[SOLVED] Time to Upgrade my I5-4670K?

ahedgpe

Honorable
Feb 8, 2013
13
0
10,510
I'm still rocking an I5-4670K and an EVGA GTX 970 FTW, and looking to upgrade the video card and possibly the processor/mobo. I typically play open world games like Shadow of War, Kingdom Come, Total War Series, etc. Given that I only play games on one 1080p monitor, is it worth it to upgrade my processor/mobo to something like an i7-8700k, or do you think I can squeeze another year out of my current processor?

For the video card, Im looking at the EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra Gaming 6GB
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP8ND3868&Description=evga%202060&cm_re=evga_2060-_-14-487-424-_-Product

Current Specs
i5-4670K
eVGA GTX 970 FTW
16gb Gskill DDR3 2400
SSD
 
Solution
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.

Try this test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

I imagine that your proposed graphics upgrade will do very well.

When it comes time to upgrade the cpu, realize that a new motherboard and DDR4 will also be needed.
Instead of i7-8700K, I would point towards a i5-9600K and a Z390 based...
The 2060 will bottleneck the i5-4670k ... Not so much with those game, but more so at lower resolutions. If you want to wait a year to upgrade, that's fine. Just know that you won't get 100% of the performance the 2060 will offer. You will be at 80-90% ... that is still pretty good. It certainly won't be worse than what you are getting now. From what I understand, Shadow of War will use 8GB of Video RAM on the ultra setting. This is getting more and more common with games.
 
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.

Try this test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

I imagine that your proposed graphics upgrade will do very well.

When it comes time to upgrade the cpu, realize that a new motherboard and DDR4 will also be needed.
Instead of i7-8700K, I would point towards a i5-9600K and a Z390 based motherboard.
You will get two added threads, and a likely oc in the 5.0 range.
I doubt that the added cost for two more threads on a i7-9700K would be worth it.
 
Solution
From a reputable hardware review site:

"What is Bottlenecking?
Bottlenecking is where one component is hindering another components performance/efficency.
Truth be told, there is ALWAYS a bottleneck in a computer. Like a CPU being bottlenecked by a GPU -- yeah that’s legit -- but it’s designed to be that way. When one component is not at 100% utilization, that means it’s being bottlenecked by something whether it’s temps, fans, software utilization etc."
 

ZOOM-

Prominent
Aug 3, 2017
6
0
510
The 2060 will bottleneck the i5-4670k ... Not so much with those game, but more so at lower resolutions. If you want to wait a year to upgrade, that's fine. Just know that you won't get 100% of the performance the 2060 will offer. You will be at 80-90% ... that is still pretty good. It certainly won't be worse than what you are getting now. From what I understand, Shadow of War will use 8GB of Video RAM on the ultra setting. This is getting more and more common with games.

Hi!

I searched up the name of the CPU and it came up with this topic, which is recent so that's perfect! I'm also using an i5 4670k and I'm planning a GPU upgrade soon (giving priority to GPU because it's the most expensive part of the ones I need to upgrade).

Now when you say the CPU will bottleneck the GPU at that resolution, how would the situation look like if we were talking 4K? I plan on getting a 1440p monitor just for gaming soon, but for now my 4K will have to do. I'm also planning on grabbing something like the Radeon VII if that's relevant.
 
Think about the relationship between the CPU and GPU. The CPU sends the GPU information and the GPU uses that information to create an image. If that image is simple or low resolution, then the GPU can do this effortlessly and will sit around waiting for the next set of information from the CPU. If the image is complex or high resolution, then the GPU will stay busy and use CPU information as it comes in. Thus, with higher resolution there is less chance of the GPU waiting on the CPU (bottlenecking). Remember that bottlenecking is not bad for your system. It's actually normal that some component is waiting on another. But, with the high price of video cards, it economically undesirable to have your $500 video card perform at the same level as a $200 video card because of the rest of the system is holding it back.