Best Board For The i7 4790

[Mr Bill]

I'm not a gamer, no need to OC, so I'm not interested in the 4790k. I only surf the Web, Amazon, eBay, YouTube, and watch movies, etc. @69 this will probably be my last build before I leave earth. I would like to have the option of M.2 and 4 ram slots the can accommodate 32 gig or ram, if I decided to use more, this is of course a socket 1150 and I have lots of DDR3. I've reviewed the i7 4790, it's still seems to be a great processor, and looking at the price some are getting for them, there seems to be a lot of folks that think these processors still have some value. No, I don't want a Ryzen build, even though they seem to be the best bang for the buck now days, I want an Intel build. I have some Samsung SSD's 850 Pro's, they seem to work great for all my needs. I haven't purchased the processor yet, but there are many available, so right now all I am focused on is a board.

Thanks Mr. Bill

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Buy a H97 motherboard

Look for whatever ATX H97 board that meets your needs and go for it

Since your not over clocking you dont need Z97

 

[ebivan]

Most H87 and H97 boards of that time that feature M.2 slots are limited to PCIe Gen3 x2 and dont offer the usual PCIe Gen3 x4 that M.2 supports. So maybe using an adapter to put the SSD into a regular PCIe slot is something to thing about. In this case you will be limited to x8 for the gpu slot. But as the TPU PCIe speed comparisons showed over the years, thats not really a factor and you will only loose about 2% of GPU performance with that config.

 

[Mr Bill]

Most H87 and H97 boards of that time that feature M.2 slots are limited to PCIe Gen3 x2 and dont offer the usual PCIe Gen3 x4 that M.2 supports.

Ok, so is there any boards of that generation, that will support the socket 1150 processors that have support for PCIe Gen3 x4? I like the performance of the i7 4790/4790k socket 1150, but I would also like to have the support of the PCIe Gen3 x4, if no boards were made in the 1150 platform that support this, I will have to rethink this. As I've said, I'm not a gamer, but I would like to have the best storage slot for the best performance, and option of the M.2 storage devices.

 

[ebivan]

As I said, you can just use an adapter on any of those boards.

Something like this:

The go for 7-10 bucks. This will give you full PCIe Gen3 x4 speeds, so no worries about what mainboard you choose.

 

[newtekie1]

Ok, so is there any boards of that generation, that will support the socket 1150 processors that have support for PCIe Gen3 x4? I like the performance of the i7 4790/4790k socket 1150, but I would also like to have the support of the PCIe Gen3 x4, if no boards were made in the 1150 platform that support this, I will have to rethink this. As I've said, I'm not a gamer, but I would like to have the best storage slot for the best performance, and option of the M.2 storage devices.

I know the AsRock Z97 Extreme6 has a M.2 slot that runs at PCI-E 3.0 x4. But for the price those things go for online, you'd almost be better off with a whole knew socket 1200 rig with an i3-10100.

 

[Mr Bill]

I know the AsRock Z97 Extreme6 has a M.2 slot that runs at PCI-E 3.0 x4. But for the price those things go for online, you'd almost be better off with a whole knew socket 1200 rig with an i3-10100.

Yes, I kind of figured by the time I was able to put together what I wanted, it might be better to go to a newer socket. You're right, a lot of the older component's go for much more than the newer ones, go figure! So if it comes to that point, I'll have to research a processor/board setup that comparable to the i7 4790/i7 4790k. As an older person, I lost track of a lot of the computer component's after the socket 1150. just had no reason to upgrade, should my next stop be the socket 1151, or 1200? the socket is not all that important, but processor performance and storage performance is.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Outside of the primary graphics slots I think x1 is a limit of the H97 chipset, the Z97 chipset has a x4 slot outside of the 2 Primary graphics slot but you would lose the x1 slots, well that was the case for my old Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 3 board.

 

[king of swag187]

Any Z97/H97 board with M.2 will either be limited to x4 2.0, or use CPU lanes to achieve x4 3.0. Realistically you would be much better off a with a AM4 (Ryzen) or LGA 1200 (Intel) build. 1151 is EOL. I would wait for the 10100F to release, itll be faster than the 4790 at ~$20 less than what I see them going for. Realistically there is no reason to hang onto Haswell if you can afford a better platform.

 

[bobbybluz]

My personal favorite is the ASRock Z87 Extreme6. I bought a Z97 Extreme6 to replace it with when they came out and went back to the Z87 mobo to get the extra front USB 3.0 ports. I'm on it at the moment with a 4790K, it's my daily Internet driver and light duty A/V production rig. I have a Z87 Extreme6 AC stashed away (it has built in wi-fi) I've been thinking of parting with but keep hanging on to it with ideas of putting a Xeon in it.

 

[Mr Bill]

This has been a great discussion, I really appreciate all the replies. It's also great to know, we are not all here looking for the latest and greatest, just something to fit our personal needs/wants. Do I need a "newer build" NO, but probably like most here, it's our hobby, and we enjoy to the point where none of us will stop building PC's, of course until we leave Earth. I did order the X5680 for my Alienware rig, I think I will see a difference between the i7 920 running @3.7 GHz, after I get through OC it. For the small amount I paid for it, it was in my budget to take the chance. Great replies and just great conversation, keep them coming.

 

[Flaky]

(...) and looking at the price some are getting for them, there seems to be a lot of folks that think these processors still have some value.

Used market prices aren't always reasonable, especially when it comes to top-of-the-line cpus for certain socket. I'd say the same thing holds here.
Those who want an i7 for this socket cheaper get a xeon E3 v3 - they are essentially the same thing minus small clock differences. Look for model 1230 or higher (122x is 4c/4t). Some come without iGPU (12x0, 12x1).

I only surf the Web, Amazon, eBay, YouTube, and watch movies, etc.

the socket is not all that important, but processor performance and storage performance is.

These two quotes get me confused, as they contradict each other a bit.
Could you please elaborate? I'm not sure what are we aiming at.

 

[Mr Bill]

I guess what I’m saying is, if I have to go to another type newer socket, and I can get the same performance at the same or less price, I’m not stuck in the socket 1150 platform. I still may not be explaining it right, I hope you can understand.

Maybe I can explain myself a little better here. We don’t have to be gamers do we, to desire/want a little higher performance?

 

[Deleted member 202104]

I guess what I’m saying is, if I have to go to another type newer socket, and I can get the same performance at the same or less price, I’m not stuck in the socket 1150 platform. I still may not be explaining it right, I hope you can understand.

Maybe I can explain myself a little better here. We don’t have to be gamers do we, to desire/want a little higher performance?

How about an i3-10100 and a decent H470 or B460 board? CPU and board should be about $200 and add another $60 for 16GB of DDR4.

 

[newtekie1]

I'll have to research a processor/board setup that comparable to the i7 4790/i7 4790k.

The i3-10100 is faster than a 4790k.

 

[Mr Bill]

The i3-10100 is faster than a 4790k.

This option with the one of the suggested boards above, seem like a lot better money spent, processor/board/ram for under $300.00.

 

[Zach_01]

These two quotes get me confused, as they contradict each other a bit.
Could you please elaborate? I'm not sure what are we aiming at.

I guess what I’m saying is, if I have to go to another type newer socket, and I can get the same performance at the same or less price, I’m not stuck in the socket 1150 platform. I still may not be explaining it right, I hope you can understand.

Maybe I can explain myself a little better here. We don’t have to be gamers do we, to desire/want a little higher performance?

@Flaky was confused because on one side you're saying that CPU performance is important, and on the other what you do with your PC (surf the Web, Amazon, eBay, YouTube, and watch movies) does not require a CPU with high performance.

Hope you're happy with your (any) new "toy" (you choose)!

 

[Deleted member 193596]

yeah.. really buy a 10100 then. H410 board, 16gb of ram and the 10100... dirt cheap and still fast.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

This option with the one of the suggested boards above, seem like a lot better money spent, processor/board/ram for under $300.00.

Go for it then, but make sure you get H470 or B460 boards.

 

[newtekie1]

Go for it then, but make sure you get H470 or B460 boards.

Why? It seems there are a some H410 boards that would fit his needs just fine.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Why? It seems there are a some H410 boards that would fit his needs just fine.

There are options that are more or less equally priced, so why not get more connectivity ?

 

[newtekie1]

There are options that are more or less equally priced, so why not get more connectivity ?

There is a $10-15 difference, so if the extra connectivity isn't a concern, I see no reason to spend the extra money on a higher end board.

 

[Mr Bill]

There is a $10-15 difference, so if the extra connectivity isn't a concern, I see no reason to spend the extra money on a higher end board.

You're right, I looked at the specs on all the boards listed, it does seem the H470 board is probably the best for the money spent.

 

[stinger608]

I'm still running a 4790K and MSI Z97 gaming (something or another) and 32 gigs of ram. It runs everything I toss at it and it has the m.2 drive 3.0 x4.

I'm seriously considering breaking that system down and selling the board/chip combo. If I do sell it, it will not be sold at gouged prices like seen most everywhere.

If you do happen to decide on the 1150 platform I'd sure be willing to try and cut ya a good deal on the combo @Mr Bill

However, as many of the members have stated here, you might be better off looking at newer platforms that perform at or above the top socket 1150 platform.

 

[Flaky]

it does seem the H470 board is probably the best for the money spent.

If that's the case for you, then you're one of the few

Most people go for either cheap H410/B460, or pay extra for Z490. They don't care much about connectivity, and the only reason the get Z is being able to OC and/or use RAM faster than 2666/2933MHz.
From that standpoint, H470 make very little sense. This also impact future resell value of the board, if you even care about such thing.

Anyway, it's often a good thing to choose the modern platform for general multimedia consumption - latest video codec support means almost zero cpu load during playback.
But, keep in mind that even today, HDMI with 4k@60Hz support is not a given when it comes to iGPU outputs on motherboards. Read the spex carefully or just get one with DP.