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Processor Number | Intel® Core™ i7-4790K |
Intel® Core™ i5-4690K |
Intel® Pentium® G3258 |
Clock Speed | 4GHz | 3.4GHz | 3.2GHz |
Max. Turbo Frequency | 4.4GHz | 3.9GHz | — |
Cache | 8MB | 6MB | 3MB |
Cores / Threads | 4 Cores / 8 Threads | 4 Cores / 4 Threads | 2 Cores / 2 Threads |
Processor Graphics | Intel® HD Graphics 4600 | Intel® HD Graphics 4600 | Intel® HD Graphics |
Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 | YES | YES | — |
Intel® Hyper-Threading | YES | — | — |
Unlocked | YES | YES | YES |
Pros: Coming from a C2Q Q6600 system, now the video encoding it only takes half the time it used to with the Q6600. Overall computing power has change and I'm glad I went from a Q6600 to a 4690K. I had Dell and HP in between but after 9 years I wanted to build a faster system and I'm glad I did, sure it takes time but it's so much better. My current system: Asus Z97 Pro Wi-Fi ac i5 4690K Enermax ETS-T40-TB KLEVV Genuine DDR3 2400 MSI GTX 960 eVGA 750W G2 I am completely unfamiliar with EUFI BIOS and how to overclock (com'on, my last board is the P5B-Deluxe Wi-Fi) and with the ASUS 5 way optimization, all I had to do was to fallow the instructions and choose the optimization that I knew it was going to push this CPU to the safest overclock possible. After the two, three reboots, the system took a little while to recognize the best and safest frequencies for the CPU to run at and now my i5 is running at 4.40ghz with 1.23v. I know with a little more voltage it could run at a higher speeds but will leave it as it is for now. A 500mhz increase in speed over the Turbo Boost? I'm happy with this CPU, and temps are very good, full load it hits 70-75 degrees C. I've been using Intel since 1998, have had several of their CPUs and never an issue with an Intel system and this CPU is amazing at what it does and for the price, a good bargain. Considering I paid $330 for my E6600 back in 2006.
Cons: None.....Intel, have two types of box for "any" of your procs, $10 less for those of us that want to buy the "retail" version of the processor but w/o the stock heatsink. I'd rather have $10 in my pocket then paperweight sitting my my closet or throw them away.
Overall Review: If you have a Kentsfield or Conroe still? This is way to go, sure, there's the i7 but for $100 more, the performance difference was pretty much negligible iimo. So, opt for a much better motherboard (from Asus) with a Z97 chipset.