Moving to a newer generation i5 model
Moving to a newer generation i5 model
I'm currently on a 12600K with an RTX 4070, MSI Z690 Tomahawk motherboard and 2x16 GB of G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 3600 CL16. Since 14th gen seems like a bit of a pointless "upgrade" over 13th, I'd be happy to go with 13 - and I'll probably also go KF instead of K if price differences stay the way they are now. I don't think I've ever used the IGPU of my 12600K, so unless we're talking emergency situations, I don't really need it. Question is: 13/14600 K(F) or 13/14700 K(F)? I'm using a 240mm Lian Li AiO and since I moved on to a case with much better airflow (Fractal Pop Air XL), that thing does an excellent job of keeping the 12600K cool. According to GN's AiO round-up, that cooler is up there in performance with larger ones (on max fan RPM, admittedly) but I'm pretty sure it would be enough for the 13 or 14600K(F). Question is: Would it also suffice for the 13/14700K? Also: Would it even make sense to go i7 instead of i5 with the RTX 4070? I'm pretty sure I'm CPU-bound in some games with the 12600K, and 13th gen seems to give a nice overall uplift even if I "only" choose the i5. According to Passmark for example, the 12600K is ~27 % slower than the 13600K. So would the i7 be overkill in this config? This is the fourth GPU I've had in this PC since I built it early last year, so I don't plan on yet another GPU-upgrade in the near future. Besides: the 4070 Ti is too expensive for my taste, anyway at €800+ and I won't be spending that kind of money on a graphics-card, no matter what. Another reason for the upgrade is that I'm running some games that do benefit from improved single-thread performance - and since we're talking flight-sims in VR here, every bit of performance boost really helps.. But I would like to avoid the extra cost of having to buy another, larger AiO... especially since the one I have is not even two years old and works fine. PSU isn't a problem BTW, since I upgraded to a 750W bequiet! Straight Power 12 to get more wattage and ATX 3.0 compatibility for that 4070. S.
You probably shouldn't upgrade your PC right now, since you already have a solid last-generation CPU—14th generation isn't great. It's better to save up for a better machine later. But if you're considering an upgrade, the cooler should work just fine unless you're doing heavy rendering, which would put the CPU under strain for too long.
It's still a solid setup, but there might be minor CPU limitations. Overclocking could help a bit, especially if the RAM is 16-16-16 pins rather than the other variants.
They should have specified that, yes. Overall it's how it performs. A single core doesn't stand out much, but the 13th generation is quicker there as well. The variation stays below 10%. For better single-thread speed, I'd need an i7, which is why I asked about a 240mm AiO on a 13/14700 K(F). In VR, 1440p isn't much of a factor since the Reverb G2 I use offers a higher resolution than that. They're just lower quality versions. 16-19-19-39. Still, I was using 2x8 before switching to 2x2x8 GB Corsair Vengeance 3600 CL18, and the G-Skill kit was noticeably faster than those. At least all the benchmarks I've checked suggest that. The main reason for changing was some odd issues from the PC over the past few weeks—crashes and BSOs. I thought it might be bad RAM, or that the kits didn't work together (even though they were identical), or maybe having all four slots filled caused instability. Possibly a mix of those things. The Corsair units weren't listed on MSI's compatibility list (the G-Skill one is), but that shouldn't matter much. The PC has been running smoothly for about ten days now, so I'm hoping the problem was indeed the RAM. Too lazy to reinstall the old sticks and run memtest86... S.
Improving the GPU becomes more important at higher resolutions. A 4090 offers only a 12% gap between the 14600K and 12600K at 1440p, and just 4% at 4K. With a 4070, those gaps are smaller since it runs about 33% slower than the 4090. You should monitor CPU usage per core using MSI Afterburner in-game. It seems there might be a GPU bottleneck.
Well... the variation in power consumption and heat output is quite alarming, isn't it? I'm not sure why the i7 14700 KF runs at stock speeds. I let Cinebench execute until more than one core hit 100°C before stopping. That took roughly 3 to 4 minutes. No overclocking was done, except for enabling XMP settings. This setup includes a 240mm AI-O, two 140mm exhausts at the top, a 120mm exhaust at the back, and I even installed one of the RGB fans from the case as an extra intake. It sits alongside two radiator fans, directing air through the front panel. What puzzles me is the substantial power draw—300 watts max according to HWMonitor, yet the maximum boost power is only 253 watts. Plus, the CPU never reached its advertised turbo speed; I disabled the recording, but the highest recorded frequency across all cores was 5.5 GHz. I’m puzzled about this situation. I remember from previous reviews and tests that the AiO (Lian Li Galahad 240) can manage up to 250 watts, and the case offers excellent airflow (Fractal Pop Air XL RGB). That’s why I didn’t hesitate to try the i7... but 300W seems excessive for a 240mm Ai-O... that pushes us into i9 territory. S.
Too late... already upgraded. I do have a legit reason besides d!ck measuring ... the one game I play quite a lot is heavily dependent on single-thread performance - which I hope the i7 will improve. Can't find out yet because the cable for my VR-set seems to have croaked and I'm waiting for a replacement... However: S.