Is my CPU the problem?

[bdc9898]

Hey guys, so I just upgraded from a GTX 760 to a GTX 1070, and I noticed it wasn't performing anywhere near as well as my friends who have the same card. I have done some research and I think it may be an issue with my CPU.

 

Here are my specs:

• Intel i5 4670 (non-K)
• 16GB 1600MHz DDR3
• EVGA GTX 1070
• EVGA 750W Gold PSU

So the reason I think it may be with my CPU is in the game Overwatch, on almost lowest settings (1080p, render scale 100%, no anti-aliasing, just textures at max) I get around 120-150 FPS in game. I opened MSi Afterburner and had it track for a game, and it graphed my card usage at 50%(see attached picture), and CPU usage at 100% for the time I was playing.

 

I just don't know what steps to take. I'd love to buy a new CPU, but I just don't have the money for a CPU, RAM, and Motherboard upgrade.

[ARikozuM]

Overwatch will run on a potato GPU and has quite a few CPU calculations that need to be done at once. I would cap the game at 120-130Hz if you can to avoid some of those hiccups though they may still occur.

[Silentsoul]

If your 4670 is running at 100% cpu usage in OW I would investigate what else is running in the background. Are you at 0% cpu usage when your system is idle?

[bdc9898]

19 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Overwatch will run on a potato GPU and has quite a few CPU calculations that need to be done at once. I would cap the game at 120-130Hz if you can to avoid some of those hiccups though they may still occur.

But then why is a friend of mine who's running a locked Kaby lake i5 and a 1070 be getting a constant 300 fps in the same games as I am?

[bdc9898]

14 minutes ago, Silentsoul said:

If your 4670 is running at 100% cpu usage in OW I would investigate what else is running in the background. Are you at 0% cpu usage when your system is idle?

I couldn't get a print screen of both task manager and overwatch (taskmanager was displaying on top of overwatch) but see attached pic. When I took that picture I was getting 120 FPS. 

[Brooksie359]

I'm gonna call bs on that one. My friend with a 6700k and a gtx 980ti only runs overwatch at 230fps on maxed settings

[bdc9898]

Just now, Brooksie359 said:

I'm gonna call bs on that one. My friend with a 6700k and a gtx 980ti only runs overwatch at 230fps on maxed settings

Right, like I said, he has the same settings as I do (everything on lowest, 100% render scale, and only textures maxed[so not everything maxed]) and gets 300 fps in game.

[Brooksie359]

Just now, bdc9898 said:

Right, like I said, he has the same settings as I do (everything on lowest, 100% render scale, and only textures maxed[so not everything maxed]) and gets 300 fps in game.

Here is the thing unless you have a 300hz monitor it doesn't even matter. I would just deal with the performance you are getting and cap the fps. I know I get similar performance in overwatch with my gtx 1070. It's really not a big deal. 

[bdc9898]

Just now, Brooksie359 said:

Here is the thing unless you have a 300hz monitor it doesn't even matter. I would just deal with the performance you are getting and cap the fps. I know I get similar performance in overwatch with my gtx 1070. It's really not a big deal. 

But why would I be getting this huge (over 1/2) hit to my fps? I'd much prefer to play at higher settings at these fps, just like my friend who can. Obviously something is wrong, unless he is secretly running something like a titan xp.

[Brooksie359]

2 minutes ago, bdc9898 said:

But why would I be getting this huge (over 1/2) hit to my fps? I'd much prefer to play at higher settings at these fps, just like my friend who can. Obviously something is wrong, unless he is secretly running something like a titan xp.

If you go to higher settings the game will be more gpu bottlenecked and you will see similar performance to your friend at those higher settings. Same reason why ryzen does better in higher resolutions is because it's more gpu bottlenecked.

[Brooksie359]

4 minutes ago, bdc9898 said:

But why would I be getting this huge (over 1/2) hit to my fps? I'd much prefer to play at higher settings at these fps, just like my friend who can. Obviously something is wrong, unless he is secretly running something like a titan xp.

Also I would like to tell you that my friend only get mid 200s at low settings in overwatch so 300 seems a bit weird.

[Silentsoul]

I imagine you have if you've been playing around with the settings but you turned the frame limiter off in OW right?

[Brooksie359]

Just now, Silentsoul said:

I imagine you have if you've been playing around with the settings but you turned the frame limiter off in OW right?

if they are getting 150 fps then that would indicate they have unless they have a 144hz monitor and they are instead getting a max of 144fps. 

[Silentsoul]

Just now, Brooksie359 said:

if they are getting 150 fps then that would indicate they have unless they have a 144hz monitor and they are instead getting a max of 144fps. 

Was asking because mine sits at 150 when I cap it at 144.

[Brooksie359]

Just now, Silentsoul said:

Was asking because mine sits at 150 when I cap it at 144.

really that is weird. i could believe it though. i have gotten 70 fps in games that i capped at 60. 

[bdc9898]

1 minute ago, Brooksie359 said:

if they are getting 150 fps then that would indicate they have unless they have a 144hz monitor and they are instead getting a max of 144fps. 

Right, I have it set to its max, which is 300.

[Silentsoul]

2 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

really that is weird. i could believe it though. i have gotten 70 fps in games that i capped at 60. 

Yeah overwatch has a "Limit Fps" option which isn't a sync just a cap. There is Custom / Monitor / and 30fps, If monitor is selected on a 144hz panel it will sit a little higher than 144.

[Brooksie359]

Just now, bdc9898 said:

Right, I have it set to its max, which is 300.

what is the refresh-rate of your monitor? 

[bdc9898]

3 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

what is the refresh-rate of your monitor? 

144Hz. And I know its weird if your friend gets 200, but I've seen it myself. He has the exact same card as I do, and I've sat right next to him to show me his settings and fps because at first I didn't believe it as well.

[Silentsoul]

Another thing to factor is if he has a better cpu than you (higher clocked / hyperthreaded ect ect), when you put everything on low all you're doing in forcing the gpu to wait on the cpu. For test purposes set both systems to the high preset or some variant and I would imagine it would be close to the same.

[Brooksie359]

3 minutes ago, bdc9898 said:

144Hz. And I know its weird if your friend gets 200, but I've seen it myself. He has the exact same card as I do, and I've sat right next to him to show me his settings and fps because at first I didn't believe it as well.

well here is my advice. i wouldn't worry about it as you will still get good performance in overwatch and you don't need to have 300 fps to play the game. 

[Brooksie359]

Just now, Silentsoul said:

Another thing to factor is if he has a better cpu than you (higher clocked / hyperthreaded ect ect), when you put everything on low all you're doing in forcing the gpu to wait on the cpu. For test purposes set both systems to the high preset or some variant and I would imagine it would be close to the same.

oh it for sure is a cpu bottleneck. you will get a cpu bottleneck on all cpus if you put the settings low enough and don't have an fps limit in the engine. 

[Silentsoul]

FWIW I just loaded up the game on the ultra preset on my wifes pc, the 2nd build in my sig, the i5 3570k. Gtx 980.

378.49 Driver

 

Around 200fps out of combat

 

Around 150fps in heavy combat.

 

Also at 100% cpu usage.

 

You can try clearing the OW and battle.net cache.

[bdc9898]

19 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

oh it for sure is a cpu bottleneck. you will get a cpu bottleneck on all cpus if you put the settings low enough and don't have an fps limit in the engine. 

So it is a CPU bottleneck? Darn. Alright thanks for the second opinion.

[bdc9898]

8 minutes ago, Silentsoul said:

FWIW I just loaded up the game on the ultra preset on my wifes pc, the 2nd build in my sig, the i5 3570k. Gtx 980.

378.49 Driver

 

Around 200fps out of combat

 

Around 150fps in heavy combat.

 

Also at 100% cpu usage.

 

You can try clearing the OW and battle.net cache.

What is that CPU's clock?

 

EDIT NVM I just re-read your comment. I see.

Its probably a CPU bottleneck, as my CPU caps out at 3.6GHz. I'll just start jonesing for an upgrade in the future. Thanks man.