GTX 980 Ti bottleneck?

[{NG}Fidel]

You will have a bottleneck but performance gain would be huge regardless.
Id still wait to upgrade the CPU.
CPU upgrades have not been as tasty recently.

 

[xXxDieselxXx]

You guys are making me upgrade my old CPU
Running an old trusty i7-860 @ 4.0GHZ with a GTX-680. I want to get the 980Ti but I wonder if I should think on upgrading my CPU as I'm moving from 1080p 23" monitor to a 27" one (Probably the new Acer Predator 27").

 

[Araxie]

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.

he should go with a 980TI and then upgrade the CPU later when possible..

You guys are making me upgrade my old CPU
Running an old trusty i7-860 @ 4.0GHZ with a GTX-680. I want to get the 980Ti but I wonder if I should think on upgrading my CPU as I'm moving from 1080p 23" monitor to a 27" one (Probably the new Acer Predator 27").

monitor size means nothing.. what its important is the resolution.. but yes, that CPU should have been changed some time along..

 

[Wag]

Yup. My [email protected] performs decently enough, but there's no point upgrading to a new architecture now what with Skylake right around the corner. Better that I invest in new GPUs and then then do the CPU/mobo later.

 

[w00t69]

uh... a lot, even with a 4K monitor.. how much exactly? depend on the game..

Exactly the opposite at 4k.... what are you smoking. HIgher res = vastly less likely to run into cpu bottlenecks.

 

[Araxie]

Exactly the opposite at 4k.... what are you smoking. HIgher res = vastly less likely to run into cpu bottlenecks.

never said the opposite.. just said that even at 4K his CPU will bottleneck a 980TI.. that's all smart guy..

 

[Supermr2]

Ill post this again. My 920 @ 4k was a huge bottleneck. Upgrading CPU gave me a higher frame rate in 90 percent of my games.

 

[RamonGTP]

never said the opposite.. just said that even at 4K his CPU will bottleneck a 980TI.. that's all smart guy..

Depends on the game. Plenty around where 4k with high settings won't maintain 60fps on high settings while the CPU is more than capable of it. You're either grossly underestimating the CPU and/or the demands of 4K, or vastly over-estimating the capabilities of the 980Ti

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7120/some-quick-gaming-numbers-at-4k-max-settings

This is an older article, but a 980Ti is not more powerful than 3 or 4 original Titans, and they're not even hitting 60fps at 4K.

 

[Araxie]

Depends on the game. Plenty around where 4k with high settings won't maintain 60fps on high settings while the CPU is more than capable of it. You're either grossly underestimating the CPU and/or the demands of 4K, or vastly over-estimating the capabilities of the 980Ti

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7120/some-quick-gaming-numbers-at-4k-max-settings

This is an older article, but a 980Ti is not more powerful than 3 or 4 original Titans, and they're not even hitting 60fps at 4K.

what should I see in that review?.. I can show you one dedicated to 4K gaming.. where a i7 4930K perform slower than a i7 4770K being yes, a bottleneck.. what do you think a tiny old i5 750 can do to a 980TI?.. Review I know exactly how that CPU perform and also know the demands of 4K...

some images:

 

[RamonGTP]

What you should see in that review is quite obvious. There are games at 4K where the bottleneck can easily be the card. Metro, for example is more demanding than any of the games you listed. Which is why I said "depends on the game"

Yes, his CPU will hold him back in many cases, but at 4K there will be several games where a 980Ti is getting all it can handle.

 

[Araxie]

What you should see in that review is quite obvious. There are games at 4K where the bottleneck can easily be the card. Metro, for example is more demanding than any of the games you listed. Which is why I said "depends on the game"

Yes, his CPU will hold him back in many cases, but at 4K there will be several games where a 980Ti is getting all it can handle.

and again nobody is saying nope to that argument.. even I'll quote myself in the Post 4 of this thread:

you will be fine then, those games will hardly mean any GPU/CPU intensive problem for your setup..

referring to the games the OP play which are mostly Blizzard games..

and even better i'll quote myself in the post number 2, yes the direct answer to OP:..

uh... a lot, even with a 4K monitor.. how much exactly? depend on the game..

Clearly said "depend of the game."

 

[Cyph]

Eh, who the heck runs their CPU at stock anway? Most 3570K hits 4.4hz on stock voltage. Plus, Windows 10 will solve the CPU bandwidth issue. I wouldn't upgrade the CPU yet until Windows 10 come out with benchmarks.

 

[Araxie]

Eh, who the heck runs their CPU at stock anway? Most 3570K hits 4.4hz on stock voltage. Plus, Windows 10 will solve the CPU bandwidth issue. I wouldn't upgrade the CPU yet until Windows 10 come out with benchmarks.

you know the difference between a i5 750 and a i5 3570K Right? also the OP don't run the CPU at stock, but even overclocked to 3.8ghz will be a bottleneck for a 980TI....

 

[RamonGTP]

And still be a massive upgrade compared to his current card. Silly for a CPU upgrade now when Skylake will be here in September

 

[Araxie]

And still be a massive upgrade compared to his current card. Silly for a CPU upgrade now when Skylake will be here in September

that's correct, and that's the general conclusion, a CPU upgrade at this point would be silly.. and every recommendation are related to buy the card now and upgrade the entire platform later..

 

[Unknown-One]

what should I see in that review?.. I can show you one dedicated to 4K gaming.. where a i7 4930K perform slower than a i7 4770K being yes, a bottleneck.. what do you think a tiny old i5 750 can do to a 980TI?.. Review I know exactly how that CPU perform and also know the demands of 4K...

some images:
<snip>

Uh, something seems off there... it shows a 4770k consistently beating a 4930k. That makes zero sense.

Why would a 3.9 GHz Turbo, 6-core (12-thread) CPU with quad-channel RAM be outperformed by an inferior 3.9GHz Turbo, 4-core (8-thread) CPU with dual-channel RAM in those benchmarks?

 

[Araxie]

haswell have some features that make it better than ivy bridge.. but also add the clock advantage the 4770K boost up to 3.8ghz while the 4930K boost up to 3.6ghz, that little difference can be enough adding the 2 extra ejecutions unit per cycle than ivy bridge at high resolutions make a great difference (its like ROPs for CPU ) also the sequential and vectoring processing its about 10% faster in haswell vs ivy bridge.. which again also play a good role at high resolutions.. adding the average 10% IPC increased... ins't so abnormal at all... basically in multi-GPU solutions at higher resolutions haswell chip can feed faster the GPUs than Ivy bridge even if its a 6 core/12threads vs 4core/8threads...

EDIT: ah also.. depending on the motherboard manufacturer.. by default exist a option to keep the chip at max turbo clock... so probably the 4770K its getting turbo up to 3.9ghz..

 

[Unknown-One]

haswell have some features that make it better than ivy bridge.. but also add the clock advantage the 4770K boost up to 3.8ghz while the 4930K boost up to 3.6ghz, that little difference can be enough

Wrong, the 4770k and the 4930k both have exactly the same Turbo frequency, 3.9 GHz

...the sequential and vectoring processing its about 10% faster in haswell vs ivy bridge.. which again also play a good role at high resolutions.. adding the average 10% IPC increased...

Uh, you realize this isn't Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge, right? This is Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge-E...

The 4930k has more L2 cache (2MB vs 1MB)
The 4930k has more L3 cache (12MB vs 8MB)
The 4930k has more cores (6 vs 4)
The 4930k has more threads (12 vs 8)
The 4930k has more memory bandwidth (60,000 MB/s vs. 25,600 MB/s)
The 4930k has a better Passmark (Multi-core) score (13,000 vs 10,000)
The 4930k has more PCIe 3.0 lanes (40 vs 16)
...
The 4770k has a better Passmark (Single-core) score (2165 vs 2000 ... an 8% difference)

By almost every measure, the 4930k blows the 4770k out of the water. It has every advantage (including full native 16x/16x SLI bandwidth), there's NO reason it should be performing so much worse than a 4770k in those benchmarks.

 

[Shixon]

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

Why would he not get max performance out of the GPU? What CPU is needed to get max perf with a 980 Ti?

 

[w00t69]

Ill post this again. My 920 @ 4k was a huge bottleneck. Upgrading CPU gave me a higher frame rate in 90 percent of my games.

Were you running it at stock speeds or something? Mine was fine at 4.2 ghz.

 

[Araxie]

Wrong, the 4770k and the 4930k both have exactly the same Turbo frequency, 3.9 GHz


Uh, you realize this isn't Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge, right? This is Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge-E...

The 4930k has more L2 cache (2MB vs 1MB)
The 4930k has more L3 cache (12MB vs 8MB)
The 4930k has more cores (6 vs 4)
The 4930k has more threads (12 vs 8)
The 4930k has more memory bandwidth (60,000 MB/s vs. 25,600 MB/s)
The 4930k has a better Passmark (Multi-core) score (13,000 vs 10,000)
The 4930k has more PCIe 3.0 lanes (40 vs 16)
...
The 4770k has a better Passmark (Single-core) score (2165 vs 2000 ... an 8% difference)

By almost every measure, the 4930k blows the 4770k out of the water. It has every advantage (including full native 16x/16x SLI bandwidth), there's NO reason it should be performing so much worse than a 4770k in those benchmarks.

yes I know the chips.. i know what they are.. you are seeing the max turbo boost, but you must know how intel turbo boost work.. the max turbo boost are only in single thread load, and ivy bridge-E under 6 core loads just boost up to 3.5ghz and 3.6ghz if none of the hyperthreaded cores are under load.. the haswell 4770K can maintain a 3.8ghz under all cores load.. but again, I can also look for semi-oldie benchmarks where a i5 perform better than i7 4c/8t.. it just depend on how games are coded, and the same principle apply for.. in example the i7 4790K being a much better gaming chip than a i7 5960X.. and even the 5820K/5930K are better gaming chips.. than the 5960X being all haswell..

again all depend of the game tested.. look at this 2 graph:

Far cry 4: 4790K faster than 5960X

Pic

Battlefield 4: Both Tied

Pic

Metro Last Light: 5960X better.

Pic

Basically all turn to be dictated by the games.. and depending on the game suite a reviewer can dictate what kind of product want to favor.. we can debate this all the day.. but there are the numbers.. we can surf all the day looking for benchmarks to support and back our statements.. but at the end of the day we will be still in the same positions as every review is different. we know the 4930K its a overall superior product.. but in that review, at 4K it performed slower than a 4770K.

 

[Araxie]

Why would he not get max performance out of the GPU? What CPU is needed to get max perf with a 980 Ti?

Overclocked 2600K or stock 4790K.. overclocked 3570K..