Can my CPU bottleneck my GPU even if it doesn't seem like it is

[Gilles P]

Hi,
I bought a graphics card a few months ago, and lots of my freinds told me my old CPU would bottleneck my brand new GPU.
When gaming , my GPU gets to about 99-100% load, while my CPU usually stays at about 40-50% load (even core by core it stays well below 60%). Would it be possible though that my CPU is bottlenecking my GPU despite these results? My GPU also tends to get hot, but I think I know an other reson for that if it is not the CPU bottlenecking it...

By the way :
my cpu is a 5yo. I7-2600 (non-K)
and my gpu is a iChill 980ti black (it is a hybrid card, but for the moment the rad is blowing hot air on the gpu itself, i am planning to change that soon)

 

[lonewolf7]

You got a beast of a CPU, so I am kind of sure CPU will not bottleneck the GPU.

In simple terms:

if your CPU usage is high and GPU usage is low, then CPU is bottlenecking the GPU
if your GPU usage is high and CPU usage is low, then GPU hitting its ceiling means bottlenecking

You can use MSI afterburner to see real time usage/load of GPU while you game.

And some features like VSync can lower the usage of GPU utilization but that doesn't mean the GPU is bottlenecked.

Good luck.

 

[Gilles P]

You got a beast of a CPU, so I am kind of sure CPU will not bottleneck the GPU.

In simple terms:

if your CPU usage is high and GPU usage is low, then CPU is bottlenecking the GPU
if your GPU usage is high and CPU usage is low, then GPU hitting its ceiling means bottlenecking

You can use MSI afterburner to see real time usage/load of GPU while you game.

And some features like VSync can lower the usage of GPU utilization but that doesn't mean the GPU is bottlenecked.

Good luck.

Thank you
MSI Afterburner is showing the 99 to 100% usage, that's where those numbers come from...
And with a cpu this old still handling pretty much the most powerfull single-GPU on the market (or allmost) I don't get why people tend to go for a high end CPU without going SLI, it's really not necessary.

 

[lonewolf7]

A single powerful card (GPU) is better on your rig, and you have that, so why bother about SLI. If I were you I wouldn't opt for a SLI. Good luck.

 

[Gilles P]

A single powerful card (GPU) is better on your rig, and you have that, so why bother about SLI. If I were you I wouldn't opt for a SLI. Good luck.

i'm not going to, it's just that I think this cpu would meet it's limits only whit a big sli config, otherwise it's just fine

 

[lonewolf7]

As I said in my first post you got a damn good CPU, since its non-K I assume you are using a non- K MB as well, if that's true then you may have got 2 PCI-E slots one running x16 speed and the other one may run x8 or x4 speed, so you are not going to get the full speed with SLI. Besides you need a good PSU with atleast 750 800w or more to run the cards. If you CPU was K version then I would say OC it to 4.5 GHz and then SLI, you surely would gain ~50%, but that is not the current situation for you.

SLI performance increase over a single card will vary with the game and other variables. And there is micro-shutter in SLI lets not forget that. So no need to push the system further as you can get 60FPS in any game, except RPG/MMO's.
Most non-K MB's doesn't have the feature of SLI. Good luck and Merry X-mas.