SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 290X CF - LGA 1150 vs. LGA 2011 at 4K

We've tested our glorious setup on both LGA 1150 and LGA 2011 setups, where we've thrown SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 290X Tri-X GPUs in CrossFire through the high-resolution hoop at 4K. The same test was run on our LGA 1150, something you can check up on here.

Before we get into it, lets give you a rundown of the systems we're using here today.

LGA 1150 specs:

• CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K "Haswell" processor w/Corsair H110i cooler
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z87X-OC
• GPUs: SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 290X Tri-X (2x)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB kit of 2400MHz DDR3
• Storage: 240GB Corsair Neutron GTX and 480GB Corsair Neutron GTX
• Chassis: InWin X-Frame Limited Edition
• PSU: Corsair AX1200i digital PSU
• Software: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

LGA 2011 specs:

• CPU: Intel Core i7 4930K processor w/Corsair H110i cooler @ 4.5GHz
• Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition
• GPUs: SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 290X Tri-X (2x)
• RAM: 32GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (2 x 16GB kits) of 2400MHz DDR3
• Storage: 240GB SanDisk Extreme II and 480GB SanDisk Extreme II
• Chassis: InWin X-Frame Limited Edition
• PSU: Corsair AX1200i digital PSU
• Software: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

But, just how much does the CPU come into play at 3840x2160? Take a look below, as the results are surprising.

Let's start our benchmarks!

Metro: Last Light

Single GPU: Starting off with the single GPU results, the LGA 1150 keeps its ground against the LGA 2011 setup. We have a minimum of 8.8FPS versus 7.9FPS - with the LGA 1150 coming out on top. The average FPS results were identical: 13.6FPS on both CPUs.

CrossFire: Things were pretty much unchanged with CrossFire enabled, with the minimum FPS on our LGA 1150 coming out on top. On the Core i7 4770K CPU we see 8.8FPS minimum, while the 12-thread Core i7 4930K scores 5.5FPS.

The CPU makes no difference for average frame rates, with 22.6FPS on our LGA 1150 setup versus 23.3FPS on our much more expensive LGA 2011 setup.

DiRT: Showdown

Single GPU: Another game, more similar results. Starting with minimum frame rates, the LGA 1150 setup pushed out 40FPS minimum, while minimum on our LGA 2011 actually pumped out 46.3FPS. Average frame rates saw the same improvements, with 51.3FPS on our LGA 1150 setup versus 57.4FPS on the LGA 2011 setup.

CrossFire: While the single GPU results saw improvements, the same can't be said for two SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 290X Tri-X GPUs in CrossFire on our two Intel setups. The single GPU results saw 82.4FPS on both LGA 1150 and LGA 2011 setups, while average frame rates on the LGA 1150 setup was 101.4FPS, but dropped to 100.6FPS on the LGA 2011 setup.

Tomb Raider

Single GPU: Another game that didn't see much improvement, with minimum frame rates of 23.8FPS versus 23.3FPS for our LGA 1150 and LGA 2011 setups, respectively. The Average results weren't much better, with 29.3FPS on our LGA 1150 setup and slightly less on our LGA 2011 setup with 28.9FPS.

CrossFire: Adding in a second GPU didn't help pull away from the CPU much more at 4K, with 40.3FPS minimum on our LGA 1150 setup, but surprised with 45.3FPS on the LGA 2011 beast. Average results weren't impressive, with 56.5FPS and 55.6FPS for our LGA 1150 and LGA 2011 setups, respectively.

BioShock Infinite

Single GPU: We're not having much luck here, with BioShock Infinite not being that much of a standout when it comes to showing off our setups. Starting with the single GPU minimum frame rates, we have 14.8FPS versus 14.3FPS for our LGA 1150 and LGA 2011 setups, respectively. The average FPS results were nearly identical, with 30.6FPS versus 30.1FPS.

CrossFire: CrossFire didn't do much again here, but the minimum frame rate was better on the LGA 2011 setup. Our LGA 1150 setup pushed out 12.5FPS while the LGA 2011 setup pushed out a minimum of 16.8FPS. The average frame rate on our LGA 1150 setup was 59.2FPS, dropping slightly to 58.7FPS on the LGA 2011 build.

Sleeping Dogs

Single GPU: The results in Sleeping Dogs were pretty identical, with the minimum frame rate on our LGA 1150 setup stuck at 13.8FPS, while the faster, and much more expensive setup resulted in... the same 13.6FPS minimum FPS. When it comes to average frame rates, they were pretty much identical again with 19.8FPS versus 19.7FPS.

CrossFire: The LGA 1150 resulted in 19.6FPS average frame rate in CrossFire, while our LGA 2011 setup spat out a little more at 23.6FPS. The average frame rate wasn't much different, with 39.7FPS on our Core i7 4770K while the Core i7 4930K saw 39.6FPS, 0.1FPS less.

Final Thoughts:

The main question to take away with here is: do you need a high-end CPU on a high-resolution setup, like 4K? The answer is no. You don't need a high-end CPU whatsoever, even at the strenuous 4K resolution. This might come as a surprise to some, but not to me.

For quite some time, games have been developed around the world of consoles - not next-gen consoles - but the Xbox 360 and PS3. These consoles were heavily restricted in all areas - CPU, GPU, RAM - virtually everything. Because games have been developed around them, we've seen a drastic reduction in the rush to upgrade our CPUs.

The results above are proof of this, where we have the much cheaper mainstream LGA 1150 socket versus the high-end enthusiast or performance socket in LGA 2011.

If you are after a new setup and were tossing up between the two sockets, I would recommend spending less on the CPU and motherboard side of things by skipping LGA 2011, and spending that money on faster GPUs to handle the extra stress of 4K. Putting that saved money into GPUs with 6GB of VRAM for example, would benefit you much more than the hundreds of dollars more you'd spend on LGA 2011.

But, if you want to guarantee no CPU bottlenecks going into the future, then the LGA 2011 setup becomes more attractive. Especially now that 'next-gen' consoles are now here.

Last updated: Nov 3, 2020 at 07:12 pm CST