CPU to match GPU

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

I'm going to be buying a Gtx 1070 and was wondering which of two cpus would be best paired with it (Skylake i7 vs i5). Now obviously the i7 would be better, but will it take significantly better advantage of the card? Would it be better to go with an i7 just in preperation for futurecard upgrades?

weberdarren97 · Jul 15, 2016

The i5 6500 would handle it just fine. However, if you were to upgrade to the 1080, I would recommend the i5 6600K.

The i7 6700K is really a matter of want instead of need IMO

anbello262 · Jul 15, 2016

I think that, given that both processors are powerful enough to feed any current GPU (and will probably continue this way for at least 2 years), there is no real difference in gaming between the i5 and the i7, especially since they overclock very closely between each other. With any high end cpu, the bottleneck will (almost) always be the GPU, and that is even more so with every new API.

So, go with the i5 if your main activity will be gaming.

superninja12 · Jul 15, 2016

the difference would be so slim were talking about less than 5 fps , so for 1080p on the witcher 3 ultra do you prefer 77 or 80 fps.
yes a 1070 is that strong.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

Thanks a lot for the info guys! Very enlightening!

Ecky · Jul 15, 2016

CPUs don't "feed" video cards like that. An i5 that is capable of delivering, let's say 50fps in a certain scene of a game, will deliver 50fps regardless of what video card is used, or what graphical settings. If your CPU can't deliver your desired framerate, your only real option is to buy a faster CPU, whereas if your GPU can't deliver what you want, you can simply turn down the graphical settings a bit.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

So at what point would an i5 cap at? Point being which graphics card. Would it become an issue if I decided to SLI in the future?

Ecky · Jul 15, 2016

What GPU you use is irrelevant. The i5 caps when it no longer delivers the framerates you want in the games you play, which will depend entirely on which games you play and what your expectations are.

anbello262 · Jul 15, 2016

I explained it in a simplified way, but Ecky's statement is perfectly correct.

It is still true that, at high enough settings (not usual to buy a new PC to play on low, right?) the CPU can push a lot more frames than any current GPU.

The only exceptions would be if, for some reason, someone would want to build a system to play 720p on low settings with 200+ fps (as some people with CS games). In that case, the CPU would be the limit.

But for regular scenarios (1080p or more, high settings or more, aiming between 60 and 100 fps), both cpus are equally powerful, more than enough for a 1070 or even a 1080. Performance difference, if any, would be ~5%, except very few VERY cou intensive games, where the difference could go uo to 10%. I can't comment about SLI, since I haven't seen relevant benchmarks.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

Alright, I think I get it. So there's no real reason I should get an i7 over the i5 as far as gaming? And as you said it's unlikely that any issues of the cpu bottlenecking the gpu will arise in future upgrades due to the new APIs and such?

Ecky · Jul 15, 2016

Yep. A Core i7 will outperform an i5 in most existing games, but it's largely an academic matter, as both generally deliver higher framerates than anyone cares about, though there are a few exceptions.

anbello262 · Jul 15, 2016

New APIs are focusing on better utilization of the GPU, and lower utilization of the CPU ('cpu overhead'), so the cpu should become less of a limiting factor.
But DX12 also makes better utilization of threads, which would be a point in favour of the i7 *only in the scenarios where the cpu is the limiting factor*, which, as I said, are very uncommon with these CPUs.
We never know what will come in the future, so we can't say anything for sure.
But given trends up to now and current GPUs/games, my prediction would be that you won't notice any difference in gaming performance between these 2 cpus, for at least the next 2-3 years.

And as the resolution goes UP, cpu becomes less of a limiting factor. With 1080p there are 1 or 2 games where the cpu limits you, but at 1440p that would be extremeley rare, and at 4k it just won't happen.

PS: Ecky, I really liked your explanation about the cpu 'hard limits' on fps.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

So is there really only a difference of about 3 fps in more taxing games like Witcher 3?

Ecky · Jul 15, 2016

If you're shooting for 120fps, an i7 might be a good bet, but both i5 and i7 will deliver greater than 60fps in nearly all modern games, making the difference effectively zero.

anbello262 · Jul 15, 2016

Yes, the charts I've seen seem to show the witcher with a difference of less than 2 fps, for example.

The only 2 examples I was able to find where there was a bigger difference, among many games, where at 1080p, GTA V and Far Cry 4. Still, in both cases both games were at more than 80 fps, and the difference was almost 10% between i5 and i7.
EVERY other game that I have seen shows no difference, or smaller than 2-3fps.

If you play at 1440p (or higher), absolutely no difference in performance.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

Alright, cool. Now does it make sense to buy an i7 in order to "future proof" for more demanding games in the future? Sorry if these questions are excessive btw.

Ecky · Jul 15, 2016

As anbello262 said, it's hard to predict the future, but current consoles are not due for a refresh any time soon, and most games are cross-platform, and must be designed to run on existing consoles, making CPU requirements relatively low.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

Coolio. Now I read something about the new gen of intel cpus, would that be something to wait for?

Ecky · Jul 15, 2016

Intel is improving their CPUs about 5% per year (per refresh, once per year), and delivering the same core and thread counts at the same price points. If you wait a year, you'll get a roughly 5% better CPU.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

So definitely not worth, lol. Ok, so I'm definitely leaning towards the i5. A final question, which of the two would you personally go with given the components?

anbello262 · Jul 15, 2016

I would personally go with the i5. Any money you save can be better used by buying a better cpu cooler, or larger SSD, a new game, or even pizza with friends. Any of those will be more enjoyable than a single digit performance difference.

DonutMasta · Jul 15, 2016

Alright, thanks a lot for the help!!

CPU to match GPU

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