GTX 980ti - is my FX-8120 a bottleneck? (and/or PCI-E 2.0)

madjam002 · Jul 5, 2015

Hi all,

Just took the plunge and upgraded my HD 6870 and got a shiny new Inno3D 980Ti Herculez OC (link https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-055-IN)

So far it's going really well, but at the premium price, I'm being very picky when it comes to noticing potential problems.

Having done a Heaven Benchmark at 1080p, my score is 2183 after overclocking @1407MHz, 2032 before at stock speeds.
(screenshot http://i.imgur.com/mWzvEwN.png)

From what I've seen on various reviews of the 980Ti and other sites, my FPS/score isn't as high as other people running 980Ti's at clock speeds. I'm not too fussed about this as it's still a badass GPU, but still I'd like to squeeze more performance out of it if possible.

My current CPU is the AMD FX-8120 clocked at 4.1GHz and my mobo is a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 which only supports PCI-E 2.0. Because this card states that it uses PCI-E 3.0, might this be the reason why my performance is slightly degraded? Or does my CPU just need an upgrade?

Thanks for your time, and if anyone thinks my CPU might be worth an upgrade then any suggestions are welcome

davidarad02 · Jul 5, 2015

my GTX 970 is getting better performance then that. there is definentally a CPU bottleneck. the GTX 980 ti should be getting around double that score in heaven.
the bottleneck is not in the PCIe standard. its just the old CPU.

madjam002 · Jul 5, 2015

Surely not double? http://www.vortez.net/articles_file/30552_unigine-heaven4-high-nvidiagtx980ti.png
A lot of what I've seen searching around shows scores of around 2400 are normal.

But fair enough, it sucks that a CPU which was supposed to be pretty good is the bottleneck here.
How does the Intel Core i5 4690K sound for powering this GPU?

bignastyid · Jul 5, 2015

Yes, that is a bulldozer(also known as faildozer) cpu which has very weak single core performance and will definitely hold back a high end gpu. With a 980Ti I suggest going Intel for the faster core performance. Even an 8350(piledriver which is better than bulldozer) or one of its overclocked brethren(fx 9xxx series), could hold that card back in some games(mainly cpu heavy games like GTA V).

davidarad02 · Jul 5, 2015

madjam002 :

the 2400 scores are for 1440p. you were running at 1080p.
yes, the i5 with a new motherboard and a cheap cooler will wreck the old 8120, and will not bottleneck your GPU.

bignastyid · Jul 5, 2015

madjam002 :

The 4690k Is a great choice.

madjam002 · Jul 5, 2015

Awesome, thanks for the help guys!
In terms of motherboard, how does this guy look?
http://www.ebuyer.com/641278-msi-z97-gaming-3-socket-1150-vga-dvi-hdmi-displayport-7-1-channel-z97-gaming-3

davidarad02 · Jul 5, 2015

I have the gaming 5 version of that motherboard, and its an awesome little motherboard. the only stuff that really differenciate the 3 and the 5 is slightly better audio and some small things like a readout LED screen and sata ports are aranged a little bit differently, but its not big deal for the most part. the gaming line at MSI are all awesome motherboards.

madjam002 · Jul 5, 2015

Alright nice one. Thanks for the help guys, I'll make my decision this evening and get a new CPU and mobo then

davidarad02 · Jul 5, 2015

madjam002 :

good to hear. im always glad to be helpful. if you have anymore questions, just PM me and I will do my best to help you,

Cryio · Jul 5, 2015

If you aren't swiming in money at the moment, getting a CPU cooler and an FX 83x0 anything (I'd recommend the 8300, it's the cheapest Vishera 8 core CPU available. If you can't find one, then get the FX 8320). Overclock it to 4.5 Ghz and enjoy substantially better performance.

Vishera (83x0) is 10-15% faster clock for clock than Bulldozer (81x0) and the Vishera CPU can also clock higher, 4.5 GHz vs your 4.1 at probably same voltage and temperature, so add some more speed to that 10-15% difference in IPC overall.

If you'd like to get the most out of your GPU, of course, get an i5 4690K and overclock it, or WAIT a bit and get the new Broadwell that will launch in 1 month max, the i5 5750C I think it was called. But then again, both these options are like 3 times the price of an FX 8300. So there's that to keep in mind. Not to mention you don't need to change the motherboard for the FX CPU while you also need to change the MOBO for the Intel CPUs.

Your major problem is CPU performance, not PCIe 3. You only loose like 1-3% performance between PCIe 2 and 3.

davidarad02 · Jul 5, 2015

Cryio :

2 things:
1. the 5775c broadwell CPU you are talking about is already out (derp

), and the only thing that really matters about it is that it has good internal graphics, and because he has a 980 ti, that shouldnt matter alot. in september the skylake arcuitcture will launch, and its the regular 10-15% IPC improvement, so if the OP cares about that, he might consider waiting.
2. the i5 will wreck the 83*0, and will not bottleneck the 980 ti.
also, just think. I think someone that has a GTX 980 ti has the money to buy an intel CPU...

madjam002 · Jul 5, 2015

If I'm being honest, this whole "waiting game" thing has never worked well for me in the past. I've learnt that (as long as something awesome isn't due to come out in a couple of weeks) it's best to buy whatever is available now, then upgrade in the future if necessary and sell your old components.
This motherboard that I have at the moment was bought due to me thinking I might get Crossfire or something, and 2 1/2 years later I still haven't and have moved to nVidia!

I've been looking at CPU performance for GTA 5, and I didn't realise the massive performance gains that can be achieved by getting something like a 4690k. It blows the 83x0 series out of the water with an nVidia GPU. Amazing given the fantastic marketing that surrounded the FX 8120 on how much of a high end CPU it was, yet months later the terrible reviews started to reveal that this was not the case! (My experience with the 8120 hasn't been great either).

I'm not seeing any serious benefits of getting an i7, at least for gaming, so I think I'm settled on the 4690k and probably the MSI Z97 Gaming 5, just checking reviews of that mobo first.

And in terms of money, I haven't treated myself to a PC upgrade for 2 years, so if I've already got the 980 Ti and it's being pretty badly bottlenecked, I may as well do a proper job and go the full mile!

Reaper_7799 · Jul 5, 2015

davidarad02 :

The 2400 scores are not for 1440P. I have a 980 ti and my heaven scores at 1080 P with everything maxed and ultra aa, tesselation and all that good stuff maxed is around 2300ish stock and around 2575 with a strong overclock on the card.

I'll go run it real quick in 1440P.

EDIT: Okay so in 1440P I scored low 1500's with EVERYTHING maxed and turned on and scored close to 2500 at 1080P. I was on a higher oc for my i7 when I got in the mid to high 2500's so maybe I could get a little higher in 1440P.

It shows some scores you can compare below to what other people are getting.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18487976&page=59

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/unigine-heaven-4-0-benchmark-scores.198888/

madjam002 · Jul 5, 2015

Thanks for the in depth testing there. I ended up going with the 4690k and the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 motherboard, so I should get a solid improvement over what I have at the moment!

Now I've got to think about what to do with my FX 8120!

Reaper_7799 · Jul 5, 2015

Nice, that 4690k will be a solid improvement over the 8120. And yeah if you mainly just game and want great performance, that's the chip to get. I love my i7 but the 4690k is such a good processor too.

DangerrDP · Jul 10, 2015

If your system runs games great why upgrade now?

I just ran the Heaven Benchmark with the exact same settings with my I7 2600k @ 4.2 GHz with an MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G @ factory OC and only scored about 200 points higher. My Asus Sabertooth P67 motherboard also has a 2.0 pci express slot.

My system tears through games @ max setting and I imagine yours does also. I will stick with my old 2600k untill it dies or will no longer run games properly.

If I were to upgrade now I would spend the extra money for an X99 MB with DDR4 memory and 5820 or 5930 processor for max performance.

Reaper_7799 · Jul 10, 2015

DangerrDP :

An AMD FX 8120 and an i7 2600K are two totally different animals.

DangerrDP · Jul 10, 2015

Reaper_7799 :

I was just showing my 2600k did not score much higher.

Without a doubt that 8120 will cause some bottlenecking, but if it games great does he/she need to upgrade?

My point was with that powerful 980 Ti upgrading the cpu won't be as cost effective as the upgrade from HD 6870 to that shiny new Inno3D 980Ti.

That 4690k is a great cpu and will allow much higher scores. Nothing wrong with upgrading but it probably won't compare to the performance increase the 980 Ti gave.

Reaper_7799 · Jul 10, 2015

DangerrDP :

It depends what games and such. There's a graph with about 10-15 games and same video card but with different processors. The 8350, even overclocked at like 4.8ghz, had frame rate differences between 20-30 from the i5's and i7's so yeah, it can matter in some games, especially any cpu intensive game. Hell, even non overclocked i5's ran 90% of the games quite a bit better. The new 9590 or whatever it is, was also off by at least 15-20 fps in that list. Even with the 980 ti, was talking to a guy with an 8350 that couldn't overclock over 4.2 to help him with GTA V, he couldn't get more than 50-60 or so with stuttering and had to turn all kinds of settings down.

Your i7 is still good, even if it's slightly older, it's still a great powerful processor. The AMD's single core processing power is just nowhere near i5 and i7 level. I was thinking you were trying to compare just based on those scores.

Most people don't think it can be your processor that can hold your fps down, especially even with a high end graphics card, but it definitely can.

DangerrDP · Jul 10, 2015

I know how much better my I7 2600k is than an FX 8150 because I have a second rig with the FX 8150 and an MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G.
The main thing I notice is how fast all the background programs load up when booting Windows. It takes over twice as long with the 8150.

Does my 8150 cause some bottleneck with my GTX 970? Yes. Since I run v-sync or adaptive v-sync with 60 Hz monitors in all my games it just isn't a big issue and games great @1080p I have a Noctua NH-D14 cooler on the 8150 but have never overclocked it. I do run the GTX 970 with +120 core and +480 clock.

I do regret not spending an extra $100 an I5 would have cost on that build.

madjam002 · Jul 11, 2015

So my 4690k has arrived and it's looking good, although the performance gains aren't massive. My Heaven Benchmark score is now 2404, but this is at 4.5GHz and at stock clocks it was only 2150. GTA 5 runs slightly better, but my FPS is still around 30-50fps at 3440x1440. I noticed that in Heaven Benchmark my GPU usage is like 98% according to MSI afterburner, but in GTA 5 it's around 70-91%, is this something to be concerned about? My CPU usage in GTA 5 is only around 40-60% now.

Reaper_7799 · Jul 11, 2015

madjam002 :

Congrats on your new chip. GTA is such an unoptimized game but at 1440P it still should run good. The 34" resolution you're running will be a little more taxing than the more standard 27" 1440P but it should be closer to 1440P than 4K performance. Make sure you're msaa is turned down, try 4x because you don't need it high, also make sure it's turned off or at least application controlled in nvidia control panel.

Your card should be running close to 100% like it does in heaven almost the entire time you play. Try running DSR at 4K to see what you're usage does. Depending on situation and settings because there are a ton of them, 1440 P with 4x msaa and everything else ultra around 50 fps with dips in the 40s. 4 K with no msaa but all else ultra, including advanced is around 50 with dips in the 40's. You should be able to lower a few settings here and there to gain some fps but you'll have to mess around with them.

I'd test it but I don't have gtav, I have others if you want to compare. Crysys 3, metro last light,arma 3, battlefield4, witcher 3, project cars.

This guy does bunch of benchmarking gameplay with 980 ti, titanx and furyx on a bunch of different games.

1440P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a6PlU3LfVQ&list=PLi0Fm4p47yiSPyxaJHAGDgTLpKrapbjhr&index=7

4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSfLtD-0oQ&feature=iv&src_vid=1a6PlU3LfVQ&annotation_id=annotation_2133338097

madjam002 · Jul 11, 2015

Cool thanks, I'm running at 2x MSAA in GTA with MSAA turned off for reflections. To be fair it was raining in game when I was testing it which might be worse, and driving over hills with grass is still a bit of a problem, but I'll test it tomorrow in more detail and give DSR a go at 4k.

Thanks

Reaper_7799 · Jul 11, 2015

What are your GPU temps while playing? And in Heaven?

GTX 980ti - is my FX-8120 a bottleneck? (and/or PCI-E 2.0)

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