Should i buy GTX 1080ti or upgrade to i7 6700k

[brokencarr00t]

Hey guys! 

 

I cannot decide if i should buy a GTX 1080ti and keep my i5 6600k pared with GTX 1070 or should i only upgrade to i7 6700k and wait 2 years to upgrade to GTX 1080ti or something better. 

I see around that my i5 6600k can bottleneck GTX 1080ti when playing CPU demanding games. But what is meant by bottleneck? Will it mean that i will get worse performance on CPU demanding games if i upgrade to GTX 1080ti than staying on GTX 1070ti? Or do we talking about that GTX 1080ti wont work in full potential with this i5 CPU? 

 

I do play everything, incuding Battlefield 1 , Destiny 2 , GTA V , Fallout 4 , Wolfenstein and so on. 

 

Thanks in advance and sorry about my english! 

[ArduinoBen]

Bottleneck will mean a certain piece of hardware won't be able to take advantage of it's full performance, hence the name.  Since those are the games you play, I'd go for the i7 6700K.  However, the 6700K costs less than the 1080Ti so you might want to get a 7700K or maybe even a 8700K.  Personally I think you shouold get a 7700K instead of the 6700K.

[Princess Luna]

I wouldn't pair the i5 6600k with a 1080 Ti particularly, I'd just keep as it since it still is enough for any gaming.... wait for Ice Lake processors and Volta GPUs by the end of next year before considering upgrades to avoid money wasting.

[Encrypt]

Hello @brokencarr00t,

It really depends what you are going to be doing with your computer, if you game then the i5 6600K wouldn't bottleneck the GPU that bad if even bottleneck it. Bottleneck means one component is stopping another component from performing to its best capacity.

I can't really see why you would need to upgrade to a better GPU, unless you want to play in 4K.

Thanks

Steven

[Encrypt]

10 minutes ago, brokencarr00t said:

Hey guys! 

 

I cannot decide if i should buy a GTX 1080ti and keep my i5 6600k pared with GTX 1070 or should i only upgrade to i7 6700k and wait 2 years to upgrade to GTX 1080ti or something better. 

I see around that my i5 6600k can bottleneck GTX 1080ti when playing CPU demanding games. But what is meant by bottleneck? Will it mean that i will get worse performance on CPU demanding games if i upgrade to GTX 1080ti than staying on GTX 1070ti? Or do we talking about that GTX 1080ti wont work in full potential with this i5 CPU? 

 

I do play everything, incuding Battlefield 1 , Destiny 2 , GTA V , Fallout 4 , Wolfenstein and so on. 

 

Thanks in advance and sorry about my english! 

I've found a video, what may help you make your choice.

 

[Misanthrope]

It depends entirely on your monitor: If you plan to do that upgrade to basically stay with 1080p or 1440p at high refresh rates? Then yes you can probably end up bottlenecking a tad on some games. But if you're gonna do 4k you'd still be entirely GPU bound even on most "cpu" titles even with a 1080ti.

 

To me the 1080ti is really for people looking into 4k. For my money if you're not planning on 4k right away you should stay on the 1070 at least until Volta cards are released possibly next year (but likely late into next year)

[Jurrunio]

Your monitor has G-sync, so as long as your graphics card can push more than enough frames for the video to stay relatively smooth (which is can easily do since it's only 1080p), you shouldn't invest in your graphics card when you still use a 6600k. At this point though a new 6700k or 7700k is still expensive new, so either upgrade to coffee lake 8600k/8700 or buy used 6700k or 7700k.

[brokencarr00t]

Sorry, i forgot to mention about my monitor and gaming preferences. 

I have a gsync monitor with 144hz. I prefer playing my games at atleast 75 fps. Currently im playing at 1080p and sometimes on 1440p , depend on what game i play. But atleast 75fps is a must as im a bit spoiled with higher refresh rate so playing at 60fps feels laggy. Also im really into 4k gaming too, sometimes im ready to sacrifice all graphical settings just to crank up resolution to 4k. Thats why im considering 1080ti. But at the same time i dont know how it will work with i5 6700k. 

[WereCat]

Neither. Keep what you have, upgrade in the next 1-2y.

6700k is not worth it unless you can get it for cheap (because 8700k) and 1080ti will be mostly unused when paired with i5 and won't get you the desired 144FPS (will but not stable at all).

[Misanthrope]

10 minutes ago, brokencarr00t said:

Sorry, i forgot to mention about my monitor and gaming preferences. 

I have a gsync monitor with 144hz. I prefer playing my games at atleast 75 fps. Currently im playing at 1080p and sometimes on 1440p , depend on what game i play. But atleast 75fps is a must as im a bit spoiled with higher refresh rate so playing at 60fps feels laggy. Also im really into 4k gaming too, sometimes im ready to sacrifice all graphical settings just to crank up resolution to 4k. Thats why im considering 1080ti. But at the same time i dont know how it will work with i5 6700k. 

Ok so if this is the case you probably don't want to upgrade either GPU or CPU on their own: high refresh rate at 1440p really requires both the best GPU and CPU you can afford. If you're ok with staying at 1080p to get to 144hz then the 1070 could still conceivable get you there but for the games you mention (AAA games and heavy titles) you will have to compromise on settings.

 

Sice you're ok with at least 75hz then you could upgrade the CPU first the 1070 given high settings should maintain between 75 and 100hz and on GSync that's a reasonably nice experience (just not 144hz). But I'd still recommend skipping a CPU only upgrade entirely and attempting to go for Coffee Lake: you'd be ok with 6700k used for example for a lot less money but it will get old much faster as more games are starting to take advantage of more than 8 threads. Even with 8 threads having 2 extra cores will make a noticeable difference on minimum framerates too.

 

So tl;dr: If you're ok with slightly lower settings, aim for a used 6700k now or a full platform upgrade to coffee lake depending on your budget, GPU gets upgraded later with Volta (or whatever's best at that point )most likely in 1-2 years or so.

[brokencarr00t]

Thank you for your help guys! 

 

I decided to wait for i7 8700k and get it then after couple months to upgrade to 1080ti. 

[JusticeBeaver]

Sure there maybe a bottle neck, but the question that I have for you? Are any of your games dipping below 75fps? If not then honestly its not time to upgrade. 

 

I am running a 4770k non OC with a 1080ti on 1440p ultrawide 100hz getting 115 to 140 fps on average. I play at 100fps, so until I see my frames averaging below 100fps I will stick to my setup or consider overclocking. My low is 80fps also.... I had people say my 4770k is a bottle neck, im sure it is.... but my rig, bottle neck or not.... It gets the job done.

[Buurvrouw]

On ‎24‎.‎10‎.‎2017 at 6:27 PM, JusticeBeaver said:

Sure there maybe a bottle neck, but the question that I have for you? Are any of your games dipping below 75fps? If not then honestly its not time to upgrade. 

 

I am running a 4770k non OC with a 1080ti on 1440p ultrawide 100hz getting 115 to 140 fps on average. I play at 100fps, so until I see my frames averaging below 100fps I will stick to my setup or consider overclocking. My low is 80fps also.... I had people say my 4770k is a bottle neck, im sure it is.... but my rig, bottle neck or not.... It gets the job done.

True that, if I see the Video in the comment above, just OC your CPU to about 4.6, that goes easily with a 1.345mv adaptive. Runs stable on my Z170 Pro Gaming from Asus. Then you will have your 6700K, and about the cores. I don't think we'd see a big perfomance difference in core Count perfomance in the upcoming 5 years in gaming. That my guess do, feel free to add your opinion.

 

And for spending that much money on a few frames more.. your choice. If it would be a significant boost I would also consider it. But in this case. Neh.

 

P.S. I have the same issue, I will go for a 1080, just because I can get it cheap and I have a 60hz 1440p Monitor =) get's the Job done too. I will wait to, I want to, but waiting is the better Option.

[JusticeBeaver]

4 hours ago, Buurvrouw said:

True that, if I see the Video in the comment above, just OC your CPU to about 4.6, that goes easily with a 1.345mv adaptive. Runs stable on my Z170 Pro Gaming from Asus. Then you will have your 6700K, and about the cores. I don't think we'd see a big perfomance difference in core Count perfomance in the upcoming 5 years in gaming. That my guess do, feel free to add your opinion.

 

And for spending that much money on a few frames more.. your choice. If it would be a significant boost I would also consider it. But in this case. Neh.

 

P.S. I have the same issue, I will go for a 1080, just because I can get it cheap and I have a 60hz 1440p Monitor =) get's the Job done too. I will wait to, I want to, but waiting is the better Option.

Yeah for gaming I don't see a big difference between 4000 series to 8000 series processors. I don't feel that spending money on a CPU, DDR4 Ram, and a MOBO is going to change my current gaming experience. I already game at 1440p ultrawide with 100hz so its not worth spending $700 to upgrade it all. 

 

Now if I was still working from home and processing massive amounts of images and needed it for work flow. Then I would upgrade my rig. However for gaming, I have yet to come across a game that challenges my cpu to the point where it effects my gaming experience. There maybe titles out there a one or two, however, I don't play them. 

 

Always base your upgrades on your needs not because your system is being out bench marked. 

[Buurvrouw]

1 minute ago, JusticeBeaver said:

Yeah for gaming I don't see a big difference between 4000 series to 8000 series processors. I don't feel that spending money on a CPU, DDR4 Ram, and a MOBO is going to change my current gaming experience. I already game at 1440p ultrawide with 100hz so its not worth spending $700 to upgrade it all. 

 

Now if I was still working from home and processing massive amounts of images and needed it for work flow. Then I would upgrade my rig. However for gaming, I have yet to come across a game that challenges my cpu to the point where it effects my gaming experience. There maybe titles out there a one or two, however, I don't play them. 

 

Always base your upgrades on your needs not because your system is being out bench marked. 

and on what resolution are you gaming on? 3440x1440p? and is it worth to buy only a 100Hz Screen? I am considering a higher hz Monitor

[CostcoSamples]

On 10/24/2017 at 5:37 AM, brokencarr00t said:

Sorry, i forgot to mention about my monitor and gaming preferences. 

I have a gsync monitor with 144hz. I prefer playing my games at atleast 75 fps. Currently im playing at 1080p and sometimes on 1440p , depend on what game i play. But atleast 75fps is a must as im a bit spoiled with higher refresh rate so playing at 60fps feels laggy. Also im really into 4k gaming too, sometimes im ready to sacrifice all graphical settings just to crank up resolution to 4k. Thats why im considering 1080ti. But at the same time i dont know how it will work with i5 6700k. 

This is very confusing... you have a monitor that can do 4k, but can also run at 144hz?  Please tell us what display you have lol

[JusticeBeaver]

1 hour ago, Buurvrouw said:

and on what resolution are you gaming on? 3440x1440p? and is it worth to buy only a 100Hz Screen? I am considering a higher hz Monitor

Yeah, its 3440x1440p...

 

"only a 100hz screen" I don't think this resolution comes with anything faster then 100hz. I believe the onlything faster then 100hz comes in 2560x1440p.

 

That and I was able to find a Viotek GN34C for $515 new from newegg a few weeks ago. It looks like they raised the prices after the sell ended though. However, I love the Viotek, it is an amazing monitor. The stand is mediocre and the interface for settings is average, however, the panel is excellent and if you can get past being married to the stand they supple with no upgrable stands then its an outstanding monitor. It suites everything for me.

 

As for 100hz I play RPG's, casual shooters, and mobas. So really 100hz is perfect for me, I am not into competitive shooters like CSGO. I play Rainbow Six Siege and Overwatch and very casually so 144hz or faster in my opinion for me is pointless. I get more out of having more real-estate on the screen.