CPU holding back 970

[Downies]

Hello everyone. I decided to start this thread just to inform most of you who want to get a high end GPU such as a GTX 970 or something similar and don't have the money for an expensive CPU. In my current build I have an i5 4460 paired with a GTX 970. Most people say that most i5's will work with this GPU but when it comes to online games such as BF4 and GTA V it is very misleading. This CPU definitely holds back this GPU and I see many posts stating that this CPU is not a bottleneck for example:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/362730-i5-4460-gtx-970/

 

So just to save you the money don't go with this CPU and GPU and go with at least an i5 4690k at the minimum. I don't know if there is an issue on my end or not but all I know is my GPU is being heavily held back from this processor.

[Tedster]

This is probably just your experience.

You shouldn't be getting bottlenecking on a 4460, and the 4690k at stock isn't much faster. Yes, you can OC it, but at stock it won't make much difference.

 

From what you're talking about it sounds like you're getting connection lag in these games? This would be determined by your ping to the servers and maybe connection throughput.

[Swndlr]

Ermmmmm that i5 shouldnt be bottlenecking a 970 AT ALL... like statistically, impossible, like wtf

[Godlygamer23]

Can you describe why you think the CPU is bottlenecking your 970? Online experiences are vastly different from single player experiences.

[LegacyStijncat]

Hello everyone. I decided to start this thread just to inform most of you who want to get a high end GPU such as a GTX 970 or something similar and don't have the money for an expensive CPU. In my current build I have an i5 4460 paired with a GTX 970. Most people say that most i5's will work with this GPU but when it comes to online games such as BF4 and GTA V it is very misleading. This CPU definitely holds back this GPU and I see many posts stating that this CPU is not a bottleneck for example:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/362730-i5-4460-gtx-970/

 

So just to save you the money don't go with this CPU and GPU and go with at least an i5 4690k at the minimum. I don't know if there is an issue on my end or not but all I know is my GPU is being heavily held back from this processor.

BF4 and GTA V are Graphics Card based.

Skyrim and Minecraft, for example, are CPU based.

It all depends from game to game.

[Downies]

BF4 and GTA V are Graphics Card based.

Skyrim and Minecraft, for example, are CPU based.

It all depends from game to game.

Well the single player parts of them are both GPU based but once you hop online it changes

[Tedster]

BF4 and GTA V are Graphics Card based.

Skyrim and Minecraft, for example, are CPU based.

It all depends from game to game.

Yup. I did see one thing showing that Dual Titan Xs were being bottlenecked by an OC'ed 5960x with GTA V, but that was on the game's launch and I don't think I've heard anything more like that so far.

[Tedster]

Well the single player parts of them are both GPU based but once you hop online it changes

Most of the stuff online is determined by the server, so if you're hosting a large game then you might be dedicating too much processing power to the ingame server? This could cause bottlenecking but I don't see why this would happen as if they were to put the server in the game then they would probably optimize it.

Aren't most of these games using centralized hosting these days?

[Downies]

Ill show you guys what I mean:

 

BF4 Siege of Shanghai 64 man server:

 

 

And here are my PC specs:

i5 4460

Corsair H80i Liquid Cooler

MSI z97 PC Mate Motherboard

Corsair cx750m PSU

16gb 1600mhz Ripjaws Ram

EVGA GTX 970 SC

[Downies]

Also if you guys like I could record a short video with MSI AB as an overlay on games such as GTA 5 and BF4

[Tedster]

Ill show you guys what I mean:

-snip-

What other programs are you running in the background?

 

Also, what are your CPU temps like when gaming?

[Curufinwe_wins]

Looks pretty strong like both are maxing out which shouldn't happen. Have you tried clean install of windows?

[Downies]

What other programs are you running in the background?

If you mean in the system tray I run:

 

-steam

-One drive

-Nvidia GE

-Realtek Audio Manager

-Steelseries (My mouse)

-Postimg

-origin

-Corsair Link

-Evga Precisionx

-chrome

-skype

-and AVG

[Downies]

Looks pretty strong like both are maxing out which shouldn't happen. Have you tried clean install of windows?

Absolutely. Tried windows 7 and found out it had bad core parking so I upgraded to Windows 8.1 Professional

[Curufinwe_wins]

Absolutely. Tried windows 7 and found out it had bad core parking so I upgraded to Windows 8.1 Professional

If running windows 8.1 honestly there isn't any reason unless you are bad at INTERNET to use a security software suite other than defender.

 

Also that is quite  a bit of background if i may say so.

[Downies]

If running windows 8.1 honestly there isn't any reason unless you are bad at INTERNET to use a security software suite other than defender.

 

Also that is quite  a bit of background if i may say so.

 

Yeah I noticed this was going on even before I started using AVG (at the time i was using windows defender). I also played the games I have been noticing low GPU usage/FPS on in diagnostic mode to make sure none of the background processes were the issue.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Yeah I noticed this was going on even before I started using AVG (at the time i was using windows defender). I also played the games I have been noticing low GPU usage/FPS on in diagnostic mode to make sure none of the background processes were the issue.

It just doesn't make sense because those cores shouldn't even come close to 100% utilization. is the cpu speed staying constant and what are the cpu temps?

[Downies]

It just doesn't make sense because those cores shouldn't even come close to 100% utilization. is the cpu speed staying constant and what are the cpu temps?

 

CPU temps are great. Never went past 60c but here is a video I just took to show you exactly what I mean. My usage sometimes reaches a good 98% but is still everywhere:

http://youtu.be/aMsAVpste-g

[Downies]

Ermmmmm that i5 shouldnt be bottlenecking a 970 AT ALL... like statistically, impossible, like wtf

 

Sadly it does according to my post a while back:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/350431-gpu-usage-not-stable/

[Dabombinable]

Hello everyone. I decided to start this thread just to inform most of you who want to get a high end GPU such as a GTX 970 or something similar and don't have the money for an expensive CPU. In my current build I have an i5 4460 paired with a GTX 970. Most people say that most i5's will work with this GPU but when it comes to online games such as BF4 and GTA V it is very misleading. This CPU definitely holds back this GPU and I see many posts stating that this CPU is not a bottleneck for example:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/362730-i5-4460-gtx-970/

 

So just to save you the money don't go with this CPU and GPU and go with at least an i5 4690k at the minimum. I don't know if there is an issue on my end or not but all I know is my GPU is being heavily held back from this processor.

I have a slightly slower i5 4440, 16GB DDR3 @ 1333MHz (4x4GB sticks, 1 is rated at 1600MHz), a GTX 970 G1 Gaming, all on an Asus H87M-Pro and my 970 is never bottlenecked, no matter what games I play. The problems your having are related to something else because there is no way in hell that your setup - which is better than mine - has the i5 4460 bottlenecking your GTX 970. (I'm running Windows 7 64bit Professional BTW).

[Monarch]

Ermmmmm that i5 shouldnt be bottlenecking a 970 AT ALL... like statistically, impossible, like wtf

 

BF4 and GTA V are Graphics Card based.

Skyrim and Minecraft, for example, are CPU based.

It all depends from game to game.

 

Ill show you guys what I mean:

 

BF4 Siege of Shanghai 64 man server:

 

 

And here are my PC specs:

i5 4460

Corsair H80i Liquid Cooler

MSI z97 PC Mate Motherboard

Corsair cx750m PSU

16gb 1600mhz Ripjaws Ram

EVGA GTX 970 SC

 

It just doesn't make sense because those cores shouldn't even come close to 100% utilization. is the cpu speed staying constant and what are the cpu temps?

 

I have a slightly slower i5 4440, 16GB DDR3 @ 1333MHz (4x4GB sticks, 1 is rated at 1600MHz), a GTX 970 G1 Gaming, all on an Asus H87M-Pro and my 970 is never bottlenecked, no matter what games I play. The problems your having are related to something else because there is no way in hell that your setup - which is better than mine - has the i5 4460 bottlenecking your GTX 970. (I'm running Windows 7 64bit Professional BTW).

 

Oh my God. First of all,  @Downies you're right than an i5 4460 bottlenecks GTX 970 in CPU heavy games like GTA V and BF4 in CPU-bound situations, at 1080p. However, i5 4670K does as well. These games require more than 4 threads, or even better, cores. I've observed 95 - 100% usage on all cores. Same thing in Witcher 3 when I enter Novigrad, with a lot of NPCs (AI) and objects overall.

Latest titles, especially open world ones, are very taxing on the CPU. Complex AI, physics, a lot of draw calls to be made...

 

People, stop living in the past. i5's are no longer cutting it. They were already in between minimum and recommended requirements, and very soon they will become minimum requirement for latest titles. Especially with DX12 coming, whose primary function is to utilize CPUs even more, as multiple CPU cores can talk to the GPU at the same time. If you're already hitting 100% on all cores, DX12 is not going to help much.

[Dabombinable]

Oh my God. First of all,  @Downies you're right than an i5 4460 bottlenecks GTX 970 in CPU heavy games like GTA V and BF4 in CPU-bound situations, at 1080p. However, i5 4670K does as well. These games require more than 4 threads, or even better, cores. I've observed 95 - 100% usage on all cores. Same thing in Witcher 3 when I enter Novigrad, with a lot of NPCs (AI) and objects overall.

Latest titles, especially open world ones, are very taxing on the CPU. Complex AI, physics, a lot of draw calls to be made...

 

People, stop living in the past. i5's are no longer cutting it. They were already in between minimum and recommended requirements, and very soon they will become minimum requirement for latest titles. Especially with DX12 coming, whose primary function is to utilize CPUs even more, as multiple CPU cores can talk to the GPU at the same time. If you're already hitting 100% on all cores, DX12 is not going to help much.

I know what I see and my i5 4440 never bottlenecks my GTX 970. My Xeon X5450 (3.3GHz overclock) is another story, it bottlenecks by 19%.

[Downies]

I have a slightly slower i5 4440, 16GB DDR3 @ 1333MHz (4x4GB sticks, 1 is rated at 1600MHz), a GTX 970 G1 Gaming, all on an Asus H87M-Pro and my 970 is never bottlenecked, no matter what games I play. The problems your having are related to something else because there is no way in hell that your setup - which is better than mine - has the i5 4460 bottlenecking your GTX 970. (I'm running Windows 7 64bit Professional BTW).

 

Yeah I hear you but I have honestly tried everything under the sun and @Monarch does have a point. I guess another upgrade is going to have to take place. Should have saved up a bit longer for an i7 4790k.

[nunya bus]

no way. I know ppl who run I5's and Titans. 
there is another issue on your system. are you running dual channel memory? or single chan? is it 1T or 2T mode? 
correct timings? 
also the Line load calibration shld be on performance. 

[Downies]

no way. I know ppl who run I5's and Titans. 

there is another issue on your system. are you running dual channel memory? or single chan? is it 1T or 2T mode? 

correct timings? 

also the Line load calibration shld be on performance.

I currently am running dual channel memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231568) and am using the XMP profile in my bios but besides all that everything else is default. I updated my bios and all my drivers to the latest as well. Just to note I do notice that I get perfect performance with this pair in campaign based games (ex. Shadow of Mordor) yet once I play an online game the performance suffers.