[SOLVED] GTX 1060 bottleneck?

[xRebruw]

Hello there. Today I was experiencing low fps in various games; League of Legends and Overwatch.

I think that the main problem could be my CPU, Which is an old; i7-4790.
I have 8GB ram atm too.

My fps in LoL: 80-170 ( near the end of the game its like barely 60)

Overwatch: Constant 80fps on the highest graphics, but there are massive freezes
My GPU is an MSI GTX 1060 6gb GDDR5X

 

[cdrkf]

Hello there. Today I was experiencing low fps in various games; League of Legends and Overwatch.

I think that the main problem could be my CPU, Which is an old; i7-4790.
I have 8GB ram atm too.

My fps in LoL: 80-170 ( near the end of the game its like barely 60)

Overwatch: Constant 80fps on the highest graphics, but there are massive freezes
My GPU is an MSI GTX 1060 6gb GDDR5X

The i7 4790 is still a capable gaming cpu and should be fast enough to keep the 1060 fed imo (possibly not in Lol as that game isn't very well optimised to use multiple cores).

You shouldn't be getting massive freezes - that sounds like a fault rather than the cpu being too slow, although 8gb of ram is a bit low these days (especially if you have other stuff going on in the background). Adding an extra 8gb stick to take it up to 16gb would be a good idea and not a very expensive upgrade.

I would also suggest doing a health check on your machine - what temps are the cpu, motherboard and gpu running at? The heat sinks will probably need cleaning and a machine of that age will probably need new thermal paste applying to the cpu.

I would also do a clean install of your graphics drivers (download and install the 'DDU' driver utility to fully uninstall your graphics drivers, then do a fresh install of the latest drivers from nVidia) and check to make sure you have the latest motherboard chipset drivers installed. Also check to make sure the bios is up to date.

 

[xRebruw]

The i7 4790 is still a capable gaming cpu and should be fast enough to keep the 1060 fed imo (possibly not in Lol as that game isn't very well optimised to use multiple cores).

You shouldn't be getting massive freezes - that sounds like a fault rather than the cpu being too slow, although 8gb of ram is a bit low these days (especially if you have other stuff going on in the background). Adding an extra 8gb stick to take it up to 16gb would be a good idea and not a very expensive upgrade.

I would also suggest doing a health check on your machine - what temps are the cpu, motherboard and gpu running at? The heat sinks will probably need cleaning and a machine of that age will probably need new thermal paste applying to the cpu.

I would also do a clean install of your graphics drivers (download and install the 'DDU' driver utility to fully uninstall your graphics drivers, then do a fresh install of the latest drivers from nVidia) and check to make sure you have the latest motherboard chipset drivers installed. Also check to make sure the bios is up to date.

Hello, thanks for replying. My usual CPU temp is around 70-85 C° MAX. My GPU's temps are around 60-70C° MAX

 

[xRebruw]

The i7 4790 is still a capable gaming cpu and should be fast enough to keep the 1060 fed imo (possibly not in Lol as that game isn't very well optimised to use multiple cores).

You shouldn't be getting massive freezes - that sounds like a fault rather than the cpu being too slow, although 8gb of ram is a bit low these days (especially if you have other stuff going on in the background). Adding an extra 8gb stick to take it up to 16gb would be a good idea and not a very expensive upgrade.

I would also suggest doing a health check on your machine - what temps are the cpu, motherboard and gpu running at? The heat sinks will probably need cleaning and a machine of that age will probably need new thermal paste applying to the cpu.

I would also do a clean install of your graphics drivers (download and install the 'DDU' driver utility to fully uninstall your graphics drivers, then do a fresh install of the latest drivers from nVidia) and check to make sure you have the latest motherboard chipset drivers installed. Also check to make sure the bios is up to date.

And the games only using 50% of the GPU usually

 

[cdrkf]

And the games only using 50% of the GPU usually

Have a look at this vid: This is Overwatch on the 4790 + a GTX 970 at ultra...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6_rQJ4EUlk


That is getting ~ 130fps, There are also vids of people using the 4790 with a 1070 and looks to be getting very high frame rates and no freezes. What are your other system specs (motherboard, power supply)?

Also temps wise, 85 is pretty high, not sure what temp the 4790 throttles at but might want to look at the cooling as really the cpu should be running at under 70 while gaming to ensure no slow downs.

 

[xRebruw]

Have a look at this vid: This is Overwatch on the 4790 + a GTX 970 at ultra...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6_rQJ4EUlk


That is getting ~ 130fps, There are also vids of people using the 4790 with a 1070 and looks to be getting very high frame rates and no freezes. What are your other system specs (motherboard, power supply)?

Also temps wise, 85 is pretty high, not sure what temp the 4790 throttles at but might want to look at the cooling as really the cpu should be running at under 70 while gaming to ensure no slow downs.

I have a No name? PSU rn 500W

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

To addendum the adding another 8gb ram stick comment, only do this if you are currently running a single 8gb stick.
Furthermore, ensure that whatever stick you add in is rated to run at the same exact speed AND timings as your current stick to ensure as much compatibility as possible.
But even then, compatibility is not guaranteed.
For increased amount of ram and increased ram performance I highly suggest getting a 16gb kit of 2x8gb sticks so that the two sticks are guaranteed to work together.

As mentioned, 85c Max under normal gaming load and not during a stress test is pretty dang hot. However, since you did not mention the CPU being a K variant I have to assume you are using the stock cooler. Improving your cooling situation would most likely help in regards to the CPU temps. This can easily be achieved very cheap with something like a hyper 212 Evo.
Also though, case airflow is very important as well.
You should have as least two fans, one at the front for intake and one at the back for exhaust, but more fans is better.

The 1060 being at 50% load when playing overwatch doesn't sound right.
If you crank the graphics up does the load increase?
If not, can you see what load your CPU is at? If the CPU is not at full capacity then I would definitely look into doing the DDU thing for drivers.
Otherwise, something is wrong that is causing your CPU to get fully loaded down when it shouldn't be.

It's possible your no name power supply is not able to adequately supply power to your graphics card as well.

 

[cdrkf]

I have a No name? PSU rn 500W

Sounds like the PSU could be a problem - unbranded 500W supplies often don't actually supply 500W (or can't sustain it reliably)... often they wouldn't even boot once you try and run on a discrete gpu.

I would suggest investing in a better PSU... although it's important we know the motherboard / details of the system first... Is this a machine you built (or had built for you), or is this a branded system e.g. a Dell or HP etc? If the latter those machines often use propitiatory motherboard connectors which complicates upgrading the PSU (usually you can get an adaptor).

 

[xRebruw]

To addendum the adding another 8gb ram stick comment, only do this if you are currently running a single 8gb stick.
Furthermore, ensure that whatever stick you add in is rated to run at the same exact speed AND timings as your current stick to ensure as much compatibility as possible.
But even then, compatibility is not guaranteed.
For increased amount of ram and increased ram performance I highly suggest getting a 16gb kit of 2x8gb sticks so that the two sticks are guaranteed to work together.

As mentioned, 85c Max under normal gaming load and not during a stress test is pretty dang hot. However, since you did not mention the CPU being a K variant I have to assume you are using the stock cooler. Improving your cooling situation would most likely help in regards to the CPU temps. This can easily be achieved very cheap with something like a hyper 212 Evo.
Also though, case airflow is very important as well.
You should have as least two fans, one at the front for intake and one at the back for exhaust, but more fans is better.

The 1060 being at 50% load when playing overwatch doesn't sound right.
If you crank the graphics up does the load increase?
If not, can you see what load your CPU is at? If the CPU is not at full capacity then I would definitely look into doing the DDU thing for drivers.
Otherwise, something is wrong that is causing your CPU to get fully loaded down when it shouldn't be.

It's possible your no name power supply is not able to adequately supply power to your graphics card as well.

ATM I have 2x4gb ddr3 ram, and a Zalman Z1 Neo case, (I'm definetily going to switch from this case though) With the CPU, its the nearly same thing, never gets to 100% only to like 60-70%

 

[xRebruw]

Sounds like the PSU could be a problem - unbranded 500W supplies often don't actually supply 500W (or can't sustain it reliably)... often they wouldn't even boot once you try and run on a discrete gpu.

I would suggest investing in a better PSU... although it's important we know the motherboard / details of the system first... Is this a machine you built (or had built for you), or is this a branded system e.g. a Dell or HP etc? If the latter those machines often use propitiatory motherboard connectors which complicates upgrading the PSU (usually you can get an adaptor).

This system was originally built, which had a gtx 1050 2gb, and a pretty crappy case. My father bought this for me, when his friend said, that the titles I want to run with it will be smooth. (They vere smooth at that time) This doesnt have any brainding on it, its a config I guess.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

yeah. if not hitting more than 70% load on the CPU, the CPU should not be running that hot.
and your GPU should be hitting 90-100% in this regard.
you can try DDU for the graphics drivers, but I would also take a look at the cooler on your CPU.
if it's a stock cooler I would suggest upgrading it to save your CPU from dying on you at some point too soon.
if it's an aftermarket cooler that looks decent, then you might need to take it off, clean the paste, and apply new paste.

power supply though is kind of funky looking to me with it being no name as you say.
definitely would take a closer look at it for any branding or information, but it could be the PSU not delivering enough juice reliably for the GPU to maintain a higher load on its cores.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

so I would say start with DDU and doing the graphics drivers first.
then if that doesn't work, I would suggest resetting the BIOS and then upgrading it to it's latest version.
if that does nothing, I would then further recommend a clean install of Windows.
if still nothing then I would consider spending money on a better quality PSU.

the CPU temperatures are an additional thing to consider. Not for fixing the issue you're having with your GPU in games, but in general just for the sake of your CPU's health.