Upgrading to Core I9-7900X (GPU Bottleneck)

[Shantohasibul]

My current setup...
Gigabyte Aorus Z270X Gaming 9
Intel Core I7-7700
RAM 32GB 2400
GTX 1080Ti
Coolermaster V750

I'm planning to upgrade my processor to Intel Core i9-7900X X-series Processor
But in Bottlenecker.com it shows it'll bottleneck 21% Coz my GPU will be too weak for this processor...

So what can i do now ???? Is this really true ??? It'll not work together ????

 

[bjornl]

Your current CPU is not a bottle neck to your GPU. There are faster CPUs, but those are the Coffeelake CPUs (like an 8700k). Unless you are doing something very significant, you do not need to upgrade to coffeelake.

The 7900x is an amazing processor, but it is not for gaming. It is not even as good at gaming as what you have now. The 7900x is for designers, video professionals and programmers. It is for people who have lots of stuff running on their PC at the same time.

 

[King_V]

1 - Any bottleneck estimation should be taken with a grain of salt, but, more importantly

2 - Bottlenecking does NOT cause harm, and does NOT cause incompatibility. I cannot stress this enough.

Bottlenecking is a very appropriate name. The behavior is exactly what the word describes.


Think of it this way:

Your CPU is a the first half of a pipe that is 2-inches diameter. Your GPU is attached to the end of that with an adapter, but is a 3-inch diameter pipe. Water flows from the CPU to the GPU, then out. The amount of water you can push out per minute is restricted by the 2-inch pipe, hence the CPU pipe is the bottleneck, the point that limits you. The GPU *could* flow more, but it is not being supplied with enough water by the CPU.

Now, you upgrade your CPU to a more powerful one, and say that represents a 4-inch pipe. Your GPU remains the same, at 3-inches. Now, the CPU can flow more than the GPU, but the GPU is still 3 inches. The GPU is the bottleneck because it's the smallest portion of the pipe. You are still flowing more water than you were before, because your restriction is now the 3-inch pipe of the GPU.

Now, the GPU is running at its maximum, because it's being supplied with as much water as it can take. The CPU *could* do more if it weren't constrained by the GPU, but in no way are you losing any performance with this change, you are gaining it.



Now that I have gotten that explanation out of the way, I have to ask - why are you trying to upgrade the CPU to an i9-7900X? What is it that you feel is inadequate in your current setup?

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Bottlenecking occurs on every system, even the most powerful. It just means what is the weakest link.

I would be remiss if I did not ask, what are you using your system for? The 7900x is a great CPU, but is not a great gaming CPU. Unless you are performing workstation type task, there is no reason for such a CPU.

 

[Shantohasibul]

Your current CPU is not a bottle neck to your GPU. There are faster CPUs, but those are the Coffeelake CPUs (like an 8700k). Unless you are doing something very significant, you do not need to upgrade to coffeelake.

The 7900x is an amazing processor, but it is not for gaming. It is not even as good at gaming as what you have now. The 7900x is for designers, video professionals and programmers. It is for people who have lots of stuff running on their PC at the same time.

It makes 12% bottleneck.. And i can't play all games at 4K Ultra... I just want a high end pc with faster evrything.... 8700K is not for me coz i also want a high end motherboard .... but all z370 motherboards are low budgeted...

 

[Shantohasibul]

Bottlenecking occurs on every system, even the most powerful. It just means what is the weakest link.

I would be remiss if I did not ask, what are you using your system for? The 7900x is a great CPU, but is not a great gaming CPU. Unless you are performing workstation type task, there is no reason for such a CPU.

Then which will be best for X299 boards ???? Can't play Ultra 4K on 7700

 

[spdragoo]

Tom's review of the i9-7960X (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9-7960x-cpu-skylake-x,5238.html) also included testing of the i9-7900. For non-gaming applications, it was a mixed-bag: some applications showed significantly better performance for the i9-7900X (even at stock) over the i7-7700K, but other applications showed them neck-and-neck (even with the i9 overclocked). Gaming-wise...it was no contest: the i7-7700K (at stock) consistently beats or ties an overclocked i9-7900X.

Plus...you have a GTX 1080TI. The only time that a GTX 1080TI will bottleneck any system is at 4K resolutions, but that's only because there's no single GPU solution that can consistently deliver 60FPS (let alone 100+ FPS) in every single game at that resolution.

Plus, you'll need to get a new motherboard (X299 chipset) in addition to the new CPU.

 

[King_V]

Don't obsess over the bottleneck percentage. You are worrying about nothing.

Also, as spdragoo said, at 4K, it's not the CPU holding you back, it's the GPU. Not even a 1080Ti can manage over 60FPS consistently in every game on maximum settings.

And - where did you get the idea that z370 is low-budget? The complaint among people wanting to go to Coffee Lake is that the mid-range and budget boards don't exist yet for Coffee Lake.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Your current CPU is not a bottle neck to your GPU. There are faster CPUs, but those are the Coffeelake CPUs (like an 8700k). Unless you are doing something very significant, you do not need to upgrade to coffeelake.

The 7900x is an amazing processor, but it is not for gaming. It is not even as good at gaming as what you have now. The 7900x is for designers, video professionals and programmers. It is for people who have lots of stuff running on their PC at the same time.

It makes 12% bottleneck.. And i can't play all games at 4K Ultra... I just want a high end pc with faster evrything.... 8700K is not for me coz i also want a high end motherboard .... but all z370 motherboards are low budgeted...

I game at 4k @60hz with max settings in every game and I have a 7700k. At 4k, your CPU has much less impact on gaming performance as does the GPU. The 8700k is the quintessential best gaming CPU in the world. There are also some really good z370 motherboards. If you want the best and money is no object, then go with the MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144104

That board has every feature available on the Z370 chipset. But it probably wont make 1fps difference in gaming over a Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 for half the price.

The only way right now to play all games at 4k 60fps on ultra settings is to run 1080ti sli or Titan Xp sli. And it is not cheap and does not always work. I know this, because I run 1080ti in sli.

 

[bjornl]

Your current CPU is not a bottle neck to your GPU. There are faster CPUs, but those are the Coffeelake CPUs (like an 8700k). Unless you are doing something very significant, you do not need to upgrade to coffeelake.

The 7900x is an amazing processor, but it is not for gaming. It is not even as good at gaming as what you have now. The 7900x is for designers, video professionals and programmers. It is for people who have lots of stuff running on their PC at the same time.

It makes 12% bottleneck.. And i can't play all games at 4K Ultra... I just want a high end pc with faster evrything.... 8700K is not for me coz i also want a high end motherboard .... but all z370 motherboards are low budgeted...

The MSI Godlike Gaming is one of the finest motherboards out there. It is FAR from lowend. It is a ridiculous 500 bucks, but so good it is almost worth it. It is a z370 motherboard. I share your love of high end gear. But, the ultimate goal is what? Best gaming platform? There is no better result than what you will get from a 8700k and a z370 motherboard. Also invest in quality ram and a high end PSU.

The only stuff a x299 platform can touch the 8700k at is "not-gaming". For compiling code, I would love a 7900x or 7980xe (or more likely an AMD threadripper). But not for gaming. For gaming the 8700k is the best answer. It is faster at gaming than the more expensive platforms.

This is the best of the best:

[PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($404.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.79 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 GODLIKE GAMING EATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-4500 Memory ($489.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($289.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung - 960 Pro 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($618.00 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 750W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($162.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2545.74


It is over the top, over priced and not worth it. But it is the very best.

Very close and much more reasonable is this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($404.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.79 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($249.38 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($209.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($104.00 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($284.00 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 750W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($162.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1495.04

Over $1000 cheaper and I'd bet it would get 99% of the results of the more expensive one. Spending a $1000 to chase the last 1% is fun, but maybe not the wisest use of your money. Spend it on the best monitor out there instead.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824025836

None of the parts listed are low end. All of them are faster than any possible x299 build at gaming.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

[PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($404.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.79 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 GODLIKE GAMING EATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-4500 Memory ($489.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($289.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung - 960 Pro 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($618.00 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 750W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($162.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2545.74


It is over the top, over priced and not worth it. But it is the very best.

It don't get much better than that right there. Only thing I would consider for the "dream machine" would be the new Intel Optane SSD.

 

[TJ Hooker]

@Shantohasibul what makes you say available Z370 boards are "low end"? What do you think makes a high end mobo, and what sort of benefits do you think you're going to see by getting one?

 

[bjornl]

[PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($404.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.79 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 GODLIKE GAMING EATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-4500 Memory ($489.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($289.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung - 960 Pro 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($618.00 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 750W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($162.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $2545.74


It is over the top, over priced and not worth it. But it is the very best.

It don't get much better than that right there. Only thing I would consider for the "dream machine" would be the new Intel Optane SSD.

I forgot about the optane, but then their really fast ones are only available up to 480gb for the moment. Maybe replace the smaller 512gb boot 960 pro with a 480gb Optane for the maximum drool factor.

 

[Shantohasibul]

Don't obsess over the bottleneck percentage. You are worrying about nothing.

Also, as spdragoo said, at 4K, it's not the CPU holding you back, it's the GPU. Not even a 1080Ti can manage over 60FPS consistently in every game on maximum settings.

And - where did you get the idea that z370 is low-budget? The complaint among people wanting to go to Coffee Lake is that the mid-range and budget boards don't exist yet for Coffee Lake.

I need 500$+ motherboards ... Need High resolution Audio 🙁

 

[spdragoo]

Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 vs. X299 AORUS Gaming 7 comparison:

http://www.gigabyte.us/Comparison/Result/2?pids=6305,6417

While there are some PCIe slot differences (Z370 has 1 x16, 1 x8, 1 x4 that shares with the M.2 slot, & 3 x1; X299 has 2 x16, 1 x8, & 1 x4 that is not available if the M.2 slot is occupied), RAM/RAM slots differences (Z370 has 4 slots, max of 64GB DDR4-4133 RAM; X299 has 8 slots, max of 512GB DDR4-4400 RAM), & a few other details, their sound codecs/chips/channel/SoundBlaster support are identical.

The primary difference? The Z370 board costs $173 USD less than the X299 board (https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/M3PzK8,CkCrxr/).

So if you're worried about sound capabilities, you're talking about spending more for the CPU and the motherboard; Coffee Lake i7-8700K with CPU cooler runs about $460 USD, Skylake-X i9-7900X with CPU cooler runs about $1,010 USD, so with the motherboard price you're talking about paying an extra $720 USD just to go from a 6C/12T CPU to a 10C/20T CPU...& you won't see any difference in sound quality, a reduction in gaming performance (as the i7-8700K will meet or exceed the i7-7700K's performance, which beat the i9-7900X), & a toss-up as to whether your non-gaming performance will be better or not.

 

[TJ Hooker]

I need 500$+ motherboards ... Need High resolution Audio 🙁

Why do you need "high resolution audio"? What audio device (speakers, headphones, etc) do you have?
As said above, a $200 and a $400 could have the exact same audio...

We've already established that you don't have a CPU bottleneck, so is there even any reason for you to upgrade at this point?