When comparing Intel i7-4790K vs AMD FX-8350 Black Edition, the Slant community recommends Intel i7-4790K for most people. In the question“What are the best CPUs for desktop gaming?” Intel i7-4790K is ranked 3rd while AMD FX-8350 Black Edition is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Intel i7-4790K is:
Being a quad-core CPU means that hyperthreading is available, more so than an i5 thanks to the higher clock speeds and available cache. This means that games that take advantage of hyperthreading will perform better than with a CPU that does not have many cores or is just at a lower clock speed and has less cache available. While the jump in performance is not much for games that can only utilize a single core of the CPU, it still is a jump of about 2-3 frames over an i5 of the same generation.
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Pros
Pro Good performance and hyperthreading
Being a quad-core CPU means that hyperthreading is available, more so than an i5 thanks to the higher clock speeds and available cache. This means that games that take advantage of hyperthreading will perform better than with a CPU that does not have many cores or is just at a lower clock speed and has less cache available. While the jump in performance is not much for games that can only utilize a single core of the CPU, it still is a jump of about 2-3 frames over an i5 of the same generation.
Pro Easy to find cheap components
Being that this is a Haswell chip that uses the LGA 1150 socket, it is quite easy to find cheap motherboards and cheap RAM (DDR3) to use in those motherboards. This makes a good option as it is still a powerful chip comparable to even newer ones but allows for a wide selection of compatible parts. It also is a good choice for those that are already using a LGA 1150 compatible motherboard and would just like to upgrade from a less powerful CPU.
Pro Easy to overclock
For those interested, this CPU is easily overclockable, which allows for more performance. A third party cooler is recommended, but can be worth it in order to squeeze a bit more out of this chip.
Pro High amount of cores
This is good for games that can utilize multithreading using more than 4 cores in a CPU, meaning better performance. While there are very few games that take advantage of this, the few that do should work quite well.
Cons
Con Becoming increasingly more difficult to find
More and more stores are not carrying this chip as newer generation chips are seeing their prices drop. This means it can be difficult to obtain, though there are a few places that it can still be picked up easily.
Con Somewhat dated
Based on the fourth generation of Intel's core architecture (Haswell) there are newer chips out there two generations ahead (6th gen Skylake). While comparing one to the next there are only slight improvements in the newer generations, but improvements all the same for close to the same price.
Con Power hungry with high heat
This chip uses quite a bit of power when compared to a similar performing chip from Intel, which could mean a higher power bill in the long run. The high power consumption also leads to a lot of heat generated from this chip. While a third party cooler can help with this (and is recommended as the stock cooler is loud and does a poor job of cooling), it is an extra cost to using this chip efficiently.
Con Not the best at single threaded tasks
Considering most games are single threaded using a CPU that does not work as well with them as Intle may be a detriment to ones experience. While this CPU can handle plenty of games it may come down to price for performance whether it is worth it in a hardcore gaming rig.