gtx 1080 i5-4690k + GTX 1080

[TheONLYHamster]

Ok so i recently upgraded my gaming rig from a GTX 970 to a GTX 1080 xtreme edition by gigabyte.

 

I'm kind of new here so what i'm asking is: do i NEED to upgrade my CPU or is it still useful for its age as a haswell processor?

 

my current rig setup:

 

• case: Corsair 230T case (orange)
• CPU: i5-4690k quadcore 3.5ghz
• 4x4GBs corsair Vengeance DDR3 2400mhz ram
• Gigabyte z97x-gaming 5 motherboard
• GPU: Gigabyte xtreme gaming edition GTX 1080
• Corsair RM650x power supply
• 2x 250GB samsung 850 evo SSDs
• plus a CD drive i don't know the make of as i salvaged it from an old PC

I also have 2 top ML140 PRO LED Red 140mm PWM Premium Magnetic Levitation Fans from corsair as well and removed the stock back extraction fan as i have no pins left on my MB

 

on average on most games i play i average from around 70 FPS to a good 144 FPS dependant on the games i play that are graphically intense

include: 

• Warframe
• War thunder
• Star trek: online
• GTA V
• Star wars: Battlefront II
• Star wars: Battlefront (EA/Dice)
• Rise of the Tomb raider

most of which have their graphics maxed out.

 

Side question: i would also like advice on if its a good idea to put 2 GTX 1080's on this rig in SLI with a 4k monitor as i use a 1080p monitor currently and what PSU i would need to go with it as i feel 650w wouldn't suffice

 

any help would be appreciated

 

many thanks:

 

TheONLYHamster (harry)

 

 

 

 

[MVPernula]

Welcome to the forums.

 

Depends alot on which resolution you're playing in.

If you're in 1080p, then yes you will be bottlenecked by your CPU when trying to achieve higher framrates.

 

However if you're in 1440p or 4K you'll be fine. If you want a better experience in 4k, sell your 1080 for a single 1080ti.
SLI can be a shitstorm of problems sometimes, all games don't even support it.

[MVPernula]

2 minutes ago, Aleksiandrovich said:

No due to the CPU being a bottle neck due to the lack of both threads and cores. The four cores possed by that aging CPU can't keep up with the GPU equating to a bottle neck. Upgrade the CPU asap if you want %100 preformance from the GTX 1080.

I mean, this was all over the forums when the 10x0 series came out.

You can definetly play with the GTX 1080 paired with that CPU, yes there will be bottlenecks and yes you will still see a HUGE performance leap from a GTX 970.

 

If you play at 1080p and want to fully utilize your new GPU, yes, an upgrade is needed to push all those frames.

At 1440p/4K this wont be the case.

[toasty6776]

To answer you question directly: NO you don't NEED to upgrade. I run a 6600k and recently got the chance to upgrade from a 1070 to a 1080 and I'm REALLY happy with it. However, I do notice some CPU bottlenecking when playing CPU intensive games like Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which doesn't mean that I have an unpleasant gaming experience, I just do notice it. Basically it boils down to: You don't have to upgrade but you would definitely benefit from upgrading to an i7 or Ryzen 7 CPU.

[TheONLYHamster]

1 minute ago, MVPernula said:

I mean, this was all over the forums when the 10x0 series came out.

You can definetly play with the GTX 1080 paired with that CPU, yes there will be bottlenecks and yes you will still see a HUGE performance leap from a GTX 970.

 

If you play at 1080p and want to fully utilize your new GPU, yes, an upgrade is needed to push all those frames.

At 1440p/4K this wont be the case.

so because i'd be playing at 4k most of the processing power would come from my GPU?

 

if thats the case that sounds great and i can just go fetch a 4k monitor as i'm constraint on money, if i had more i'd immediately go get an i7-7700 processor with DDR4 ram lol

 

my monitor is in need of an upgrade anyway so this would be a good excuse lol 

[TheONLYHamster]

4 minutes ago, toasty6776 said:

To answer you question directly: NO you don't NEED to upgrade. I run a 6600k and recently got the chance to upgrade from a 1070 to a 1080 and I'm REALLY happy with it. However, I do notice some CPU bottlenecking when playing CPU intensive games like Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which doesn't mean that I have an unpleasant gaming experience, I just do notice it. Basically it boils down to: You don't have to upgrade but you would definitely benefit from upgrading to an i7 or Ryzen 7 CPU.

well i know what to do now: 

first get a 4k monitor then upgrade to an i5-6600 w/ DDr4 ram at a later date lol

 

thanks everyone you've all been a massive help

[toasty6776]

3 minutes ago, TheONLYHamster said:

7700 processor with DDR4 ram

and a new mobo  

3 minutes ago, TheONLYHamster said:

so because i'd be playing at 4k most of the processing power would come from my GPU?

The GPU has more impact on the frame rate at higher resolutions. Bottlenecking is basically like two runners (CPU and GPU) who are tied together with a rope. At lower resolutions, both runners can run freely but the CPU is slower than the GPU so the GPU gets held back (bottlenecked). Increasing the resolution basically changes the surface the GPU runs on. The higher the resolution, the harder the GPU needs to work to go forward (CPU still runs on normal ground) resulting in effectively the CPU being bottlenecked by the GPU (THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT).

I hope this makes understanding bottlenecking a bit easier.

[toasty6776]

9 minutes ago, TheONLYHamster said:

then upgrade to an i5-6600 w/ DDr4 ram

This is NOT what I was trying to say! A 6600(k) is basically equivalent to a 4690k and I would not recommend upgrading to it! If you want to upgrade your CPU, get a 7700k or maybe check out Ryzen 7.

[TheONLYHamster]

2 hours ago, toasty6776 said:

This is NOT what I was trying to say! A 6600(k) is basically equivalent to a 4690k and I would not recommend upgrading to it! If you want to upgrade your CPU, get a 7700k or maybe check out Ryzen 7.

i've had bad experiences with AMD so i'd rather avoid Ryzen if at all possible lol

and thanks for the tip btw i'll start researching into what MB to get next with my 7700k  but i was originally going to go for a 6600k because of money constraints lol