Question Will a 11900K bottleneck a 4080?

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Jun 5, 2023
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Hi, I know that the 4090 is GPU where you need the best CPU to run it. I have Z490 chipset with a 11900K and I really don't know if my 11900K might accidentally bottleneck the RTX 4080 at 1440p, I am worried. I want to stay with 2560x1440.
About the 4090 I know that the bottleneck is here, I am 100% certain about this but about the 4080?
I don't think my 11900K and RTX 4080 will be a good combo at 1440p.
 

punkncat

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I own an 11900K, and it is still very relevant and powerful CPU. I use it for 1440 gaming with a 3070. I typically see 85+ FPS at highest settings. The GPU utilization is always 99-100% and almost never does the CPU utilization go above ~5%, even at 1080.
I do realize that there is a significant performance difference between a 3070 and a 4090.

There are faster options out there, certainly as you know. IMO this really comes down to a matter of cost and value in your own opinion. In order to make any meaningful improvement in the CPU performance is going to be a complete platform upgrade to a 13th gen or Ryzen 7xxx series. The chips you would be looking at to be significantly better are going to be pretty expensive. A 13600K is going to perform in the neighborhood of 20% better (there are a lot of variables). A 13900K is ~25+% faster, but the CPU alone is almost $600. Your best bet for 'value' would probably be a combo deal if you are somewhere you can find one. That is also limiting to your own personal choice as you get what motherboard they pair.

I cannot in good faith personally recommend going 7xxx Ryzen due to various factors. I am of the hope that they will restore my faith in the 8xxx series. I have owned and certainly will not write off owning an AMD offering again.

My take is that currently I would have to spend too much money for a gain that isn't quite worth it yet. I am in a wait and see pattern and have considered going with another GPU update before rebuilding the core components.
 
There will definitely be a bottleneck but that always happens because no two components will ever perform exactly the same. What's important is whether or not the combination of X-CPU and Y-GPU will still give you the performance that you want.

Modern video cards have advanced in speed to the point that even the "mighty" i9-10900K will bottleneck the "lowly" RX 6600. Trust me, how insane that sounds is not lost on me and I never would've believed it until I saw it demonstrated:

The truth is that if the i9-10900K can bottleneck an RX 6600, there's absolutely no question that the i9-11900K will bottleneck the RTX 4080, a card that is literally three times as fast as the RX 6600 because there's no way that the i9-11900K is three times as fast as the i9-10900K. Intel's performance increases at that time were... well, everything was a glorified Skylake CPU at the time so the performance increases over the generations weren't exactly staggering (to say the least).

You'll get a serious bottleneck but that just means that you'll be gaming at your CPU's top speed, not your GPU's top speed. The thing is, I don't think that you're going to be unhappy with the gaming speed of your CPU. The i9-11900K is a fantastic gaming CPU and while it will hold the RTX 4080 back quite a bit, I don't believe that it's going to make your gaming noticeably worse and if/when you upgrade to a top-end gaming CPU like an R7-7800X3D, you'll see huge gains.

Also remember, this is at 1080p, a resolution that nobody buys an RTX 4080 to play at. You can nullify CPU bottlenecks by increasing the resolution so you should be more than fine.
 
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Deleted member 2838871

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About the 4090 I know that the bottleneck is here, I am 100% certain about this but about the 4080?
I don't think my 11900K and RTX 4080 will be a good combo at 1440p.

IMHO you're fine. Before I decided to pull the trigger and build an entirely new PC I first paired the 4090 with an 11900k... and performance was great.

Not as great as performance with a 7950x3D and DDR5... but still solid. Keep in mind this was 4K 60 Ultra.

1440p and the 4080 I think will be fine.
 

USAFRet

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Hi, I know that the 4090 is GPU where you need the best CPU to run it. I have Z490 chipset with a 11900K and I really don't know if my 11900K might accidentally bottleneck the RTX 4080 at 1440p, I am worried. I want to stay with 2560x1440.
About the 4090 I know that the bottleneck is here, I am 100% certain about this but about the 4080?
I don't think my 11900K and RTX 4080 will be a good combo at 1440p.
I think "bottleneck" doesn't mean what you think it means.

The CPU is in control of the framerate, the GPU...the eyecandy.

Here, the CPU will be running at 100%, giving whatever FPS is can.
The GPU may be simply at 60%.

That is the 'bottleneck.
It does not make things run 'slower', but rather it is just that the GPU won't reach its full potential.
 
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Deleted member 2838871

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I own an 11900K, and it is still very relevant and powerful CPU. I use it for 1440 gaming with a 3070. I typically see 85+ FPS at highest settings. The GPU utilization is always 99-100% and almost never does the CPU utilization go above ~5%, even at 1080.
I do realize that there is a significant performance difference between a 3070 and a 4090.

Yeah I don't claim to be an expert on system performance and "bottlenecks" but even at 4K Ultra 60 RT on the AAA titles like Hogwarts my GPU usage has been around 60% at max fps and CPU usage around 20%.

As expected obviously given the hardware but based on these numbers it gives me the impression that the CPU has no problem keeping up with the frames and the GPU has no problem rendering them.
 
I'd be very surprised if you ran into any meaningful CPU bottlenecks at 1440p with 11900K/RTX 4080. It will depend mostly on how CPU heavy the title you're paying happens to be. My CPU is certainly underpowered for my GPU, but I play everything at 3440x1440p and very rarely run into a circumstance where my GPU is being held back.

A setup like yours should only really see the CPU being a bottleneck if you're chasing extreme frame rates and lowering graphics settings to get there.
 
Jun 5, 2023
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So I tried many games on my RTX 4080 and 11900K. At 1440p ultra settings GPU was running at 99% on one game and on other game for example on 88%, and the CPU at 43%. There are also games where the GPU runs at 70-80% with DLSS. However, my average GPU utilization is 75-95% without DLSS, depending on the game. Is that okay?
 

Zerk2012

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There will definitely be a bottleneck but that always happens because no two components will ever perform exactly the same. What's important is whether or not the combination of X-CPU and Y-GPU will still give you the performance that you want.

Modern video cards have advanced in speed to the point that even the "mighty" i9-10900K will bottleneck the "lowly" RX 6600. Trust me, how insane that sounds is not lost on me and I never would've believed it until I saw it demonstrated:

The truth is that if the i9-10900K can bottleneck an RX 6600, there's absolutely no question that the i9-11900K will bottleneck the RTX 4080, a card that is literally three times as fast as the RX 6600 because there's no way that the i9-11900K is three times as fast as the i9-10900K. Intel's performance increases at that time were... well, everything was a glorified Skylake CPU at the time so the performance increases over the generations weren't exactly staggering (to say the least).

You'll get a serious bottleneck but that just means that you'll be gaming at your CPU's top speed, not your GPU's top speed. The thing is, I don't think that you're going to be unhappy with the gaming speed of your CPU. The i9-11900K is a fantastic gaming CPU and while it will hold the RTX 4080 back quite a bit, I don't believe that it's going to make your gaming noticeably worse and if/when you upgrade to a top-end gaming CPU like an R7-7800X3D, you'll see huge gains.

Also remember, this is at 1080p, a resolution that nobody buys an RTX 4080 to play at. You can nullify CPU bottlenecks by increasing the resolution so you should be more than fine.
One of the worst video's I have ever seen. Note the selected game where the processor is using less than 20%
1 generation older than the OP is asking about.
1080p video high detail not maxed and the OP has clearly stated 1440p.

I love YouJunk videos because if you select the right settings, hand pick games, you can make the results pretty much anything you wish them to be.
 

Zerk2012

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Hi, I know that the 4090 is GPU where you need the best CPU to run it. I have Z490 chipset with a 11900K and I really don't know if my 11900K might accidentally bottleneck the RTX 4080 at 1440p, I am worried. I want to stay with 2560x1440.
About the 4090 I know that the bottleneck is here, I am 100% certain about this but about the 4080?
I don't think my 11900K and RTX 4080 will be a good combo at 1440p.
No problems enjoy your PC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
One of the worst video's I have ever seen.
Ok.... and?
Note the selected game where the processor is using less than 20%
1 generation older than the OP is asking about.
What does that have to do with anything? The generation before his i9-11900K was bottlenecked by a card that is only 1/3 as potent as the RTX 4080. Since the i9-11900K is nowhere near triple the performance of the i9-10900K, it's safe to assume that it would be even more bottlenecked than the example that the video shows. It's just simple math.
1080p video high detail not maxed and the OP has clearly stated 1440p.
Sure, go ahead and find someone who does CPU bottleneck gaming tests at 1440p. I sure didn't find any.
I love YouJunk videos because if you select the right settings, hand pick games, you can make the results pretty much anything you wish them to be.
I didn't exactly pick him out of the closet. He's a majorly-successful TechTuber who has been there for years. I'm not trying to push an agenda here, I'm telling what I think is the truth.
 
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Deleted member 2838871

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Still less than 50% so were good 💀

I laughed because those bottleneck calculators are complete garbage. I've got the best hybrid CPU along with the best GPU currently available and it's telling me I have a bottleneck... that my CPU isn't fast enough.

Point being... every PC has a bottleneck somewhere and as long as you are getting the performance you want that's all that matters.
 
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Zerk2012

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Ok.... and?

What does that have to do with anything? The generation before his i9-11900K was bottlenecked by a card that is only 1/3 as potent as the RTX 4080. Since the i9-11900K is nowhere near triple the performance of the i9-10900K, it's safe to assume that it would be even more bottlenecked than the example that the video shows. It's just simple math.

Sure, go ahead and find someone who does CPU bottleneck gaming tests at 1440p. I sure didn't find any.

I didn't exactly pick him out of the closet. He's a majorly-successful TechTuber who has been there for years. I'm not trying to push an agenda here, I'm telling what I think is the truth.
The OP is using a 1440p monitor, you crank everything up and run Cyberpunk @1440P and any CPU bottleneck will be gone. On most of the newer games they would not be one anyhow but as said before you can always hand pick games to get your desired results.
Who would even buy a 4080 for 1080p Just to give you some numbers with a 5900X that is about right on par with a 11900K (actually a bit slower)

Notice the 6600 is not even listed. (6700XT 53 FPS I guess that is why the 6600 is not even listed)

And yes that guy should not be allowed to even post to YouJunk anymore.
Compares a 10900K and 6600 to a 3090ti but powered by a 1700X processor THIS IS A 100% Joke of a video when he went to 1440p he should of at least compared the 2 cards using the 10900K that video =:poop::poop:
 
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Deleted member 2838871

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No, that is a meaningless number.

2%, 50%, 88%....all the same level of 'meaningless'.

I think the guy that came up with bottleneck calculators is the same guy that told everyone they need 200 fps to play a PC game.
 
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