Intel Core i5 i5-4690K CPU (Quad Core 3.5GHz Processor, 6MB Cache, Intel HD 4600 Graphics, Socket H3 LGA-1150)

As per most Intel products, this processor is fantastic, even now - more than a year after its release date.The processor arrives in a very small box, with just the processor, a basic heatsink and some instructional booklets.- Oh a cool intel stickerOnce in the box the processor can be removed from it's protective plastic casing along with the heatsink.Installing the processor is a simple affair, just stick it into a compatible motherboard, lower the cover and bam! It's installed.If you use the stock cooler, then you just fasten that over the top, depress the clips, plug in and you're done! Otherwise, it's best to follow your cooler's instructions. You will most likely need some thermal paste, this stuff is great:Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5g Tube.The processor is fast and efficient. It barely generates any heat for how hard it clearly works. It multi-tasks like a dream and will never really lag. It works well for more processor intensive applications too!If you are looking to overclock, I'm sure you already have an idea on how to do so. This processor is perfect for overclocking. It's easy and really simple to do as this is an unlocked processor.Overall, a fantastic product suited to general use of computers with a spot of gaming or photo-shopping etc. Thumbs up!

After a few weeks of research i kept coming back to this processor for many reasons, quality, price and ability to overclock. I am by no means an expert and as this is my first pc build it was partly risk versus reward if everything went wrong:)My son and i spent four hours on Christmas day building this pc and i must say it was simple but i still needed a few glasses of Bucks Fizz. My son generally plays games like Minecraft and surfs the net so a super high end beast was not needed. I paired this chip with a Gigabyte Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard and it was seem-less and its pretty nippy. I am safe in the knowledge that i can upgrade as required and overclock if needed but ill have to learn how to do it. :)I utilised the standard heat sink but contemplated water cooling but so far it has not been a drama with the temps keeping low and would be easy to upgrade as required.All in all a great processor which suits my needs, is quick and looks to punch well above its weight if needed. 5 Stars.

I bought the i5-4690K to put in my PC which I am using right now and I have also overclocked it to 4.5GHz which is 1GHz more than stock speeds.This is the highest i5 that you can possibly get on the Haswell Refresh series of CPU's. Now this CPU is amazing at overclocking due to me pairing it up with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, which keeps it running at a moderately low 45C on idle. However when I start to max out games and start using CPU intensive applications, the CPU will hover at around 70C at maximum load. This temperature is well below it's cut off point (90-100C) before the CPU starts the thermal throttle.If you are into editing or rendering videos, however, this is where the i5 struggles a bit. The i7 line of processors have something known as Hyperthreading, which activates 4 more virtual cores on your machine. So the i7 processor has 4 physical cores, but it has 8 if you combine physical cores and the virtual cores from Hyperthreading, whereas the i5 has no Hyperthreading, meaning that it is stuck at just 4 cores.If you are not into these sort of things, then using the i5 for general usage or gaming should encounter no problems whatsoever. A nice thing that Intel has done was include a stock cooler, meaning that you can turbo boost to 3.9GHz if you do not feel like overclocking. This is a bonus, as the latest Intel Skylake K version processors do not include a stock cooler.Another great thing about this CPU is that it runs in the LGA 1150 Socket, meaning that there are a variety range of Motherboards out there for you to choose from. If you are looking at overclocking, I recommend you going for a Z97 Chipset Motherboard.So overall, do I recommend this product?Yes, I highly recommend this product due to that it is not that far off from an i7, which is not worth spending the extra money at this moment in time.