Is my CPU bottlenecking?

[zightbaoe]

I think my cpu is bottlenecking. I have the 4670k and gtx 760. The rest of my specs are below. So pretty much a lot of the times when running everyday programs in the background (chrome, skype, origin, steam etc.) and playing battlefield 4 I will have to drop my settings to medium because the fps is so low. Generally my CPU is at close to 100% or at 100%. Is it bottle necking or is something else? If it is a bottleneck what should I do. Overclock my cpu to over 4ghz (I would have to buy a new cooler) , buy a whole new cpu, or something else?

Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[enemy1g]

Is your CPU usage spiking occasionally to >= 90%? If so, completely normal. If it's staying at ~100%, with all of those programs running, then perhaps close some of them? I know browsers are resource hogs. But I've had 2-3 games open with Firefox and Mumble/Vent open, and have had no problems with performance. Using the same CPU as you.

 

[lowriderflow]

how are you determining your CPU is at 100%? that seems insane that a few lightweight background programs are causing your CPU to shoot up to 100% when it only has to keep up with a 760.

What % usage is your GPU at on high and then after your drop to medium?

 

[Calnin]

Your cpu isn't bottlenecking your gpu. It can keep up with it fine. Are you running the latest drivers from nVidia?

 

[MANOFKRYPTONAK]

No your CPU is not bottle necking, running all that crap and a game could just be using up your ram, or Vram 2gb is a little low I think. BF4 is an intensive game, what res are you playing at, and do you have AA turned up all the way/ what kind of AA are you using? To Overclock the CPU get a coolermaster, 20-30 bucks. Honestly answer the above questions before I can really help you out the best.

That being said I think you are running out of vram.

 

[zightbaoe]

Is your CPU usage spiking occasionally to >= 90%? If so, completely normal. If it's staying at ~100%, with all of those programs running, then perhaps close some of them? I know browsers are resource hogs. But I've had 2-3 games open with Firefox and Mumble/Vent open, and have had no problems with performance. Using the same CPU as you.

It goes down to about 90 sometimes

 

[MANOFKRYPTONAK]

Is your CPU usage spiking occasionally to >= 90%? If so, completely normal. If it's staying at ~100%, with all of those programs running, then perhaps close some of them? I know browsers are resource hogs. But I've had 2-3 games open with Firefox and Mumble/Vent open, and have had no problems with performance. Using the same CPU as you.

It goes down to about 90 sometimes

Your CPU isn't bottlenecking, you are probably running out of ram and vram, I close everything except fraps when I play. Maybe a movie second screen, or music but that is rare. Shoot I have had firefox use 4gb of ram more than once lol. Try closing programs and using no AA at ultra, or FXAA and see how that goes and then rpost.

 

[zightbaoe]

how are you determining your CPU is at 100%? that seems insane that a few lightweight background programs are causing your CPU to shoot up to 100% when it only has to keep up with a 760.

What % usage is your GPU at on high and then after your drop to medium?

Your cpu isn't bottlenecking your gpu. It can keep up with it fine. Are you running the latest drivers from nVidia?

Yes

 

[zightbaoe]

how are you determining your CPU is at 100%? that seems insane that a few lightweight background programs are causing your CPU to shoot up to 100% when it only has to keep up with a 760.

What % usage is your GPU at on high and then after your drop to medium?

task manager. I cant answer that right now because I am playing on a low resolution monitor (not my normal monitor) so it would not be accurate and I cant remember my normal usage %

 

[zightbaoe]

No your CPU is not bottle necking, running all that crap and a game could just be using up your ram, or Vram 2gb is a little low I think. BF4 is an intensive game, what res are you playing at, and do you have AA turned up all the way/ what kind of AA are you using? To Overclock the CPU get a coolermaster, 20-30 bucks. Honestly answer the above questions before I can really help you out the best.

That being said I think you are running out of vram.

Normally I play at 1080p. Would it help more to buy a second gpu first or a cpu cooler first?

 

[Calnin]

If you're running a bunch of stuff in the background while you're playing, neither one would help i'd imagine..

 

[MANOFKRYPTONAK]

No your CPU is not bottle necking, running all that crap and a game could just be using up your ram, or Vram 2gb is a little low I think. BF4 is an intensive game, what res are you playing at, and do you have AA turned up all the way/ what kind of AA are you using? To Overclock the CPU get a coolermaster, 20-30 bucks. Honestly answer the above questions before I can really help you out the best.

That being said I think you are running out of vram.

Normally I play at 1080p. Would it help more to buy a second gpu first or a cpu cooler first?

No, the coolers on Nvidia cards are fine (excluding the 480) Your system is fine, just follow what I recommended and you will be good to go. If that's not good enough, buy a i7-4790k and OC it to 5.0ghz ( I am assuming you can do this, will be reviewed shortly, and get a 780 6gb or a 780 ti 6gb ( if EVGA or anyone else releases one), add more ram and then you can run all kinds of crap game @1080P ULTRA FULL AA massive background programs the works etc.

 

[MANOFKRYPTONAK]

how are you determining your CPU is at 100%? that seems insane that a few lightweight background programs are causing your CPU to shoot up to 100% when it only has to keep up with a 760.

What % usage is your GPU at on high and then after your drop to medium?

task manager. I cant answer that right now because I am playing on a low resolution monitor (not my normal monitor) so it would not be accurate and I cant remember my normal usage %

Use MSIs built in monitoring proprietary stuff when monitoring, should give accurate results.

 

[zightbaoe]

how are you determining your CPU is at 100%? that seems insane that a few lightweight background programs are causing your CPU to shoot up to 100% when it only has to keep up with a 760.

What % usage is your GPU at on high and then after your drop to medium?

task manager. I cant answer that right now because I am playing on a low resolution monitor (not my normal monitor) so it would not be accurate and I cant remember my normal usage %

Use MSIs built in monitoring proprietary stuff when monitoring, should give accurate results.

I know how to monitor, its just that it wont be effective data because I am not on my normal 1080p monitor right now so the data will be invalid.