Question Possible bottlenecks (New GPU)

[kalixin]

So I was going to build a new computer and get top of the line this and that. Or at least mid-high grade gaming components (2-2.5k build)
I bought just the graphics card and honestly I feel like that might be all I need. I bought an RTX 2070.

I'm wondering if it's worth building a new one now.

I played my usual games on Max specs and I only used up 40% gpu, 45% ram and 25% processor..

Running
I7 3770k
16gb G skill ripjaws x 1600mhz 8-8-8-24 timing. 4x4
Samsung pro solid state (6 year old model) 256gb
WD black 1tb HDD
Motherboard is an Asus p8 z77 pro if I remember correctly

Is there really going to be any noticeable realistic bottlenecking or slow ups in my PC?
Still boots up in 10-15 seconds. Still multitasking with no hesitation.

I think it's all windows 10 compatible as well. Upgrading to 10 in December if all stays in good shape.

 

[cdrkf]

So I was going to build a new computer and get top of the line this and that. Or at least mid-high grade gaming components (2-2.5k build)
I bought just the graphics card and honestly I feel like that might be all I need. I bought an RTX 2070.

I'm wondering if it's worth building a new one now.

I played my usual games on Max specs and I only used up 40% gpu, 45% ram and 25% processor..

Running
I7 3770k
16gb G skill ripjaws x 1600mhz 8-8-8-24 timing. 4x4
Samsung pro solid state (6 year old model) 256gb
WD black 1tb HDD
Motherboard is an Asus p8 z77 pro if I remember correctly

Is there really going to be any noticeable realistic bottlenecking or slow ups in my PC?
Still boots up in 10-15 seconds. Still multitasking with no hesitation.

I think it's all windows 10 compatible as well. Upgrading to 10 in December if all stays in good shape.

Well- bottlenecking is something people get very worried about however all it means is something is limiting performance (note in every system ever built there is always a 'bottleneck' somewhere- usually in a gaming machine the aim is for the graphics card to be the bottleneck as that way you are getting the max performance from your gpu). The most important thing is that you are getting the performance you need from your games.

In your case- that i7 looks like it's holding the gpu back- ideally your gpu usage would be 100% for it to be 'not bottlenecked'- however if your games are playing smoothly it's not a problem- and with many older games you're not going to be able to max out a 2070 even with a 5thz 9900K because many older titles can only use 1 core (which would explain why the i7 is only sitting at 25%). If you fire up a more modern game (ideally one that supports the RTX features of your 2070) I think you could probably load up the gpu and the rest of the machine will keep up. Running games at higher resolutions will also shift the load back to the gpu, so at 1440p or 4k you would find the gpu would be the limit again, so you could argue instead of upgrading the system you could upgrade your screen! With only 40% gpu usage currently you have the headroom.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If the hardware is still doing what you need it to, and you are seeing frame rates that are consistent with what you expect and can live with, then no, there is no reason to upgrade until you are forced (something dies) or you feel like it is no longer doing what you need it to do or a newer game comes along and changes your performance below what you can accept.

I know many people, several of whom are highly knowledgeable veterans of this forum, still running systems almost exactly like yours, with high end graphics cards and have no complaints. Sure, a newer CPU and motherboard platform will definitely improve performance, but whether the AMOUNT of performance increase you see is worth it or not is something only you can answer.

 

[fagetti]

You have good motherboard for overclocking, have you tried to get that i7 to 4+ghz?

 

[kalixin]

Well- bottlenecking is something people get very worried about however all it means is something is limiting performance (note in every system ever built there is always a 'bottleneck' somewhere- usually in a gaming machine the aim is for the graphics card to be the bottleneck as that way you are getting the max performance from your gpu). The most important thing is that you are getting the performance you need from your games.

In your case- that i7 looks like it's holding the gpu back- ideally your gpu usage would be 100% for it to be 'not bottlenecked'- however if your games are playing smoothly it's not a problem- and with many older games you're not going to be able to max out a 2070 even with a 5thz 9900K because many older titles can only use 1 core (which would explain why the i7 is only sitting at 25%). If you fire up a more modern game (ideally one that supports the RTX features of your 2070) I think you could probably load up the gpu and the rest of the machine will keep up. Running games at higher resolutions will also shift the load back to the gpu, so at 1440p or 4k you would find the gpu would be the limit again, so you could argue instead of upgrading the system you could upgrade your screen! With only 40% gpu usage currently you have the headroom.

Thank you! I think I will save my money from a new build and only buy a new monitor and keyboard since only one of my monitors is any good.

If the hardware is still doing what you need it to, and you are seeing frame rates that are consistent with what you expect and can live with, then no, there is no reason to upgrade until you are forced (something dies) or you feel like it is no longer doing what you need it to do or a newer game comes along and changes your performance below what you can accept.

I know many people, several of whom are highly knowledgeable veterans of this forum, still running systems almost exactly like yours, with high end graphics cards and have no complaints. Sure, a newer CPU and motherboard platform will definitely improve performance, but whether the AMOUNT of performance increase you see is worth it or not is something only you can answer.

Yeah I'm going to benchmark it tonight and see how far I can push it. Dead by daylight, the Witcher 3 and monster Hunter world all look fantastic.

You have good motherboard for overclocking, have you tried to get that i7 to 4+ghz?

I honestly have never touched overclocking. It's as simple as going into the uefi Asus bios and changing values, right?

 

[fagetti]

It can take some time and tweaking, i cant give you any certain setting that works. Also i overclocked only x58 and lga1156 motherboards. I can give you some links to get slight oc first and then you can benchmark and see if its enough boost. However still need to know what power supply you have and cooling on your cpu? If you raise vcore it will draw more wattage

 

[fagetti]

First overclock the cpu to the setting which is stable and comfortable voltage / temperature for you. After that you can try tweak memory from 1600 to 1866 / 2133 / 2400mhz by loosening timings and raising dram voltage from 1.5 to 1.6/1.65v but that needs more time and tweaking. Always keep your dram voltage under 0.5v range from your vtt / imc voltage.
Example if your dram voltage is 1.65v which i consider max for this ram you have, then keep your vtt/imc around 1.175v atleast

 

[fagetti]

Here is good video for ivy bridge chips and he has asus motherboard : Part1

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcOOMqZycHE

part 2 :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15KJWK9B8XU

part 3 :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNVk0FlGp_U



EDIT: You will hit your thermal limits pretty fast, even with good cooling if your cpu is not delidded, in usa there is service calld silicon lottery and many other which can do that, it decreases CPU temperatures by and after you replace thermal paste with quality stuff you get even better overclock with less heat

 

[fagetti]

Here is benchmark what you could expect if you get it running 4.7ghz but that requires good cooling and depends on your chip :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuL3LdU1uWs

 

[kalixin]

Here is benchmark what you could expect if you get it running 4.7ghz but that requires good cooling and depends on your chip :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuL3LdU1uWs

Man thank you so much! I'm running an Evo 212 plus dual fan cooler. My thermal paste was from gelid solutions and it was a high quality paste but it's like 5 years ol. I will probably clean and reapply then OC to 4ghz or so and call it a day.

 

[fagetti]

I always use GC gelid extreme thats really good paste, you should reapply if its 5 years old, clean with isoprophyl alcohol well, let it dry well before applying new paste (use the same paste if you have or noctua nt-h1). This fan is good for decent overclocking with dual fan. You might get something like 4.0ghz with even default voltages, use maximum like 1.175v at first to see how much temperatures get up. Remember to read how to reset the bios if you get black screen, usually restarting with pressing power button for 10sec already resets settings if you fail. EDIT: read your manual on overclock recovery

 

[fagetti]

You will probably hit thermal limits very fast before you delidd it , here is comparison for that exact cpu with exact fan before and after delid its like 20c difference :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlkF1PvfP-0

 

[Darkbreeze]

The 212 series are not particularly good choices for overclocking the various models of i7. For an i5, they are ok, but still not exceptional.

I would not recommend delidding on any CPU, ever, unless you don't care at all in the event it gets damaged or you send it out to a service that does it and offers a guarantee of success in the event something happens to your CPU.

Besides which, anything you put into doing any of this. Overclocking (Probably a good idea to get a better cooler), delidding (Going to cost something either way, whether you buy the tools to do it or send it out), etc. would all be money better spent being put towards a newer platform than being thrown at a platform that we already know needs replaced, or will at some point as nothing lasts forever and you're right at the age of the hardware where a failure of some major piece of the puzzle isn't just possible, it's imminent.

If you can get a decent bump using the cooler you have now, fine, no arguments with that, but you'll want to do the rather extensive thermal and stability testing that's required in order to make sure you don't either cook your hardware or corrupt your data from an unstable system, and that may not be obvious if it is silently unstable (No blue screens or freezing, or other weird and obvious problems like random errors) and has micro errors causing corruption. While not quite AS severe as memory corruption, it can still be a problem.

CPU overclocking guide and tutorial for beginners

Covering the basics If you found your way here it's likely you are looking for help with basic overclocking. Either that or you're a long time overclocker interested in seeing whether I had any eye opening insights that you may have been lacking. Rest assured, I don't. This is only intended as...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[fagetti]

I agree 212 is not exeptional and he could be limited after 4.5ghz and with higher voltages, still its nothing to laugh at :

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_NZBEA66BA

OP you just really need to change the thermal paste 5 yeears is way too old if you start overclocking.
Even slight degration by thermal throttle wont harm in any way since like you said platform upgrade will be imminent at some point for him. (sorry for my bad english) and anything which could be degrated are either cpu or motherboard which he needs to upgrade anyway later on. However i used gen 1 cpu for years over the voltage limits and seen no degration so even that is a not guaranteed (IF he has high temps even with mediocre overclock)

Gotta say my advice for delidding was abit out there your right, spending another 50 dollars or euros might not be wise for few 100mhz gains. I never would delidd newer cpu myself risk is too high and it voids warranty, always use a service which has a guarantee they give replacement cpu if they break it.

 

[fagetti]

Its still a nice skill to learn and he has perfect opportunity for it, when he hits thermal limit or maximum overclock and still aint happy with the performance he lose no money trying. Even the slight risk of harming the cpu ( never happened with 20 cpu:s i overclocked ) costs him basically nothing if hes gonna upgrade the system anyway at some point.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I have nothing against overclocking. I am an AVID overclocker and the guide I linked to is MY guide. I just don't think it makes any sense IN THIS CASE if it requires an investment to do it, especially not the cost of delidding it. But to each their own.

 

[fagetti]

I also use prime95 for stress testing your guide looks good. I agree now delidding is not the way to go for him. Lets see how he does with this fan, keep us reported.