Question Will my CPU bottleneck too much ?

[ItzCoastal]

Hey there! Not a PC noob but just need a little bit of advice on something.

My current build is running:

i7-10700K
RTX 3070
32GB DDR4 @3200mghz
on a Gigabyte Z590 Motherboard.

I want to get a new GPU and I'm looking at the RTX 4070. Money is not the issue it's mainly just the pain of replacing parts. I don't want to have to replace both my CPU and motherboard to be able to use a 12th gen CPU (since i prefer intel) and my motherboard only goes up to 11th gen. So I figured I would ask if my CPU will bottleneck the 4070 too much or if I need to upgrade both my motherboard and CPU. Either way I'm getting the new GPU, I just don't wanna go through the hassle of replacing both of those things along with it.

thank you!

 

[kanewolf]

Hey there! Not a PC noob but just need a little bit of advice on something.

My current build is running:

i7-10700K
RTX 3070
32GB DDR4 @3200mghz
on a Gigabyte Z590 Motherboard.

I want to get a new GPU and I'm looking at the RTX 4070. Money is not the issue it's mainly just the pain of replacing parts. I don't want to have to replace both my CPU and Motherboard to be able to use a 12th gen CPU (since i prefer intel) and my motherboard only goes up to 11th gen. So I figured I would ask if my CPU will bottleneck the 4070 too much or if I need to upgrade both my motherboard and CPU. Either way I'm getting the new GPU, I just don't wanna go through the hassle of replacing both of those things along with it.

thank you!

WHY do you want a new card is really the question. If it is playing 4K, then your CPU won't be a limiting factor. If it is ray tracing or some other feature that you don't have on the 3xxx series cards, then it probably won't be an issue. If it is to get 500+ FPS because your buddy gets 450FPS then it might be.

 

[ItzCoastal]

WHY do you want a new card is really the question. If it is playing 4K, then your CPU won't be a limiting factor. If it is ray tracing or some other feature that you don't have on the 3xxx series cards, then it probably won't be an issue. If it is to get 500+ FPS because your buddy gets 450FPS then it might be.

like i said money isnt the issue, i really just wanna upgrade it. No particular reason.

 

[USAFRet]

Hey there! Not a PC noob but just need a little bit of advice on something.

My current build is running:

i7-10700K
RTX 3070
32GB DDR4 @3200mghz
on a Gigabyte Z590 Motherboard.

I want to get a new GPU and I'm looking at the RTX 4070. Money is not the issue it's mainly just the pain of replacing parts. I don't want to have to replace both my CPU and Motherboard to be able to use a 12th gen CPU (since i prefer intel) and my motherboard only goes up to 11th gen. So I figured I would ask if my CPU will bottleneck the 4070 too much or if I need to upgrade both my motherboard and CPU. Either way I'm getting the new GPU, I just don't wanna go through the hassle of replacing both of those things along with it.

thank you!

Swapping in a better part does NOT make the performance go down.
Quite the opposite.

While some bogus calculator may tell you about "OMG!! BottlenecK!"....your actual performance goes UP.

That may be better graphics, or better framerate, or boht.

 

[kanewolf]

like i said money isnt the issue, i really just wanna upgrade it. No particular reason.

Then there is no simple answer. If you play 1080p games, your CPU will probably be limiting. BUT, every system has a limiting factor. So there is no real way to say if your GPU upgrade will give you enough of a performance increase to help you justify your expense. You will get an increase. Will you say "but I thought it would be faster" .... Maybe.

 

[ItzCoastal]

Swapping in a better part does NOT make the performance go down.
Quite the opposite.

While some bogus calculator may tell you about "OMG!! BottlenecK!"....your actual performance goes UP.

That may be better graphics, or better framerate, or boht.

Swapping in a better part does NOT make the performance go down.
Quite the opposite.

While some bogus calculator may tell you about "OMG!! BottlenecK!"....your actual performance goes UP.

That may be better graphics, or better framerate, or boht.

i know it makes performance go up, but with the bottleneck i wont get the best out of it, so i was mainly just asking if the performance including the bottleneck is worth the upgrade without having to get a new cpu and motherboard

 

[USAFRet]

i know it makes performance go up, but with the bottleneck i wont get the best out of it, so i was mainly just asking if the performance including the bottleneck is worth the upgrade without having to get a new cpu and motherboard

The question you're actually asking is...

"Will the new 4070 be able to reach its full potential, given the other existing parts?"
Maybe, maybe not. And it depends on the game or application in question.


The term 'bottleneck' is irrelevant.

 

[ARICH5]

op hasnt said what hes using his pc for yet. it could be for photoshop or gaming or engineering.

id run a game and check the usage levels in afterburner first.

 

[thestryker]

There is always going to be some sort of bottleneck. The best way to determine how much you'll be looking at for your setup would be to check GPU and CPU usage during whatever you're doing. If your GPU is at 100% all the time then it's a fair bet you'll see an improvement with a faster card. If your GPU usage is lower then it won't be as much of an improvement.

 

[ItzCoastal]

op hasnt said what hes using his pc for yet. it could be for photoshop or gaming or engineering.

id run a game and check the usage levels in afterburner first.

gaming, video editing. that's it really.

but i have been starting to dabble in 3d modeling for the hell of it.

 

[USAFRet]

gaming, video editing. that's it really.

but i have been starting to dabble in 3d modeling for the hell of it.

Read the specs of my system under Viper.
I do all of that and more.

As we speak, I am in the process of designing a new center console and switch panel for my new car.

Rhino3D, and eventually out through my 3D printer.

 

[ARICH5]

gaming, video editing. that's it really.

but i have been starting to dabble in 3d modeling for the hell of it.

also make sure you have a fast nvme drive or a new large capacity ssd. they are very cheap now. also if you want to go to the 40 series gpu make sure you have at least a 80+ gold psu with 800W.

 

[kanewolf]

There is always going to be some sort of bottleneck.

NO. There is always a limiting factor or component. It may or may not be perceived as a "bottleneck". That term has been so overused, that is is essentially meaningless.

 

[thestryker]

NO. There is always a limiting factor or component. It may or may not be perceived as a "bottleneck". That term has been so overused, that is is essentially meaningless.

Here's a hint for you:

Definition of BOTTLENECK

narrow… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

I'm really tired of seeing people whine about the correct use of the english language if you can't deal with it just keep it to yourself.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm really tired of seeing people whine about the correct use of the english language if you can't deal with it just keep it to yourself.

And I'm tired of people thinking it is a "problem", that needs to be "fixed".

A bigger 'bottleneck' is not an indicator of bad or worse performance.

 

[hotaru.hino]

The problem I see is several prominent tech tubers made a video about this, which was about as effective as saying "if you have a cough, you may have COVID."

 

[thestryker]

And I'm tired of people thinking it is a "problem", that needs to be "fixed".

A bigger 'bottleneck' is not an indicator of bad or worse performance.

Oh I agree with you completely one look at the system listed in my sig should make that obvious. That doesn't mean anything I said is inaccurate in any way though.

 

[Viking2121]

For a 4070, I think your CPU should do well, Yeah you may run into a bottleneck at lower resolutions or finding that DLSS or FSR may not do much in terms of performance due to said bottleneck, but I really don't think it would even noticeable over something like a 13900k. I would say different if you were looking at a 4090, but even though I'd still say get it, and upgrade the CPU later.

 

[Karadjgne]

Just throw out the word 'bottleneck' entirely. It's irrelevant. There's simply far too many variables to apply that term to and some, like game code, constantly change the results.

There's 2 parts to fps. There's the max fps that is outputted by the cpu and the output fps that you see on screen. Resolution has little to no affect on cpu fps, resolution is essentially a gpu affect.

So a 10700k has plenty of juice to output relatively decent fps to the gpu. Pair that 3070 with a 4k monitor, fps will be in the toilet. Pair that 3070 with a 1080p monitor, the cpu will often be the limiting factor. In the same game. Change games to a potato like CSGO, and the cpu will definitely be the limiting factor, the gpu half asleep. Change games to something like Ashes of the Singularity and even at 1080p the cpu will be napping but the gpu will struggle hard to get playable fps.

There is Always a 'bottleneck' somewhere, with something, Always a limiting factor, sometimes its hardware, sometimes it's software.