The £130 i7-4790 & R9 290 Flagship in 2026: Still Playable?

The 2014 dream meets the 2026 reality.
In 2014, if you were rocking an Intel i7-4790 and an ASUS R9 290, you had a world-class flagship. Twelve years later, this duo can be picked up for roughly £130, but can it actually run the games of today?

In this video, we’re putting this "Legacy Flagship" through its absolute paces. We aren't just playing the classics; we’re attempting to run Resident Evil Requiem (2026) using Amernime community modded drivers to force this 512-bit Hawaii chip into the modern age. We even test out Frame Generation to see if we can turn a 30 FPS "slide show" into a fluid 60+ FPS experience.

We also take a look at the "Creator" side of this machine, recording gameplay locally with OBS and rendering out a project in Kdenlive to see if those 8 Haswell threads still have what it takes for content creation in 2026.

It’s loud. It’s hot. The GPU chugs 275W from the wall. But by the skin of its teeth, it still works.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro & Drivers
01:15 Bioshock Infinite & Tomb Raider 2013
02:09 Counter Strike 2
02:50 DOOM 2016 (Vulkan Renderer!)
03:35 Hitman World of Assassination
04:17 Elden Ring (Stutters?)
05:01 Resident Evil 2 Remake (Perfect??)
05:44 Resident Evil 4 Remake (Mercenaries Mode!)
06:40 The Silent Hill 2 & Fortnite Problem...
07:21 Can it play Resident Evil Requiem?
08:42 FRAME GENERATION?
09:37 Recording and Editing Performance
11:43 Conclusion: Does it still work in 2026?

Disclaimer: Modded drivers can be unstable. Use Amernime/Nootka drivers at your own risk. Always back up your data before messing with legacy hardware!

#i74790 #R9290 #Amernime #PCGaming #BudgetPC #ResidentEvilRequiem #RetroTech #Benchmark #Haswell #BudgetGaming #Amernime

Видео The £130 i7-4790 & R9 290 Flagship in 2026: Still Playable? канала HeyTechLabs