and the whole computer runs perfectly, it's just watching a video while gaming that messes up.

 

It happens every time an intensive game is loading up like Witcher 3 or when Civ V is calculating the other players' turns before it gets back to me. In between those turns my CPU hits 100% so I would assume that my CPU is the issue?

[ARikozuM]

3 minutes ago, I Hendrycks I said:

My bad, I haven't looked at SSDs in a while, the OS SSD is the 840 Pro and the other is an 850 Evo. I also have over-provisioning on so that the SSDs always have some breathing room. 

 

I'm running Windows 10 64bit and I always keep it up to date. I'm not in the preview mind you. It just doesn't make sense because the RAM passes memtest and the whole computer runs perfectly, it's just watching a video while gaming that messes up.

 

It happens every time an intensive game loads up like Witcher 3 or when Civ V is calculating the other players' turns before it gets back to me. In between those turns my CPU hits 100% so I would assume that my CPU is the issue?

It could be but that may require more investigation. Have you checked your Flash version or network driver?

[I Hendrycks I]

3 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

It could be but that may require more investigation. Have you checked your Flash version or network driver?

Chrome's got it built-in and Youtube is using HTML-5 instead, I think Netflix does as well after they got rid of Silverlight a while ago. My network driver is up to date. I check drivers, BIOS, etc updates about once a week aha

 

It's exactly why I don't understand. I do know now though that you're better off just always getting an i7

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, I Hendrycks I said:

Chrome's got it built-in and Youtube is using HTML-5 instead, I think Netflix does as well after they got rid of Silverlight a while ago. My network driver is up to date. I check drivers, BIOS, etc updates about once a week aha

 

It's exactly why I don't understand. I do know now though that you're better off just always getting an i7

It's not the i7, though since Chrome isn't multi-threaded. I have a few ideas but don't know which one would help. Have you checked Resource Monitor, yet?

[I Hendrycks I]

1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

It's not the i7, though since Chrome isn't multi-threaded. I have a few ideas but don't know which one would help. Have you checked Resource Monitor, yet?

Couldn't it still be the i7? If a game is using 90% of my CPU and then there's no more threads for Chrome it may freeze. While an i7 might only have 70% being used by the game and then still has those extra threads to let Chrome use? Idk if that's how it works 100% but it seems plausible.

 

Ya Resource Monitor doesn't show anything that sticks out, the CPU just hits 100% in the times that I said before and then it's okay again until something intensive happens. I did learn that Logitech's Gaming Software is a hog and now I leave it off until I want to change some macros around and then close it again.

[ARikozuM]

Just now, I Hendrycks I said:

Couldn't it still be the i7? If a game is using 90% of my CPU and then there's no more threads for Chrome it may freeze. While an i7 might only have 70% being used by the game and then still has those extra threads to let Chrome use? Idk if that's how it works 100% but it seems plausible.

 

Ya Resource Monitor doesn't show anything that sticks out, the CPU just hits 100% in the times that I said before and then it's okay again until something intensive happens. I did learn that Logitech's Gaming Software is a hog and now I leave it off until I want to change some macros around and then close it again.

Get the i7 and see what happens. Report back when you find the results.

[I Hendrycks I]

11 hours ago, ARikozuM said:

Get the i7 and see what happens. Report back when you find the results.

I'll probably wait for Kaby Lake and see what it brings first. The 6700K is still around $430 in Canada

[done12many2]

3 hours ago, I Hendrycks I said:

I'll probably wait for Kaby Lake and see what it brings first. The 6700K is still around $430 in Canada

 

Chrome / YouTube are heavily multi-threaded and I suspect that Civilizations V is as well.  Each tab / plug in on Chrome will use separate threads if available.  Depending on how many Chrome tabs you're running in conjunction with the YouTube stream, you could be putting that i5 through a pretty nice workout when you throw Civilization V into the mix.

[I Hendrycks I]

3 hours ago, done12many2 said:

 

Chrome / YouTube are heavily multi-threaded and I suspect that Civilizations V is as well.  Each tab / plug in on Chrome will use separate threads if available.  Depending on how many Chrome tabs you're running in conjunction with the YouTube stream, you could be putting that i5 through a pretty nice workout when you throw Civilization V into the mix.

That must be what it is then. It makes sense as I haven't gotten anything else 'worse' over my old PC. Would you recommend a 6700K or something else?

[done12many2]

Just now, I Hendrycks I said:

That must be what it is then. It makes sense as I haven't gotten anything else 'worse' over my old PC. Would you recommend a 6700K or something else?

 

6700k is a fantastic chip.  Yes, I'd definitely recommend that.  They are available for under $300 now from a few different retailers. 

[I Hendrycks I]

3 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

 

6700k is a fantastic chip.  Yes, I'd definitely recommend that.  They are available for under $300 now from a few different retailers. 

It's $450 in Canada  Is Kaby Lake worth waiting for or will it just be a small bump?