Should I upgrade from the 4790k?

[blazenarrow]

Hello there,

I am a photographer and digital artist. I use Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and other adobe products. I do a lot multi tasking, and basically I want to know if i'll notice a significant improvement if I upgraded. Also, I think I could still sell this set up for a reasonable price so thinking upgrade might be best bet.

Current system:

i7 4790K @ 4.8ghz
asrock extreme 6 z87
32 GB ddr3
500 GB SSD main drive
Geforce 970

If I upgrade, i'll be getting:
i7 8700k
Z370 mobo
500 GB samsung 970 m2
32GB ddr4

Thanks for your help!

 

[Kenrou]

None of the programs you mentioned use more then 4-6 cores, so benefits would be minimal AFAIK. But if its mainly for work why not buy the new Ryzen instead of Intel ? more cores and better multitasking for less $

 

[blazenarrow]

None of the programs you mentioned use more then 4-6 cores, so benefits would be minimal AFAIK. But if its mainly for work why not buy the new Ryzen instead of Intel ? more cores and better multitasking for less $

Thanks for the reply. I have definitely considered the 2700X AMD, but it appears that for my main use (Adobe) clock rate is superior to core number: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CC-Multi-Core-Performance-625/

Also, isn't the 2700X only like $30 less than Intel? Where else would I save money?

 

[Kenrou]

Grab the standard 2700 and manually overclock it, should give roughly the same clocks as the 2700x and save ~$60. Also the motherboards tend to be cheaper on AMD side especially if you go for a B350

This thread has some suggestions, but more will follow - http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...for-a-good-quality-B350-motherboard-for-1600x

 

[UltraTaco]

He mentioned premiere. If doing video rendering, you can never have enough cores+GHz!!

 

[blazenarrow]

Grab the standard 2700 and manually overclock it, should give roughly the same clocks as the 2700x and save ~$60. Also the motherboards tend to be cheaper on AMD side especially if you go for a B350

This thread has some suggestions, but more will follow - http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...for-a-good-quality-B350-motherboard-for-1600x

I feel comfortable OCing for sure, but honestly rather then care about saving a hundred bucks or two, I would rather get whatever is going to make my computer run the fastest. I love when everything is instananeous, and I can multitask without lag.

He mentioned premiere. If doing video rendering, you can never have enough cores+GHz!!

yea i'me dabbling in it now. Man, I can't decide!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Kenrou]

If money is not really an issue then the 8700k will not disappoint. If you also game with it then the scales tip to Intel, but from what I read here get ready to spend a bit more in coooling or a delid, as it gets hot if you’re shooting for 5ghz+

 

[UltraTaco]

Taco is here to put thingies into perspective.

$60 extra for a system that will last 2 years at least?
$30 per year
$2.50 per month
63 cents per week
9 cents per day.

 

[blazenarrow]

If money is not really an issue then the 8700k will not disappoint. If you also game with it then the scales tip to Intel, but from what I read here get ready to spend a bit more in coooling or a delid, as it gets hot if you’re shooting for 5ghz+

Taco is here to put thingies into perspective.

$60 extra for a system that will last 2 years at least?
$30 per year
$2.50 per month
63 cents per week
9 cents per day.

I actually got into OCing back in 2000 with my first Pentium 4. I've always had Intel, but i'll never forget after I built that system, which was very high end at the time, I tried a friends very bottom of the line AMD Athlon, and it just was fast! Things opened instantly, and felt smoother to me. Ever since i've always been curious to try AMD. TBH, i'm a student so it's not like money 'isn't' an issue, but getting the intel if it will be faster in day-to-day tasks, is a no brainer.

My real wonder is if I went with the AMD system would I find I like it better.

 

[UltraTaco]

Mr.Dolk around here is AMD sir. Judging by his signature, amd fanboy for life, nothing less. Perhaps he can conquer thine heart into the dark side.

I had P4 as my first pic, but no overclocking as it was oem. Now that I don't have her anymore, I'm beginning to wonder if I made a mistake by giving her to the way of the street. Perhaps could have been great nostalgia time. Alas..

 

[caddi daddi]

I'm a bit torn... one side of me want's to ask, what voltage are you able to run 4.8 ghz at, because my 4790K golden chip is dieing and I may want yours.
so I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I use a 8600K rig for autodesk maya and blender and find little improvement over my 4790K rig that would justify spending more than $50 when I could add a cheap ssd or something for $50.
so just ignore what I just typed and sell me your 4790K to help fund your 8700K rig and I'll gladly lie through my teeth and tell you what wonderful gains that $800 is buying you.
basicly it's still, if you are on z97, stand pat, upgrade only if your rig dies or the itch is too great. you will gain little.
and what is the voltage you can run 4.8 with??????

 

[blazenarrow]

I'm a bit torn... one side of me want's to ask, what voltage are you able to run 4.8 ghz at, because my 4790K golden chip is dieing and I may want yours.
so I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I use a 8600K rig for autodesk maya and blender and find little improvement over my 4790K rig that would justify spending more than $50 when I could add a cheap ssd or something for $50.
so just ignore what I just typed and sell me your 4790K to help fund your 8700K rig and I'll gladly lie through my teeth and tell you what wonderful gains that $800 is buying you.
basicly it's still, if you are on z97, stand pat, upgrade only if your rig dies or the itch is too great. you will gain little.
and what is the voltage you can run 4.8 with??????

Sorry to get your hopes up, but I misspoke. It's actually just 4.6 @ 1.25, sorry about that.

 

[UltraTaco]

According to dad, there isn't a lot of improvement. Now *I'm* torn

If you want some extra performance >and< want to upgrade soon, overclock her to death(slow death) and enjoy her until she dies, then upgrade. Kill two rabbits(and one CPU)

 

[caddi daddi]

there are gains, %5-%10 I would think.
I have found other advantages over haswell/broadwell.
My I5 8600K is more pleasant to use in a workflow rig than my 4790K or 6800K, in ways I have no way of putting a number on.
I bought used, so it was worth it for me, one has to decide if buying a motherboard, cpu and ram is worth it.
if my living depended on this I would have upgraded long ago but this is a hobby for me.
The best and cheapest upgrade is to delete windows and go Linux.
In cpu rendering this has gained me A %25 reduction in cpu render times and I am sure that if I were to use a lighter weight Linux it would be better.

what's limiting the clock? cooling? what cooling are you using?

 

[blazenarrow]

there are gains, %5-%10 I would think.
I have found other advantages over haswell/broadwell.
My I5 8600K is more pleasant to use in a workflow rig than my 4790K or 6800K, in ways I have no way of putting a number on.
I bought used, so it was worth it for me, one has to decide if buying a motherboard, cpu and ram is worth it.
if my living depended on this I would have upgraded long ago but this is a hobby for me.
The best and cheapest upgrade is to delete windows and go Linux.
In cpu rendering this has gained me A %25 reduction in cpu render times and I am sure that if I were to use a lighter weight Linux it would be better.

what's limiting the clock? cooling? what cooling are you using?

Well i'm currently running 4.7 ghz at 1.25 volts, and i've tried to go up to 1.35 but can't get 4.8 stable. Yes, I just have a cheap coolermaster hyper 212 or whatever they are called.

Anyway, after much contemplation i've come the conclusion that what I really need is more ram. See, I do digital art and and constantly using files that are 5+ gb in photoshop and lightroom, as well as premeire pro. My ram is always around 80- 90% usage, and I can't upgrade with this chip! I'm so upset to learn 4790k only allows for 32gb of ram.

Thus, it only makes sense to upgrade to either 8700k or 2700x. I actually almost got a ryzen system today, but same day shipping ended on the chip! LOL

 

[UltraTaco]

Well, x58 platform could only do 24gb of RAM and yet they are reports of people happily having 48gb installed and properly working.

Mght as well try and stuck more ram in it. They may work. Worst case, just transfer that ram into new build that you'll likely be getting.

 

[blazenarrow]

Well, x58 platform could only do 24gb of RAM and yet they are reports of people happily having 48gb installed and properly working.

Mght as well try and stuck more ram in it. They may work. Worst case, just transfer that ram into new build that you'll likely be getting.

Well, I definitely thought about that. However, i'm currently running DD3 ram with my system, and although I could get a 64gb kit for $300, it may or may not work. Thus, why not upgrade whole system for about $500 extra, after I sell my rig. I decided to bet on this option, and today i'll be building my 8700K system. I'll report back.

 

[caddi daddi]

many 4790K's struggled to reach over 4.6, so around an average chip.
My dedicated rendering rigs, Alfie Evans, have 128 gigs of rgb goodness in each, was about $1800 into each box, OUCH!!!!!!!!
If your software reverts to the swap file when it runs out of memory, a big @zz pcie, nvme drive is in order for the swap file.
The 8700K is a good choice, try it first with the hyper 212 you have, much over 4.6 does not give a huge gain in performance any way, unless you can run well into the -5's with it and I would suspect you might even reach 4.8 with the hyper 212.

 

[blazenarrow]

many 4790K's struggled to reach over 4.6, so around an average chip.
My dedicated rendering rigs, Alfie Evans, have 128 gigs of rgb goodness in each, was about $1800 into each box, OUCH!!!!!!!!
If your software reverts to the swap file when it runs out of memory, a big @zz pcie, nvme drive is in order for the swap file.
The 8700K is a good choice, try it first with the hyper 212 you have, much over 4.6 does not give a huge gain in performance any way, unless you can run well into the -5's with it and I would suspect you might even reach 4.8 with the hyper 212.

Thanks. I ended up getting a Noctua cooler, as I really would like to reach 5ghz 247.