GPU Bottleneck Question

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

mforest9

Honorable
Oct 11, 2013
8
0
10,510
I am aware of the general concept of bottlenecking however there is one question I have I could not find an answer to.

Basically it is, will bottlenecking a GPU reduce performance coming from a GPU that was not bottlenecked or do the GPUs just hit a ceiling?

In my case I have an old gaming rig, Intel Q6600 processor on a MOBO that doesn't have the chipset to get a newer processor it's essentially maxed out. I had a GTX 560 that worked fine until the other day when it died on me. I don't want to hear "buy a new rig" I get it but now is not the time. So, I have been looking around and found a used GTX660 real cheap and the lowest end new card I can buy is a GTX 1030 for 3x the price, I also found some older cards like 900 series and 700 series but they are stil the same price as the new GTX 1030. So does bottlenecking mean at a certain point the GPU just hits a ceiling so whether I get a GTX 660, 750, 1030, 1050 etc will make zero difference or will getting too good a GPU actually cause a kind of chain reaction that will put more stress on other components and actually reduce overall performance?


 
Solution
mbilal2
See that's what I keep hearing that has me confused. Slower performance if I went with newer 1050 card as oppose to the 660? I think the 660 is the max my CPU will handle before bottlenecking. So hypothetically if the 660 is the max, would any newer card after that just hit a ceiling and performer exactly as the 660 would or would the bottlenecking but some additional stress on the CPU that might cause FPS issues I would not experience with the 660?
Click to expand...

Say you are/were getting 25 fps right now with the with your Q6600, GTX 560. (no bottlenecking)
When you upgrade to GTX 660 with Q6600, you will get 30fps. (CPU bottlenecking GPU)
When you upgrade to GTX 1080 with Q6600, you will be...
Sort by date Sort by votes
kookie3010

kookie3010

Honorable
Sep 3, 2013
1,426
0
11,960
the gt 1030 should give the same peformance as the 750ti.and yes the processor will be a bottleneck in some games.its the cpu that will be push to the max which in return reducing the gpu usage(the cpu needs to work harder to send information to the gpu which is faster) thus creating a bottleneck.there will be a difference in performance of fcourse comparing those card to the 560 but less noticeable in games that also require cpu power like gta V.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mbilal2

mbilal2

Reputable
Jun 15, 2017
939
0
5,660
GPU bottlenecking happens when your CPU can't keep up with your GPU.

will bottlenecking a GPU reduce performance coming from a GPU that was not bottlenecked
Click to expand...

Not sure what this meant. Did u mean "coming from a CPU that was not bottlenecked"? Please clarify.

Now a GTX 1050Ti almost 40% better than a GTX 660 on charts and the architecture itself is different. So I would push hard for a 1050Ti. But like you said it's not possible with your budget.
A GTX 660 is way better than a GTX 560. i say go for it, if it is ridiculously cheap.

You will experience some bottlenecking as your processor is slow (very..very) but I'm sure you know what your CPU can handle. Your GPU will be constantly be waiting on your cpu for input.

If you run at high resolution, your gpu will be used more and if you run at low res, your CPU will be used more. Keep that in mind.
Cheers

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mforest9

Honorable
Oct 11, 2013
8
0
10,510
Thanks, I knew I was going to be bottlenecking my CPU with anything newer than the 660. With my rig I am stuck finding a used old card or overspending on a new card that is just going to bottleneck. So bottlenecking doesn't do any damage or put additional stress on itself or any other components? Assuming my PSU can handle the card?

Mbilal2: My CPU will bottleneck any GPU newer/better than the 660, I am fairly certain of that. Basically what I was wondering was that if worst came to worst and I had to overspend on a new card would bottlenecking do any damage or put additional stress on itself or any other components?

I play a handfull of older games that ran fine on my 560, and as of right now I have zero interest in any new games so spending 2000$ on a new rig is out of the question, I just want to replace a dead card that is N/A and want to make sure I won't do any damage if I had to get one that was overpowered for my old rig.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
velocityg4

velocityg4

Glorious
Nov 21, 2006
5,390
471
46,440
Basically, when playing a game a CPU crunches the data. What character does what. Where everything is supposed to be positioned. How everything moves. It then sends that data to the GPU. Which renders the frame on screen at your given graphics settings. This data is constantly being updated so the GPU keeps rendering more frames.

Most graphics settings don't require extra CPU usage. As the GPU takes the raw data and renders it at your given settings. Which is why a CPU may bottleneck at 1080p while it won't at 4K. 4K requires more work from the GPU not the CPU.

When a bottleneck occurs. The CPU is crunching the data as fast as it can and sending it to the GPU. Which then renders the frames but is capable of rendering more per second than the CPU can supply for that given game at that given setting. Which means you can increase detail settings with no impact on game performance until you reach the limit of the GPU. The main problem when a CPU is maxed out is you can encounter stuttering. Which is visible delays between frames. This can mean a choppy appearance or in the worst cases pauses.

A GeForce GTX 660/660 Ti 2GB should not be too much for that CPU. The Core 2 Quad was still a common CPU used by gamers when that card came out and was a normal upgrade on those systems as they upgraded from older cards. Most games which play well on those cards should play well on a Core 2 Quad. Personally, for such an old system. I would only consider those cards. A newer card isn't worth the money on such old hardware. Sure if you were looking to get a new system soon. I'd say go ahead and buy a new card. But that doesn't sound like it is the case.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mbilal2

mbilal2

Reputable
Jun 15, 2017
939
0
5,660


Nope no hardware issues. You'll just experience slow performance. Yes make sure your PSU can handle it, but there's not much difference between the 660 and 560 power wise. What kind of PSU do you have?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mforest9

Honorable
Oct 11, 2013
8
0
10,510


It's a Corsair 750W I think I'll be good.

You'll just experience slow performance
Click to expand...

See that's what I keep hearing that has me confused. Slower performance if I went with newer 1050 card as oppose to the 660? I think the 660 is the max my CPU will handle before bottlenecking. So hypothetically if the 660 is the max, would any newer card after that just hit a ceiling and performer exactly as the 660 would or would the bottlenecking but some additional stress on the CPU that might cause FPS issues I would not experience with the 660?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kookie3010

kookie3010

Honorable
Sep 3, 2013
1,426
0
11,960


i think u are not getting it yet.a newer card will perform better than 660 but not as good as it would have been if its paired with a new i5-i7.u still have an increase in fps overall but not as much as it should be.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mbilal2

mbilal2

Reputable
Jun 15, 2017
939
0
5,660
See that's what I keep hearing that has me confused. Slower performance if I went with newer 1050 card as oppose to the 660? I think the 660 is the max my CPU will handle before bottlenecking. So hypothetically if the 660 is the max, would any newer card after that just hit a ceiling and performer exactly as the 660 would or would the bottlenecking but some additional stress on the CPU that might cause FPS issues I would not experience with the 660?
Click to expand...

Say you are/were getting 25 fps right now with the with your Q6600, GTX 560. (no bottlenecking)
When you upgrade to GTX 660 with Q6600, you will get 30fps. (CPU bottlenecking GPU)
When you upgrade to GTX 1080 with Q6600, you will be getting 45fps because your CPU will be bottlenecking the GPU!!
When you get the GTX 660 AND an i5 7600k, you will get 40fps. (GPU bottlenecking CPU)
When you get a GTX 1060 and and i5 7600k, you will get 100fps (no bottle necking)

These numbers are just examples to help you understand..

Hope it helped.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
M

mforest9

Honorable
Oct 11, 2013
8
0
10,510
Okay so according to kookie a newer card will always perform better but it may only perform 10% better than the 660 on my CPU and 100% better on someone else's etc. But for me it's a matter of it being only 10% better performance at 150% the cost. Of course the % listed are hypothetical.

I'm getting two different answers but I think in general I have a better understanding. Kookie says slightly better mbilal says equal. As long as performance is no worse than with my 560 I am happy with whatever I get and just hope to not overspend.

One last question then, I am assuming my 560 was killed by Arma 3, my newest and most CPU GPU intensive game constantly pushing my GPU to it's limits. I am assuming that it's possible I could to the same thing to the 660 because if it's not being bottlenecked I can push it to 100% for a long time were as with a 1050 because it's being bottlenecked at say 50% of it's limit I would never burn it out under the same circumstances, right?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mbilal2

mbilal2

Reputable
Jun 15, 2017
939
0
5,660


I don't see how kookie any my answer are different but yes you are on point. And if the cost is right why not right?
Cheers :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mforest9

Honorable
Oct 11, 2013
8
0
10,510


he said i would get better performance with the 1050 and you said I would get 40FPS whether I went with the 1050 or the 660. But whatever I am happy either way. I did edit my earlier post with one last question if you wouldn't mind looking at it.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mbilal2

mbilal2

Reputable
Jun 15, 2017
939
0
5,660


Oh I see. Yes you'll see a few more frames but to make you understand, I didn't put them in my post (I'll edit it now). Plus the frame difference will be negligible.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mbilal2

mbilal2

Reputable
Jun 15, 2017
939
0
5,660
One last question then, I am assuming my 560 was killed by Arma 3, my newest and most CPU GPU intensive game constantly pushing my GPU to it's limits. I am assuming that it's possible I could do the same thing to the 660 because if it's not being bottlenecked I can push it to 100% for a long time were as with a 1050 because it's being bottlenecked at say 50% of it's limit I would never burn it out under the same circumstances, right?
Click to expand...

I have never heard of GPUs burning up. Your Graphics card should have shut down after reaching a certain high temperature, giving you no display at all. When it had cooled down, all you had to do was restart and it will work fine again. Maybe it's sensors were faulty and the temps were not accurate, which explains your card burning up. I recommend you run a few stress tests on both your GPU and CPU and monitor the temps while doing so. I'll look up safe oprating temps for a GTX 660 and edit this post as required.


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mforest9

Honorable
Oct 11, 2013
8
0
10,510



It's probably a whole other topic but i just said burned up as a metaphor for it becomign faulty It did not catch fire or have any noticable burns on it lol. The night before it died it failed twice in a hour, very rare. Screen went black, my monitor said "no signal" for a second, game CTD and I got the message "displayed drive has stopped responding but has recovered" or whatever, that's happend to quite alot over the years. Then the next night I played again and the screen went black and my monitor stayed on the no signal. Also before it went black, large translucent pink green and blue pixels(maybe 9-12) covered the whole screen. So i could still see the display but the pixels were behind everythign if that makes sense. Anyways I let it sit for maybe 10 minutes on "no signal" but it never recovered so I decided to to a hard reset(press and hold power button). That might have been a mistake. On restart my Dell splash screen had white lines and dots, then on windows start up the windows logo was all discolored and weird, I got a blue screen after that that advised me to restart in safe mode and "make sure my hardware installed correctly" So it's started in safe mode albeit with artifacts I disabled my Graphic driver and was able to restart, still everything was discolored and artifacts. I un installed the driver and reinstalled fresh but still could not get past windows loading without disabling the driver. I have since put in my old GTX 260 and everything is normal. When I did open it up I noticed a cable directly on top of the GPU fan but I doubt it was touching the fan because I never noticed any loud unusual noises. I don't know if it's fixable but maybe I will play around with it tonight since it's rainy and the GTX 660 I saw for sale for 50$ has sold :(

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mbilal2

mbilal2

Reputable
Jun 15, 2017
939
0
5,660
By burned up I meant graphics card getting damaged due to overheating :p

What you described are symptoms of graphics card heating up. Seems like you kept going when you should have let it cool down for a bit.

the GTX 660 I saw for sale for 50$ has sold
Click to expand...

Oh man that sucks! Happens. Oh whale keep an eye out for more :/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom