SLI and CPU bottlenecking?

[Mercay]

Hello everyone

 

I'm playing with the idea of upgrading my two 980's to two 1080's and I have a question about CPU bottlenecking.

 

Currently I have a 4790k which from my understanding should still be a good match for dual 1080's.

 

However, if we take GTA 5 as an example, during gameplay the GPU usage usually stays around 70% usage for both my 980's, sometimes dropping to 50% in intense moments and sometimes getting a bit more.

This would indicate a CPU bottleneck right?

If I then added almost twice the GPU power in the form of the 1080's it feels like the bottleneck would be even worse, as the CPU can't seem to fully handle the 980's. 

 

I know from benchmarks that there will be a big difference in fps if I upgrade, but my very limited knowledge of bottlenecking tells me that it's not logical and I would like to be able to understand what is going on.  

 

If anyone could explain it to me I would be very appreciative!

[Nena Trinity]

In GTA V no CPU will not bottleneck, the way I see it you can toss a 20-core at it and it would still not be enough because you lose single threaded performance, and if you go for single treaded with a i5/i7 quad-core it is still not enough always so my advice is set all settings in advanced to lowest and shadows, shaders & grass is also worth decreasing.

[iRileyx]

Edit - derped

[Mercay]

37 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

In GTA V no CPU will not bottleneck, the way I see it you can toss a 20-core at it and it would still not be enough because you lose single threaded performance, and if you go for single treaded with a i5/i7 quad-core it is still not enough always so my advice is set all settings in advanced to lowest and shadows, shaders & grass is also worth decreasing.

Spoiler

Alright so the CPU isn't the limiting factor then? Why are the graphics cards not able to reach 100% usage if that is the case? Might be a silly question but I want to learn!

I just realised what you wrote, sleep deprivation is a very real thing T_T 

 

Thank you for your reply! 

 

To add to the question then: In theory then, would a better CPU make a noticeable difference or any difference at all? 6800k and above for more cores?

[Nena Trinity]

1 hour ago, Mercay said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Alright so the CPU isn't the limiting factor then? Why are the graphics cards not able to reach 100% usage if that is the case? Might be a silly question but I want to learn!

I just realised what you wrote, sleep deprivation is a very real thing T_T 

 

Thank you for your reply! 

 

To add to the question then: In theory then, would a better CPU make a noticeable difference or any difference at all? 6800k and above for more cores?

6800K might help but I do not think it is worth it right now wait and see if prices drop after Zen & Skylake X launch and pick the better value of the two?

Edit: Even the next few gens of CPUs might not even be enough for you to max all settings so... ((I dunno what you should do really...))

[Mercay]

3 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

6800K might help but I do not think it is worth it right now wait and see if prices drop after Zen & Skylake X launch and pick the better value of the two?

Aye I figured as much, thank you again!

[Nena Trinity]

1 minute ago, Mercay said:

Aye I figured as much, thank you again!

Look at the edit! :3

[Mercay]

15 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

Look at the edit! :3

Ah okay, well it was mostly just a theoretical question, so its okay

[Nena Trinity]

1 minute ago, Mercay said:

Ah okay, well it was mostly just a theoretical question, so its okay

Good I think a 8-core with 50% more per-core performance is a worthy upgrade sometime in the future but it might take a while...

[jjohnthedon1]

16 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

Good I think a 8-core with 50% more per-core performance is a worthy upgrade sometime in the future but it might take a while...

The cores aren't 50 percent stronger than a 4790k lol

[Mercay]

1 minute ago, jjohnthedon1 said:

The cores aren't 50 percent stronger than a 4790k lol

He said it might be a while before a 6+ core CPU would have that.

[Nena Trinity]

2 minutes ago, jjohnthedon1 said:

The cores aren't 50 percent stronger than a 4790k lol

Lets say Haswell is 100% what he needs is a CPU with 150% per core and have 6 to 8 cores! (note we are not talking about double!!!)

1 minute ago, Mercay said:

He said it might be a while before a 6+ core CPU would have that.

She actually, but at the inter-webs all are net-citizens! :3

[Mercay]

2 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

Lets say Haswell is 100% what he needs is a CPU with 150% per core and have 6 to 8 cores! (note we are not talking about double!!!)

She actually, but at the inter-webs all are net-citizens! :3

Yeah I realised I shouldn't have said he right as I hit enter on that comment, bit of a reflex as most techsavvy people are male in my experience.

[Nena Trinity]

1 minute ago, Mercay said:

Yeah I realised I shouldn't have said he right as I hit enter on that comment, bit of a reflex as most techsavvy people are male in my experience.

That is indeed true!

[Suika]

2 hours ago, Nena360 said:

In GTA V no CPU will not bottleneck

Yes actually, a CPU can and will bottleneck in GTA V. Does nobody understand what CPU bottlenecking is? lol

 

OP, if you want a more solid input, I'd have to see your CPU's per core usage during GTA V using something like MSI Afterburner. Also, have you tried overclocking that 4790k?

[Nena Trinity]

1 minute ago, Suika said:

Yes actually, a CPU can and will bottleneck in GTA V. Does nobody understand what CPU bottlenecking is? lol

 

OP, if you want a more solid input, I'd have to see your CPU's per core usage during GTA V using something like MSI Afterburner. 

Did I not type ALL CPUS will bottleneck? o3o

[Masada02]

Depends what monitor you use and what framerate you are targeting.

 

I'm about to get on a soap-box here...

 

Bottlenecking is a shitty term. In reality, almost no one in PC gaming runs into a true "bottlenecking" situation. What really happens is you run into times where you are "CPU limited," or "GPU limited." True "bottlenecking" would happen in cases like an Atom CPU + SLI 1080's, or an OC'd 7700K + a GT710. In these situations, nearly everything you'd do is severely slowed by one of the components while the other has plenty of bandwidth. That is true bottlenecking.

 

When people talk about bottlenecking in general terms, they are trying to "pair" a CPU and GPU that will in turn run at their maximum capacity all the time. In reality, this never happens. No matter what you do, you will always be limited by one of your components. So, here in the real world, you would want to select your components based on a target performance level in tasks you commonly use.

 

If your target is 144fps at 1080P in GTAV with every single setting maxed, well then a highly clocked 8 core of at least the 5960X's capability + dual 1080's is going to be just about the minimum spec. If all you want is 60fps at 4K, then your 4790K plus dual 1080's would be fine, and if it's just 60fps at 1080p with reasonable settings then a 4790K + a 1070 would be fine. Hopefully you get what I'm saying at this point.

 

Wasn't trying to come off ranty, I have been meaning to write something on this anyway since I'm tired of seeing the term. 

[Suika]

2 minutes ago, Nena360 said:

Did I not type ALL CPUS will bottleneck? o3o

The way you had worded that threw me completely off.

[Nena Trinity]

3 minutes ago, Masada02 said:

Depends what monitor you use and what framerate you are targeting.

 

I'm about to get on a soap-box here...

 

Bottlenecking is a shitty term. In reality, almost no one in PC gaming runs into a true "bottlenecking" situation. What really happens is you run into times where you are "CPU limited," or "GPU limited." True "bottlenecking" would happen in cases like an Atom CPU + SLI 1080's, or an OC'd 7700K + a GT710. In these situations, nearly everything you'd do is severely slowed by one of the components while the other has plenty of bandwidth. That is true bottlenecking.

 

When people talk about bottlenecking in general terms, they are trying to "pair" a CPU and GPU that will in turn run at their maximum capacity all the time. In reality, this never happens. No matter what you do, you will always be limited by one of your components. So, here in the real world, you would want to select your components based on a target performance level in tasks you commonly use.

 

If your target is 144fps at 1080P in GTAV with every single setting maxed, well then a highly clocked 8 core of at least the 5960X's capability + dual 1080's is going to be just about the minimum spec. If all you want is 60fps at 4K, then your 4790K plus dual 1080's would be fine, and if it's just 60fps at 1080p with reasonable settings then a 4790K + a 1070 would be fine. Hopefully you get what I'm saying at this point.

 

Wasn't trying to come off ranty, I have been meaning to write something on this anyway since I'm tired of seeing the term. 

Many say my FX-8370 bottleneck but I only have a 60hz monitor which means my monitor is the only bottleneck!

[Mercay]

27 minutes ago, Masada02 said:

Depends what monitor you use and what framerate you are targeting.

 

I'm about to get on a soap-box here...

 

Bottlenecking is a shitty term. In reality, almost no one in PC gaming runs into a true "bottlenecking" situation. What really happens is you run into times where you are "CPU limited," or "GPU limited." True "bottlenecking" would happen in cases like an Atom CPU + SLI 1080's, or an OC'd 7700K + a GT710. In these situations, nearly everything you'd do is severely slowed by one of the components while the other has plenty of bandwidth. That is true bottlenecking.

 

When people talk about bottlenecking in general terms, they are trying to "pair" a CPU and GPU that will in turn run at their maximum capacity all the time. In reality, this never happens. No matter what you do, you will always be limited by one of your components. So, here in the real world, you would want to select your components based on a target performance level in tasks you commonly use.

 

If your target is 144fps at 1080P in GTAV with every single setting maxed, well then a highly clocked 8 core of at least the 5960X's capability + dual 1080's is going to be just about the minimum spec. If all you want is 60fps at 4K, then your 4790K plus dual 1080's would be fine, and if it's just 60fps at 1080p with reasonable settings then a 4790K + a 1070 would be fine. Hopefully you get what I'm saying at this point.

 

Wasn't trying to come off ranty, I have been meaning to write something on this anyway since I'm tired of seeing the term. 

Thank you for taking your time to type all that out, I do understand a bit better now.

I don't have a fps target as such, I'm running a 1440p 144hz g-sync panel at the moment and I just want it to be a good balance between silky smoothness and eyecandy!

1 hour ago, Suika said:

The way you had worded that threw me completely off.

Yeah this must have been what happened to me aswell.