The chaps over at HotHardware have taken the Intel Core i7-4790K Devil's Canyon around the block a few times to see what it is made of.

Performance Summary: There are two subjects we should cover in this performance summary: The Core i7-4790K's general performance and its overclockability. In terms of overall performance, the Core i7-4790K is great. Thanks to its relatively higher base and Turbo boost clocks (4GHz / 4.4GHz), it is easily the fastest quad-core processor Intel has released to date. The Core i7-4790K's higher clocks even allow it to make up a ton of ground on Intel's top-of-the-line Ivy Bridge-E based Extreme processors.

The Core i7-4790K's overclockability is also very good, though it's wasn't quite the monster initial rumors had suggested. Don't get us wrong—our sample clocked 10% higher than the Core i7-4770K we tested last year and was stable at 4.8GHz with air-cooling, but “5GHz on air” as was suggested before the launch wasn't possible with our sample.

At $339, the Core i7-4790K isn't cheap, but then again, those three C-notes and change will get you the fastest unlocked, quad-core processor Intel has ever built. Another option would be the new Core i5-4690K—the other Devil's Canyon CPU in Intel's new line-up. We haven't had a chance to test one just yet, but at $242 (again, the same introductory price as last year's Core 15-4670K) and with marginally higher clocks than the 4670K, it should be a winner as well.