Using i7 CPUs not shown in the Buyer's Guide: OK or not?

[sshanky]

I have a friend who works for Intel (lucky me) and I can get one CPU at discounted prices. He told me he can get these i7's:

4790k
4960
4930k
4820

Would I be able to go with one of the higher end ones, like the 4930k? I am pretty sure I don't need a 4960. Also, there is a 4820 available, for slightly less than the 4790k. Are they all basically the same in terms of compatibility, or do I need to stick to the list in the buyer's guide?

Thanks!

 

[Adrian B]

What type of build do you intend to create. Do you have some options in mind about the motherboard that you use?

Socket 2011 X79 processors (4820K, 4930K & 4960K) will work - They are in the buyers guide. http://www.tonymacx86.com/446-building-customac-buyer-s-guide-october-2014.html#socket_2011

Socket 2011 are harder to successfully build and get OS X running. A socket 1150 i7-4790K is very fast even for video/photograph editing. Music production and gaming. Its a very good processor that can also be over clocked with great success for better results. You can build what ever you want but the socket 1150 i7 is not a poor performer.

 

[sshanky]

Thanks for that reply. You asked what sort of build I want -- I currently have a gigabyte z77-ds3h motherboard with an i5-2500k overclocked to 4 ghz. 16 gig of ram and an msata 240gb SSD. I'm quite happy with its performance, but I also have the urge to make another one (and give mine to my colleague). So I figure I should take advantage of the deal with my intel friend. I'd like a good system with expandability, so I want a decent, but not the best, motherboard. I think you're right in saying that the 4790k would be fast enough. I just figured that for a hundred dollars more I could get into what appears to be a lot faster chip. But I don't want to deal with too much complexity in making the system. I want to go with what is well supported and doesn't require special files or configuration above and beyond what would work "out of the box". Do you know of a good mobo/cpu pair?

Thanks a lot...

 

[Adrian B]

A CustoMac Budget (ATX) or CustoMac Pro (ATX) would give you a lot of motherboard options just by expanding the options given in these two build categories to the boards that are available from ASRock, Asus, MSI and Gigabyte. A Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H or GA-Z97-HD3 is about a modern version of the GA-Z77-DS3H board that you are using now.

If you would like something a little bit different then have a look at some of the new gaming boards from Gigabyte and MSI. The colour schemes are strong and bold on these boards. If you prefer something a bit quieter then have a look at Asus and ASRock - although some of these look quite loud too.

Its personal preference - there may be too much choice now. I would be tempted at one of the gaming boards.

 

[sshanky]

So it sounds like you think I'd be fine with the 4790k, right? Those socket 2011 ones might be overkill, but probably not much faster than the 4790. The 4930k is the one I'd get, and it's not too much faster. I think I agree with you...

4790k: CPU Benchmark: 11303 (rank 45)
4930k: CPU Benchmark: 13123 (rank 32)

 

[Adrian B]

So it sounds like you think I'd be fine with the 4790k, right? Those socket 2011 ones might be overkill, but probably not much faster than the 4790. The 4930k is the one I'd get, and it's not too much faster. I think I agree with you...

4790k: CPU Benchmark: 11303 (rank 45)
4930k: CPU Benchmark: 13123 (rank 32)

If you are seriously into gaming using Windows then the socket 2011 build is worth considering. However X79 has been overtaken by X99 hardware with the latest DDR4 RAM.

If you wanted to go 6 core i7 processor with 32 GB of RAM as a starter and latest GPU hardware then socket 2011-3 would be a wild performer. I just do not think that you will use it plus the cost of the RAM is really priced for the early adopter.

I think socket 1150 i7-4790k offers a significant performance upgrade over your existing build and is the best value for money available right now. It keeps your hardware modern and is well supported by OS X, Windows and Linux if you chose.

 

[emjay96]

@sshanky

I have the 4790K, you can see my specs in my profile, and for my two cents worth it's plenty fast and was relatively painless to get OS X up and running with both Chimera and Clover bootloaders.

 

[trs96]

Thanks for that reply. You asked what sort of build I want -- I currently have a gigabyte z77-ds3h motherboard with an i5-2500k overclocked to 4 ghz. 16 gig of ram and an msata 240gb SSD. I'm quite happy with its performance, but I also have the urge to make another one (and give mine to my colleague). So I figure I should take advantage of the deal with my intel friend. I'd like a good system with expandability, so I want a decent, but not the best, motherboard. I think you're right in saying that the 4790k would be fast enough. I just figured that for a hundred dollars more I could get into what appears to be a lot faster chip. But I don't want to deal with too much complexity in making the system. I want to go with what is well supported and doesn't require special files or configuration above and beyond what would work "out of the box". Do you know of a good mobo/cpu pair?

Thanks a lot...

For what you are looking for the 4790K is a good choice. Just pick out one of the Z97
motherboards in the Buyer's Guide. The Z97X-UD3H or UD5H boards are very good choices
that will provide all the connectivity you'll need. Make over clocking the 4790K easy as well.

 

[sshanky]

Thanks, everyone. @trs96, good advice, as my DS3H turned out not to be the best choice, as it didn't allow me to access a lot of the settings I needed to overclock properly. I can't change some important voltage settings, so I'm limited in how much I can OC.

Another question, if you don't mind -- what type of RAM should I be going for?

Thanks

 

[emjay96]

Thanks, everyone. @trs96, good advice, as my DS3H turned out not to be the best choice, as it didn't allow me to access a lot of the settings I needed to overclock properly. I can't change some important voltage settings, so I'm limited in how much I can OC.

Another question, if you don't mind -- what type of RAM should I be going for?

Thanks

For any build I've ever done I just confirm it's on the supported list for my mobo and go from there. It probably doesn't matter but why risk it?