i5 4690k bottleneck

MrLegalAce_1 · Sep 24, 2016

I have a gtx 1070 paired with a i5 4690k and I think there is a bottleneck because in game I have the same fps no matter how I move around settings from low to ultra and it uses 100 percent of the cpu in almost every game. I wouldn't think an i5 4690k would bottleneck a gtx 1070 any ideas on what could be going on or how to fix it? It is bumming me out because I have a good card and cant get the benefits with it because I get the same fps as I did with the gtx 970.

n0ns3ns3 · Sep 24, 2016

what is your monitor resolution ?
What is the CPU clock and temperature while gaming ?
what games are you talking about ?
There are few games where any i5 will bottleneck the GTX 1070 on 1080p@155-165Hz monitor. But that happens after 100FPS.

MrLegalAce_1 · Sep 24, 2016

The resolution is 1080p
Cpu clock 3.9 and the temps go from 70-80 while gaming
and all games I play but mainly bf4, crysis 3, call of duty, rust, almost every game I play I hit 100 percent utilization

sizzling · Sep 24, 2016

What is the cpu usage when just at desktop? That CPU should easily handle those games.

Zakario · Sep 24, 2016

I've got an i5-4690k and a GTX 1060, easily every game at Ultra settings steady 60+ FPS, so I imagine the performance of the 1070 should be even better, no way the 4690k is the problem here. If your cpu is at 100% load, check for programs that use your CPU, also check if your cooler is properly attached.

n0ns3ns3 · Sep 24, 2016

Are you using some streaming recording program ? (is it the game that consumes 100% of the CPU)
80C is kinda hot for gaming load -> can cause the CPU to throttle. Can you check with whatever program actual in game CPU clock under 100% load ?
What cooler are you using ?
An overclock (after the cpu temps are sorted) can give you more headroom, but ...
guess this video will explain a bit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s42gvVS77dU
but you still supposed to have better FPS than with GTX 970

Mobius79 · Sep 24, 2016

Yes you will get CPU bottle neck.

I had 3570K at 4.5ghz and my gtx1080 was bottleneck by my cpu in BF4 and Crysis 3.

Now bottleneck is gone with my i7-6800k. In crysis I gained 30fps in some areas, and bf4 30-60fps in multiplayer games...quite shocking really.

I beleive the recomendattion CPU wise for the 1070 and 1080 is a i7.

Zakario · Sep 24, 2016

Mobius79 :

No, the i5-4690k will NOT bottleneck the GTX 1070

Check your facts. It SHOULD work like a charm with the i5.

n0ns3ns3 · Sep 24, 2016

^ it was proven many times that i5 do bottleneck GTX 1070 at 1080p@144Hz monitor.
do your homework.

Zakario · Sep 24, 2016

n0ns3ns3 :

144hz, yes, but did the author actually say which monitor he/she uses? On a regular 60hz monitor, there's no bottleneck.

n0ns3ns3 · Sep 24, 2016

that's less relevant to the "bottlenecking" question.
his CPU gets to 100% usage in games known to be CPU intensive.
The important thing is to understand if it's truly the CPU limit or just CPU cooling issue.

Mobius79 · Sep 24, 2016

Zakario :

I got my facts straight, it is well documented all over the web i5 bottleneck gtx1070 and 1080 at 1080p and sometimes 1440p in CPU intensive games! BF4 , Crysis 3 in particular will play a lot better with a i7. I have done this test myself as I mentioned i had a i5 3570 overclocked at 4.5ghz and there was major bottleneck.

synphul · Sep 24, 2016

The cpu isn't throttling at 80c, throttle temp for that i5 is around 100-105c. 80c is pretty warm for gaming but not burning hot either and will depend on the cooler being used, how well it was mounted, ambient room temps, case airflow etc.

The 1070 is liable to be somewhat overkill depending on the game at 1080p if the game just flat can't use the gpu horsepower. It's not about throwing an i7 at 5ghz at it and a couple 1080's in sli and getting 500fps.

There's about 10fps difference between a stock 6600k and 4690k on bf4 with a titan x oc'd at 1080p. Oc the 4690k and it will likely narrow that gap. An i7 isn't the answer, an oc'd 6600k got better fps than an i7 4790k on bf4. Cpu speed is showing to be a factor there so again, an oc on the 4690k would help.

Crysis 3 there's a 5fps gap between a 4690k stock and 6600k. The 4790k does a bit better than even the stock 6600k but when it's oc'd to 4.5ghz (similar to the 4.4ghz turbo of the 4790k out of the box) the 6600k does a bit better. Speed shows to be a bonus for this game also since when clock speeds were similar so were fps. Ht didn't give much boost.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-skylake-core-i5-6600k-review

In rust a 4690k and 980ti bench'd very similar if not maybe a little better than a 4790k/gtx titan.
i5 - http://api.facepunch.com/#/2/benchmark/report/9acc89d8ff224f82ba7e7b04933ebb06
i7 - http://api.facepunch.com/#/2/benchmark/report/70631447298c4846a1224fd3f6582edf

If you're really concerned with it, check into getting a 4790k. Otherwise if you have a decent cooler and a z series motherboard, try overclocking your cpu. Use something like afterburner software to check the osd and watch your cpu/gpu usage. If gpu usage is low max out the graphics on the games since it's not likely to hurt fps. So long as games are playing at 60fps or above with a 60hz monitor you should be fine, not really going to achieve much better than that. If your gpu is underutilized consider a 1440p monitor.

MrLegalAce_1 · Sep 24, 2016

When at desktop my cpu usage is around 10 percent

Mobius79 · Sep 25, 2016

Check in task manager what is using your CPU.

On an healthy system the cpu usage at idle on desktop should be less than 5%.

amtseung · Sep 25, 2016

The term bottleneck really does get thrown around too much. You are clearly CPU bound though.

In games like H1Z1 or Planetside 2 or Blade and Soul, you'd be pinning your CPU at 100% with your GPU lazing around 28-35% usage. BF4 and Rust also very heavily CPU-bound, not as badly as Planetside 2, but still, I'm not surprised you're pinning your CPU at 100% load, screaming for help. You're getting the same FPS with the 1070 as you did with the 970 because the CPU is responsible for sending the information to the GPU so it can draw the frames you see on your screen. If your CPU can only push information so fast, you'll get the same framerate regardless of headroom, and that's determined by anything from clock speed to IPC to the game engine itself. Rust is not well optimized by any definition of the word.

Idle usage at 10% is on the high side, so check your background processes for abnormalities and unnecessary programs. Windows Defender can also be at fault for high CPU usage all across the board, which is why I like to disable/uninstall it (I fully uninstalled mine, works wonders).

spykar_911 · Sep 25, 2016

I too have 4690k paired with gtx 1060.i have played battlefield 4,crysis 3,witcher 3,gta 5 and others cpu intensive games but what i remember, my cpu never hit above 60-65%(and i think that was in case of gta 5 and witcher 3 only when my cpu usage was about 65% max).So,i too dont think its a bottleneck.may be you should once clean install windows and try again before upgrading.one thing,i haven't overclocked my cpu yet bcoz i think i dont need to do so yet.

i5 4690k bottleneck

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