Is my CPU bottlenecking my gpu?

[bschalle]

I have an AMD A8 5600k Trinity Quad core 3.6GHz with an Evga gtx 660 2GB and I also have 8gb of Corsair vengeance ram I don't know if that matters at all. I was thinking about upgrading to a Evga gtx 770 superclocked and I was wondering if my cpu would be bottleknecking the 770? Or should I throw some more money into it and get an i5 and a new motherboard. Because right now I am getting pretty low frames on BF4 on all low settings.

 

[ImDaBaron]

It absolutely would. Go for the I5 4690 and the 770. That'll play BF4 on ultra.

 

[TheMagicalWallaby]

Get a new CPU, the A8 is not meant to be paired with a GPU for gaming.

 

[Rationale]

The A8-5600K is certainly bottlenecking your GTX 660, and would bottleneck a GTX 770 even worse.
Seriously, replace the CPU. I used to have a Phenom II 955, which is actually about the same strength as the A8-5600K, and it bottlenecked even my GTX 460 in some games (that was my old build).

Later I switched to a GTX 660 and kept my Phenom II 955. Horrible mistake. My framerates barely improved. Replacing my Phenom II 955 (which, remember, is about the same strength as the A8-5600K) with the much stronger i3-4360 moved my Dragon Age Origins framerate from 45 (minimum) to 200 (minimum), just as an example.

My brother until very recently had a Phenom II 1090T, which is stronger than the A8-5600K, and it bottlenecked his GTX 560 severely. His framerates doubled in some games from switching to an i5-4590, even while still using the GTX 560.

You ofc can't expect your framerates to double in *every* game, as many don't use the CPU that heavily. But you're certainly getting a CPU bottleneck right now, so replacing that CPU would help to some extent in many games, and without replacing the CPU it would be pointless to switch to a GTX 770.

 

[MostWantedSoulRider]

Hi OP,

How to determine the CPU's bottleneck on your GPU?


> Download, install, and run FRAPS.
> After you get the FRAPS settings the way you like, fire up your favorite game
> Play a while and take note of the Frames Per Second (FPS). The FPS will commonly jump all over the place depending on how much action is taking place. Try to settle on an average throughout your game play. Take note of the maximum and minimum as well.

Conclusion:

>> If lowering the graphics settings has no effect on frame rates, then the bottleneck is your CPU
>> If lowering the graphics settings increases the frame rate, then your GPU is reaching its upper limits

In Your A8 5600K, the bottleneck will be like 5-7% since the 5800k is at par with AMD Phenom II 965. If the frame rates are low, it means the performance of the processor is very low for gaming. Hence, it's better to have a different processor like FX 8350/6300.