Will my old CPU bottleneck a new GPU?

[Squeeeeeeeps]

Hi everyone,

Let me just preface this by saying I am new here, and though I have been a gamer for a long time, I am just barely starting to open my eyes to the world of builds and ready to enter the rabbit-hole! 

 

My dilemma: I do have a custom built PC (my friend ordered parts and built for me), about 5 years old I think, that I want to upgrade. Thinking it was pretty outdated, I was initially going to try to build a brand new PC myself budgeted for about $1500-2000, but after a fair amount of Google and YT. I don't think it's that terrible of a setup after all. Now my CPU and and Mobo probably should be upgraded soon, but I was wondering if I could change my GPU to an RTX 2070 Super without worrying too much about it being bottle-necked... I use the PC for school programs, and stream movies/music, but my main concern here is gaming performance... Here is my current rig:

 

CPU: i7-6700 @ 3.40 GHz, 3408 MHz, 4 Cores

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 (4Gb)

Mobo: Intel B150 PC Mate (MS-7971)

RAM: 16Gb DDR4 @ 2133 MHz

SSHD: Seagate ST2000DX001 (2Tb, 7200rpm)

 

Wanting to change the GPU for an RTX 2070 Super, but I don't know if any other component will be holding back the new GPU.

Thanks in advance, let me know if I'm missing anything, and any advice is welcome!

[Dropit]

Well I can't say much about the mobo, but the cpu should be atleast something with 6 cores like a i5 8600k or ryzen 3600.

[Bombastinator]

19 minutes ago, Squeeeeeeeps said:

Hi everyone,

Let me just preface this by saying I am new here, and though I have been a gamer for a long time, I am just barely starting to open my eyes to the world of builds and ready to enter the rabbit-hole! 

 

My dilemma: I do have a custom built PC (my friend ordered parts and built for me), about 5 years old I think, that I want to upgrade. Thinking it was pretty outdated, I was initially going to try to build a brand new PC myself budgeted for about $1500-2000, but after a fair amount of Google and YT. I don't think it's that terrible of a setup after all. Now my CPU and and Mobo probably should be upgraded soon, but I was wondering if I could change my GPU to an RTX 2070 Super without worrying too much about it being bottle-necked... I use the PC for school programs, and stream movies/music, but my main concern here is gaming performance... Here is my current rig:

 

CPU: i7-6700 @ 3.40 GHz, 3408 MHz, 4 Cores

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 940 (4Gb)

Mobo: Intel B150 PC Mate (MS-7971)

RAM: 16Gb DDR4 @ 2133 MHz

SSHD: Seagate ST2000DX001 (2Tb, 7200rpm)

 

Wanting to change the GPU for an RTX 2070 Super, but I don't know if any other component will be holding back the new GPU.

Thanks in advance, let me know if I'm missing anything, and any advice is welcome!

I’m getting bottleneck from my 970 on a 4770k.

will a 2070S remove that? Yes.  Will it create instead a CPU bottleneck? Maybe a little.  Not all that much though.  Currently.  In the future though it might become big.

 

The issue is threads.  Your current cpu has 8.  Not real fast ones, but 8 of them.  The question becomes will there be enough threads for future software?  The answer seems to be probably but maybe not so much. It’s heavily dependant on how software is written in the future.   The 2070S is arguably a bit too much GPU for your CPU, but you might very well have to upgrade your CPU soon anyway, at which point a bigger GPU might come in real handy.

[Squeeeeeeeps]

19 minutes ago, Dropit said:

Well I can't say much about the mobo, but the cpu should be atleast something with 6 cores like a i5 8600k or ryzen 3600.

Yeah, you're probably right. I saw a video comparing the i5-9600k and i7-6700k and there was only about a 15fps difference there (and another small difference going from the i5-9600k to the i7-9700k), so I thought I would be able to skip that for now and invest that money in an even beefier CPU down the line as prices drop... but looking at it now, mine's a 6700, not 6700k

[Dropit]

The oc doesn't do that much, and if you're really into it you can try manually ocing your 6700, as only the multiplicator isn't unlocked

[Bombastinator]

14 minutes ago, Squeeeeeeeps said:

Yeah, you're probably right. I saw a video comparing the i5-9600k and i7-6700k and there was only about a 15fps difference there, so I thought I would be able to skip that for now and invest that money in an even beefier CPU down the line... but looking at it now, mine's a 6700, not 6700k

Heh.  The reason the 6700 can get so close to a 9600 is the 9600 has only 6 threads.  The 6700 has 8.  The 9600 is in more trouble than the 6700 is.

There is a much better market for CPUs than GPUs atm.  A cpu with more than 8 threads is something that very likely will be needed in the future, just not right now.  It will not make your computer faster for games though because your GPU is so slow.  All of them will need to be upgraded.  You can do one first, the other first, or both at the same time.

[Princess Luna]

34 minutes ago, Squeeeeeeeps said:

Nvidia GeForce GTX 940 (4Gb)

This card doesn't really exist but considering you have a low end Maxwell, going to a RTX 2070 Super would still provide you a substantial increase in gaming performance even if the i7 6700 and 2133mhz memory somewhat holds it back.

[Squeeeeeeeps]

10 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

This card doesn't really exist but considering you have a low end Maxwell, going to a RTX 2070 Super would still provide you a substantial increase in gaming performance even if the i7 6700 and 2133mhz memory somewhat holds it back.

Typo  it's a GTX 960... I'll see if there are any deals on better RAM this on Cyber Monday... maybe i can sell my 2133mhz ram after that

 

11 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

The reason the 6700 can get so close to a 9600 is the 9600 has only 6 threads.  The 6700 has 8.  The 9600 is in more trouble than the 6700 is.

All of them will need to be upgraded.  You can do one first, the other first, or both at the same time.

Surprisingly the i5-9600 showed better performance despite having more cores, but less threads. I think I'll start with installing the GPU to see the difference, but more than likely i'll cave in and get the CPU too.

[Bombastinator]

9 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

This card doesn't really exist but considering you have a low end Maxwell, going to a RTX 2070 Super would still provide you a substantial increase in gaming performance even if the i7 6700 and 2133mhz memory somewhat holds it back.

Totally off topic but my cat’s name is “princess luna the permanently under appreciated”

 

[Princess Luna]

3 minutes ago, Squeeeeeeeps said:

Typo  it's a GTX 960... I'll see if there are any deals on better RAM this on Cyber Monday... maybe i can sell my 2133mhz ram after that

What monitor do you have? if it's 60hz and you just want to max settings then the i7 6700 is still adequate for the 60fps target on pretty much any game (provided you don't multi-task while gaming so no side/background programs running alongside).

 

The issue really rises if you're targeting higher refresh rate.

 

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

“princess luna the permanently under appreciated”

Aw the kitty is named Luna? how cute ^^ It's a nice name for a pet yes.

[Squeeeeeeeps]

4 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

What monitor do you have?

It's a 120Hz 1080p monitor and I usually don't multitask when I've got a game on.  Once my rig and bank are happy enough though,I do want to upgrade that too 

[Princess Luna]

Just now, Squeeeeeeeps said:

It's a 120Hz 1080p monitor and I usually don't multitask when I've got a game on.  Once my rig and bank are happy enough though,I do want to upgrade that too 

There's nothing wrong in getting the GPU now and then the new platform down the road, I don't think the i7 6700 will be up for the task of 120fps on demanding games but like stated you'll be able to increase a whole lot more your graphical settings across the board.

 

Good luck!