Kaveri vs i5 4670k

[Stickmansam]

Hi all,

Is it worth waiting to see what Kaveri will be like or just grabbing a 4670k when they go on sale during the holidays/black friday?

How will a revamped 2M/4T core be like?

I would mostly be gaming so would the lost FPU performance matter?

Also, does Steamroller/Kaveri support AVX2?

 

[Meekers]

If you are getting a discrete gpu and the i5 is in your price range I would go for it. If you are going to be using the igpu for gaming then I would wait.

 

[tweakboy]

If your going to be gaming on your CPU and use the iGPU then go for the 4670k if you want to save some money but lose in performance get a 3570k ,,,,,,, you can grab a i7 for 180 to 200 bucks easy... Why build on the foundation of a budget chip.

 

[Stickmansam]

I'll be using a 7850 but I plan to upgrade to a 7950/280 later on

I sort of want to give my money to AMD but I really need that single thread/core IPC in world of tanks as well a few others.

I'm hoping they will at least reach Sandy Bridge levels but I don't want to burned if they don't deliver.

 

[Meekers]

Personally I would get the i5 and call it a day. Even with the improvements coming it is still only a 2 module chip that will be available and I do not see it competing with an i5. As someone who has built several llano and richland systems, and loved them, I would not recommend them for the level of gpu power you will be pairing with it.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Just look at the CPU benches between a 6800K and a 4670K. Then you can see how many % you need to add, then buy the 4670K.

No AVX2 on Steamroller.

 

[inf64]

AVX2 is useless now for gaming and will most likely be useless for the same purpose in a couple of years from now .
Games like good integer performance and are branch heavy. Kaveri will improve Vs Richland in games for sure, but probably not enough to come close to 4670K.
I personally think that OCed to ~4.5-4.6Ghz Kaveri will be on par with i5 4430 or 2600K. That's pretty much enough CPU power to run CF or SLI of 290/780 with no issues in wast majority of game titles.

PS Price is the factor also. Top Kaveri will probably be a lot cheaper than 4670K.

 

[Ajay]

Personally I would get the i5 and call it a day. Even with the improvements coming it is still only a 2 module chip that will be available and I do not see it competing with an i5. As someone who has built several llano and richland systems, and loved them, I would not recommend them for the level of gpu power you will be pairing with it.

Sadly that's the state of things for AMD, and sounds like good advice.

 

[Stickmansam]

When would the earliest benches of a preview would come out?

 

[inf64]

Not likely before CES 2014 . If you have the money for i5 I say you just go for it. Buy 4670K and you are set for next couple of years.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I run a 7870 with my llano fm1
Just wishing the disabled GPU was 2+ more cpu cores, or extra cache.

 

[Stickmansam]

I have a cousin with a stock A10 5800k with a 7770 and he sometimes gets bottle necked on 1080p in some MMORPG's, mostly single thread/core ones which is why I am worrying

 

[NaroonGTX]

You're better off to cease your worrying and just get the i5. Better to be safe than sorry. We probably won't see any Kaveri benches until CES 2014.

 

[JDG1980]

I'll be using a 7850 but I plan to upgrade to a 7950/280 later on

I sort of want to give my money to AMD but I really need that single thread/core IPC in world of tanks as well a few others.

I'm hoping they will at least reach Sandy Bridge levels but I don't want to burned if they don't deliver.

I understand where you're coming from, but if strong single-threaded performance is your priority, Intel really is your best choice for now. If you have a Micro Center in your area, you can get an i5-4670K for $199.99 and also save $30-$45 on certain motherboards if you get them as a bundle. That's a hard deal to beat. The only reason I haven't gone this route is that I want my upcoming system to have ECC, which Intel's enthusiast-oriented products don't.

Expecting Steamroller's IPC to catch up to Sandy Bridge levels seems overly optimistic. I think that something near Nehalem level is probably a more realistic expectation. Excavator will be widening the execution paths substantially, so it may well catch up to Sandy Bridge, but that's still another full year away. The good news is that Intel hasn't really made any major advances since then (Haswell is a single-digit percentage increase, and clocks worse than SB) and they've already squeezed the P6 architecture for about all it's worth. So AMD is chasing a slowly moving target in the big-core game.

If you want to give AMD your money, buy one of their graphics cards, which (unlike their current CPUs) are competitive in terms of both price and performance across the entire price range.