GTX 980 Ti bottleneck?

Runt.

Gawd
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Aug 18, 2011
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I have an i5-750 @ 3.8GHz with a 4K monitor.
How much of a performance hit will the GTX 980 Ti take if it was paired with it?
 
uh... a lot, even with a 4K monitor.. how much exactly? depend on the game..
 
Lately I've been playing Blizzard games, specifically Heroes Of The Storm and Hearthstone.
 
you will be fine then, those games will hardly mean any GPU/CPU intensive problem for your setup..
 
Actually, you wont get the max out of your 980 TI, so upgrade your cpu/system or get a lower end card, unless you think the 980 TI is sexy as helland you want one no matter what:)
 
You really don't need a 980 TI to play Blizzard games. A 960 would run those games maxed out.
 
It's nice to see some people still rocking the old 750, I have the same CPU and since getting it back in 2010 haven't had the need or felt I needed to upgrade, rocked a GTX 280 480 580 and a 680 now and never felt that I was bottlenecked. Now a jump from a 760 to a 980Ti is a massive one, If I were you I would upgrade the CPU/Motherboard and buy something like a 970 enough to drive a 4k with Heroes,HS and or D3 WoW.
 
It's nice to see some people still rocking the old 750, I have the same CPU and since getting it back in 2010 haven't had the need or felt I needed to upgrade, rocked a GTX 280 480 580 and a 680 now and never felt that I was bottlenecked. Now a jump from a 760 to a 980Ti is a massive one, If I were you I would upgrade the CPU/Motherboard and buy something like a 970 enough to drive a 4k with Heroes,HS and or D3 WoW.

Actually I already considered the GTX 970 but the whole debacle regarding it only being 3.5GB vRAM made me reconsider since I am on a 4K display. Then I considered the GTX 980 and waited since the GTX 980 Ti was going to be released.
 
Actually I already considered the GTX 970 but the whole debacle regarding it only being 3.5GB vRAM made me reconsider since I am on a 4K display. Then I considered the GTX 980 and waited since the GTX 980 Ti was going to be released.
You are going to keep waiting forever while using that modest 760. Just get the 980 Ti now and then in three months go with a Skylake setup.
 
I was running 970 sli with an old i7-920 then jumped to the 5820 in my sig. Performance increase was night and day. Some games had so much stuttering they where unplayable. More than half of my games got huge jumps in FPS and those that didn't lost almost all of the hitching and hiccups.
 
That was probably more an issue with X58 which can be pretty buggy with new cards in SLI/Crossfire. I don't get any stuttering on my downgraded system(4670K to i5 750 4Ghz) in any of the newest games.

No problem with running a 980 Ti with that system if you're planing on playing other games besides those from Blizzard and maybe plan on upgrading your CPU and Board at some point, though at 4K it may not be necessary since the FPS won't be very high with higher settings.
 
Didn't want to make a new thread just for this, but what about an FX-8350 paired with the GTX 980 Ti? I just ordered the blower-style EVGA Superclocked version.
 
Didn't want to make a new thread just for this, but what about an FX-8350 paired with the GTX 980 Ti? I just ordered the blower-style EVGA Superclocked version.
It will certainly be a limitation for a 980 Ti but it can vary anywhere from a very small limitation to a huge one. Heck there are a few games where an 8350 struggles to always maintain 60 fps so to me it is a waste of money for 980 Ti when your cpu cant even fully push a 970.
 
It will certainly be a limitation for a 980 Ti but it can vary anywhere from a very small limitation to a huge one. Heck there are a few games where an 8350 struggles to always maintain 60 fps so to me it is a waste of money for 980 Ti when your cpu cant even fully push a 970.

I run at 1440p, so it should be OK I guess... The CPU is at 4.5ghz.
 
I run at 1440p, so it should be OK I guess... The CPU is at 4.5ghz.
Well its still going to hold back a lot of games. Even at 4.5, that cpu will struggle in some games just to maintain 60 fps. If you dont run vsync then you will likely never notice dropping into the 50s and 40s at times though. If I were you then I would upgrade to Skylake in a few months to get all the 980 Ti can do.
 
Didn't want to make a new thread just for this, but what about an FX-8350 paired with the GTX 980 Ti? I just ordered the blower-style EVGA Superclocked version.
It depends on the games.

On a game engine that is coded very well for multithreaded processors, like Frostbite 3, it's going to do fine.

On older games, or engines that only use 2 cores, you're probably going to have a CPU bottleneck.

AMD processors really need to be able to use all of their cores to shine, and a lot of games don't scale well past 4 cores (if they even use 4 cores at all).
 
anyone have thoughts on a 2500k at 4.5 ghz?

just ordered a 980 ti and I play at 1440p

I'm expecting for it to be a botlteneck but don't really have any real idea of how much. I've got a p55 motherboard so it's just a 2.0 x16 slot

I'm expecting like 95%+ of the 980 ti at 1440p but would like other opinions
 
anyone have thoughts on a 2500k at 4.5 ghz?

just ordered a 980 ti and I play at 1440p

I'm expecting for it to be a botlteneck but don't really have any real idea of how much. I've got a p55 motherboard so it's just a 2.0 x16 slot

I'm expecting like 95%+ of the 980 ti at 1440p but would like other opinions
You are fine for the most part. There will be certain parts of a few games out there where the cpu difference would matter a little bit compared to a Haswell i7 but otherwise its almost a non issue. Same goes for the 2.0 slot as in only a few cases would you not be getting basically all your gpu can give.
 
You are fine for the most part. There will be certain parts of a few games out there where the cpu difference would matter a little bit compared to a Haswell i7 but otherwise its almost a non issue. Same goes for the 2.0 slot as in only a few cases would you not be getting basically all your gpu can give.

I think you're a little biased, but then.. so am I :)

I'd say my 2600k @ 5Ghz beats your 4770k @ 4.4Ghz. I only keep mine at 4.5Ghz to save power.
 
I'd say my 2600k @ 5Ghz beats your 4770k @ 4.4Ghz. I only keep mine at 4.5Ghz to save power.

Have you noticed any CPU bottlenecks with the Titan X? We have similar rigs and I'm about to pull the trigger on a 980ti. I'm running 2500k @ 5.0.
 
Have you noticed any CPU bottlenecks with the Titan X? We have similar rigs and I'm about to pull the trigger on a 980ti. I'm running 2500k @ 5.0.

No bottlenecks here on a i7-4820K @ 4.6GHz. You'll be fine with a 2500K @ 5




To the original poster: When I had a i5-750 I noticed it was bottlenecking my 7970. So yes it will bottleneck a 980Ti
 
I run a i7 3770k @ 4.4GHz w 3 OG Titans @ 4k and plan to get either 2 980Tis or the next AMD card depending upon their 4k performance. I think I will be good at that until Skylake comes around.
 
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Instead of posting a new thread I thought I might piggy back on this one if that's ok.

I am thinking of doing a GPU update this round but am not sure if I should be looking at a completely new system or if I can update just the GPU and get more miles out of my current system.

This will be my 3rd GPU upgrade on this build. I started at 5870 then went to 680. I am thinking of going to 980ti now.

My processor is a 980X (complete specs in sig). I am not overclocked.

Can this system take full advantage of what 980ti offers?
If not I'll likely build a new system and give this system to a needy friend or family member.
If this system is too old for the 980ti what is the ceiling, or best, card I can put in it?

I use a single 27" monitor at 1440p. I would play games like GTA V, Witcher 3, and Star Citizen in the future.
 
I think you're a little biased, but then.. so am I :)

I'd say my 2600k @ 5Ghz beats your 4770k @ 4.4Ghz. I only keep mine at 4.5Ghz to save power.

you will be surprised to see a big nope.. and at most you will be probably on pair with your 2600K@5ghz and a [email protected]. in most case the 4770K at 4.4ghz will still perform better.. misterbobby it's actually right in every sentence he said.. and also he knows very well how its being a 2500K user..

Have you noticed any CPU bottlenecks with the Titan X? We have similar rigs and I'm about to pull the trigger on a 980ti. I'm running 2500k @ 5.0.

the 4 Threads of your chip will already be a bottleneck in some games.. but those are a small amount..

Instead of posting a new thread I thought I might piggy back on this one if that's ok.

I am thinking of doing a GPU update this round but am not sure if I should be looking at a completely new system or if I can update just the GPU and get more miles out of my current system.

This will be my 3rd GPU upgrade on this build. I started at 5870 then went to 680. I am thinking of going to 980ti now.

My processor is a 980X (complete specs in sig). I am not overclocked.

Can this system take full advantage of what 980ti offers?
If not I'll likely build a new system and give this system to a needy friend or family member.
If this system is too old for the 980ti what is the ceiling, or best, card I can put in it?

I use a single 27" monitor at 1440p. I would play games like GTA V, Witcher 3, and Star Citizen in the future.

the main and most important question is.. how high overclocked its your 980X?.
 
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Have you noticed any CPU bottlenecks with the Titan X? We have similar rigs and I'm about to pull the trigger on a 980ti. I'm running 2500k @ 5.0.

Depends on the game, naturally.

I'd say that at 3.7Ghz, there was a minimal bottleneck w/Alien: Isolation.

Of course, running in 4K certainly helps, as the higher the resolution the less the bottleneck will show.

you will be surprised to see a big nope.. and at most you will be probably on pair with your 2600K@5ghz and a [email protected]. in most case the 4770K at 4.4ghz will still perform better.. misterbobby it's actually right in every sentence he said.. and also he knows very well how its being a 2500K user..

I'd say that's pretty fair. 4770k is ~15-20% more powerful per clock than a 2600k (which is absolutely laughable considering it has been 4 years since 2600k launched), but of course - the 4770k usually can't overclock past 4.4Ghz, so all in all, a 4770k would be a side-grade.

misterbobby's comparison was in-apt in that he compared a 2500k to an 'i7 Haswell', while the key difference is HT not the core itself.

the 4 Threads of your chip will already be a bottleneck in some games.. but those are a small amount..

This is true. A 2500k is certainly a far greater bottleneck than a 2600k. I imagine it would be quite noticeable.
 
This is true. A 2500k is certainly a far greater bottleneck than a 2600k. I imagine it would be quite noticeable.

Not really - most games can't take advantage of those additional 4 threads so in majority of cases i5=i7.
 
Not really - most games can't take advantage of those additional 4 threads so in majority of cases i5=i7.

I can name you several which certainly can make a i5 a bottleneck by the threads.. Crysis 3, Dragon Age Inquisition, Shadow of mordor, Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs as some examples..

crysis3haswell.png


CPUocCrysis3.png


you are right for most games, but actually games are starting to show a large benefit from the extra 4 threads of the i7s...
 
I can name you several which certainly can make a i5 a bottleneck by the threads.. Crysis 3, Dragon Age Inquisition, Shadow of mordor, Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs as some examples..

you are right for most games, but actually games are starting to show a large benefit from the extra 4 threads of the i7s...

Wow. And now I know why Crysis 3 runs so well on my 2600k :)
 
That cpu is stone age by terms of the GTX980ti.

Search our microcenter.com and bundle deal a modern Haswell I5 and board and ram and you might push $300.00 and then ou will be good to go!
 
That cpu is stone age by terms of the GTX980ti.

Search our microcenter.com and bundle deal a modern Haswell I5 and board and ram and you might push $300.00 and then ou will be good to go!

You want him to replace half of his rig for ~5-10%?
 
Alot more than 5-10% mate.

There is alot more to upgrading his PC than just feeding a GPU.... think about it...

case closed.
The average frame rate would likely be higher, but overall a 10% improvement going from Sandybridge to Haswell is probably pretty close to accurate. 15% if you want to be generous.

I upgraded from Nehalem and it was noticeably faster when I installed my 4770K, but only because it boosted my minimum frame rates quite a bit.
 
I can name you several which certainly can make a i5 a bottleneck by the threads.. Crysis 3, Dragon Age Inquisition, Shadow of mordor, Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs as some examples..
This will depend ENTIRELY upon the resolution being used.

I'm using a Core i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz with a GTX980Ti, and I almost always see 99% GPU usage and moderate CPU usage... because I'm pushing 5760x1200. Totally GPU-limited.
 
This will depend ENTIRELY upon the resolution being used.

I'm using a Core i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz with a GTX980Ti, and I almost always see 99% GPU usage and moderate CPU usage... because I'm pushing 5760x1200. Totally GPU-limited.

yes, you are right.. but even at 4K GPU limited still require a lot of CPU power... (which are stil more pixels than your setup) a 4 thread chip can limit the performance in the mentioned games.. just for the way they are coded.. again crysis 3 may be the more sensible to Threads and speed scaling even at 4k.. you can see in that game one of the only few cases a OC'd AMD FX8350 performing better than a i5 and even some i7 at 4k.. the game really like threads and scale very well with it.. but for 99% of the games again, you are right..
 
And it depends on where you test in a game like Crysis 3. There are some parts of the game that will peg even a Haswell quad and wont even be able to stay above 60 fps and other parts where even an i3 would have no trouble maintaining WAY above 60 fps.
 
DX 12 is coming. I would wait on any CPU upgrade.
Just because DX12 comes out does not mean all games magically need less cpu power. It will be quite a while before we get real DX12 games and the other 99% of games will still be held back with slower cpu. In the last 4.5 years we can now get 4.5 times the gpu power from a single gpu card yet cpu performance in most games has not even gone up 30% in that time.
 
Your CPU would probably be a bottleneck for a 980Ti but you would still see a massive improvement over the 760. Get the 980Ti now, ditch the i5 750 once Skylake is out.
 
The price difference between a 980ti and a 970 is more than 300 bucks. If you factor in the resale value of your 750 and the mainboard, you could upgrade your rig to a 4790k and board if you settle for the 970.

So the question is which performs better
1) Core i5 750 @4ghz + 980Ti
2) Core i7 4790k @4.5ghz + 970

People throw around the word "bottleneck" too loosely, in my opinion. A 980ti will be faster than a 970, even on your system. So there's no true bottleneck.
 
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