[SOLVED] Will a GTX 1660ti bottleneck i5-4690k?

Sangeeth Sivan

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Oct 22, 2015
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I want to know whether my i5 4690k gets bottlenecked by a 1660ti.Also i have a single 8gb corsair vengeance DDR3, but people told me having dual channel or two ram sticks is better than having a single one.So if i am going to buy 1660ti for my PC , should i consider buying another 8gb stick too?

Current Specs:
i5 4690k.
GTX 970 Strix.
8gigs corsair vengeance ddr3.
 
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I want to know whether my i5 4690k gets bottlenecked by a 1660ti.Also i have a single 8gb corsair vengeance DDR3, but people told me having dual channel or two ram sticks is better than having a single one.So if i am going to buy 1660ti for my PC , should i consider buying another 8gb stick too?

Current Specs:
i5 4690k.
GTX 970 Strix.
8gigs corsair vengeance ddr3.
you wont get the full performance of gtx 1660 ti but its not that bad like 20% bottleneck it depends on game you play check this video for more details
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZoSWkyyDNE

start at 8:24

clutchc

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Ambassador
You will be right at the margin for CPU bottleneck, I believe. The GTX 1660 Ti is pretty close in performance to my GTX 1070 and I noticed some CPU bottleneck before I upgraded to a i7-4790K. A lot depends on the screen resolution you game at, the in-game settings, and the server load. The quad core will struggle on a busy server keeping up with the 1660 Ti.

You don't need to run dual channel, but you will see a slight improvement in performance if you do. Maybe ~10%. But the extra 8GB will make a difference if you have more stuff open than just the game. Have you ever checked to see what your RAM usage was when you gamed?
 

Sangeeth Sivan

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Oct 22, 2015
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You will be right at the margin for CPU bottleneck, I believe. The GTX 1660 Ti is pretty close in performance to my GTX 1070 and I noticed some CPU bottleneck before I upgraded to a i7-4790K. A lot depends on the screen resolution you game at, the in-game settings, and the server load. The quad core will struggle on a busy server keeping up with the 1660 Ti.

You don't need to run dual channel, but you will see a slight improvement in performance if you do. Maybe ~10%. But the extra 8GB will make a difference if you have more stuff open than just the game. Have you ever checked to see what your RAM usage was when you gamed?
Yes the RAM usage will be somewhere around 5gigs to 6 i would say. And also i play games like Division 2, and most of the AAA single player games at 1080 60hz.
 
Even with the slight bottleneck you may encounter, you'll still see a good upgrade with the 1660 over the 970. And at 60hz it may not be an issue at all. I also saw a small bottleneck on my 1070 with a 6600k, but was playing at 1080/144. Moved to 1440/144 And it wasn't as bad. Now with a 2080, still at 1440/144 with my 6600, and it's working well. I know a cpu upgrade would help, but the cost involved doesn't make sense right now. I will be upgrading soon. But because I want to, not because I feel a massive need to. And I want to see if new 3000 ryzen will pan out before I go 8700/9700k. Also oc that current cpu as high as you can and that will also help with the slight bottleneck you may see.

And yes, do the ram. It'll be worth it,imo.
 

Sangeeth Sivan

Distinguished
Oct 22, 2015
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18,545
Even with the slight bottleneck you may encounter, you'll still see a good upgrade with the 1660 over the 970. And at 60hz it may not be an issue at all. I also saw a small bottleneck on my 1070 with a 6600k, but was playing at 1080/144. Moved to 1440/144 And it wasn't as bad. Now with a 2080, still at 1440/144 with my 6600, and it's working well. I know a cpu upgrade would help, but the cost involved doesn't make sense right now. I will be upgrading soon. But because I want to, not because I feel a massive need to. And I want to see if new 3000 ryzen will pan out before I go 8700/9700k. Also oc that current cpu as high as you can and that will also help with the slight bottleneck you may see.

And yes, do the ram. It'll be worth it,imo.
if i OC my cpu , will i need an aftermarket cooler? its on stock cooler now.
 
Games will be limited by the cpu or the graphics card.
Which will depend on the games you play.
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.

Try this test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

If a graphics card upgrade is indicated, a GTX1660ti is only a modest upgrade.
You might want to go stronger or you could be disappointed if you do not see impressive results.

If you think cpu is your limiter, see of you can overclock your 4690K a bit.

Yes, dual channel ram is a bit faster, but not significantly so.
Past that, adding another 8gb stick may have compatibility issues.

A big boost to processor capability will involve an upgrade to ryzen or 8/9th gen intel.
Either will also need a new motherboard and ddr4 ram.
 
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clutchc

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If you're going to try some OC with your i5-4690K, you will want a better cooler than the stock cooler for sure. Your OC will be limited to next to nothing before temps get too high.
Also, what motherboard and PSU do you have? They need to be adequate for OC'ing as well.

As Gmoney06ss says, you may want to just grab the 1660 Ti and try it out on the 4690K as is. If the framerates increase enough to make you happy, forget about the OC or the CPU upgrade. Any possible CPU bottleneck may not be worth worrying about.
 

M.AGamer

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Feb 19, 2019
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I want to know whether my i5 4690k gets bottlenecked by a 1660ti.Also i have a single 8gb corsair vengeance DDR3, but people told me having dual channel or two ram sticks is better than having a single one.So if i am going to buy 1660ti for my PC , should i consider buying another 8gb stick too?

Current Specs:
i5 4690k.
GTX 970 Strix.
8gigs corsair vengeance ddr3.
you wont get the full performance of gtx 1660 ti but its not that bad like 20% bottleneck it depends on game you play check this video for more details
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZoSWkyyDNE

start at 8:24
 
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Reactions: Sangeeth Sivan
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