[SOLVED] GPU too weak for CPU

Alex_473

Reputable
Jul 17, 2017
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4,510
Okay so my system at the moment is GTX 1060 6GB, I7 4790K (1150), 8GB RAM ~~1700MHZ. I really badly want to upgrade my RAM, but the DDR3 RAM isn't a really good long-term investition, so I decided to upgrade my motherboard and CPU as well. Noticed that the ryzen 5 3600x is a really good deal, but I'm pretty sure that my 1060 will be kind of weak. My question is - in the gaming universe, what exactly will happen and how badly will it affect my gaming experience? Am I going to feel an upgrade? Of course I'm thinkig about buying that amd radeon rx 5700 in the future (like an year or so when I can afford it, maybe the prices will drop). I accept better options for an upgrade of course.
 
Solution
For games that are highly CPU dependent, especially if they are well optimized for threaded performance, you'll notice a moderate bump in performance. For games that are mostly only going to use one or two cores, especially if it's a game that is mainly GPU dependent, you won't notice much difference until the graphics card is upgraded, and then you might notice a difference on both fronts, because if it's a GPU dependent title and you upgrade to a more capable GPU then it might also tend to require a little more out of your CPU.

Mostly though, you will only notice a big difference on games that can use more than four cores OR if you are gaming WHILE recording or streaming, or both.
For games that are highly CPU dependent, especially if they are well optimized for threaded performance, you'll notice a moderate bump in performance. For games that are mostly only going to use one or two cores, especially if it's a game that is mainly GPU dependent, you won't notice much difference until the graphics card is upgraded, and then you might notice a difference on both fronts, because if it's a GPU dependent title and you upgrade to a more capable GPU then it might also tend to require a little more out of your CPU.

Mostly though, you will only notice a big difference on games that can use more than four cores OR if you are gaming WHILE recording or streaming, or both.
 
Solution

Alex_473

Reputable
Jul 17, 2017
16
0
4,510
For games that are highly CPU dependent, especially if they are well optimized for threaded performance, you'll notice a moderate bump in performance. For games that are mostly only going to use one or two cores, especially if it's a game that is mainly GPU dependent, you won't notice much difference until the graphics card is upgraded, and then you might notice a difference on both fronts, because if it's a GPU dependent title and you upgrade to a more capable GPU then it might also tend to require a little more out of your CPU.

Mostly though, you will only notice a big difference on games that can use more than four cores OR if you are gaming WHILE recording or streaming, or both.


So it won't cause any damage to the GPU? And how can I check if the game is GPU dependent? I'm mostly doing that for WoW, since my load time is really high, cuz of my RAM.
 

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
So it won't cause any damage to the GPU? And how can I check if the game is GPU dependent? I'm mostly doing that for WoW, since my load time is really high, cuz of my RAM.
There is no damage done by one component bottlenecking another. It simply means the strong component can benefit from a better 2nd component. Darkbreeze covered it pretty well. You'll game slightly better in CPU-intensive games, and see no difference in others... until you upgrade the GPU.
 
As clutchc stated, there is never any damage from hardware not being well balanced in terms of performance.

Now, getting crappy low quality power supply, THAT is a different story. A poor quality power supply can ABSOLUTELY cause damage to hardware. If you're worried about damage to your hardware then the FIRST thing you want to do is make sure you have a power supply with substantially good quality. Skimping on the PSU generally never turns out well.

As far as the rest, you might not get the greatest performance when something is lacking, but it's not going to hurt anything other than your feelings.