The 4790k won't be effective in 2023.
The 4790k won't be effective in 2023.
It's all about staying positive and keeping up with the latest updates. There might be some challenges along the way, but progress is happening. I've faced similar situations before—I was in your position too, possibly even more so. I recently upgraded to a new system at the end of November; it came with an I7 3820 and 32GB DDR3 RAM. It handled games smoothly at 1080p, but the transition took some getting used to. Waiting nearly a decade between upgrades feels like a big adjustment.
I own a 4690K, it functions quite well and an upgrade would enhance performance significantly—approximately doubling speed while maintaining similar power use. Is this beneficial? It hinges on your specific needs; for me, it wouldn’t be necessary. I don’t require additional frames in CPU-heavy games, and it remains sufficiently responsive for browsers and everyday tasks. I’m prioritizing budget for a powerful processor, ample RAM, and reliable storage since it would support more demanding work and help me study effectively. I’m also looking for a quiet living space with solid internet, preferably fiber-optic. Rather than spending on a PC, I’d prefer investing in better opportunities and resources. My current setup includes a water-cooled 4690K, a GTX 960 (EVGA SSC with overclocking), and upgraded RAM up to 4GB. While its GPU isn’t top-tier, it still achieves over 60 FPS in most games and around 120 FPS on simpler titles. For more demanding applications, it falls short, often dropping to about 30 FPS in cinematic scenes. The CPU remains solid and isn’t a limiting factor unless your workload is extremely intensive or physics-based.
If you want optimal performance for value, focus on maximizing storage—prioritize SSD or NVMe drives. Check if your power supply can handle the load (around 600W should suffice unless you need more). Consider better internet options for online gaming, though this may be limited by provider choices. Monitor temperatures of the GPU and CPU to ensure proper cooling; upgrade if necessary. If your GPU doesn’t exceed 1080 performance, prioritize cooling or a better cooler. For gaming, a 5800X3D or 7950X would be ideal, with Intel options like the 12600K for gaming and higher tiers for business.
CPU replacement is usually the final step, as it often dictates overall system performance. It tends to be the most impactful to upgrade only when gaming demands increase, such as for VR, high-frame-rate titles, or intensive tasks. If you’re aiming for a balanced setup, stick with what fits your budget and goals—focusing on practical upgrades rather than chasing the latest specs.
It's clear the situation goes beyond just the hardware. The software running on it plays a big role too. Quad cores have been common for a long time, and games from that period should handle them easily. We only began relying heavily on more cores after Ryzen's launch in 2017, and it took some time for games to fully utilize them. Only the most demanding titles from recent years might struggle on a quad-core setup. I was considering a retro-style build, using my 5775C in a file server and pairing it with a 1080 Ti to test recent games. There will be boundaries, but most titles should still run at a functional level.
I used a i5 4690k at 4.9ghz and 1866mhz RAM, but it struggled with battlefield 2042. I upgraded to an i7 4790k at 4.7ghz with 2400mhz RAM, which runs much smoother and faster.
0.1% and 1% lows improve greatly with a faster CPU (backed by decent storage and RAM to be fair) But CONTEXT - Depends on the Games played...of course. I went from a 4.8Ghz allcore 4790K 4C8T and a GTX1070 to a RTX2080Ti and it was horrible (Playable, but horrible) in many newer more modern games which had decent multi-threading in game...high usages for a 4C8T and when it spikes....it spikes, ruining smoothness, dropped frames etc... Didn't have this kind of trouble with a GTX1070 because I was usually at GPU bound settings... with my 2080Ti I was CPU bound a lot of the time, even at 1440p. Went to 10850K 10C 20T 5.1Ghz allcore, my % values all skyrocketed, I can feel how much smoother it is against the old system in the same games with the same 2080Ti.
Running this configuration (5775C + 1080 Ti) would yield performance close to yours, though at a reduced pace. The newer generation (5775C) didn’t perform as well initially, and Haswell’s increased clock offsets any benefits from being newer. The 1080 Ti chip is likely around the 3060 benchmark level outside of RT and AW2. In short, it could work but will have boundaries.