IntelCore i7-4790 Processor - BX80646I74790

I decided to get this CPU as the i7-4790k I had just got wasn't stable on my system. It might run fine for two days then lockup solid or it might not even stay up for 20 minutes before locking up. I tried a number of things that just didn't work for me. Since I like my CPUs to run stable most of the time, this was just not for me. (If I ever get a new MB that's set up for overclocking, then I'm all set.) So I got this in today and shut down the my main gaming system and proceeded to get it installed. Right off the bat yellow blinking light on boot. I had taken all the steps I should but no dice first try. Redid the heat sink compound and reseated the H60 heat sink on the CPU.....Second attempt.....yellow blinking power light. Decided to check and see if the PS, MB, or CPU were bad. Took the old i5 and reinstalled it and it booted right up! Opps! I was beginning to think I'd got a bad chip. So back to the kitchen for one last try. This time I removed the BIOS battery to clear he BIOS just in case. When I had removed i5 and started to installed the i7 again, I noticed on the bottom some heat sink compound has gotten smeared over the very lower left side of the chip on a few contact points. Apparently when I installed it the first time, I had gotten some heat sink compound on the underside of the chip. Cleaned that area off with some alcohol then reinstalled it again making sure to get the compound on the top of the chip only. Put the battery back in and back to the computer room. This time the system had the yellow blinking light again on the first try. So I decided let's give it one more try. Pressed the power bottom and just let it sit there. It went thru a number of quick false starts and then booted right up! I almost fell out of the chair. I had just about decided I had played chip roulette once to many times. Anyway, after that it has been running very stable and has failed to handle anything I've thrown at it. We'll see how it does over a long term but it is sure running and feeling solid now. Guess next time I'll be a bit more careful with the heat sink compound! (Reminds me of my 4790k..........)

Bought one of these used for about $180 to upgrade from the Intel Core i5-4430 that came with my HP Envy 700-074. Not the best value on the market compared to the Ryzen 5 2400G or 3400G, but offers similar performance to those CPU's. At the time of this review, those are much better values for building new PC's and include an upgrade path to CPU's with more cores, something that isn't doable with older Intel consumer platforms.The additional clock speed and hyperthreading definitely allow for snappier and smoother performance. Gaming performance is improved massively compared to the i5-4430 when it comes to the latest AAA games, with a 15-30 percent improvement in performance in older games that have little use for more than four threads.Installing it was easy. All it involved was swapping out the i5-4430 and inserting this CPU in its place along with a fresh application of thermal paste and reusing the original OEM HP cooler. It runs slightly hotter than the i5, but temps stayed below 70c even under intensive testing. Overall, I am very pleased with this processor.The i7-4790k was still over $200 at the time I did the upgrade, and that would have been the CPU I would have gone for had it been closer to the non-K version in price due to its additional performance.September 2020 Update: The PC this went in has been retired as of June 2020, but I enjoyed the short time I had it with this processor. My only regret is that I purchased the processor near the tail end of the HP Envy 700-074's useful life. I have since replaced it with a Ryzen 5 3600-based iBUYPOWER prebuilt, and I'm enjoying it as much as I enjoyed the Envy 700-074 in its early days of use in the fall of 2013.

Intel Core i7 processors can be quite pricey; at least I consider processors within the $300 price range to be pricey. But if you're looking to build a computer that will operate in the long run (and use up less Wattage), Intel would be your best bet. I'm using this processor for a gaming computer, but I anticipate doing video editing (some time in the future...I think).But even if I weren't doing video editing (I keep reading that Intel processors are recommend for that), I also intended my computer to be a reliable workstation, in addition to playing games. This processor is so friggin' fast.I'll grant that even for basic work, it's over-powered, but I'd rather have that than under-powered. Hopefully, this processor will last in the long run.Be aware, though, that this processor is not accompanied with a "K" (an indicator that it is unlocked for overclocking). Nevertheless, I didn't see any need to overclock, even for playing computation-intensive games like Crysis. (The Graphics Card would be the determinant factor...I think.)P. S.: The Intel Stock Cooling Fan that came with the processor is quite reliable...and...I think quiet. (It's brand new.) I could tell because I was using silent Enermax fans. So far, it has had no problems since three weeks go when it was installed into my system. Unless you're into overclocking, this cooling fan should be adequate...maybe a little more than adequate for the job. It's quite easy to install because it's got it's own thermal paste installed on the heatsink base; if you're not sure how to install it, do a dry run because if you installed it wrong, you have to clean off the paste and re-apply it again. Do a dry-run installation to avoid the hassle; but if there's a plastic covering, be sure to remove it before installation.