Intel® Core i7-4790K, 4 Cores & 8 Threads Unlocked Desktop Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4600

Have been looking forward to upgrading my i5 to an i7 and finally got the money together to do it. I had checked out possible upgrades including a better i5 but decided that I wanted an i7 and chose this one based on reviews and product information. I have a Dell Inspiron 3847 that came with a i5 4460 running at 3.2 gigs. I don't overclock so I wanted something that would run faster without having to overclock it. This seemed the best bet for me. I made up my mind when I brought a i3 system running at 3.7 gigs. This little system had a bit of zip to it and it, so far, has run most anything I could throw at it along with it's GTX-750 Ti SC graphics card. So I ordered the i7 and it came in right on time and I opened the shipping box to see what I had. The first thing I noted was the included heat sink fan combo that came with it. It was OK, but plastic push pins have failed me before as mounts on the case fans so that I didn't like. Also it was about half an inch thick and the heat sink fan combo on the existing i5 CPU was about an inch or over tall and had much larger fins. I did note that the heat sink combo that came with the i7 had a copper surfaced contact area where the heat sink seated on the CPU but the pins and size made me decide to stay with my i5's old heat sink cooler that came with the system. (I also noted that the i5 combo mounted to the MB with already mounted screws so if I needed to I could still switch combos a bit easier. (This didn't turn out to be the case, however.) So I got the Inspiron and brought it to the kitchen table where I do any inside-the-case computer work and removed the side panel and got busy. Laying it flat and grounding myself well, I proceeded to remove the heat sink fan combo with the only problem being it took a bit of force to get the screws holding down the heat sink to come loose as they were tightened down really well. After getting the screws loose, I checked out the mounting for the fan heat sink combo to see how it had been mounted so I could make sure and replace it properly. I like the way the heat sink was held down with four springs which push the heat sink down onto the top surface of the processor and provide a very firm fit after you've got the heat sink compound on. (I used Artic Silver which works for me.) The one thing that surprised me a bit was the amount of force that was needed to re-latch the hold down clip. It was a bit more than I felt it should be, but after checking how the i5 felt it wasn't all that much force to latch it. (Made sure to get the new chip in right too.) After I got the heat sink compound on and replaced the heat sink combo, and got it tightened down firmly. it was time to see what it would do. I normally leave the side panel off till I check out any new installation I do. In that way you can find any problems and correct them. The last thing I did was re-plug the heat sink fan back into the MB and then took the system to the Computer Room and hooked everything up. I turned the power on and went to the BIOS as a check to see if the CPU was seen correctly and it was with all functions showing OK. I then got the only glitch of the hold morning when I exited the BIOS and instead of booting to Windows10 Pro, it just shut down. Ops, I said to myself and pressed the power button again. This time the system started up with no problems and booted right into Windows. I noted it felt sort of like my i3 in that it seemed to zip into Windows instead of sort of "walking" in. I had been reading that these i7s were noted for running a bit hot, so I ran Speccy and checked the temps. At idle it ran at 35 to 36c and under load it topped out at 65c and that was lower than what I expected it to be. A very pleasant surprise indeed. I got another one when I checked the actual speed the i7 was running at. It settled in at 4.2 gigs. and I hadn't done anything but install it. I sat there and watched the temps for a bit and noted that they didn't get above 40c when idling and when I loaded it down it just stayed around 65c with only one time peaking out at 68c. It seems I might have done a fair job with the sink heat fan combo too. I then loaded up one of my favorite games (Remember Me) and got killed off right away as I failed to respond quickly enough as I was expecting the AI to be a bit slower. Nice! Overall the system "feels" solid and runs that way. I note it has the "zippy" feel the i3 has but more so. In my games, I'm finding myself having to react a bit sooner than I used to and that's really a pleasure. So far, the only thing that popped up was the shut down at the first boot up after installing the CPU. It's not given me any other problems at all and it's nice to have things actually load up when clicked on without any little pauses and have the game scene transition loads go by so fast that you can't even read the hints anymore. Very Nice! One other thing that I was happy to see was when I checked the activation status of Windows 10 Pro and found it was still activated! Another very good thing to see! Overall I think I got a real winner here!Update: 4/17/16: One thing I did notice with this CPU was that, at first, it was a bit unstable and ran a bit warm. I noted the first time it booted up a slight freeze then reboot and then Windows came up. The first set up was this way and then I started having freezes, lockups, and unannounced reboots running at 4.3 gigs. It seemed my first impressions were a bit high. I did a reset of the heat sink compound and tried again. Same thing at 4.3 gig. After placing my old i5 3.2 gig back in for a check and it running just fine, I decided to try once again. I removed the i5 and put in the i7. This time I cleared the BIOS as I had run into having old BIOS values mess me up at times. I also added a 120mm fan to the case's left side to set up a bit more air flow thru the case. I reseated my sound card and graphics card, and I made sure all cables were tight. This time when I booted up, the system did not hang but booted to the screen informing me a BIOS clear at been done. It was smooth and there wasn't a hang to it. I went into the BIOS and disabled the on board sound and that's it, I left everything else like it was and booted into Windows 10 Pro. Windows booted up without a problem and loaded fine. I cranked up the Intel Extreme Tuning Ulit, and checked things out. Turned out I was again running at 4.2 gig. The system seemed OK, but was some of the readings looked a bit off to me, so I decided to try a test and sure enough the system seemed to be a little shaky to me. I decided on another test before I ran any stress tests. I set the system at 4 gigs solid and observed the readings. Things seemed to setting down and the temps seemed to stabilize around 35 to 40c. Not as low as hoped but in range. Since I hadn't planned on an overclock anyway, this would be OK IF they didn't get much higher. I then ran 10 minutes worth of CPU stress and memory tests after a 5 minute benchmarking in Intel's uitil., and then a 10 minute stress test under OCCP and the system sailed thru them all with the temps never getting above 83c but just spiking to it and no locking up, freezing or reboots. I've noted it seems to run around 35-40c when idling and around 70-76c under load. The main thing now is it seems very stable at 4 gigs for me and that's what I wanted even if it took me a little while to get there.Update: 7/18/16: OK, so here's the finally setup I had to run with. First, turned Turbo-boost OFF in BIOS. Second, ran Intel Extreme Tuning Tool and set CPU core voltage on this system at 1.1005 volts, with Manual static setting only as that was the setting that got me the most stable running. (No Adaptive as, on my system, this causes lock ups and reboots when sudden voltage spikes up or down hit the CPU.) In this set up, the system is very stable, runs cool (Around 35-40c idle and 50-60c under load) and allows me to run my games and any thing else without any problems at all. The only problem that I run into every once in awhile is when somehow the static setting gets switched back to the adaptive set up and I don't spot it in time, I'll get the total system lock up and need to reboot by the power button on the system, otherwise no problems and system runs very solid without problems. (I've play one game 12 to 24 hours without a problem with the static setup.) (Think that Intel should allow the user to "set" the most stable profile ae the "default" profile for their system but they don't.) I maybe should have got the "locked" 4790 but I wanted the 4 gigs running speed and not 3.6. Still think it's a really good buy.

I bought the i7 4790k to support a minimal build that needed to support a non-gaming 4k screen (Ultra High Definition actually - see notes below).My intent was to utilize the on chip video graphics to do this. 4k/UHD display standards are still emerging right now, so if you are planning to do the same do some research in advance. I also wanted to use a 40 inch TV as my monitor to save a few bucks and get up to the size I wanted to use (40"). I don't need 40" of monitor, but with 4k/UHD pixel density and a screen that large, I can place my work windows in a position that does not induce fatigue after a long days work and have additional windows open around it with less used tools open and ready to go.If you are pursuing the same, I will make some notes you can use to get boot strapped into this little conquest.First, UHD and 4k are actually not the same resolution. This is lost on some TV related web sites and advertising. 4k resolution is 4096 x 2160. UHD is 3840 x 2160. UHD is what TVs and UHD content will support. UHD has 4x the pixels resolution of 1080i. So to put some of this in perspective, a 40" UHD TV has the equivalent of 4 20" HD (1080i) screens in pixels. And the pixel density of a 20" HD monitor will be the same as 40" UHD monitor.The only interfaces that support full 4k/USD resolutions right now are Displayport and HDMI. The UHD TV's available right now don't support Displayport. I purposely bought a mother board that supports Displayport to keep my options open going forward.You are going to need to find a TV capable of rendering the pixels without trying to enhance them for TV and Movie viewing. The Samsung I purchased supports "just render"/gaming mode if you learn about its odd setting requirements. LG has a few that support this mode and there are a couple of Chinese manufacturers that do as well (Seiki and TLS).All of them overwhelmingly have HDMI 1.4 ports on them. They don't include this spec on spec sheets unless they actually support 2.0. Then they will brag about it as a feature. The notable difference between these two specs is the frame refresh rate. 1.4 supports UHD up to 30 fps, 2.0 supports UHD up to 60 fps.Motherboard manufacturers are the same on this front and I cannot find any that claim to support HDMI 2.0. They are at least more transparent about the resolutions and fps rates they support with onboard interfaces for HDMI so a little less hunting to confirm they are unable to support 2.0.The Displayport option supports @60 fps at 3840 x 2160 (UHD). So that is an option going forward whenever converters for HDMI are released that support HDMI 2.0. To do that I will still need to upgrade the TV.I use this computer for work related tasks so I don't have to have 60 fps. I settled for a Samsung TV with hdmi 1.4 ports knowing I would be limited. This particular model uses a proprietary Samsung port that allows for upgrades after purchase to latest features and capabilities in an external box. Thats fine, and whenever Samsung offers this option with HDMI 2.0 I will purchase it if I think I really need it.The on chip display is doing a very good job @30 fps. I am actually surprised by that given that it is still considered inferior to most reasonable pci video cards. I left room for a pci video card if I need to use one at some point. Right now I don't.If you are using Linux with Xserver/Xwindows like I am, the Xserver will auto select the first resolution the chipset driver lists that is compatible with the resolutions the hdmi port reports. On my TV the hdmi does not list options to the OS. So Xserver picks the very first resolution the driver for the on chip graphics lists and that is 3840 x 2160 @24 fps. The TV refreshes @30 fps. This will cause the two to be out of sync on refresh rate. It won't be too obvious that something isn't right until you start to use your mouse or do something motion oriented like dragging something across the screen. It will have a lot of lag. Too much.With tweaks to your Xserver configuration you can over ride this in favor of using the 30 fps options it also supports. Since making this adjustment I find the lag problem isn't there anymore.Last notes go to video performance. I can see sheering on some videos. Video is not awesome with this rig but tolerable when using 1080i resolution. I test this in a 1/4 size window on you tube and set the video resolution to 1080i. The video is reasonable but not good. I have watched portions of 1080i movies and they were occasionally marred by sheering in the video window. Occasionally a little frame lag. That takes the onboard processor out of contention for a 4k/UHD home theater pc. If I set the resolution on both the graphics card and the TV to 1080i its a lot better (no longer UHD at all.) So still a contender in that resolution.Overall the the graphics on the 4790k are doing a great job for my office/work applications and that makes this chip a dead on hit for my requirements. The video testing was for curiosity sake and given the frequency with which I would ever watch a video on this PC the performance on that front is acceptable. I just wouldn't use it for a htpc build for UHD without also using a high performance pci graphics card.