Dec 28, 2020
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Hello everyone, right now I am using a I7-4790 processor with a Asus Q87M-E motherboard. I am also using a GTX 1080. I have noticed that my cpu gets very hot and seems to bottleneck my gpu by about 19%. Is there any direct upgrades that I should do in the Intel sector or is it worth switching to Ryzen? I would prefer staying on intel as it would mean not having to replace my motherboard right? Any advice on which intel or Ryzen cpu would be greatly appreciated :)
 
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So I just replace the thermal paste? Is it the same one that you use on your GPU?

Yes. Use a spot about the size of a pea, it does not take much. Note that some TIM is garbage, however several are good including Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut [one of the best], GELID GC-EXTREME is just behind Thermal Grizzly, Arctic MX-4 is still good, and bringing up the rear, but still usable, are products like the old Prolimatech PK-1. You can search YouTube for best thermal interface material TIM for CPU. Remove the old TIM from the CPU and cooler first, at the very least use Alcohol, there are better options however that is what many people use. You can search YouTube for how to remove TIM from a CPU.

QwerkyPengwen

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I would not recommend wasting money on getting another 4th gen Intel CPU, especially since your only "upgrade" would be to get a K series to be able to overclock it and get more performance out of it, which would require getting a new motherboard anyways.

To get more performance you need to replace the CPU with one that has better performance, or can be overclocked to have better performance, and get a motherboard to go with it since any worthwhile upgrade will require a new motherboard regardless.

If you want to stay with Intel you can always upgrade to something used that isn't the newest thing on the market but is newer than what you have and is a K series CPU along with a Z series mobo to go with it for overclocking, otherwise, Ryzen is where it's at for you, and you don't necessarily have to get the latest and greatest, you can opt for saving a little bit of money and get used 1st or 2nd gen Ryzen with a mobo from somebody who has upgraded and is selling off their old parts.
 
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Dec 28, 2020
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How did you come up with your cpu bottlenecks by 19%. If you used one of those bottleneck calculators then ignore it, they are complete misleading garbage. Are you actually having issues with game performance? If yes then explain it and we can try and advise if a cpu upgrade is beneficial.
Hey, whenever I play warzone I never get over 60 FPS. I tried changing my graphics settings but it doesn’t make a difference if I play on high or low settings
 

QwerkyPengwen

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Hey, whenever I play warzone I never get over 60 FPS. I tried changing my graphics settings but it doesn’t make a difference if I play on high or low settings
If your monitor is high refresh rate, make sure in game that you don't have an FPS limiter set to 60 or that you don't have VSync on or both.
If you have high refresh rate monitor, but in game it says it's at 60hz and is greyed out, switch from borderless to exclusive full screen mode, then change it to a higher refresh rate option then you can switch it back to borderless if you like.

Also make sure that if you have a high refresh rate monitor, that you actually have it set to be operating at high refresh rate.
Go into Nvidia control panel, go to resolution options on the left, and make sure it's set to the highest refresh rate it supports.
 
Thermal interface material [TIM] also known as paste should be applied after the first year, and it is recommended every year. One reason that CPUs get hotter over the years is the IHS [integrated heat spreader] warps and a new layer of TIM will fill the gaps, or at least do a better job of filling the gaps. Even the expensive stuff like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut should be affordable enough to use. And, always store TIM with the end of the tube pointing down, it will last for many years that way. You should be able to check your fan speed on the CPU cooler if it has a 4 pin cable and a chip on the motherboard that reads the data, with the free program HWiNFO64.
 
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Hey, whenever I play warzone I never get over 60 FPS. I tried changing my graphics settings but it doesn’t make a difference if I play on high or low settings
Ok. What is the cpu usage on all cores? Do any individual cores hit 100%? What speed (GHz) is the cpu while in game?

You may be seeing the limits of your cpu in this game. This game will use 12 cpu threads when available and your cpu is an older 8 thread.
 
Dec 28, 2020
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Ok. What is the cpu usage on all cores? Do any individual cores hit 100%? What speed (GHz) is the cpu while in game?

You may be seeing the limits of your cpu in this game. This game will use 12 cpu threads when available and your cpu is an older 8 thread.
That makes sense, however I’ve seen YouTube videos benchmarking the game and they use the same CPU. They seem to get far better performance results tho.
 
Dec 28, 2020
25
1
35
Thermal interface material [TIM] also known as paste should be applied after the first year, and it is recommended every year. One reason that CPUs get hotter over the years is the IHS [integrated heat spreader] warps and a new layer of TIM will fill the gaps, or at least do a better job of filling the gaps. Even the expensive stuff like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut should be affordable enough to use. And, always store TIM with the end of the tube pointing down, it will last for many years that way. You should be able to check your fan speed on the CPU cooler if it has a 4 pin cable and a chip on the motherboard that reads the data, with the free program HWiNFO64.
So I just replace the thermal paste? Is it the same one that you use on your GPU?
 
So I just replace the thermal paste? Is it the same one that you use on your GPU?

Yes. Use a spot about the size of a pea, it does not take much. Note that some TIM is garbage, however several are good including Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut [one of the best], GELID GC-EXTREME is just behind Thermal Grizzly, Arctic MX-4 is still good, and bringing up the rear, but still usable, are products like the old Prolimatech PK-1. You can search YouTube for best thermal interface material TIM for CPU. Remove the old TIM from the CPU and cooler first, at the very least use Alcohol, there are better options however that is what many people use. You can search YouTube for how to remove TIM from a CPU.
 
Solution