I7 930 @ 3.8 ghz a bottleneck for gtx 780?

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bkhschoo

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Feb 28, 2008
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Hi all, i am thinking to upgrade my aging GTX 580 to a 780. but will my i7 930 @ 3.8 ghz will be enough not to bottleneck the 780?
further system specs :

12 GB ram
160 Gb SSD intel G2 postville
X-Fi fatality PCI 64 Mb
Bigfoot killer Nic 2100
GTS 450 for physx
2x raptor 600gb raid 0 for programs.

Thanks for replies!
 
You won't experience a bottleneck. At worst comparing to a stock i7-3770 the performance variance in benchmarks is 1-3% if that. I know since I own a i7-920 o.c. to 3.9 and also a i7-3770s o.c to 3.9 as well.
 
Even if it does, you will still have way better performance than you already have.
Your current card is probably holding back your right now anyway.

Bottlenecks are only something to worry about if the item you want to replace is already held back by something else.
If you had and old core2duo for example, you wouldn't be able to realize the max potential of your 580. In that situation buying a 780 would get you no where.

In your case, a 3.8 ghz i7, while not the newest chip, is still not really a dog.
Plan to replace that next, but it should do you just fine for now.
 
S[H]ady;1039921293 said:
..."In your case, a 3.8 ghz i7, while not the newest chip, is still not really a dog. Plan to replace that next, but it should do you just fine for now."
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I disagree, unless the OP is running a multiple monitor setup that crushes pixels combined with a multi-array-card then maybe he should consider upgrading his i7 nehalem chip. There is no single domestic video card out in the market right now that bottlenecks his chip.

Even if he did upgrade his chip performance for a single card (read one 780 gtx) it would be VERY VERY marginal.
 
bkhschoo said:
Hi all, i am thinking to upgrade my aging GTX 580 to a 780. but will my i7 930 @ 3.8 ghz will be enough not to bottleneck the 780?
further system specs :

12 GB ram
160 Gb SSD intel G2 postville
X-Fi fatality PCI 64 Mb
Bigfoot killer Nic 2100
GTS 450 for physx
2x raptor 600gb raid 0 for programs.

Thanks for replies!
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You need to turn off hyperthreading and up it to atleast 4.2 Ghz. :)
 
More clocks FTW lol. Realistically, from what I have read and personal experience most games are totally GPU bound. I run BF3 on a single monitor using GTX 480 TriSLI with 120+ fps solid and my 980X never seems to exceed 60% load. SLI and eyefinity/surround aside, almost any modern CPU seems more than capable of feeding even the most angry GPU.

54503.png


http://www.anandtech.com/show/6934/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-single-multigpu-at-1440p/5

No offense to not finding a HardOCP article or benchmark result, I just remember reading this one recently.
 
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Whoa, I posted almost exactly this today as well, must have been deleted (understandably). I have a 930 as well except at 4GHz (sig rig), and I'm contemplating getting going 780 SLI, unless a Titan Ultra comes around. Do you think that will create a bottleneck at all? I'm heavily considering a mobo/cpu upgrade when Haswell comes out, but might skip another generation if my 930 isn't going to be holding back SLI 780s.
 
Tych-0 said:
Whoa, I posted almost exactly this today as well, must have been deleted (understandably). I have a 930 as well except at 4GHz (sig rig), and I'm contemplating getting going 780 SLI, unless a Titan Ultra comes around. Do you think that will create a bottleneck at all? I'm heavily considering a mobo/cpu upgrade when Haswell comes out, but might skip another generation if my 930 isn't going to be holding back SLI 780s.
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You gotta understand to successfully bottleneck a gpu setup from your cpu, the pci-e bandwidth has to be completely maxxed out. If memory serves correct a pci-e 2.0 lane can pump out 5 GT/s per lane. while a pci-e 3.0 lane does 8 GT/s and thats IF your gpu setup can push that kind of raw data.

I re-iterate only the [H]ardiest of multi-gpu-array can even begin to touch those numbers.
 
Heh, weird, so it is... I was first though! :)

Back on topic, it sounds like it may be a waste as far as gaming goes to upgrade my CPU when Haswell is out then. As long as I can max games at 1440p I'll be happy. I'd like to go single card, but unless there is a step up from the Titan in the next month or so, it looks like I'll be going 2x 780.
 
Only reason to upgrade the CPU would be for the power saving features. I know first hand that my 920 at 4.2 was taking 400watts by itself at load, they're beasts. When they are OC'd they are very power hungry.

But, OP, you'll be fine Upgrading the GPU.

Cheers!
 
Thx for all the replies and help. The tip to turn off hyperthreading is also welcome ;) you guys rock! happy gaming.
 
my 930 has tested a 780 at 4.2ghz. The numbers seem on par with going from 670 to 780.

Enjoy!
 
Thorin08 said:
You won't experience a bottleneck. At worst comparing to a stock i7-3770 the performance variance in benchmarks is 1-3% if that. I know since I own a i7-920 o.c. to 3.9 and also a i7-3770s o.c to 3.9 as well.
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wabbitseason said:
Not remotely.
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wrong. his cpu will most certainly limit the full use of a gtx780 so yes technically it will be a bottleneck. there will be a few rare cases where he cant even maintain 60fps because of the cpu. that said its still no reason not to go with a 780 especially if he is above 1920x1080. was the res even mentioned?
 
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Warrior said:
Only reason to upgrade the CPU would be for the power saving features. I know first hand that my 920 at 4.2 was taking 400watts by itself at load, they're beasts. When they are OC'd they are very power hungry.
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Good god, man, that is one hell of an overclock for a Nehalem. You either have some serious cooling or won the CPU lottery of a timetime.
 
Thorin08 said:
You gotta understand to successfully bottleneck a gpu setup from your cpu, the pci-e bandwidth has to be completely maxxed out. If memory serves correct a pci-e 2.0 lane can pump out 5 GT/s per lane. while a pci-e 3.0 lane does 8 GT/s and thats IF your gpu setup can push that kind of raw data.

I re-iterate only the [H]ardiest of multi-gpu-array can even begin to touch those numbers.
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what in the heck are you talking about?
 
schizo said:
Good god, man, that is one hell of an overclock for a Nehalem. You either have some serious cooling or won the CPU lottery of a timetime.
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lol, Most D0 920s hit 4.2 easy with water, in fact it was at 4.4Ghz for quite a while on an EVGA board, but after upgrading I could never hit it again. :(
 
Warrior said:
lol, Most D0 920s hit 4.2 easy with water, in fact it was at 4.4Ghz for quite a while on an EVGA board, but after upgrading I could never hit it again. :(
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lol that would probably use more power than my entire pc with overclocked 2500k and gtx660ti. :eek:
 
cannondale06 said:
what in the heck are you talking about?
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Do you even understand how the cpu bottlenecks a SINGLE GPU card in the first place? the difference between a o.c. nehalem chip over a ivy-bridge in benches for a single card is so small that its literally insignificant. MANY sites have covered this fact.

If he is willing to use power to keep his power hungry i-7 930 over clocked, he would see no comparable difference to a i7-3770 chip at the same frequency.

I know what the hell I'm talking about because I own both.
 
Thorin08 said:
Do you even understand how the cpu bottlenecks a SINGLE GPU card in the first place? the difference between a o.c. nehalem chip over a ivy-bridge in benches for a single card is so small that its literally insignificant. MANY sites have covered this fact.

If he is willing to use power to keep his power hungry i-7 930 over clocked, he would see no comparable difference to a i7-3770 chip at the same frequency.

I know what the hell I'm talking about because I own both.
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do you even know? your posts make no sense. pci-e bus has nothing to do with the cpu being a bottleneck or not.

anyone that has the ability to change frequencies on the cpu can see for themselves if there is a limitation. and YES a 930 at 3.8 would be slower in some games than an oced Ivy or Sandy Bridge running a gtx780 so yes there technically is a bottleneck. by how much will depend on the game itself and settings being used. I agree that in most cases its not enough to matter.
 
cannondale06 said:
wrong. his cpu will most certainly limit the full use of a gtx780 so yes technically it will be a bottleneck. there will be a few rare cases where he cant even maintain 60fps because of the cpu. that said its still no reason not to go with a 780 especially if he is above 1920x1080. was the res even mentioned?
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And what games are these that he won't get 60 fps in 1920x1080? my 7970ghz with a i7-920 does just fine pushing more than 60 fps in most popular titles not named crysis 3 or metro 2033.

His 780 gtx will have no throttling issues at all. Look at the benchmarks above in this same thread before you make as·i·nine comments. I'm done with you.
 
Thorin08 said:
And what games are these that he won't get 60 fps in 1920x1080? my 7970ghz with a i7-920 does just fine pushing more than 60 fps in most popular titles not named crysis 3 or metro 2033.

His 780 gtx will have no throttling issues at all. Look at the benchmarks above in this same thread before you make as·i·nine comments. I'm done with you.
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I clearly said only in some rare cases and Hitman Absolution, Fallout New Vegas and of course the poorly done GTA 4 are some examples. ignoring GTA 4, it was pretty aggravating in Fallout NV cause I like to use vsync so I had to oc my 2500k to 4.4 and even then there are still some spots in that game that dip. I have only played a couple hours of Hitman Absolution and have encountered a few spots where I still drop below 60 fps even at 4.4. and yes its the cpu as lowering the res keeps the same framerate. you can even look at reviews to see that game is cpu limited in spots.
 
Warrior said:
lol, Most D0 920s hit 4.2 easy with water, in fact it was at 4.4Ghz for quite a while on an EVGA board, but after upgrading I could never hit it again. :(
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Yep and most CO 920s will hit 4.0 on water, my CO 920 will do 3.8 on stock voltage and 3.99 with a small bump to CPU and VTT voltages(it's still a space heater). It's certainly not guaranteed though, I helped a friend OC his DO 920 and we couldn't get past 3.6 on one mobo or 3.8 with a different mobo.

cannondale06 said:
do you even know? your posts make no sense. pci-e bus has nothing to do with the cpu being a bottleneck or not.

anyone that has the ability to change frequencies on the cpu can see for themselves if there is a limitation. and YES a 930 at 3.8 would be slower in some games than an oced Ivy or Sandy Bridge running a gtx780 so yes there technically is a bottleneck. by how much will depend on the game itself and settings being used. I agree that in most cases its not enough to matter.
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It sounds like they're confusing GPU overhead with CPU bottlenecks.
 
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