Building a machine for UE, need to choose a processor

I’m building a new PC since my old machine (2011 iMac) can’t run UE very well and I’m having trouble selecting a processor.

It’s between the 4930k (3.4GHz, 6 cores, 12 threads), which I’ve seen recommended here, and the new 4790k (4.0GHz, 4 cores, 8 threads). Most people I ask recommend the 4790k since it’s ~$250 cheaper, which I could put toward a better graphics card (780 instead of 770). The 4790k also uses an LGA1150 socket instead of an LGA2011, so the motherboards are cheaper too.

Is it true that I won’t miss the cores/threads of the 4930k, after the fact that the 4790k is a bunch faster and since I’m working on games, not rendering blockbuster vfx-heavy movies?

Never built a PC before and want to make sure I have a good setup for the next few years. I’d love any advice you have, thanks for reading!

Here’s my opinion: grab the better processor and go for the 770. If you have money left over get a really nice SSD. If possible, PCIe interface SSD would be desirable. You can get them pretty cheaply now (for around the price of regular SSDs a few years ago.) There’s a reason people say they’re the single largest improvement in overall PC performance in decades.

Edit: SSDs will likely shrink compile times down to a fraction of what they are on HDD. We’re talking a couple minutes max versus half an hour on a hard disk.

Hi cedixon,

You may find this post helpful:

I’m building my own PC for UE4 development. What do you recommend? - Platform & Builds - Epic Developer Community Forums

Cheers!