Intel Core i7-4790K
Ranked 8 of 9 desktop processors by recommenders
Intel's Haswell desktop chip lasted people a long time and still makes a fine gaming PC, though critics say it is too old for modern workloads and newer Windows.
Intel's Haswell desktop chip lasted people a long time and still makes a fine gaming PC, though critics say it is too old for modern workloads and newer Windows.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Lasted a long time
“It was a good CPU for a long time, but it got a little long in the tooth for modern workloads.”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “PS5 now costs less than 64GB of DDR5 memory. RAM jumps to $600 due to shortage” “That box lasted way longer than was reasonable.”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Memory crisis is getting so bad that even retro RAM prices are going to the Moon” Still a capable gaming PC
“the 4790k is an absolute beast of a CPU and still holds up”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building” “one can make a fine gaming pc for ~$350”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Why isn't the industry freaking out about DeepSeek 4.1 Flash?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Too old for modern workloads
“It was a good CPU for a long time, but it got a little long in the tooth for modern workloads.”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “PS5 now costs less than 64GB of DDR5 memory. RAM jumps to $600 due to shortage” Too old for new Windows
“on Windows it would nag me to update but apparently the CPU is too old for new Windows”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building”
Other desktop processors people recommend
The four most recommended other desktop processors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Threadripper | 17 | 6 | 74% | 6 | — | Approved |
| AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | 13 | 5 | 72% | 5 | — | Approved |
| AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 | 13 | 5 | 72% | 3 | — | — |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D | 12 | 2 | 86% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Intel Core i7-4790KThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“you couldn't tell if the i7 4500 would outperform the i5 3700 or not”
“one can make a fine gaming pc for ~$350”
“That box lasted way longer than was reasonable.”
“let's not pretend you can get a modern gaming experience out of that old hardware”
“on Windows it would nag me to update but apparently the CPU is too old for new Windows”
“the 4790k is an absolute beast of a CPU and still holds up”
“they are a legendary chip generation”
“It was a good CPU for a long time, but it got a little long in the tooth for modern workloads.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.