Most Powerful 4th Gen. CPU for Maximus VI Hero

soweic

Estimable
Oct 19, 2014
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I am building my pc for my 2d graphic design job. Now my last part to put in is the cpu as I have already got everything else in place; it's a jumbo update for me in a while:

1. Board: Maximus VI Hero
2. VGA: GTX 750ti
3. RAM: 4GBx2 Transcend
4. SSD: Crucial Micron M550 128GB
5. HDD: TOSHIBA DT01ABA200V 2TB
6. PSU: Corsair TX850M Enthusiast Series
7. Case: Antec Nine Hundred
8. Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX
9. TIM: 2g SHIN-ETSU X23-7783D
10. OS: Win 7 (is it worth to update to Win 8.1)?

11. CPU???!

My main purpose is make sure it can handle Photoshop CC fine with my billboard banner designs which are mostly 3m+. And I also play some graphic intensive games like Street Fighter, MaxPayn, Dragon Age, and DotA2.

I first considered i7 4770K, but some ppl said it's overkilled. (Is it because it's the most powerful?)

My currently aging system crashes a lot, so I think it's time to say goodbye to this Core 2 Duo.
 
Solution

I have never had the misfortune of messing up a motherboard made since after 2010 thanks to features like dual BIOS and the ability to update a BIOS within Windows. But, if I had to guess, I believe the board will simply switch over to the backup BIOS if the main one is not responding. I really doubt you will have to worry about this though as it is highly unlikely that you would brick the 1st BIOS in the first place. The only way it could possibly happen on a desktop is if you yank the power cord out of the wall...

cub_fanatic

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Nov 21, 2012
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The motherboard you already have is actually more overkill than a 4770k. Since you are using such a low-end GPU on it that can't be SLI'd, some of the motherboard's features are being wasted. That is, unless you are planning on a GPU upgrade. As for the best CPU you can get, the 4770k is only bested by the 4790k which is almost identical except for a 500 MHz higher clock speed and turbo speed. If you are going to OC the 4770k, this is kind of irrelevant since 500 MHz is not a huge OC. The thing is, if you look on retail sites like newegg, they don't even carry the 4770k anymore. If you go on Amazon, the 4790k is actually cheaper by $20 USD. The 4790k is probably the better buy.
 

soweic

Estimable
Oct 19, 2014
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Yeah, now it's coming to either 4770K or 4790K, and according your comment, it's no doubt i7 4790k is better in either way - performance and price.
Anyway, can see I will need to update BIOS for this board in order for it to work with 4790K, and to do this I will need another 4th Gen. cpu first to start with?!

* And yes, I will use sli in the future cz now I am not into many hq games yet.
 

cub_fanatic

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Nov 21, 2012
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So I guess the Maximus VI is Z87 and the Maximus VII is Z97. Yes, the Z87 will have to be flashed with the latest BIOS in order to use the 4790k. According to the Asus site on the Maximus Hero VI (http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_HERO/HelpDesk_CPU/) you need BIOS revision 1504. You can check the revision, it should be printed on the board somewhere. If it is greater than or equal to 1502, it should work. If not, that board supports "USB flashback" so you might be able to flash the updated BIOS via a USB stick after you DL from a different computer and it should update with the 4790k installed.
 

cub_fanatic

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Nov 21, 2012
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1.02 is most likely it. If you go back to the CPU compatibly list, you'll notice that the 'older' CPUs are supported by BIOS 1002 which is probably just a different way of expressing 1.02? I could be wrong, though. Is there anything on the back like a sticker or similar marking? Regardless of which BIOS is on it, you can do the flashback. You can see the port which is located on the rear I/O panel. It is the 2nd port from the top, a special USB port that should also be marked with a sticker or something. My guess is the first revision of the Hero VI came with BIOS 0224 and yours came with 1002.
 

soweic

Estimable
Oct 19, 2014
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Then I can see the update is really needed. Anyway, is it backwards compatible meaning will it work with previous 4th gen. like i7 4770K? And is there a restore if anything goes wrong?
 

cub_fanatic

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Nov 21, 2012
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Once you do the latest BIOS, it should be compatible with all existing LGA 1150 CPUs. And the next gen ones as well with future BIOS updates (Broadwell is 1150). I know that high end Asus boards include a dual BIOS feature which makes bricking a motherboard almost impossible, and the Maximus is definitely high end. Basically, if something goes wrong while updating the BIOS and it doesn't boot, you can switch it over to the original BIOS which is saved in a secondary backup BIOS chip. It is almost fool proof. Once you DL the BIOS update, copy it to a USB drive, load up the BIOS menu on the new motherboard and get to the BIOS update menu, the actual update only takes about 2 minutes and then everything else is done automatically including rebooting the PC. It is pretty much fool-proof.
 

soweic

Estimable
Oct 19, 2014
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4,510
I just did the flashback using usb cz' no cpu yet. It I will update if this works once my cpu arrived.
Anyway, you are talking about dual bios, so how to get it back if sth goes wrong or is it automatically recovered?
 

cub_fanatic

Honorable
Nov 21, 2012
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10,610

I have never had the misfortune of messing up a motherboard made since after 2010 thanks to features like dual BIOS and the ability to update a BIOS within Windows. But, if I had to guess, I believe the board will simply switch over to the backup BIOS if the main one is not responding. I really doubt you will have to worry about this though as it is highly unlikely that you would brick the 1st BIOS in the first place. The only way it could possibly happen on a desktop is if you yank the power cord out of the wall while it is copying the file to the ROM.
 
Solution