Question Maybe this has been asked before, but Im doing a new build and just got a Msi 3090ti Suprim and wanted to know a good cpu to avoid bottlenecking....

[Miles39]

Also, it will be awhile before I get all the parts and I wanted to check my current setup with this new gpu. I just want to make sure its working properly. It will be past the return window by the time I get all my new parts. I currently have a Ryzen 7 3800xt and wanted to see if that would bottleneck the 3090ti. I just wanted to test it. Yes...I know I can just take it out and test it without asking here, but Im trying to avoid undoing all the connections I have currently. If someone is knowledgeable in this area and\or has this setup, please share your thoughts. Thank you

 

[USAFRet]

It will work, especially just to test.
Forget the term "bottleneck".

 

[Miles39]

It will work, especially just to test.
Forget the term "bottleneck".

I’m torn on forgetting bottlenecking. Everywhere I go I see either bottleneck in his real, then I see it doesn’t exist. I’ve seen professionals say it’s real. What gives? Why would I forget it? No attitude in that response, I’m just curious on why u and others like pcmasterrace say it doesn’t exist. I need to get knowledged. Thanks for any input

It will work, especially just to test.
Forget the term "bottleneck".

 

[USAFRet]

Every system has a "bottleneck".
One of the most misunderstood and misused terms around.

All it means is that some part is not letting some other part reach its full potential.

In the gaming world...
The CPU provides the framerate, the GPU provides the eyecandy.

A certain CPU will give XX FPS.
The GPU will then take that and make it look pretty.

A slower CPU will be doings its best, and paired with a hotrod GPU...the GPU will be just idling along. Waiting on the CPU.

It does not break anything.

 

[Zerk2012]

Also, it will be awhile before I get all the parts and I wanted to check my current setup with this new gpu. I just want to make sure its working properly. It will be past the return window by the time I get all my new parts. I currently have a Ryzen 7 3800xt and wanted to see if that would bottleneck the 3090ti. I just wanted to test it. Yes...I know I can just take it out and test it without asking here, but Im trying to avoid undoing all the connections I have currently. If someone is knowledgeable in this area and\or has this setup, please share your thoughts. Thank you

Depends on the monitor resolution and if for gaming what games.

In general if your using a 4K monitor for gaming nothing wrong but something will limit your performance.

If your gaming on a 1080p monitor them that card is a major waste of money.

 

[Miles39]

It will work, especially just to test.
Forget the term "bottleneck".

Depends on the monitor resolution and if for gaming what games.

In general if your using a 4K monitor for gaming nothing wrong but something will limit your performance.

If your gaming on a 1080p monitor them that card is a major waste of money.

nah… I got a 4k ultra wide. Well just a few pixels shy of 4k

 

[wyliec2]

FWIW - I have a 5950x and 3080Ti driving a 3440x1440 monitor at 144Hz - I'm not a heavy gamer and the graphics-intensive things I do (Project Cars, 3D-Mark), wind up with the GPU at/near 100% and the CPU <= 50%.

Thus, in my use, the GPU is the bottleneck. At 4K, I'd expect this to be even more pronounced.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

A 3800xt is still decent so you will probably be fine. If you are planning to game at 4k, the cpu should matter less. For example, if you were gaming at 1080p then the cpu would be under more strain due how fast the card was requesting it to help render. But at 4k there's a lot more load placed on the gpu.

Probably no reason to really upgrade at this moment, but with AM5 about to come out, prices will likely drop on Ryzen 5000 parts, so you may be able to pick up a Ryzen 5800x 3d or something like that to max out the platform.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Also, it will be awhile before I get all the parts and I wanted to check my current setup with this new gpu. I just want to make sure its working properly. It will be past the return window by the time I get all my new parts. I currently have a Ryzen 7 3800xt and wanted to see if that would bottleneck the 3090ti. I just wanted to test it. Yes...I know I can just take it out and test it without asking here, but Im trying to avoid undoing all the connections I have currently. If someone is knowledgeable in this area and\or has this setup, please share your thoughts. Thank you

It's very difficult to eliminate a CPU bottleneck completely, I play a lot of strategy games that don't scale particularly well with cores, in such games a i9 12900K would bottleneck a 3090 Ti. You say you have a 4k Ultrawide, what games do you play and at what refresh rate?

In terms of the 3800 XT, it's still a very good CPU today, but yes there are situations where it would hold back a 3090 ti. It's just a question of whether those apply to you and if so to what extent.

 

[hotaru.hino]

The only way to figure out if you have a CPU bottleneck is to run all the games you want to run on the lowest graphics settings, including the resolution. The performance you get out of that determines the maximum performance the system is capable of. Though keep in mind that it may not be possible to actually get that performance on maximum quality settings with a GPU of infinite power, as the CPU may need to do a little more work at higher quality settings.

If this is not satisfactory, then upgrade the CPU. If it's satisfactory, then there's nothing more to ask about the performance of the CPU.

 

[alexbirdie]

FWIW - I have a 5950x and 3080Ti driving a 3440x1440 monitor at 144Hz - I'm not a heavy gamer and the graphics-intensive things I do (Project Cars, 3D-Mark), wind up with the GPU at/near 100% and the CPU <= 50%.

Thus, in my use, the GPU is the bottleneck. At 4K, I'd expect this to be even more pronounced.

Not quite right.

If your 16-core sais 50 %, that could mean, that 1 or 2 cores are at 100%.( and some cores are doing something else, depends on you background tasks).

But if you get 100% GPU, then it looks like, as if for your settings the CPU is not bottlenecking.

 

[wyliec2]

Not quite right.

If your 16-core sais 50 %, that could mean, that 1 or 2 cores are at 100%.( and some cores are doing something else, depends on you background tasks).

But if you get 100% GPU, then it looks like, as if for your settings the CPU is not bottlenecking.

The fundamental point of my comment (in the context of the OP question) was that my CPU was not holding back my GPU since the GPU is saturated at 100% with 3440x1440 @ 144 Hz; increasing to 4K ultrawide would further burden the GPU.

In the scenario (GPU @ 100%), the GPU may be the bottleneck or, as you note, the CPU and GPU may both be operating at maximum capability (application using only a subset of CPU cores with those cores @ 100%). In this case, one would need to raise the performance of both CPU and GPU to produce an FPS increase. Your point is certainly worth noting - with higher core count CPUs, overall CPU utilization may not be a valid metric and individual core monitoring is required.

I did make an assumption that the OP in using a 3090 and 4K ultrawide would likely be running at higher quality graphics settings - to the OP's situation, there is a good chance his/her configuration would run reasonably well with the existing CPU.