i5 6400 and gtx 1070, acceptable gaming combination?

ARikozuM · August 28, 2016

Just now, MewTwoXFM said:

CPU reaches %100 there is no bottleneck?

The CPU reaches 100% and the GPU (which is for 1440) is at 90%. That is not a bottleneck. That is called good programming since the card isn't being inundated with worthless draw calls.

Unless your CPU is at 100% and your GPU is at 30% you are not suffering a bottleneck and 144hz should only be talked about as a fringe case since the CPU will have to perform different calculations 144 times per second whereas the GPU is performing the same few calculations that it has 144 times per second.

CPU = designed for multiple varying calculations which is why they suck at mining.

GPU = designed for few repeated calculations which is why they excel in mining.

Mr.Meerkat · August 28, 2016

9 minutes ago, TheHoijf said:

Looks like a mismatch to me.

i5 6600k + gtx 970

Why?

For FPS gaming you rarely need good processors. I am thinking of games like Crysis, CS and Battlefield. These are generally easy on the processor and heavy on the GPU.

For MMOs the game is often CPU bound, you mention GW2 and ESO. Both GW2 and ESO have VERY large scale fights involving many opponents, explosions etc.. For some reason (probably lazy coding) this is CPU heavy for both of the titles.

I disagree with that as an i5 6400/6402p/6500 are all fine/capable in delivering good FPS in the games you've listed.

CS and GPU heavy? Pls pick one...the source engine is 100x more CPU heavy than GPU so...wut are you on about?

9 minutes ago, TheHoijf said:

If you get an i5 6400 you will be bottlenecked in the MMOs

Please name me a single MMO that would get "bottlenecked" by an i5 6400? Yes it will get less FPS (like 3 fps?) than a 6600k due to the higher clocks but nothing is getting "bottlenecked".

p.s. if you're recommending a CPU over a skylake i5 then don't recommend another skylake i5, at least recommend a i7, new games do like those extra 4HT threads so...

TheHoijf · August 28, 2016

11 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

CS and GPU heavy

The point I was making was about how much less stressful these games tend to be on the processor. Not saying they are all heavy on the GPU..

GW2 is a game I have played alot. I used to have an i5 4670k and it was bottlenecking my gtx 970. Considering how similar in performance an i5 4670k is to an i5 6400 I think this is a valid comparison. Now if this issue didn't extend to any other games then I would say yes this is a good match for your purposes. However, sadly that isn't the case. I was far more regularly getting issues in games due to lacks of power from the processor than the GPU. A gtx 970 is still a very good GPU and will play the mentioned games on the highest settings. The processor however will not be able to keep up at all times.

I am speaking from experience here and the hit on fps in GW2 is more like 60 in WvW I'd sit on 9 fps at times (and no, it was not a problem with my rig).

Rapthorne · August 28, 2016

1 hour ago, TheHoijf said:

The point I was making was about how much less stressful these games tend to be on the processor. Not saying they are all heavy on the GPU..

GW2 is a game I have played alot. I used to have an i5 4670k and it was bottlenecking my gtx 970. Considering how similar in performance an i5 4670k is to an i5 6400 I think this is a valid comparison. Now if this issue didn't extend to any other games then I would say yes this is a good match for your purposes. However, sadly that isn't the case. I was far more regularly getting issues in games due to lacks of power from the processor than the GPU. A gtx 970 is still a very good GPU and will play the mentioned games on the highest settings. The processor however will not be able to keep up at all times.

I am speaking from experience here and the hit on fps in GW2 is more like 60 in WvW I'd sit on 9 fps at times (and no, it was not a problem with my rig).

what aspects of GW2 were causing bottlenecks? are we talking massive wvw zergs, world bosses, or what?