Will my CPU bottleneck my GPU?

MegaFreggel

Commendable
Dec 7, 2016
33
0
1,530
I want to buy a GTX 1080(Ti), and I have an Intel i7 950. I play at 60Hz 1440p resolution. I play the games Overwatch, PUBG, CS:GO, BF1 and BF4. I want to maintain 60fps at highest settings.

Ps. I will upgrade my CPU in the future too to a i7 7700k or a i7 8700k.

Thanks!
 
Solution
Games are limited by the graphics card or the cpu.

Today, GTX1080ti represents the top performing graphics card you can buy today.
No doubt, your cpu will be the limiter, but it may still be good enough for fast action games.

Since you are anticipating a serious cpu upgrade in the future, I say, go ahead and buy the GTX1080ti and see how you do.

And.. exclusively for gaming, I would point to the I5-8600K. It is cheaper than both I7 processors and will game equally well.
Games are limited by the graphics card or the cpu.

Today, GTX1080ti represents the top performing graphics card you can buy today.
No doubt, your cpu will be the limiter, but it may still be good enough for fast action games.

Since you are anticipating a serious cpu upgrade in the future, I say, go ahead and buy the GTX1080ti and see how you do.

And.. exclusively for gaming, I would point to the I5-8600K. It is cheaper than both I7 processors and will game equally well.
 
Solution
First, a 1080Ti is extreme overkill for a 60Hz 1440p monitor. In BF1 for example, that will hit 130+FPS on a Skylake platform. But yes, you will see a technical bottleneck with that old CPU chipset. Yet it still won't matter because you are only effectively capping your FPS at 60. You'd need to get a 144Hz G-sync monitor to see any appreciative bottleneck.

I concur with the above opinion about the i5 8600k. That's the best gaming CPU on the market. The downside right now is that it's extremely hard to find in stock. With all that said, you will have no problem hitting 60FPS in just about any game out there. Your CPU is way outdated, but not enough to cut the performance in half on games compared to Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake, especially at 1440p.