Ultimate Bottlenecking Guide/Discussion Thread!

[sherpa25]

Anyone running VR (CV1) and Assetto or sim racing? Would like to see how various cpu/gpu perform.

 

[theonerm2]

I'm using my 4770K to simulate other processors by downclocking, overclocking, and/or disabling cores and/or hyperthreading.

I'm testing using an Asus ROG Strix gaming OC graphics card with +70mhz on the core and +275mhz on the memory.
For each CPU I will give you the average GPU usage at 4K, 1440p, and 1080p under the game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.

Core i5 4690K 4K 99%, 1440p 97.8%, 1080p 80.4%
Core i7 4770K 4K 99%, 1440p 98.1%, 1080p 91.2%
Core i7 4790K 4K 99%, 1440p 98.1%, 1080p 97.0%

Haswell Core i7 at 4GHz and above seem to give the same results at 1080p. So any OC above 4GHz is useless in Ghost Recon Wildlands. At 4GHz I get 97.5%. At 4790K speeds I only got 97.0%. I was surprised by these results. The bottleneck at 4770K speeds is almost 10% while it is 3% and 2.5% for my overclocked 4770K. The Core i5 4690K fares well until we get to 1080p where there is a significant bottleneck. I will test more games soon. I just thought this one would be a quick and easy way to start off.

Side note. I also happened to see that the Core i7 6700K also bottlenecks around 2% to 3% in Wildlands at 1080p.

 

[ImaqtLasagna]

I am using an AMD 8320E and a GTX 1080 which is of course bottlenecked. The GPU runs at 30%-40% (MSI afterburn) while playing Overwatch (all low, 1080p) and I get 120 fps, but the thing is my CPU is not running at 100% while playing but at 70%-80% according to task manager. This looks weird to me, anyone that could tell me why this happens or if it is normal?

 

[jankerson]

How about the rx 580? Should be the same as the rx 480 when it comes to bottlenecking?

An I7 870 @ Stock will push an RX 480 for everything it's worth from my own testing comparing the same RX 480 in my I7 7700K machine. No real change in graphics scores in Fire Strike etc, talking about low 100's change in score so that's null difference.

And the i7 870 is a 1st generation i7.

So I wouldn't worry about any bottle necking with anything less than a GTX 1070 if one has an I7 (8 Thread).

 

[jankerson]

Hi TechyInAZ
why the charts dont show I7 second generation?
I have a 2600k cpu and I m planning to buy a EVGA SC 1060..
what do you think of that combination?

Your CPU will push it for all it's worth.

Now from the GTX 1070 and above that may be different.

 

[jankerson]

Here is some information/scores from my two machines in 3Dmark and 3Dmark 2011 on the RX 480.

Used 3DMark because it's a controlled test, same every time and it separates the GPU score from the rest.

CPU's:
I5 750 @ 2.8 GHz
XEON X3450 @ 2.8 GHz
I7 870 @ 3.2 GHz
I7 7700K @ 4.8 GHz.

Graphics card - XFX RS RX 480 8GB at stock speed.

Scores are Graphics Scores only to highlight the GPU only:

3Dmark Fire Strike:
I5 750 - 13,528
XEON X3450 - 13,707
I7 870 - 13,517
I7 7700K - 13,922

3Dmark Time Spy:
I5 750 - 4,138
XEON X3450 - 4,139
I7 870 - 4,132
I7 7700K - 4,155

3DMark 2011:
I5 750 - 19,504
XEON X3450 - 19,409
I7 870 - 19,631
I7 7700K - 19,898


So much for an I7 870 bottlenecking an RX 480, I still say with the mid range cards any i7 (8 Thread) will be fine as the CPU isn't the bottleneck.

Now results could be different with different system setups, graphics cards etc.

With cards above mid range as in the GTX 1070 and above, yes I will agree with the bottlenecking issues.

 

[Dilshan941]

if someone could do some benchmark for ram speeds...1600mhz,2133mhz,2933mhz
coz i think bottleneck could be occur with lower memory bandwidth...
1.Crysis 3 - Welcome to jungle
2.Forza Horizon 3 - Paradise(town area)

 

[tangerinemiddle890]

does the AMD "A10-6700 Richland Quad-Core 3.7 GHz Socket FM2' bottleneck the gtx 1060 3 gb

 

[TechyInAZ]

does the AMD "A10-6700 Richland Quad-Core 3.7 GHz Socket FM2' bottleneck the gtx 1060 3 gb

Yes 100%.

 

[tangerinemiddle890]

does the AMD "A10-6700 Richland Quad-Core 3.7 GHz Socket FM2' bottleneck the gtx 1060 3 gb

Yes 100%.

what cpu doesnt bottleneck that gpu? i would like to buy a new one

 

[theonerm2]

does the AMD "A10-6700 Richland Quad-Core 3.7 GHz Socket FM2' bottleneck the gtx 1060 3 gb

Yes 100%.

what cpu doesnt bottleneck that gpu? i would like to buy a new one

Well in order to answer that question properly I need to know how much you can spend. If you want something on socket FM2 forget it. You need a new motherboard and RAM too unless you want to buy something older. I need to know how much you can afford to spend for the whole thing.

 

[tangerinemiddle890]

Well in order to answer that question properly I need to know how much you can spend. If you want something on socket FM2 forget it. You need a new motherboard and RAM too unless you want to buy something older. I need to know how much you can afford to spend for the whole thing.

400 dollars max, I have 10 gb of ram

 

[TechyInAZ]

Well in order to answer that question properly I need to know how much you can spend. If you want something on socket FM2 forget it. You need a new motherboard and RAM too unless you want to buy something older. I need to know how much you can afford to spend for the whole thing.

400 dollars max, I have 10 gb of ram

So as not to derail this thread, please make a new thread regarding upgrading your PC and link us the url to that thread over here.

 

[tangerinemiddle890]

Well in order to answer that question properly I need to know how much you can spend. If you want something on socket FM2 forget it. You need a new motherboard and RAM too unless you want to buy something older. I need to know how much you can afford to spend for the whole thing.

400 dollars max, I have 10 gb of ram

So as not to derail this thread, please make a new thread regarding upgrading your PC and link us the url to that thread over here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3538567/gtx-1060-compatible-question.html

 

[dreamyguy79]

I installed MSI Afterburner to check the frame rate and the lower GPU usage on NieR Automata and The Witcher 3 seems to be due to both games being locked at 60fps. The CPU usage the RivaTuner reports stays at 30-40%, rarely jumping towards 60-70%.
So, without being an expert, I'd say i7 4790K doesn't seem to keep the TITAN Xp back.

EDIT: Found the way to unlock the frame rate on The Witcher 3 and now the game runs at 70-80fps with the GPU usage staying firmly at 99% and the CPU at 50-60%.

How did you unlock the frame rate on the Witcher 3?

 

[krells]

I installed MSI Afterburner to check the frame rate and the lower GPU usage on NieR Automata and The Witcher 3 seems to be due to both games being locked at 60fps. The CPU usage the RivaTuner reports stays at 30-40%, rarely jumping towards 60-70%.
So, without being an expert, I'd say i7 4790K doesn't seem to keep the TITAN Xp back.

EDIT: Found the way to unlock the frame rate on The Witcher 3 and now the game runs at 70-80fps with the GPU usage staying firmly at 99% and the CPU at 50-60%.

How did you unlock the frame rate on the Witcher 3?

It is in the graphics options menu: 30, 60, or unlimited.

 

[kargil]

Hello my Friends!
I would like to ask your help. I plan to upgrade my pc in the - maybe near- future. My cpu isn't a new one, but still ok, but I surely need a new vga. My CPU is an intel i7 2600k. So the question is: which VGA would be the best fellow to it? At first, I looked at AMD RX 580 8GB, but I got some advices that this cpu can "serve" a better vga to, like a vega 56, or a GTX 1080. This latter would be a bit cheaper and also stronger, but my 2600k could really work with it without beeing a source of bottleneck?
Thanks your help and advice,
Have a nice day.

 

[TechyInAZ]

Hello my Friends!
I would like to ask your help. I plan to upgrade my pc in the - maybe near- future. My cpu isn't a new one, but still ok, but I surely need a new vga. My CPU is an intel i7 2600k. So the question is: which VGA would be the best fellow to it? At first, I looked at AMD RX 580 8GB, but I got some advices that this cpu can "serve" a better vga to, like a vega 56, or a GTX 1080. This latter would be a bit cheaper and also stronger, but my 2600k could really work with it without beeing a source of bottleneck?
Thanks your help and advice,
Have a nice day.

The Sandy Bridge Core i7s are still quite peppy. If your running at stock clocks, yeah you'll bottleneck everything in the mid range market, but if you get close to 4.9GHz, you can run 1060s and 580s without a problem.

There will still be a slight bottleneck, but one that will barely be noticeable.

 

[breavehao]

the 6600k is also bottlenecking the 1060?

 

[TechyInAZ]

the 6600k is also bottlenecking the 1060?

No, not by a long shot. Unless the game is very unoptimized.

 

[TechyInAZ]

I have an HP z800 workstation(got really cheap) with
-dual xeon x5660 CPUs (12 cores at 2.8 GHz)
-160GB DDR3-1333 ECC Registered RAM
-2 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots
-2560*1600 resolution monitor (looking to upgrade to a 4k soon)
I want to purchase either a 1070 or 1080 but I'm not sure if it will be to bottlenecked by any of the current components in my computer. I figured that the PCIe 2.0 will bottleneck the GPU before anything else, maybe the slow ram may be the second place it could bottleneck. Will I be better off buying an older card because of any potential for a bottleneck or will I still be able to get a decent throughput with a 1080 in my machine?

You'll get a heavy bottleneck for sure, since games can't effectively* utilize more than 4-6 cores ATM. You could get faster ram or heck even overclock if the FSB is capable of that on your motherboard, however it won't get rid of the bottleneck.

So long story short, your CPUs are your biggest problem, everything else would be fine if the CPUs had the IPC performance of today's latest processors. Even PCI-E 2.0 is plenty for a Titan X or 1080 Ti.

The max I'd recommend is a GTX 1060 or RX 580. The most optimal for your configuration in my opinion would be an RX 470/570 or a GTX 970. Even with a 970 or RX 470, you'll get a noticeable bottleneck, but it won't be nearly as severe as with a 1070 or 1080.

* When I mean effective, I mean cores that the games needs to have for either A. Run the game or B. Run at optimal performance. I've seen games use up to 12 threads, but only for small stuff that isn't "mission critical" so to speak.

 

[mikys]

Hi guys, sorry! I must be the ultimate retarded! I cant find my CPU in the charts! I have an Intel i7 870 Lynnfield...is a GTX 1070 going to be bottlenecked? Thanks for the patience...

 

[theonerm2]

Hi guys, sorry! I must be the ultimate retarded! I cant find my CPU in the charts! I have an Intel i7 870 Lynnfield...is a GTX 1070 going to be bottlenecked? Thanks for the patience...

Yes. Upgrade your CPU to avoid the bottleneck.

 

[mikys]

Thank you for the reply. Problem is that this is the best CPU i can get with the motherboard that i have. Whats the best VGA i can get?

 

[theonerm2]

I believe you might still bottleneck a little even on the GTX 1060 but it would still perform better than a GTX 1050 ti.