[STILL UNSOLVED]I have an AMD A8-5500 APU, if I was to buy a GTX980 explain to me why it would bottleneck

[CulDoes]

All I would like to understand is why the CPU wouldn't be able to support a GTX980 or in general why a CPU wont support certain GPU's, I know about why the PSU can be an issue but why cant certain CPU's handle certain GPU's?

 

Edit: No-one below has actually answered the question, Explain to me why a CPU bottlenecks a GPU is it its threads, cores, clock speed what, how do you know just by reading specs that one wont support the other?!?!

Edited August 21, 2015 by CulDoes

[TheSLSAMG]

Your CPU isn't powerful enough in most if not all games to leverage the amount of GPU power you have, therefore the CPU limits the GPU's performance. The CPU and GPU will work together fine, but in games your CPU will not likely be able to leverage all of the GPU power.

[Dietrichw]

it would work just not well. A slow CPU cannot supply enough calls for information to be sent to the GPU. The CPU manages tasks for the system so lets say you were at a desk doing work and your boss gives tasks to do. That is a similar relationship to the CPU and GPU. Your Boss doesn't give you enough work to keep you busy while at work so you sit around and do nothing. Same with a CPU and GPU, the GPU will not be fully used because it cannot receive enough work.

 

This is improved with low level APIs like DirectX 12 which allows more than one core to send calls to the GPU. With the example above, you would gets tasks from multiple bosses to keep you busy while at work

[Knaj]

This is bottlenecking.

 

Bottlenecking is when the GPU is so powerful, that the CPU cannot keep up with it.

 

Since that is a CPU that is not powerful at all, the GPU will be limited by the power of the CPU.

 

 

Also, don't get a 980. The 980 has terrible pricing. In your case, get an intel i5 4460, and a R9 390. 

[Morgan MLGman]

All I would like to understand is why the CPU wouldn't be able to support a GTX980 or in general why a CPU wont support certain GPU's, I know about why the PSU can be an issue but why cant certain CPU's handle certain GPU's?

this APU has a relatively bad CPU part compared to the 980, it's usage in games will max out to 100% on every of the cores and you will notice big framerate drops in games.

AT LEAST an i5-4460 is recommended with this GPU, I'd go even further and look at i5-467/90 series if I were to get this card.

[thekeemo]

Let me put it like this if you have a 1000hp engine and 1 inch wide tires you're not going to be able to put down that 1000hp to the ground

[DarkBlade2117]

The CPU holds back the GPU.

Here's an example. Your CPU is 20,000 pounds of cement, while your CPU is a fighter jet. Now match those two together, put the 20,000 pounds of cement on the fighter jet and tell me how well it's gonna run? It won't run very good at all. Now say your CPU was a i5-4690k. That 20,0000 of cement turns into a pebble.

[DarkBlade2117]

this APU has a relatively bad CPU part compared to the 980, it's usage in games will max out to 100% on every of the cores and you will notice big framerate drops in games.

AT LEAST an i5-4460 is recommended with this GPU, I'd go even further and look at i5-467/90 series if I were to get this card.

You could run an i7-2600k with this card

[Godlygamer23]

Your CPU is too weak. That's the reason - it can't run fast enough to feed the GPU enough instructions. I don't know where the card would top out at, but it would definitely top out before 100%.

[Morgan MLGman]

You could run an i7-2600k with this card

Well yeah it's an awesome CPU. What's the point of getting the old-socketed CPU + mobo though?

[DarkBlade2117]

Well yeah it's an awesome CPU. What's the point of getting the old-socketed CPU + mobo though?

For fun. Plus you can easily find 2600ks around me for less then $100.

[007agentHP]

the cpu feeds the gpu with information, if the cpu is too slow, it will leave the gpu at idle in certain times and your not getting everything out of the gpu you should be

[Morgan MLGman]

For fun. Plus you can easily find 2600ks around me for less then $100.

That's a good option, I would personally seriously consider it, but people don't like upgrading everything every time something gets out-of-date usuaylly

[Dabombinable]

Well yeah it's an awesome CPU. What's the point of getting the old-socketed CPU + mobo though?

Lel, now think of the times you recommended a 4 year old AM3+ CPU and motherboard.

[Morgan MLGman]

@ to a GTX980? No way =) To a 970 perhaps a 8350 is an option but not in this case

[Dabombinable]

@ to a GTX980? No way =) To a 970 perhaps a 8350 is an option but not in this case

An 8350 is in no way an option for a GTX970. An FX 8350 can slightly bottleneck an R9 280X so anything below that is fine, anything above it is a waste of money as the 8350 won't be powerful enough.

[Morgan MLGman]

An 8350 is in no way an option for a GTX970. An FX 8350 can slightly bottleneck an R9 280X so anything below that is fine, anything above it is a waste of money as the 8350 won't be powerful enough.

I guess I'm the one to judge that since I happen to own this exact setup

[Dabombinable]

I guess I'm the one to judge that since I happen to own this exact setup

Lol, again-you never mention the minimum FPS or whether or not the GPU load was a stable 99%. Considering a Xeon X5450, which is far stronger single threaded than the newer FX 8350 (kind of like the Phenom II X4/X6 from 2010-nice downgrade AMD), bottleneck a GTX 970 by around 19-21% at stock, a GTX 970 will be bottlenecked by an FX 8350.

[PlayStation 2]

That CPU would be a HUGE bottleneck in many games to the 980. Granted, the 980 would still bring in good frame rates, but still.

[Morgan MLGman]

Lol, again-you never mention the minimum FPS or whether or not the GPU load was a stable 99%. Considering a Xeon X5450, which is far stronger single threaded than the newer FX 8350 (kind of like the Phenom II X4/X6 from 2010-nice downgrade AMD), bottleneck a GTX 970 by around 19-21% at stock, a GTX 970 will be bottlenecked by an FX 8350.

 

Goddammit I am seriously starting to consider recording gameplay videos with hardware and fps status monitoring just for you guys to stop thinking I'm lying for some reason. Yes it's a stable 98-99% and I do not notice any micro-stuttering or sudden fps drops for no reason. However I do not play old games besides League of Legends that might require strong single-core performance, I'm playing AAA titles like The Witcher 3 or Dragon Age Inquisition, all of the top tier games I play happen to utilize min. 4 but usually 8 threads of the CPU. In these games my setup performs on par with a 4690k+970 combo that my roommate has

[Morgan MLGman]

@Dan Castellaneta we're not talking about a 980, this was related to a 970 side-thread. We all agree that a 980 with a FX-8350 is not a good idea.

[Dabombinable]

Goddammit I am seriously starting to consider recording gameplay videos with hardware and fps status monitoring just for you guys to stop thinking I'm lying for some reason. Yes it's a stable 98-99% and I do not notice any micro-stuttering or sudden fps drops (there is a reason for those-a CPU that sucks for gaming) for no reason. However I do not play old games besides League of Legends that might require strong single-core performance, I'm playing AAA titles like The Witcher 3 or Dragon Age Inquisition, all of the top tier games I play happen to utilize min. 4 but usually 8 threads of the CPU. In these games my setup performs on par with a 4690k+970 combo that my roommate has

You are doing a Nana again-you obviously do not understand the term bottleneck. The stuff in bold is what you get with an 8350 and a GTX 970.

[Morgan MLGman]

@ You're just reading what you want. "I DO NOT notice any micro-stuttering or sudden fps drops" this was what I said.
I need to explain the '98%-99% GPU usage" what I mean is that there are days when it doesn't get beyond 98% doesn't matter what I throw at it, there are days that it's a usual 99% in the same games, probably a bug in either the Riva Tuner or within the gpu firmware.

If you claim that I do not understand the term 'bottleneck', please enlighten me. For what I know if for instance a GPU runs at constant 99% while your CPU is @ 20% of usage that means the GPU is your bottleneck. I did not encounter a game that used more than 60% of my FX-8350, The Witcher 3 uses around 30-40% on Ultra settings. Also, overclocking my GTX970 increases my FPS by 5-15 Frames per second depending on the game.

[Dabombinable]

@ You're just reading what you want. "I DO NOT notice any micro-stuttering or sudden fps drops" this was what I said.

I need to explain the '98%-99% GPU usage" what I mean is that there are days when it doesn't get beyond 98% doesn't matter what I throw at it, there are days that it's a usual 99% in the same games, probably a bug in either the Riva Tuner or within the gpu firmware.

If you claim that I do not understand the term 'bottleneck', please enlighten me. For what I know if for instance a GPU runs at constant 99% while your CPU is @ 20% of usage that means the GPU is your bottleneck. I did not encounter a game that used more than 60% of my FX-8350, The Witcher 3 uses around 30-40% on Ultra settings. Also, overclocking my GTX970 increases my FPS by 5-15 Frames per second depending on the game.

I'll put things this way, you have not shown any evidence which is contrary to the experience of others and benchmarks. All we have to go off from you is by definition hearsay.

[Morgan MLGman]

@ , that's a deal, you convinced me to do this video. If that's what you've been led to believe then I fully understand why you think what you think. Maybe if my roommate lets me I'll also compare it to his i5-4690k+970 setup, but there's one issue, he's got a good gaming Z97 motherboard and much more expensive RAM sticks, what might make the comparison a little uneven, cause from what I've heard the FPS in game may vary depending on a motherboard you're using, also I'm not sure if it matters but my motherboard only has a PCI 2.0 x16 slot, which technically is more than enough but again, the results may vary. I guess I'll compare it anyway just to be sure the tests are done properly, I'll post it on this forum in the future ^^