Worth upgrading my cpu for my gpu?

adam66787 · Dec 22, 2016

I'm looking to get a gtx1070 or maybe a 1080 but I only have a i5-4460 and a motherboard that only supports 4th gen and its not an overclocking motherboard. is it worth upgrading my cpu to another 4th gen or is it best just to use the gtx1070 or 1080 on my current i5-4460. Or shall I get a new motherboard and cpu?

Thanks for replys

Ecky · Dec 22, 2016

Why not get the card and see if your CPU delivers the frames you want?

You can drop an i7 4790(K) into your board and have 95% the performance of a Skylake i7.

photonboy · Dec 22, 2016

1) Not new motherboard socket

2) Depends on the game. Anywhere between 0% and 40% gain likely, though mostly closer to 10%.

*Even when the game FPS is higher, you may actually be capping anyway with VSYNC or be so high you just don't care. In general, it's not going to benefit much.

3) You'd have to find a bunch of "CPU Scaling" for individual games to get an idea.

Other:
You may want to hold off and see what AMD has coming. An RX-490 or similar may end up a good value.

Other:
For CPU socket replacement, remember it's the motherboard, memory, and if you have W8 or previous you have to rebuy the OS. As well you have to REINSTALL everything.

But if you absolutely decided to go that way I'd only do it for something like an AMD Zen 6C/12T CPU if that turns out to be a good value. It's overkill for gaming but you may have other needs.

atljsf · Dec 22, 2016

i would do that same

if you don't see enough frames at the resolution you want, cpu upgrade, perhaps ram if you don't have 16gbs already

photonboy · Dec 22, 2016

Should also discuss what MONITOR you have.

I have a GTX1080, but if interested in GSYNC/FREESYNC then something like an RX-490 + $500ish, Freesync monitor (27", 144Hz, IPS, 2560x1440) might be a lot cheaper than a similar NVidia solution.

I'd much rather have a GTX1070 and put the difference towards a GSYNC monitor than have a GTX1080 and similar, non-GSYNC monitor.

adam66787 · Dec 23, 2016

I only play on a 1080p 60Hz screen so is it worth the money to buy a i7-4790 to upgrade my i5-4460 or is their another 4th gen cpu I should go with?

photonboy · Dec 23, 2016

adam66787 :

I tried to say it VARIES a lot by the game. You WILL see higher FPS in some games, though you can still play with settings if needed to achieve your goal of 60FPS or whatever.

If you DID upgrade the only two CPU's I feel justify this are the i5-4690K and the i7-4790K.

The i5-4690K is the same except a higher frequency. The i7-4790K is more about future proofing or to speed up converting video as the hyperthreading doesn't benefit most games (for a quad-core. it does help a dual-core).

Here's some math:
i5-4690K (assume best-case 4.4GHz under load after OC)

*use 3.7GHz if you can't overclock, or about 4GHz if you can but your cooler and/or motherboard are so-so

i5-4460 (assume 3.2GHz under load... yes, Max Turbo is 3.4GHz but that's not what you get under load).

4.2/3.2 = 31%

So at best you can gain 31% FPS but only if the game is severely bottlenecked. In general, as I said it's closer to 10% (i.e. 55FPS instead of 50FPS) but it varies a lot.

NEWER DX12/Vulkan games will start using the CPU even more efficiently thus decreasing the chance of a CPU bottleneck, however game devs can still load the CPU with CPU physics, AI or something if they want so whether an i7-4790K is "needed" in the near future is hard to say.

So... huh?

*If you want my personal opinion then here it is:

1. keep the i5-4460
2. Monitor games to see what the GPU load is (95%+ means minimal to no CPU bottleneck).
- note that VSYNC will artificially cap so if you achieve your goal (60FPS on 60Hz monitor for example) you're good.

3. Buy one of the above CPU's only if it looks like it makes a notable difference in your gaming experience.
4. Consider waiting for AMD's new GPU's.

Short answer is. NO. Don't upgrade.

adam66787 · Dec 25, 2016

Thanks I completely understand now, happy holidays!

Search

Worth upgrading my cpu for my gpu?

adam66787

Commendable

photonboy

Ecky

Illustrious

photonboy

Titan

atljsf

Honorable

photonboy

Titan

adam66787

Commendable

photonboy

Titan

adam66787

Commendable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page