Will a core i7 7700k bottleneck a gtx 1080ti?

Arnout_2 · May 1, 2017

So i'm gonna build my new rig and I need to know if a core i7 7700k will bottleneck a gtx 1080ti on 1080p?

Karadjgne · May 1, 2017

If anything, the 1080ti can possibly be a bottleneck for the i7, under extreme circumstances. There isn't a game made that can bottleneck that cpu with that gpu.

1080p isn't extreme circumstances, both the cpu and gpu are so far ahead of that resolution you'll probably need to use v-sync to reduce stuttering

Arnout_2 · May 1, 2017

So will it be a big problem ingame or should i see a problem?

Slumy__57 · May 1, 2017

Simple answer, no. You will be fine with that setup.

More complicated answer: if you don't plan on moving up to 2 or 4k anytime soon though, and this is just for gaming, there is no need for that 1080 ti. In 1080p that is overkill to the highest degree. All you need for 1080p would be a 1070 or maybe a 1080 if you have a 144hz monitor.

Arnout_2 · May 1, 2017

Ok, Thank you for helping I will look at it. And games get more demanding over time so with a 1080ti i can play games in the future without upgrading the card.

Karadjgne · May 2, 2017

There is always that. But that too is iffy. I got my 970 for $280 when the gtx980 was big-boy on the block, nowadays it's surpassed by a $200 1060/6 quite easily. And that was just a couple years ago. You could drop $350 on a 1070 now that's more than enough for 1080p, it'll handle 1080/144 or 1440/60 quite well too. In another 3 years replace the 1070 with a 1270? and still be right up there near the top in performance, or trust that the $700 1080ti will still be more than my mediocre 970 is now. It's a guessing game, either way you spend $700, but personally I'd rather put that extra $350 into something else, and I've got 3 more years to save up for an upgrade, if I didn't upgrade the entire system then anyways.

Or maybe run with a $500 gtx1080, and put the extra into a better monitor like 1440p or 1080/144 shortly thereafter and really enjoy the games. Up to you

Slumy__57 · May 2, 2017

Yeah, most people I've talked to that went and bought a crazy card for "future proofing" wasn't too happy with the way it looses value. Case and point, a friend of mine built a really nice system centered around a 780 ti a few years ago. He spent like $800-900 on the graphics card at the time, and here we are a few years later, and I bought a 1060 for $220 that outperforms it. And if he just rolled with the 770 to the 970 to the 1070 instead, selling old cards as he went, he'd be in a much better place both financially, and performance-wise today.

bystander · May 2, 2017

Karadjgne :

That's just crazy naive talk. All systems get bottlenecked by the CPU in some games, and the GPU in others. You can go to the graphics forum right now, and probably find a few GTX 1080ti owners experiencing bottlenecks due to their i7 7700K's now.

Now, the reason they are bottlenecked is generally because they are trying to get higher FPS than any CPU is capable of reaching in a particular game, or they ran into areas of the game which are CPU heavy. Sometimes they are playing multiplayer games, which are simply more CPU demanding than GPU demanding.

At 1080p, a gtx 1080ti is going to cause CPU bottlenecks in some games, no matter what CPU is used.

That said, you'll still get good performance regardless, but 144 FPS in all games is not going to happen, and it's almost always the CPU speed that prevents it, as you can lower graphical settings to make a GTX 1080ti hit that high of FPS if the CPU was capable of it.

Karadjgne · May 2, 2017

"At 1080p, a gtx 1080ti is going to cause CPU bottlenecks in some games, no matter what CPU is used."

Not entirely accurate. A gpu cannot cause a bottleneck in anything other than the monitor, bottlenecks are a squash in the flow of info, basically cpu-gpu-monitor, not backwards. It's only components before the cpu that can cause this to happen, mainly it's the game itself, it's optimization, drivers, engine, coding etc even add on settings like AA or physX or hairworks that'll bog a cpu down. Nothing to do with the gpu, a 1080ti is simply powerful enough to translate everything fed to it from the cpu, whereas lesser cards struggle to keep up. If your cpu is hitting 100% or close, and the gpu isn't, there's an issue. Either there gpu is seriously overpowered for the system or there's something dragging the cpu down. But it'll never be the gpu causing the cpu issues.

bystander · May 3, 2017

Karadjgne :

What the heck are you talking about?

If the game code is harder on the CPU than the GPU, that's a bottleneck.

A bottleneck has nothing to do with the GPU causing the CPU issues, or the other way around. A bottleneck is when one component is holding back performance, while another is capable of doing more. If the game is more CPU intensive than GPU intensive, it'll hold back performance.

You are describing a bottleneck, whether you want to blame coding for it or not, it's a bottleneck.

Karadjgne · May 3, 2017

"At 1080p, a gtx 1080ti is going to cause CPU bottlenecks in some games, no matter what CPU is used."

That's what you said, I just corrected you. There is absolutely no way a gpu can cause a bottleneck on a cpu. I don't care if it's a i7-7700k pushing a gtx 720, the gpu is not bottlenecking the cpu, the cpu will still perform at its rated speed and IPC. The gpu only bottlenecks stuff that's actually downstream, in this case the monitor, since the monitor will only receive a fraction of the info being processed by the cpu. The gpu is the bottleneck. Reversed with a pentium pushing a 1080ti, the cpu is the bottleneck as the amount of info to the gpu is severely curtailed. But it's all flow from source to monitor, it doesn't go backwards gpu can't bottleneck a cpu, only hdd, ram, lan etc can.

And no, game coding being harder on the cpu than gpu is not a bottleneck unless the coding is beyond the ability of the cpu and slows it down, as in the case of i5's in some games when you turn on things like hairworks, which really require 4c/8t cpus or better to run. Hairworks is highly cpu/thread intensive and will bog down a lesser able cpu, driving it easily to 100% loads, creating the bottleneck, because then the gpu is shorted of info. Downstream. Even with uber high settings driving the gpu to 99%-100%, that's not bottlenecking the cpu, it's still working at its rated speeds and IPC, it is not slowed at all, it's not bottlenecked in the slightest.

Get it now?

And to answer the op's question again.
Absolutely yes, a i7-7700k can bottleneck a gtx1080ti at 1080p, the game Ashes of the Singularity being a good example, you can expect fps in the 20-30 fps range if you use too many cpu dependent settings, but that particular game is miserably optimized, requires a minimum of 4c/8t to run decently and really doesn't get much better than decent even with 1080ti sli.

bystander · May 3, 2017

Karadjgne :

Well, the question was if the CPU is bottlenecking the GPU. As to the corrected sentence, I'm not sure what you said that makes that incorrect.

Read it again: "At 1080p, a gtx 1080ti is going to cause CPU bottlenecks in some games, no matter what CPU is used."

The reason it causes a CPU bottleneck, is because it's simply much faster than the CPU is capable of. Maybe it should read, the GTX 1080ti will create a CPU bottleneck at that resolution instead of cause. The point being, the GTX 1080ti is too fast for that resolution in many cases. The GPU isn't the bottleneck, and I never said that. Just that particular GPU is paired with any CPU and 1080p, there will be a bottleneck. I am not saying the GPU is the bottleneck, only that it caused the CPU to become a bottleneck.

And yes, we are saying the same thing in the end. You are arguing semantics.

chemmajorp53 · May 3, 2017

If you're at 1080p, even 144hz, then it will be a better investment for you to buy a GTX 1070 and upgrade when you need to. Buying hyper-expensive parts to "future proof" your PC is a poor use of money to be honest. The 1070 should be more than enough through the next generation of 1080p games, then when it starts to show its age you'll be able to buy a GTX 3070 or whatever it's named by then and have significantly better performance than the 1080 ti for even more relevant gaming time. Those 2 cards will have cost you the same or less than buying the 1080 ti upfront. The best value in my opinion for 1080p gaming is to buy a $200-250 card (think RX 480 / GTX 1060 6GB) every 2 generations. I mean if you have money to blow and want the 1080 ti, why not spend a bit more and get a 1440p 144hz monitor?

Karadjgne · May 3, 2017

Bystander, dude, it's not semantics in any way. A gpu is physically incapable of slowing down a cpu. It's impossible. You could slap a pentium in front of a 1080ti, and there's nothing the gpu can do to slow that cpu down. Software can, settings can, ram or lan can, but not the gpu, because the gpu is downstream in the flow of info. The cpu is going to put out what it can, that's it. Just because that's not enough to tax that gpu at all doesn't mean the gpu is causing the cpu to get slower, it just simply means that the gpu is bottlenecked BY the cpu.

Figure it this way. I punch you in the face. It mean my fist moved towards you face until contact. It doesn't mean that your face moved towards my fist. End result might be the same, you still get hit, but there is a rather large difference about how it went down. It's entirely possible for any cpu to bottleneck any gpu, but impossible for any gpu to bottleneck a cpu. Info does not flow backwards.

Slumy__57 · May 4, 2017

Karadjgne :

I don't think Bystander ever said that a CPU could be slowed down by the GPU. He just said that in a 1080p scenario, the CPU will be more of a bottleneck than the GPU. I do get what you are saying, a specific component cannot bottleneck another, and it isn't because of the 1080ti that the 7700k will be working harder.

A bottleneck occurs when most of a system is performing on a certain level, and one component (or more) prevents the rest of the system from performing to it's full potential. If the OP was trying to pair an i3 6100 with the 1080 ti, this would be a bottleneck.

However, I don't think that the term bottleneck is applicable to the OP's current situation. The CPU won't be holding back the rest of the system, it'll just be the limiting factor when it comes to the maximum achievable FPS in 1080p. And this is simply because more information will be pushed through the CPU than the GPU.

bystander · May 5, 2017

Karadjgne :

Let me try this one more time.

You have a system, capable of X FPS. Now you add a component way faster than what the rest of the system can keep up with. The addition of that component, throws the whole system out of balance, and the CPU becomes a bottleneck for that GPU.

The GPU is not causing a bottleneck, but the addition of the GPU makes the CPU a bottleneck, where it is not a bottleneck if you used a GTX 1060. It's not the GPU causing a bottleneck, but adding that GPU to your system, makes the CPU a bottleneck for that GPU.

Example:
You have an i7 7700K with a 1080p monitor and no GPU.

1) You add a GTX 1050ti to the system. Your system is GPU bound (most the time), because the GPU is the component holding back FPS.

2) You add a GTX 1080ti to the system. Your system is CPU bound (most the time), because the CPU is the component holding back FPS.

Karadjgne · May 5, 2017

No, sigh, what you have is a balanced pc with an over powered gpu, that's all. The addition of a powerful gpu does not negate the pc. While this is mostly a gamers forum, there's still plenty of ppl out there who have perfectly valid reasons for using just a powerful cpu, and have only basic needs for gpu. Doesn't mean everybody who has an i7 must automatically buy the biggest gpu possible to fit the cpu capabilities. If all I played was minecraft and spent my days recording, modding, streaming, editing etc I'd not need much beyond a 1050, if that much, so how would that gpu be a bottleneck? It wouldn't. It would only be a bottleneck if I then tried to play BF1 on a 4k monitor.

And apart from a select game of 1 (Ashes of the Singularity) I've never seen or heard of an i7-7700k being a bottleneck for a single 1080ti. You're pushing it to get an i7 beyond 60% usage on any game.

bystander · May 6, 2017

Karadjgne :

Just because there is a valid reason to choose X GPU or X CPU, doesn't mean there aren't bottlenecks.

A GTX 1080ti is almost always going to be below 100% usage, because the CPU is holding back performance. That isn't saying that the CPU is too slow. It isn't that the FPS isn't high enough. But the weak link is still the bottleneck.

In properly balanced system, the bottleneck changes from part to part depending on what is being played. Bottlenecks always exist, in every system, no matter how perfectly created they are.

Karadjgne · May 6, 2017

A gtx1080ti at 4k will hit 100%, far more easily than driving a i7-7700k to 100%, especially gaming. Here's the problem I see with your argument. Cpu usage doesn't really scale according to resolution. If you are using 50% at 1080p on a 1080ti, you'll still be using roughly 50% with a 1080ti at 4k. It's only the add-ons like physX or hairworks which change things above norms for the game, but even then, the i7 has the available thread count to deal with those, the I5 doesn't, so gets bogged down even under a measly 1060. So at no time can I see a i7-7700k at close to 100% usage, and a 1080ti at far less. Games are far to gpu oriented for that to happen with a cpu of that caliber. I3 maybe, i7? No way.

bystander · May 6, 2017

Karadjgne :

CPU usage doesn't need to hit 100% usage to show a bottleneck. It only takes 1 thread on a single core to bottleneck to hold back the GPU. CPU's are responsible for multiple linear tasks, unlike GPU's. Many games simply won't use more than 4 threads, even if the CPU has more cores, and often it'll only have 1 thread near 100%, and cause a bottleneck. Sometimes it's other parts of the platform holding performance back, which often are tied to the CPU. Due to the complexities of the CPU, that core might not even hit 100% usage, yet it might still be at it's limit of how fast it can perform a certain task.

100% usage is not the determination of a part being a bottleneck, only that the part is holding back performance of other parts. CPU's usually bottleneck at less than 100% usage due to their linear tasks. GPU's, due to the parallelism, are much easier to determine if they are holding back system performance based on usage.

Saga Lout · May 6, 2017

Well done guys - you couldn't have done it better if you'd set out to confuse the OP who's fairly simple question warranted a one word response.

Try again - you have an hour before I delete all the walls of text I can't be bothered to read.

bystander · May 6, 2017

The simple answer is: The GTX 1080ti will almost never get fully used at 1080p. You can save yourself money and get a GTX 1060 if you play at 1080p 60hz or a get a GTX 1070 if you play at 1080p and 120hz or higher.

Note: If you are expecting to hit 144 FPS all the time in games, know that won't happen. You might get that in some games, but others won't.

Karadjgne · May 6, 2017

There is no simple answer. Technology is fluid, constantly changing. Few years ago, a gtx970 was #2, beat only by a gtx980, now it's a joke and handily beat by a card that's $100 cheaper. So buying the best now may or may not be the answer, it's a gamble at best. The cpu is different, Intel hasn't been really bumping much, 5%here, 10% there, so my 3rd generation i7 is still plenty strong to handle any gpu and still get respectable fps, higher than what my monitor can handle. Does it matter if you get 120fps minimum or 70fps minimum, not in the slightest when you'll only see 60fps on the screen.

Can a i7 be not enough cpu for a 1080ti?absolutely. Depends entirely on you the user. It's entirely possible for an i7 to not be enough for a 750ti. Try rendering and gaming at the same time. But thats extreme usage, not normal. Under normal usage, not going to happen.

Bottlenecking is the single most argumentative and misunderstood and incorrectly applied term there is when it comes to pc's, everybody has an opinion. So, can an i7 bottleneck a gtx1080ti? Yes. Does it bottleneck under accepted usage? No.

HOkay · May 9, 2017

Yeah this really went off the rails.

OP: a 7700k is the best CPU you can buy for gaming right now. It will still hold back the frame rate in some games, Ashes was a good example, but there's nothing you can do about that as you would already have the best CPU!
Which GPU to buy I agree with 1070 if you're playing 1080p, 1080ti if you're playing 1440p or higher. Buying the top thing to "future proof" is rarely a good idea, stepping up every couple of gens to get the performance you want in new games at your screen res is a better idea.

disinformatique · May 9, 2017

You can throttle your system in many ways even when you have a 7700k and 1080ti

1. An older monitor (60hz panels for example)
2. Bad air flow in the case
3. Mediocre cpu and gpu cooling
4. Less than optimal RAM
5. 7700k runs at high temps because of bad thermal solution by Intel, you may want to delid it.

It's the overall ecology of your system which can result in throttling, not just one factor.

Cheers,
Chris

Will a core i7 7700k bottleneck a gtx 1080ti?

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