Will my i5 3570 bottleneck my 970 ssc?

[Masonic]

Will my i5 3570 bottleneck a EVGA gtx 970 ssc acx2.0 4gb? Planning to play games like overwatch, battlefield 1, gta 5, black ops 3, etc.

 

[Ecky]

CPUs always bottleneck GPUs, and vise versa. It depends on what graphical settings you intend to run, at what resolution, what your target framerate is, and what games you play.

Overall, the 3rd-gen i5's are still very solid CPUs and will deliver good performance in the vast majority of games.

 

[superninja12]

not at all

 

[Masonic]

Thanks guys for the fast replies, I was hoping to run on 1080p with max or close to max settings with at least 60 fps

 

[10tacle]

Overall, not much if at all especially if you game with higher AA settings at 1080p or run a higher 1440p resolution. Both put more stress on the GPU vs. the CPU no matter if the game is CPU speed responsive. At best, a Skylake i5 6600 vs. your Ivy Bridge i5 3570 would only gain a few FPS with that 970. Other benchmarks, specifically productivity applications, are another matter though in CPU performance comparisons.

In short, you will run out of GPU power with that 970 before you run out of CPU power in gaming.

 

[Masonic]

Thanks for the answer 10 tacle, I'll be staying at 1080p for all games

 

[Masonic]

Im upgrading from a gtx 760, I just want to play games like gta, overwatch, battlefield 1, doom, etc at high/ultra with above 60 frames on 1080p

 

[Ecky]

There are some cases where your i5 might not allow 60 frames in those games, but for the most part your framerates will be very good. I don't think an upgrade is justified yet, especially if you can squeeze an extra 10-20% out of your chip via overclocking.

 

[Masonic]

There are some cases where your i5 might not allow 60 frames in those games, but for the most part your framerates will be very good. I don't think an upgrade is justified yet, especially if you can squeeze an extra 10-20% out of your chip via overclocking.

What your saying is games like maybe battlefield 1 and doom I may need to turn it down a notch? to high or even lower? I've seen some benchmark videos and for the most part all of the games above maintain a solid 60fps on ultra with the same gpu and cpu.

 

[Ecky]

There's nothing to turn down that will affect CPU limitations. That's the GPU's domain. If your CPU can only deliver 50fps in a particular scene, that's all it will ever deliver.

 

[Masonic]

There's nothing to turn down that will affect CPU limitations. That's the GPU's domain. If your CPU can only deliver 50fps in a particular scene, that's all it will ever deliver.

hm, so you are saying sometimes the cpu wont let it go any higher in certain areas? okay that makes sense, but for the majority will I be okay?

 

[Ecky]

Yeah, that's exactly how it works. CPUs and GPUs don't "balance" each other, your CPU is simply capable of delivering a certain number of frames, that's either enough for you or it isn't. Usually that number will be well above 60 with a modern i5.

 

[Masonic]

Yeah, that's exactly how it works. CPUs and GPUs don't "balance" each other, your CPU is simply capable of delivering a certain number of frames, that's either enough for you or it isn't. Usually that number will be well above 60 with a modern i5.

Alright, thanks for the answers

 

[Karadjgne]

I ran a 3570k with a 970 for a few months. Used on Metal Gear Solid: V. At max settings and 4k render at 1080p on dual monitors it reached 59% cpu and 99% gpu usage. Moved upto the 3770k and got 53%/99%. The 3570 / 970 won't be an issue in most games. There are exceptions, like heavily modded, high settings in GTA:V, but that game can bog down even a skylake i7-6700k with a gtx1080 at 1080p.