Question New RTX 4070 bottlenecked at 1080p?

[mathewh]

So, I recently upgraded from a 3070 to a 4070 hoping to push more frames at 1080p, as I just got a 1080p 360hz monitor not long ago as well. But I think I've bottlenecked myself as I get about the same frames yet only hitting around 50% GPU utilization. My CPU sits around 60-80 while gaming as well, so it's not like its maxing at 100%. Is upgrading to 1440p the only way to fix this? I think my CPU is a great fit for this GPU so although it might help, I don't think it's necessary. My games are still very smooth and has no issues, just not the performance I was expecting.
Specs:
RTX 4070
i5 12600k
32gb 3600mhz ram

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

So, I recently upgraded from a 3070 to a 4070 hoping to push more frames at 1080p, as I just got a 1080p 360hz monitor not long ago as well. But I think I've bottlenecked myself as I get about the same frames yet only hitting around 50% GPU utilization. My CPU sits around 60-80 while gaming as well, so it's not like its maxing at 100%. Is upgrading to 1440p the only way to fix this? I think my CPU is a great fit for this GPU so although it might help, I don't think it's necessary. My games are still very smooth and has no issues, just not the performance I was expecting.
Specs:
RTX 4070
i5 12600k
32gb 3600mhz ram

You have to take a wide array of games into account before concluding something is wrong with your setup. Perhaps a more graphics intensive game may equalize the GPU to CPU utilization. I would say your CPU is on the lighter side of powerful enough for your 4070. A 7800X3D would certainly be an upgrade.

 

[geofelt]

What kinds of games do you play?
Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer tends to like many threads.

Despite an excellent 12900K, Your symptoms are of a cpu limiting factor.
Otherwise, if you had been limited by the gpu, you should have seen an improvement.
At 1080P, the gpu does not have to work as hard as it would at 1440P or 4k resolutions.

The cpu creates the frames, and the gpu presents them.
But, not necessarily fully overlapped so 100% utilization should not be expected.
Nor would you ever want to see 100% utilization of any resource, or that would imply a limiting factor.

As a quick test of your 12900K, run the cpu-Z bench and look at the single thread performance rating.
You should see about 773 which is an excellent score:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/bhgfiz/1

 

[mathewh]

You have to take a wide array of games into account before concluding something is wrong with your setup. Perhaps a more graphics intensive game may equalize the GPU to CPU utilization. I would say your CPU is on the lighter side of powerful enough for your 4070. A 7800X3D would certainly be an upgrade.

I mostly play FPS games and some single player. COD, God of War, cs:go, Overwatch, whether it's an AAA title or less graphicly demanding it's usually the same result. If I were to upgrade anything I'd prefer the monitor, as this cpu is relatively new and has plenty of life left.

 

[mathewh]

What kinds of games do you play?
Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer tends to like many threads.

Despite an excellent 12900K, Your symptoms are of a cpu limiting factor.
Otherwise, if you had been limited by the gpu, you should have seen an improvement.
At 1080P, the gpu does not have to work as hard as it would at 1440P or 4k resolutions.

The cpu creates the frames, and the gpu presents them.
But, not necessarily fully overlapped so 100% utilization should not be expected.
Nor would you ever want to see 100% utilization of any resource, or that would imply a limiting factor.

As a quick test of your 12900K, run the cpu-Z bench and look at the single thread performance rating.
You should see about 773 which is an excellent score:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/bhgfiz/1

Mostly fps games some more graphically demanding than others, like Cod, csgo, Overwatch. But also, some single player like God of War and Cyberpunk, usually the same result in all of them utilization percentage wise.
I obviously wouldn't want 100% utilization on my CPU, but the fact it isn't that high like with some processor bottlenecks tells me my CPU isn't maxing out. But I did run the cpu-z bench, and my single thread was underperforming compared to 773. What does this mean?
Edit: Benched again and scored 716, still a little under but not as bad as before (I think I had something open in the background?)

 

[geofelt]

The reported scores for cpu-Z come from many runs, and likely from overclocked processors.
I do not think you have a big problem here, but you might look into your motherboard options for the turbo mechanism.
10% boost would help.

I am no expert on CSGO, but I have looked into issues with the game in the past.
It definitely is one that makes effective use of only a limited number of threads. Like 4.
As I recall, there may be game settings you can make.
The csgo forums might be a good place to look.

Start HWmonitor and show the stats for individual thread temperatures.
Run the cpu-Z stress test.
It might be normal for the max cpu temp of a couple of cores to momentarily wink on at 100c. in red.
That indicates temporary throttling which is not really a concern.
If fact, I consider it good as the motherboard is testing the performance limits and backing off to give you maximum sustained performance.

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

I mostly play FPS games and some single player. COD, God of War, cs:go, Overwatch, whether it's an AAA title or less graphicly demanding it's usually the same result. If I were to upgrade anything I'd prefer the monitor, as this cpu is relatively new and has plenty of life left.

Then yes, upgrading to a 1440p or 4k display would throw the bottleneck further towards the GPU side.

 

[geofelt]

There is some fun in playing on larger displays and at higher resolutions.
But, until you have such a device, just enjoy the good performance that you now have.
Whenever you upgrade the display, then you will be more able to determine exactly what gpu you need.

 

[sonofjesse]

If your over 60FPS i would just be happy and game personally.

we chase after benchmarks online without knowing the full details.

 

[thestryker]

I obviously wouldn't want 100% utilization on my CPU, but the fact it isn't that high like with some processor bottlenecks tells me my CPU isn't maxing out.

No current game will ever max out a 12600K threads wise so utilization isn't a measure which will show a CPU bottleneck. If your GPU isn't in the 90s then your CPU is holding it back or something isn't operating correctly. I usually recommend running 3DMark just to compare against other systems with similar CPU/GPU to make sure nothing is far off the norm.

God of War and Cyberpunk should generally show high GPU usage and if not something might be going on.