I did enjoy OC'ing this current rig, but I only did it to increase the time it would 'last'.
So my question would be thus: Would an OC'ed Haswell, even if only at 4.3GHz (as that article would indicate that that's the ceiling for most chips) be better for gaming and useable for 'longer' than a 2700k @ 5GHZ or a 3770k @ 5GHz?
If the Haswell is better, I will of course stick with this build. If another option has more benefit, I would consider that. But that is really what that decision would "boil down to," as my old Auto-Tech teacher would say. I am not so much worried about 'bang for my buck' as I am being future proof within my price limits.
Man, that's a tough question to answer. I reckon the overall performance difference you'll see in your framerate won't be more than 10% at most, regardless what chip is overclocked to within an inch of its life or left at stock. Check out the reviews around the web for a more definitive answer though. This is certainly the impression I'm getting from them.
Therefore, gut instinct suggests to me to go for the latest 4770 as that has the newest features, which will hold off obsolescence a bit longer. Note that the first batch of Haswells have that
USB3 sleep bug, which means having to unplug the external device and plug it back in to make it work properly, or perhaps even see it. I'm really surprised that these first reviews don't seem to even mention the issue, let alone test for it.
I would hate that, even if I only saw the problem occasionally. Just knowing it was there and that Intel knowingly let it out in that state would royally piss me off. Therefore, if you're going Haswell, I suggest waiting for the next batch of chips which will be out in 60-90 days or so which fix this.
Note that if I was getting a laptop with a 4770 in it, I'd be very pleased with, since it's been engineered to give great performance in such portable devices.
that small difference in temps does not really matter anyway lol.
