Advice on CPU for new developer build

Community Community & Industry Discussion
1

Looking to build a new developer system and I need some feedback on the best CPU

I want to get one of the following

I7 6700K - which would be the newest ($1200)
I7 5820K - I hear some people suggest getting the 6 core 5820 over the new 4 core 6700 (1260)
I7 4790 - the current standard (1240)

I can build the systems for around the same cost. The big difference would be in the GPU. The cost difference between a 4790 and the other two chips allows for a much more powerful GPU

i7 6700 960 2 gb
i7 5820 750ti 2 gb - which would need replaced
i7 4790 970 4gb

All three have 16gb ram 2 tb hdd

So the question is are the newer i7s and DDR 4 worth the extra cost? I can always update the video cards at a latter date

2

imo i7 4790 970 4gb

I run a 4790k, gtx 980 4gb, 16gb ram, 240gb ssd.

but if you can upgrade gpu later…then 6700k i guess is a safer choice for future!

3

woops my bad that 4790 is the K edition

So you say skip the 6 core 5829K?

4

To be honest I dunno…what you are making? games? arch viz? is it your only computer?

they’re all good pc :slight_smile:

5

Well it would be for pure development

I do some 3d rendering on the side which is why the 5820 is even in the list

My main development machine gave out so I am currently stuck working on a
i5 750 (1st gen)
GTX 750 ti

It works ok but as you could imagine the build times and graphics are not the best

6

Well based on my experience if your serious about development and not just about playing video games then your development platform should be as powerful as you can afford so your working environment is comfortable, so to speak.

For that matter a real comfortable chair is of more value as compared to what GPU or CPU I should have. :wink:

What I found that is usually overlook is UE4 is not the only tool that you will be using and other applications will be used with their own unique requirements and it’s not unusual for me to be running UE4, 3ds Max, Motion Builder and Photoshop (from time to time) as well as sound editing applications as well as having a dozen or so web pages with tutorials and documentation.

Sooooo

For just running UE4 in most cases even a laptop could be used if the need is just for Unreal 4 and a light weight game design so your spec’s should be enough to fit the need.

But.

If your need is like mine things are going to get progressively uncomfortable and I found myself in quick order going from 16 gigs of memory, which is more than enough for UE4, to 32 gigs, which is all I could afford, so if you have serious intent your development platform should not be an area to build on the cheap.

7

Thanks for the advice you guys

I went ahead I got the i7 6700k

was not sure the 5820 was worth the extra cost, was going to go with a 4790k but at the last sec a deal opened up on the 6700K

It cost me an extra 90 and I had to cut some corners: (6700K compared to the 4790K)
1TB instead of 2TB
128 GB SSD instead of the 256 SSD
16 GB ram instead of 32GB

the 4790K was a pre build machine the 6700K was a custom order. So I believe I did get better quality in things like motherboard and power supply