Importance of CPUs at High resolution gaming (4k)

[featherwolf]

I'm a fairly new pc builder; I've got a few builds under my belt, but am always looking to learn more. I'm currently putting together a build for an HTPC that can also game at 4k on my living room tv (I don't care about response time of TVs vs. monitors, I don't game competitively much and for the games I play it doesn't matter). My main question right now is how much CPU do I need. If I can cheap out a bit on the CPU, then I can buy more GPU power, since my max budget is not terribly flexible. Currently, I'm thinking about a Ryzen 1500x with a hybrid cooled GTX 1080. If I can go cheaper though (say a ryzen 1200 or 1300x) I might be able to go up to the liquid cooled GTX 1080 ti. 

 

So, what do you think: is it a dumb idea to go for such an imbalanced cpu vs. gpu build or should I even care? Does the cpu really affect performance at 4k? I can't seem to find any qualitative info on this. Does anyone have any benchmarks on the relative importance of CPU power at various resolutions? If so, let me know.

 

PS. Depending on how Vega looks once it launches, I may look into switching from green to red as far as GPU goes. 

[rn8686]

That will be fine, a G4560 wouldnt even really bottleneck at 4K (Albeit worse minimums but still). 

[Bou]

You forgot what games you are going to be playing. Are you gonna be playing a lot of CPU inensive games that require a lot of AI?

[featherwolf]

Just now, rn8686 said:

That will be fine, a G4560 wouldnt even really bottleneck at 4K (Albeit worse minimums but still). 

Really? That's good to know. I assumed that would be the case considering how low CPU usage is even at 1440p, but wasn't sure. I'll probably end up springing for at least a quad core cpu, just for peace of mind in particularly CPU-bound games like GTA V though. 

[featherwolf]

Just now, fhunkydelix said:

You forgot what games you are going to be playing. Are you gonna be playing a lot of CPU inensive games that require a lot of AI?

only game that I currently play that is particularly cpu heavy to my knowledge is GTA V and Cities: Skylines. Otherwise, the most "intense" games I play are Farcry 4, Shadow of Mordor and Rise of the Tomb Raider, but am not looking to shoot myself in the foot for potential future titles...

[PorkishPig]

2 minutes ago, featherwolf said:

I'm a fairly new pc builder; I've got a few builds under my belt, but am always looking to learn more. I'm currently putting together a build for an HTPC that can also game at 4k on my living room tv (I don't care about response time of TVs vs. monitors, I don't game competitively much and for the games I play it doesn't matter). My main question right now is how much CPU do I need. If I can cheap out a bit on the CPU, then I can buy more GPU power, since my max budget is not terribly flexible. Currently, I'm thinking about a Ryzen 1500x with a hybrid cooled GTX 1080. If I can go cheaper though (say a ryzen 1200 or 1300x) I might be able to go up to the liquid cooled GTX 1080 ti. 

 

So, what do you think: is it a dumb idea to go for such an imbalanced cpu vs. gpu build or should I even care? Does the cpu really affect performance at 4k? I can't seem to find any qualitative info on this. Does anyone have any benchmarks on the relative importance of CPU power at various resolutions? If so, let me know.

 

PS. Depending on how Vega looks once it launches, I may look into switching from green to red as far as GPU goes. 

7

Bitwit made a pretty informative video about the limits with pairing a Ryzen 3 CPU with high-end cards. Unfortunately, he only goes into 1080p benchmarks, but you should give it a watch anyway.

With these results, I would suggest that you stick with a Ryzen 1500x. Past a GTX 1060, you see very little difference in performance in most of the latest AAA titles. I would suspect similar results at 4K.

[featherwolf]

Just now, Homeless_Pineapple said:

Bitwit made a pretty informative video about the limits with pairing a Ryzen 3 CPU with high-end cards. Unfortunately, he only goes into 1080p benchmarks, but you should give it a watch anyway.

With these results, I would suggest that you stick with a Ryzen 1500x. Past a GTX 1060, you see very little difference in performance in most of the latest AAA titles. I would suspect similar results at 4K.

Thanks! I already checked that out, hoping to find the answer to my question actually but was frustrated because it didn't have any info about 4k gaming... Strange, cause what even is the point of high end gpus if you're only gonna game at 1080p?! Haha. I know he was trying to make a specific point, but my question is slightly different...

[NoMercy]

51 minutes ago, Homeless_Pineapple said:

Bitwit made a pretty informative video about the limits with pairing a Ryzen 3 CPU with high-end cards. Unfortunately, he only goes into 1080p benchmarks, but you should give it a watch anyway.

With these results, I would suggest that you stick with a Ryzen 1500x. Past a GTX 1060, you see very little difference in performance in most of the latest AAA titles. I would suspect similar results at 4K.

4k requires a very strong gpu to even run those games smoothly. Basically at least 1080 or vega, ofcourse the best currently is 1080 ti. You cant run 4k with 1060 and expect ~60fps.

 

Results in the video only apply for 1080p. 4k is a very different story.

[NoMercy]

40 minutes ago, featherwolf said:

Thanks! I already checked that out, hoping to find the answer to my question actually but was frustrated because it didn't have any info about 4k gaming... Strange, cause what even is the point of high end gpus if you're only gonna game at 1080p?! Haha. I know he was trying to make a specific point, but my question is slightly different...

I would suggest go for 1200 + 1080 Ti. Since it is a HTPC, you wouldnt multitask much, CPU doesnt really matter much in 4k gaming.

 

Rmb, 1080 ti is the key for 4k gaming. If you want smooth 4k with very high settings above 60fps, this is the card you need to go for. 

 

1200 overclocked to 3.9-4.0ghz should able to process around 70~90fps. 1080 ti can process 60~80fps in max settings. So at the end bottleneck is still at your graphic card.

[Evolution90]

Only need Pentium 4 at 28K.