Hey guys.
I have a question that's been on my mind. Why would someone spend an extra $70 on an i7, when you can get a similarly spec'd Xeon for less? What are the differences? Will they game and render and transcode the same? What are the benefits of each? For reference, I will be using a GTX 980Ti and 16GB or RAM.
Thank!
I would take the i7 purely for being able to OC.
Is it actually worth the extra money though?
Considering the considerable speed improvement from scaling an i7 passed 4ghz... yes.
This is my Sandy Bridge i5, purely from a good OC... it stands where it stands.
I personally run the Xeon 1231-v3 (the one I assume your referencing). The difference is that the Xeon supports some virtualization options that the I7 does not, plus the Xeon supports ECC memories. The I7 lacks ECC support and the overclockable I7's (lga 115* applicable) lose VT-D. But, I7's can overclock. Some people say Xeon's have no integrated graphics which is partially true. The 1231-v3 does not have working integrated graphics, although some Skews do have functionally integrated graphics. I personally feel that for $70 more the I7 4790k is a dumb choice. This in because the 5820k, which is a 6 core part, is like $50 more or so. Its much more capable due to its extra 2 cores and overclocking ability. The Xeon 1231-v3 and 1241-v3 make the 4790k a bad choice by being a hair slower and much more affordable. You have to realize that there is no need for a high end Z97 board with a Xeon, and a much cheaper H97 board can be used to make the final mobo+cpu combo much more then $70 cheaper.
resale value is generally better on 'k' chips.
Just have to weigh up - 'k' chip + decent z97 board for oc'ing, or a xeon (with h/t) + say an average h97 board of which is another $$$ saving.
Next time around I will be getting a xeon over a 'k' part myself.
Okay, so then how would the Xeon do against the 5820k? Virtualization might be important to me. What about cache?
The Xeon pulls about 720 in cinebench r15, thats the score I get on my 1231-v3 with it tuned in the bios. The 5820k at stock clocks gets about 1060. Overclocked it can pass 1300. The 4790k tops out around 980. The Xeon and 5820k have the full set of virtualization features, while the 4790k lacks a few.
Okay, how would the 5820k compare to the FX-8350?
5820k Cleaning the floor of a dirty truck stop bathroom with the 8350
Your looking at about 660 points in cinebench r15 for an 8350 at stock, and overclocked the 8350 can get close to a Xeon 1231-v3, with a very heavy overclocked. The 5820k is the same as before, 1060-ish stock, and close to 1300 when heavily overclocked.
if its any consolation I can get 320 4.4 overclocked 860k =)
Wow, that 860K comparison really did help because I was actually considering it.
Thanks guys! Guess I'm going with a Xeon and an H97 board. Overclocking really isn't a big deal for me since heat and power is going to be a problem for me due to the fact that I will be using a small case.
Hopefully I took that right (sarcasm) =))
Hehe, no I was actually considering it. I hadn't actually decided a budget as of yet and it was a viable option.
lol ok =) I was looking on cinebench's database I was planning on going xeon e3-1241 on my next build. It only scored 724 thats about 400 more points than the 860k. I would of thought it would be higher.
i´m kinda agree with what you are saying here.
The Xeon E3-1231-V3 is a decent bang for buck choice, if you do more then just gaming.
The 4790K will render slightly faster, because of higher clockspeeds.
However for the price premium the 4790K is a bit of a head scratcher,
since you can grab a 5820k for just a few bucks more.
And in productivity the 5820k will realy be a step up from a 4790K.
DDR4 ram, has come down in price lately, its only the X99 boards which are a bit more expensive.
But even for X99 there are "budget" options.
724 is a really good score when you consider the cost of a build using it and that it is going to also be strong in single threaded scenarios. My 8350 at 4.7 only beats that score by like 20 points and probably loses by 50% in the single threaded test and the 8350 is not even a cheaper build.
Hey, go big or go home they said. Either the Xeon or the 5820K it seems for me. I can't justify buying the 5820K because of the price of the RAM and motherboards. Not to mention they don't have many ITX motherboards.