If i upgrade my GFX to gtx 780 ti will it be bottle necked by my CPU?

[Henil Jain]

Hey guys,
I am planning on upgrading my PC. But i don't want to go all out, unless i have to.
So my PC specs are as following:
CPU- 975 amd phenom II
RAM- 16 gigs
GFX- HD 5770 sapphire OC
Hard disk- 1 TB~
PSU- 750W corsair
MOBO- ASUS M81(not sure)
2 monitors 20"~
Now I don't really need to upgrade anything for the type of games ill be playing like Wildstar, skyrim, ESO, LoL... but i want to try them at ultra setting because it feels like i am missing out on some of the aspects

I did some research on my own about bottleneck. But i couldn't find a whole lot of difference between AMD 975 and i5-3570k. other than the higher clock multiplier on Intel. Not sure if that would make a big difference for the 780 ti card.

Sorry for rambling but do you guys think my CPU will bottleneck a gtx 780ti?
Thanks,
Henil Jain

 

[VincentP]

I guess you were trying to compare statistics like clock speed and number of cores between those CPUs.
They have a different architecture and aren't comparable like that.
Here are the CPU mark results for these CPUs:
AMD Phenom II X4 975 - 4631
Intel Core i5 3570K - 7121
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

The core i5 is a much faster CPU.
Saying that though, it shouldn't stop you playing those games with ultra graphics settings.
The higher settings tax the graphics card, not the CPU.

Also, a GTX 770 will allow ultra settings at 1920x1080 resolution.
There is no need to go to a GTX 780 Ti.
A Radeon R9 280X is another option.
The R9 280X comes with 3GB of memory, which could be useful if you use mods in Skyrim to improve the graphics (thoroughly recommended).
I have a GTX 770 and occasionally Skyrim lags really badly when entering a new area.
It could be exceeding the 2GB memory limit, or it could just be badly optimised mods.
Either way, the processing power of the GTX 770 isn't being challenged.

 

[huilun02]

It would bottleneck when playing extremely CPU demanding games like Arma 3 and those massive RTS games.

You don't need a GTX 780 Ti to max games on a 20" monitor anyway.

 

[Henil Jain]

hey thanks for the reply guys, I understand 780 is a bit of an overkill for what i want to play but the reason i chose that card is because i don't want to upgrade for another 3-5 years LOL

@VincentP: Thanks for the chart and the information man! much appreciated! I think you are right, I shouldn't go for the biggest card and go for 280x, it has great specs. What monitor screen are you running skyrim at if you don't mind me asking?

@huilun02: Thanks for the information man, i figured 780ti would be an overkill for my monitor. I usually don't play FPS or RTS games.

 

[huilun02]

At the current price of the GTX 780 Ti you're better off getting a GTX 770 now (which is still overkill for 20") and then adding another one when you need to. And even then you'd have spent a lot less than for one monster card.

 

[Henil Jain]

hahaha... man it almost makes me want to upgrade my monitor! I want those sweet visuals. Maybe i will upgrade my monitor sometime in the future.
The gtx 770 looks great too on paper, but I think i will give the underdog AMD a shot instead. 280x doesn't seem to have that bad reviews. Thanks again.

 

[VincentP]

hey thanks for the reply guys, I understand 780 is a bit of an overkill for what i want to play but the reason i chose that card is because i don't want to upgrade for another 3-5 years LOL

@VincentP: Thanks for the chart and the information man! much appreciated! I think you are right, I shouldn't go for the biggest card and go for 280x, it has great specs. What monitor screen are you running skyrim at if you don't mind me asking?

@huilun02: Thanks for the information man, i figured 780ti would be an overkill for my monitor. I usually don't play FPS or RTS games.

Last time I upgraded my TV, the old TV became my computer monitor.
It's a 42" Sony LCD.
Because of the viewing distance, text is blocky so it isn't ideal for normal desktop stuff.
For games though, it's great.
I think a 30" LED FullHD TV makes a really good gaming monitor for the price and the resolution is high enough that text in documents or web pages is still reasonably crisp.
The biggest drawback is actually that TVs don't come with adjustable stands.
I had to build a wooden frame to sit under the TV so that it is the right height.