Are my older parts holding my new GPU back?

[MegaGherkin]

Specs;
GPU - Geforce GTX 970
CPU - AMD A10-6790K APU with Radeon HD Graphics
Board - Gigabyte A88XM-DS2
16 GB RAM
1080, 60Hz
Windows 7 Pro

I've recently installed a MSI GTX 970 GPU and it's just not performing, do I need to look at upgrading my motherboard and CPU now? Would that be what's holding it back?

 

[Sergeant_Sneaky]

Your CPU is a big bottleneck on the GTX 970, I'd recommend an upgrade to a 4th gen i5 or a new AMD CPU.

 

[Mysticking32]

It's definitely the cpu. You can overclock your apu to decrease the bottleneck. But that is indeed what is holding it back.

 

[MegaGherkin]

Your CPU is a big bottleneck on the GTX 970, I'd recommend an upgrade to a 4th gen i5 or a new AMD CPU.

Okay thanks for that I was reading online and everyone says Intel are best for gaming processors but then I'd need a new motherboard too, how much should I roughly spend on a motherboard?

 

[Sergeant_Sneaky]

Your CPU is a big bottleneck on the GTX 970, I'd recommend an upgrade to a 4th gen i5 or a new AMD CPU.

Okay thanks for that I was reading online and everyone says Intel are best for gaming processors but then I'd need a new motherboard too, how much should I roughly spend on a motherboard?

Would you be overclocking? You can get my motherboard for £90 (Gigabyte Z97x-SLI). This also supports SLI as suggested in the name, just in case you decide to SLI later, it's socket 1150

 

[MegaGherkin]

Your CPU is a big bottleneck on the GTX 970, I'd recommend an upgrade to a 4th gen i5 or a new AMD CPU.

Okay thanks for that I was reading online and everyone says Intel are best for gaming processors but then I'd need a new motherboard too, how much should I roughly spend on a motherboard?

Would you be overclocking? You can get my motherboard for £90 (Gigabyte Z97x-SLI). This also supports SLI as suggested in the name, just in case you decide to SLI later, it's socket 1150

Yes I'm just looking at overclocking the graphics card now but unsure how far I can take it using the MSI Afterburner, that my next question, I've never overclocked a graphics card before so don't want to break it... Thanks for the motherboard looks ideal and good price.

 

[Sergeant_Sneaky]

Your CPU is a big bottleneck on the GTX 970, I'd recommend an upgrade to a 4th gen i5 or a new AMD CPU.

Okay thanks for that I was reading online and everyone says Intel are best for gaming processors but then I'd need a new motherboard too, how much should I roughly spend on a motherboard?

Would you be overclocking? You can get my motherboard for £90 (Gigabyte Z97x-SLI). This also supports SLI as suggested in the name, just in case you decide to SLI later, it's socket 1150

Yes I'm just looking at overclocking the graphics card now but unsure how far I can take it using the MSI Afterburner, that my next question, I've never overclocked a graphics card before so don't want to break it... Thanks for the motherboard looks ideal and good price.

I personally got my GTX 970 to 1500mhz on stock voltage, but it's different for each chip. The best thing to do is add 10Mhz on to the core clock and stress test it, keeping an eye on the temps and if it doesn't crash/artifact, add 10mhz more on and repeat, once it crashes/artifacts, drop it down 10mhz and stress test it for longer to test for 100% stability.

You can do the same with the memory clock after you have found a stable core overclock but memory doesn't improve performance as much as core.