[SOLVED] CPU for 1660 Ti?

[twsam0120]

I currently have i7 4790 + 1660 Ti 6GB + 16GB ram + 750W PSU, but most of the game even the old ones running slow on 1440p. Wondering which are the best CPU for 1660 Ti running on 1440p ?

I did some research from the bottleneck calculator sites and found out that Call of Duty Warzone is 100% bottlenecked by GPU which it only can deliver 50fps (tested with i5 9600 + 1660 To with 16GB ram)

These are the CPUs I've tested so far on the site. i5 9400 / 9600, i7 9700 / 9900.
And they don't actually have good results with 1440p but better results with 2160p.

Games I currently play, GTA V / Call of Duty Warzone, Microsoft Flight Simulator and in the future might be playing Far Cry 6.


And of course I'll be switching my MB as well if I switch my CPU, have one in mind already

 

[johnsoner13]

1. Bottleneck calculator sites are garbage (that means don’t use them)
2. CPU/GPU usage in games? At 1440p you’re more likely GPU bound

 

[TechyInAZ]

If your up to AMD options, I would recommend the Ryzen 5 3600 or Ryzen 3 3300X (depending on your price). Or if you can go high endish 3700X.

For Intel, I would personally go with 10th gen only, not 9th gen as most of the 9th gen chips don't have hyperthreading. I'd highly recommend the Core i5 10600K one of the strongest performers in gaming right now, and it beats the 10900K 10 core in gaming most of the time. (Not by a huge margin, maybe 1-2% but the fact that the 10600K is beating the 10900K at all is saying something.)

 

[twsam0120]

1. Bottleneck calculator sites are garbage (that means don’t use them)
2. CPU/GPU usage in games? At 1440p you’re more likely GPU bound

I'm getting about just 40-50% CPU/GPU usage playing GTA V on Normal settings, do have a solid 60 but with shutters sometimes and was having solid 60 with same CPU but 970 on high settings (1440p)

 

[twsam0120]

If your up to AMD options, I would recommend the Ryzen 5 3600 or Ryzen 3 3300X (depending on your price). Or if you can go high endish 3700X.

For Intel, I would personally go with 10th gen only, not 9th gen as most of the 9th gen chips don't have hyperthreading. I'd highly recommend the Core i5 10600K one of the strongest performers in gaming right now, and it beats the 10900K 10 core in gaming most of the time. (Not by a huge margin, maybe 1-2% but the fact that the 10600K is beating the 10900K at all is saying something.)

Ya, I never use a AMD before so I'm not pretty sure 😅😅 I'll go have a quick search on 10th gen with 1660 ti for GTA V and CODWZ

 

[RodroX]

At 1440p your limit factor turn to the GPU, still I think the GTX 1660 Ti should be enough for most games (you may need to lower some settings down on the newest titles).

The i7 4760 is a notebook CPU, are you 100% sure thats your CPU?

 

[thekillerx10]

from what i know an i7 3770 doesn't bottleneck the gtx 1070 if it is overclocked to 4.1 ghz and it is the same as yours so there shouldn't be any bottleneck, and normal setting in gta v doesn't consume 100% of the gpu i have tried it,and u are playing at 1440p like they said it is more gpu bound so you should be good,

but of course ryzen is better

 

[Turtle Rig]

If your up to AMD options, I would recommend the Ryzen 5 3600 or Ryzen 3 3300X (depending on your price). Or if you can go high endish 3700X.

For Intel, I would personally go with 10th gen only, not 9th gen as most of the 9th gen chips don't have hyperthreading. I'd highly recommend the Core i5 10600K one of the strongest performers in gaming right now, and it beats the 10900K 10 core in gaming most of the time. (Not by a huge margin, maybe 1-2% but the fact that the 10600K is beating the 10900K at all is saying something.)

I agree with the moderator on this one however just to let you know the 9900k is 100 bucks cheaper now and is still pretty much the best gaming CPU. If you go Intel build you will pay more however the RAM cost will be less at Intel tops out at 2933Mhz or 3200Mhz and doesn't care about anything higher where as AMD cares a lot. So with the AMD build you would want a 3600Mhz kit or 4000Mhz kit. Also I recommend a 16GB Kit for now then you can add the same kit again and fill up all 4 slots. TLDR 🤷🏽‍♂️

AMD CPU will be cheaper then a 9900k even tho the price dropped 100 dollars. Were talking 400 dollars 8 cores 16 threads and you can with one click push all core to 5Ghz or get a 10th gen 10700k, however if you have the funds get the 10900k with 10 cores 20 threads to be future proof. I would stay away from a 3600 AMD or 3300 as noted above as they will lack cores for future proofing and for recording or streaming games live. As for GPU the above guru is correct at 2k resolution the GPU becomes dependent.

At 1080p you can turn on AA methods and dial up game settings and nVidia panel settings and you will get your 60fps to match your monitors refresh rate. If you have a gaming monitor at 144Hz then you will need a 1080 or a 2070 Super to play at 2304x1440p or 2k resolution as they say with all nVidia panel settings set to on and highest and AA methods and MSAA etc. In game settings can be put to highest or even Ultra high depending on the AAA title. Some games will fly like CS:GO or PUBG while other games and newer titles will struggle to stay at 144fps all the time to match your monitor. However with these newer titles you will get even 180fps but will get dips to 100fps but if you have g-sync or freesync on your monitor then you will not notice any stutter or lag and it will be butter smooth. 👨🏽‍🦲🙉💯

 

[geofelt]

As above, bottleneck calculators are junk science.
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.

There is always a limiting factor in games, and it depends on the particular game.
Many games depend on fast single thread performance.
I think GTAV is one. Others would be sims, strategy games and mmo.
Fast action games depend on the graphics card most of all.
at 1440P and higher that is likely.
Multiplayer games need many threads if there are many participants.
It is hard for a game to effectively use more than the 8 threads you now have.

Here are some tests to try to clarify your options:
a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one or more cores/threads. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your game does not need all the threads you have.

What do you have in mind for an upgrade?
What is your budget?

If budget permits, look at the i5-10600k.
Here is a review:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5-10600k-cpu-review

 

[twsam0120]

At 1440p your limit factor turn to the GPU, still I think the GTX 1660 Ti should be enough for most games (you may need to lower some settings down on the newest titles).

The i7 4760 is a notebook CPU, are you 100% sure thats your CPU?

Sry is 4790, I've corrected

 

[twsam0120]

As above, bottleneck calculators are junk science.
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.

There is always a limiting factor in games, and it depends on the particular game.
Many games depend on fast single thread performance.
I think GTAV is one. Others would be sims, strategy games and mmo.
Fast action games depend on the graphics card most of all.
at 1440P and higher that is likely.
Multiplayer games need many threads if there are many participants.
It is hard for a game to effectively use more than the 8 threads you now have.

Here are some tests to try to clarify your options:
a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one or more cores/threads. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your game does not need all the threads you have.

What do you have in mind for an upgrade?
What is your budget?

If budget permits, look at the i5-10600k.
Here is a review:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5-10600k-cpu-review

I've tested in 1080p 720p or even lower res. All these res expect 1440p will drop fps like crazy. Both CPU GPU at 20% usage. Does that mean the CPU not giving much per to GPU ? Cuz 4790 is a really old CPU now.also I think I only can (could) spend total of $700CAD on MB / RAM and CPU. Haven't check the price of each CPU you guys recommended yet

 

[twsam0120]

I agree with the moderator on this one however just to let you know the 9900k is 100 bucks cheaper now and is still pretty much the best gaming CPU. If you go Intel build you will pay more however the RAM cost will be less at Intel tops out at 2933Mhz or 3200Mhz and doesn't care about anything higher where as AMD cares a lot. So with the AMD build you would want a 3600Mhz kit or 4000Mhz kit. Also I recommend a 16GB Kit for now then you can add the same kit again and fill up all 4 slots. TLDR 🤷🏽‍♂️

AMD CPU will be cheaper then a 9900k even tho the price dropped 100 dollars. Were talking 400 dollars 8 cores 16 threads and you can with one click push all core to 5Ghz or get a 10th gen 10700k, however if you have the funds get the 10900k with 10 cores 20 threads to be future proof. I would stay away from a 3600 AMD or 3300 as noted above as they will lack cores for future proofing and for recording or streaming games live. As for GPU the above guru is correct at 2k resolution the GPU becomes dependent.

At 1080p you can turn on AA methods and dial up game settings and nVidia panel settings and you will get your 60fps to match your monitors refresh rate. If you have a gaming monitor at 144Hz then you will need a 1080 or a 2070 Super to play at 2304x1440p or 2k resolution as they say with all nVidia panel settings set to on and highest and AA methods and MSAA etc. In game settings can be put to highest or even Ultra high depending on the AAA title. Some games will fly like CS:GO or PUBG while other games and newer titles will struggle to stay at 144fps all the time to match your monitor. However with these newer titles you will get even 180fps but will get dips to 100fps but if you have g-sync or freesync on your monitor then you will not notice any stutter or lag and it will be butter smooth. 👨🏽‍🦲🙉💯

Ok, I'll definitely have a look for AMD CPU, maybe it might be a game changer with more cores and threads but cheaper than Intel. If I don't want to afford too much

 

[Turtle Rig]

Ok, I'll definitely have a look for AMD CPU, maybe it might be a game changer with more cores and threads but cheaper than Intel. If I don't want to afford too much

Defintely my friend, and right now more cores are important because first off games don't poroperly use CPU cores especially threads. I don't think there is a title out or maybe few which use hyperthreading or AMDs SMT. Because if you buy a 8 core you get 16 threads.

So that thread is not a physical CPU core but it is technology that gets unlocked when you use HT or SMT apps like Photoshop Premiere, AutocCad, 3D Modeling, Illustrator. However a lot of people grab a 9700k as it has 8 cores and 8 threads.. so thats 8 cores and no HTing. That is great for the gamer but not so great if you use those above profesional apps or you use what I use for my DAW. I mean a app will show the threads being worked on a HT machine like a 9900k or a 10700k or 10900k to be recent in CPU's and AMDs 3xxx series especially the 3900x and 3950x, the 3900x can be had for 450 bucks if you search hard enough. TLDR

Couple that with a 150 dollar motherboard and 80 bucks for 16GB 3600Mhz kit you would be set with 12 cores and 24 threads for many many years to come. All you would have to worry about is video card upgrades for a long time to come especially now in these slow covid times. All technology has been pushed back in a way. My recommendation would be grab a 3900x a B450 ready for 3xxx series mobo and G.Skill RipJaws 3600Mhz 16GB RAM Kit and in the future you can upgrade and buy the same kit and fill all four slots on the motherboard. This along with SSD will give you killer performance that 1660Ti will perform at its peakest level and then some. At this point your system becomes GPU depending and that is what we want. Eventually one day when you upgrade your video card be it in a year or couple years or 10 years your CPU will thank you by dishing out the FPS doing all the grunt work AI, Audio, Programming, Objects on the screen and information, while the video card is responsible for allowing you to roam in a free 3D world and will give you good FPS once the CPU is happy doing what it has to do or else the GPU falls behind. So ya getting a 3900x and a 150 dollars B450 3xxx series ready motherboard and 16GB 3600Mhz may sound exdtreme, it is not because youll be future proof and plus you will amke your 1660Ti very happy, and your future video card will be happy as well and dish out 144FPS at you. Thank you, 💯👨🏽‍🦲

 

[RodroX]

@Turtle Rig,

There are lots of titles out there that already use lots of threads (even some that are really not soo new).
But you are right on that theres no need for soo many threads yet. Any decent 6 cores/12 threads will be enough for any game out there right now with any GPU.
We have to wait and see what the new consoles and the new nvidia GPUs bring to the table, but thats far away from now.

Just to name a few games I tested myself that use all my 12 threads: R6S, SOTR, BF1, BF5, Dying LIght.

Those threads do come in handy when gaming and streaming/recording for example.

 

[Turtle Rig]

@Turtle Rig,

There are lots of titles out there that already use lots of threads (even some that are really not soo new).
But you are right on that theres no need for soo many threads yet. Any decent 6 cores/12 threads will be enough for any game out there right now with any GPU.
We have to wait and see what the new consoles and the new nvidia GPUs bring to the table, but thats far away from now.

Just to name a few games I tested myself that use all my 12 threads: R6S, SOTR, BF1, BF5, Dying LIght.

Those threads do come in handy when gaming and streaming/recording for example.

Thanks for the reply I figured there were just a couple games that supported it but eventually every game will and take full advantage of hyperthreading or SMT. Like you said not anytime soon which is why for the gamer and general desktop user the 9700K is such a popular processor.

 

[twsam0120]

After few days of research and watch all those YouTube vids, I've decided to go with those parts. The AMD CPU definitely more cheap and has more threads compared to those Intel CPU. But I might be upgrading again in the future again. since I used Intel all my life lol

Will these parts work fine together ? (Plus my current Aorus 1660 Ti 6GB)

 

[RodroX]

After few days of research and watch all those YouTube vids, I've decided to go with those parts. The AMD CPU definitely more cheap and has more threads compared to those Intel CPU. But I might be upgrading again in the future again. since I used Intel all my life lol

Will these parts work fine together ? (Plus my current Aorus 1660 Ti 6GB)

ok, but .... sorry Im kinda lost, what AMD parts exactly?, cause we named quite a few in this thread lol

 

[twsam0120]

ok, but .... sorry Im kinda lost, what AMD parts exactly?, cause we named quite a few in this thread lol

3300/ 3600/X 3900/X also checked 2700X

 

[RodroX]

oh ok, I see, for me the Ryzen 7 3700X is like in the sweet spot between "future proof" (if theres such a thing) and overall decent price. Performance wise in gaming its in pair with the Ryzen 9 3900X.

You just ened to pick a nice B550/X570 motherboard + some (at least) 2x8GB DDR4 3200 CL16 RAM kit (been DDR4 3600 not a bad idea right now if price is decent like it usually is lately).

But hey, thats my humble opinion, you have your budget and there are lots of options.

Im really happy with the R5 3600 + RTX 2070, soo far I haven't found any game that does not run at highest setting 1440p @ 60Hz.

The only thing I kinda regret is my motherboard choice, but on the other hand there weren't many to pick from when I got this one, more than 1 year ago now.

Two weeks ago I put togheter a PC for my brother witht he Asus X570 Tuf Gaming Plus and everything felt just right.... I guess is my fault for sticking with Asus for soo many years (been building PC with Asus for over 15 years lol).

 

[twsam0120]

I was thinking getting a i9 9900 but since I have 1660 Ti not RTX card so I went for the parts I posted. I7 9700K + Aorus Z390 Elite + G.Skill 32GB 3200Mhz (the sniper one) total cost $888.14CAD after tax....I think if I go for AMD I could save at least $100 - $150? But with extra hundred I get the brand I want so it seems fair to me. But still, thanks you all for the information. Took me 2 weeks of research to check which CPU / MB / RAM that best fits my need

 

[theonerm2]

If you went with AMD you could get a Ryzen 5 3600 which kinda comes close to an i7 9700K and a B450 or B550 motherboard. If you think you'll want PCI-E4.0 later on I'd get the B550. If you stick with Intel and wanna upgrade your GPU later you're kinda going to hit a wall if GPU's get a whole lot more powerful and fully saturate PCI-E 3.0.

 

[twsam0120]

From what i know an i7 3770 doesn't bottleneck the gtx 1070 if it is overclocked to 4.1 ghz and it is the same as yours so there shouldn't be any bottleneck

Honestly, I'm not pretty sure does bottleneck really exist or not, some said there's no such thing as bottleneck but some said there is. Well I get solid 60fps with i7 4790 + 970 + 16GB ram when playing GTA V 1440p on Very high setting. 45-50 FPS on Normal settings with 1660Ti. I haven't test the fps with the spec I have now, which is i7 9700 + 1660 Ti + 32GB ram.

 

[twsam0120]

If you went with AMD you could get a Ryzen 5 3600 which kinda comes close to an i7 9700K and a B450 or B550 motherboard. If you think you'll want PCI-E4.0 later on I'd get the B550. If you stick with Intel and wanna upgrade your GPU later you're kinda going to hit a wall if GPU's get a whole lot more powerful and fully saturate PCI-E 3.0.

Ya I have thought about that, but I went for Intel with z390 🙁 I'm still mess around with the settings and tweaks with it rn.