Is CPU bottle necking my GPU

Well what is your proccessor and what is your graphics card?

yes, severely especially in online games.


install msi afterburner turn on cpu/gpu temp monitoring and play the game, what are max temps?

yep that is a bottleneck.

If you was to run games and all of your GPU is not being utilised then your CPU is your problem my friend.

this is where intel really excels. they have the best per core performance and in games that are not optimized for 4 cores like the NBA game it becomes an issue for AMD.

Go for an Intel Chipset next and stick with it.

you can upgrade to any of the intel i5 series and be pretty comfortable knowing that you will not have any bottlenecks although there will still be games that will max out that CPU so future proofing is not really possible. the closest thing to a future proof chip is one of the new 8-core chips that are out there now,however, you better be ready to drop a grand on a CPU for that and it is not worth it.

motherboard does not have anything to do with performance.

motherboard only has to do with features like, number of usb 3.0 ports, CF/ SLI compatible, number of sata ports, bluetooth, and things like that

the other thing a motherboard has are the voltage controls. this only really comes into play if you are trying to overclock.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-rev...

look at these battlefield 3 numbers. they are identical in performance

here is middle-earth: shadow of mordor, the just released game pushing 75 fps with a gtx 780

http://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/shadow-of-...

you really need to do a little research before calling out the AMD chips.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6934/choosing-a-gaming-cp...

here is an anandtech article with CF r9 280x only 1 fps behind an i7 3770. this stays true well beyond that if you go through the anandtech website.

yes i agree the intel is a better chip but for the OP who already has a motherboard and only needs to upgrade a chip the difference that you are asking is for him to spend an additional $70 for a CPU and then another $150+ for a motherboard that can overclock the CPU you recommended. that $230 plus $100 he can get for his old CPU is almost getting the OP another gtx 970.

that i5 or i7 is not going to outperform a 8350 and SLI gtx 970, not even close.

not to mention that most people that are going to upgrade their entire system are waiting for Intels next release and the cheaper 6-8 core chips.