Why 1080p needs more CPU than 4k

[App4that]

There is a lot of talk about bottlenecks and the difference between i7s and i5s, and Ryzen and Intel. Makes it hard for people entering the hobby to make an informed decision.

 

If you're running a 1080ti or similar card at 4k, your CPU makes little difference. Look below for video. When deciding on a CPU, resolution is the most important consideration if you're only gaming. Usually your resolution will impact your choice in graphics card. 

 

This is just here so people stop thinking a 1080ti means you have to run a 7700k, just not the case. 

 

 

[WereCat]

It is not that 1080p needs more CPU, it is that the more FPS you have the more load you put on CPU, and on 1080p you get way more FPS than on 4k. (Yea, this is not really exact explanation but it is close enough).

[App4that]

Just now, WereCat said:

It is not that 1080p needs more CPU, it is that the more FPS you have the more load you put on CPU, and on 1080p you get way more FPS than on 4k.

Semantics. You're right, the increased fps means you need more CPU, but that's tied to resolution. 

[RadiatingLight]

Because it all depends on the FPS you get. the more FPS you get, the more CPU load you have

 

4K is hard to run, and most cards, even the 1080Ti, get less than 100FPS, so CPU load is lower because of lower FPS.

 

1080p, when testing with high end cards, pumps out between 150-200+ FPS on high-end cards, and with more FPS comes more CPU load.

 

more FPS means more CPU load because the CPU needs to give info to the GPU every frame.

[agent_x007]

CPU needs to be fast enough for a FPS mark you want to achieve.
RAM also plays a role in this, but only with high FPS it cn be seen.

@App4that You forgot about detail levels or game settings.
Low settings on 4k can be better or worse than Ultra on 1080p (depending on the game).

[App4that]

People are saying you need a top end CPU to run a 1080ti, not true. They say Ryzen is not as good at gaming as Intel offering, not true. There are variables. 

[knightslugger]

2 minutes ago, App4that said:

People are saying you need a top end CPU to run a 1080ti, not true.

well it's a very broad and vague statement so it is both true and not true depending on several other circumstances.

[Mira Yurizaki]

I think what most people do is look at the absolute values and compare only that. They see a deficiency and think this is a problem. What they don't consider is what their requirements are. For example in the video's BF1 comparison which had a pretty drastic result, if my requirements were only "it needs to have an average FPS of 60", then the i5 setup is perfectly suitable for this task. Now if my requirement was "it needs to have an average FPS of 144", then it fails.

 

Of course, when people upgrade, they would like to have a substantial upgrade. But if I was coming off now-considered-a potato of a GTX 285 or GTX 480, I'm pretty sure a GTX 1080 Ti would still be an amazing upgrade on an i5-750. A questionable one though.

[App4that]

4 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

well it's a very broad and vague statement so it is both true and not true depending on several other circumstances.

Intentionally so, as a counter example to the vague advise being given to go with Intel over Ryze. The real driving force here. 

[knightslugger]

4 minutes ago, App4that said:

Intentionally so, as a counter example to the vague advise being given to go with Intel over Ryze. The real driving force here. 

i think it's mostly because without some in depth detail it's a safe assumption that a 7700k would meet whatever criteria the poster needs, but isn't divulging. I personally don't like to dig deeply to find answers. I don't reward laziness. the poster either gives them, or we are left with a light bag. This is true for ryzen builds as well. Lots of people ask if a 7700k would be a better choice than Ryzen (without stating WHICH ryzen) for their purposes. It's a hard question to answer if you don't know what it's being used for, thus the blanket vague and broad statements of the highest power CPU you can afford answers you get.

[xAcid9]

22 minutes ago, WereCat said:

It is not that 1080p needs more CPU, it is that the more FPS you have the more load you put on CPU, and on 1080p you get way more FPS than on 4k. (Yea, this is not really exact explanation but it is close enough).

Is it really though? When you use FPS limiter, GPU load will drop but CPU usage remain the same.

 

[App4that]

Just now, knightslugger said:

i think it's mostly because without some in depth detail it's a safe assumption that a 7700k would meet whatever criteria the poster needs, but isn't divulging. I personally don't like to dig deeply to find answers. I don't reward laziness. the poster either gives them, or we are left with a light bag. This is true for ryzen builds as well. Lots of people ask if a 7700k would be a better choice than Ryzen (without stating WHICH ryzen) for their purposes. It's a hard question to answer if you don't know what it's being used for, thus the blanket vague and broad statements of the highest power CPU you can afford answers you get.

So you do reward laziness, your own. Most of the advice is meant for situations very few people actually game or work at. That's my point. 

[WereCat]

Just now, xAcid9 said:

Is it really though? When you use FPS limiter, GPU load will drop but CPU usage remain the same.

 

 

There are many factors to consider but the main factor is the FPS.

[App4that]

Just now, WereCat said:

There are many factors to consider but the main factor is the FPS.

Is it? How many people use above a 1070 for 1080p? 

[knightslugger]

2 minutes ago, App4that said:

So you do reward laziness, your own.

don't you?

 

2 minutes ago, App4that said:

the advice is meant for situations very few people actually game or work at. That's my point. 

Sure, it's not precisely what the poster needs at the time, but there is plenty of computer power on tap should the needs morph over time. It's not a BAD suggestion. far be it.

[WereCat]

Just now, App4that said:

Is it? How many people use above a 1070 for 1080p? 

No idea, but if you want to push for 144+FPS on Ultra in graphically intensive games then you definitely need very capable GPU and CPU.

For games like Rocket League, CS:GO, etc.. that is not a huge issue and you just need fast enough CPU and good enough GPU to get 144FPS+.

[Mick Naughty]

I use a 1080 on 1080p. But as the card is too weak for the games I play, i stick to using older cards. Thus my cpus don't suffer. 

[xAcid9]

16 minutes ago, WereCat said:

There are many factors to consider but the main factor is the FPS.

Ok GTA5 partially confirmed that, 50% CPU usage at uncap framerate(130FPS) but only use <30% CPU usage when i limit the FPS to 30.  

 

Weird it didn't show when i play few other games.

[WereCat]

14 minutes ago, xAcid9 said:

Ok GTA5 partially confirmed that, 50% CPU usage at uncap framerate(130FPS) but only use <30% CPU usage when i limit the FPS to 30.  

 

Weird it didn't show when i play few other games.

You can see it well in GTA V because that game takes advantage of many cores, in games that are intensive on few cores but benefit from fast clock speed and IPC, you won't see it well translated into % CPU usage.

[smokefest]

1 hour ago, App4that said:

There is a lot of talk about bottlenecks and the difference between i7s and i5s, and Ryzen and Intel. Makes it hard for people entering the hobby to make an informed decision.

 

If you're running a 1080ti or similar card at 4k, your CPU makes little difference. Look below for video. When deciding on a CPU, resolution is the most important consideration if you're only gaming. Usually your resolution will impact your choice in graphics card. 

 

This is just here so people stop thinking a 1080ti means you have to run a 7700k, just not the case. 

 

 

Depends a lot also on the GAME you actually play, heavy CPU demanding games will require a better CPU but that has nothing to do with the "bottleneck" thing you are explaining  

 

And due to the fact games becoming more and more cpu demanding, I kind of agree that you need a powerful CPU to fit well a gtx 1080 ti...

 

But an average i5 could run a gtx 1080 ti just well in most games due to the fact that most games are still only GPU bound

[typographie]

17 minutes ago, smokefest said:

And due to the fact games becoming more and more cpu demanding,

Maybe I'm just playing all the wrong games, I can't name a lot of new games that have been particularly demanding of the CPU. Battlefield 1 is, but I don't think that's enough to constitute a trend.

[smokefest]

11 minutes ago, typographie said:

Maybe I'm just playing all the wrong games, I can't name a lot of new games that have been particularly demanding of the CPU. Battlefield 1 is, but I don't think that's enough to constitute a trend.

there's more than that.. I would agree tho its like 90% of games are still GPU demanding and not really cpu demanding

[AntonChigurh]

9 minutes ago, smokefest said:

there's more than that.. I would agree tho its like 90% of games are still GPU demanding and not really cpu demanding

The only games I can think of that are more CPU demanding than GPU is probably CS:GO (pretty much all Source games), BF1, Arma 3, and Cities: Skyline imo.

[smokefest]

1 minute ago, N1ghtshade said:

The only games I can think of that are more CPU demanding than GPU is probably CS:GO (pretty much all Source games), BF1, Arma 3, and Cities: Skyline imo.

Rise of the tomb raider is very cpu demanding also, specially in the forest, my 4690K @ 4.6 ghz was topin 100% and gpu usage was struggling because of that.

 

There are other games and there will be more and more in the future releases, 

 

Mass effect andromeda per exemple, my friend on his 2500K with a gtx 970, cpu is 100% usage all the time mostly, and gpu is getting bottlenecked

 

So keep in mind there will be more and more games like that soon

[AntonChigurh]

4 minutes ago, smokefest said:

Rise of the tomb raider is very cpu demanding also, specially in the forest, my 4690K @ 4.6 ghz was topin 100% and gpu usage was struggling because of that.

 

There are other games and there will be more and more in the future releases, 

 

Mass effect andromeda per exemple, my friend on his 2500K with a gtx 970, cpu is 100% usage all the time mostly, and gpu is getting bottlenecked

 

So keep in mind there will be more and more games like that soon

Yeah, ROTR is pretty demanding

 

And ew ME: Andromeda. That shit's terrible