Upgrade to Skylake? Or 4790k?

[Benovation]

I have a new GTX 1080 and it made me realize in most of the games I love my i5 just isn't up to snuff. ((CPU usage 80-100%, GPU hits as low as 35% in Witcher 3/GTA V))
Would it be wise to upgrade to skylake or simply get a 4790k with a nzxt kraken and OC it to 4.6 GHz or higher.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Couple things, whats your full system specs now.

Also when you are seeing high useage are you noticing performance problems? (Stuttering, playability issues, big fps drops). If not, why spend the money?

 

[Benovation]

@Rogue Leader

Z97A Sli Krait Motherboard
I5-4690k
8gb of pretty slow Mushkin ram
250gb SSD
1 TB HDD
EVGA FTW GTX 1080


And yes at 1080p in the Witcher 3 I barely can get above 70 in towns, around 45-60 in Novigrad. So fps issues.

 

[Rogue Leader]

So a few things, the 4790k isn't gonna do much for you. For Witcher 3 hats actually really good performance, are you running a 144hz monitor? if not you won't even notice a difference in performance if you upgraded. Other than watching the fps meter do you notice these drops? I bet not.

The only way you will get better performance is if you really re-do everything (i7-6700k at a minimum), but even then unless you're running a 144hz monitor why bother.

 

[Benovation]

"So a few things, the 4790k isn't gonna do much for you. For Witcher 3 hats actually really good performance, are you running a 144hz monitor? if not you won't even notice a difference in performance if you upgraded. Other than watching the fps meter do you notice these drops? I bet not.

The only way you will get better performance is if you really re-do everything (i7-6700k at a minimum), but even then unless you're running a 144hz monitor why bother."


First, thanks for the reply! However I don't know if that's correct. I'd love to believe that but the info I've read on the subject from an i5 to an i7 with a GTX 1080 is a big deal. Witcher 3 at 1080p should (according to aggregated benchmarks) be around 110 fps average. While mine sits around 80-90. As said in Novigrad and Villages it definitely drops in performance, the fps drops I can definitely notice, no doubt about that. It's mainly the fact that I'm not getting the type of performance I believe I should be. Once again that is based on aggregation of benchmarks and reviews of the card.

However, when I pair it up to an i5 with a 1080 it is about on par, with suffering usage in the GPU, and high CPU usage with a decently large shrink in frame rate. I think you're right in a sense it's not gonna be a huge huge increase. But I think it will deliver the performance i was expecting which is at minimum a constant 60 fps Ultra on at least 1080p. Currently that is not what I'm getting.

When I've talked to Nvidia and EVGA, and Reddit about it... Most have claimed its a CPU related issue due to the usage being so high in my GPU usage being very low. As well as a lower frame rate and slight stuttering.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Right, which is why I said the jump to 4790k isn't worth it but to move up to something faster than that like a 6700k with more faster memory (DDR4) that will make a bigger difference.

I've seen that 110fps number for Witcher 3, it was done with an X99 Motherboard and an i7-5830k and 16gb of DDR4 3000, far far more powerful and expensive than what you have. Thats how you get to that kind of performance. But a good 6700k should do what you want.

 

[kettu]

As far as I know I5-4690k should be able to handle any game out there with playable perfomance unless it's defective in some way. It might be software related issue. Have you tried re-installing your GPU driver?

 

[Rogue Leader]

As far as I know I5-4690k should be able to handle any game out there with playable perfomance unless it's defective in some way. It might be software related issue. Have you tried re-installing your GPU driver?

His performance is more than playable, he notices minor fps drops which is contingent with not running the fastest processor available with a game like Witcher 3 thats dependent on it more, he wants it to perform better.

 

[Hawkshot]

I have to agree with Rogue Leader's main point here, what it comes down to is you will not see much fps difference in going from the I5-4690k to the I7-4790k there just isn't a big enough difference in gaming speed between the 2. Now what you can do is upgrade to an i7-6700k this will increase your CPU by about 10% at stock and if you get a good cooler like the Dark Rock Pro3 with the help of a good Z170 motherboard you can overclock that CPU to give you roughly another 10-15% increase depending on how far you want to OC these paired with some good DDR4 ram and you will see the jump in fps you want.

Example upgrades.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£293.88 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (£67.25 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£142.53 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£69.32 @ More Computers)
Total: £572.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-18 16:14 BST+0100

 

[kettu]

His performance is more than playable, he notices minor fps drops which is contingent with not running the fastest processor available with a game like Witcher 3 thats dependent on it more, he wants it to perform better.

But I wouldn't be expecting slowdowns with that CPU. I'd atleast re-instal the graphics driver before spending any money.

 

[Rogue Leader]

His performance is more than playable, he notices minor fps drops which is contingent with not running the fastest processor available with a game like Witcher 3 thats dependent on it more, he wants it to perform better.

But I wouldn't be expecting slowdowns with that CPU. I'd atleast re-instal the graphics driver before spending any money.

They are minor slowdowns which I believe even with that CPU. Totally playable, barely noticeable, but if you are monitoring FPS and want to get everything you can, they are there.

He did say:

It's mainly the fact that I'm not getting the type of performance I believe I should be.

 

[andy1234569]

your frames dont matter if its past 60 fps unless your have a 144 hz monitor