Do i need to over clock my cpu

[Poobutters]

have just built my new pc -

i have 3 1080p monitors with 60 refresh that are run by the 2 gtx 680's now when playing some games i have experienced that the gpu's are at 75 - 80 % usage but i will get less then 60 fps, i am wondering if my processor is too slow for the level of grapics being processed -
maybe i should have got the k version and over clocked to 4.5 or somthing like that. at this point i have spent lots on this rig and i may have taken a hit by not getting the k verison of the cpu ... not sure what i was thinking. any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.





cpu-I 7 3770
Motherboard - asus z77 sabertooth
Cpu cooler - watercooled Kuhler h20 920
ram - 16 g x 1600mhz
power slupply - seasonic 860 platinum
video - gtx 680 x 2 (sli)
sdd - intel 120g (operating system)
hdd1- 500 seagate blue ( games and stuff)
hdd2 - 2 tb western digital (movies)
Case- nzxt - SWITCH 810 gunmetal

 

[noreaster]

What games and settings are you having trouble with, what FPS are you getting, anything above 30fps is considered acceptable, anything above the refresh rate of your monitor is overkill.

 

[Poobutters]

sleeping dogs is where the biggest problem ... 75-85 % and fps at 41-49, boarderlands 2 is runs much better but still same thing happens frame drops ... this issu seams to be when things are being loaded witch you cant see. such as walk in to a room and around the corner and 4 guys are loaded there but you cant see them.... i know you say 30 fps are ok but at this point i am trying to bulid a computer that can run 60 steady... but what do you think ... sli issue , game programing issue, or processor not fast enought for my 2d surround vision gtx 680 sli.

 

[azathoth]

There is a decent chance that it's a bit of a CPU bottleneck going on.
I certainly find it strange that you have spent about $1100 on graphics, $500 on monitors. Then attempted to save $20 by getting the non K version of the 3770.

The only real question is if the framerates you're experiencing render the game unplayable, or simply under 60fps at times.

 

[Poobutters]

simply under 60 fps ... i am kicking my self in the ass for not getting the k verison .. i was not sure if i wanted to start overclocking... now i bulid the rig and i see how easy it is to do... i just want to know if i should take the hit and go grab the k version and sell the one i have.

 

[noreaster]

Could be an SLI issue, the one 680 should be running those framerates on those games, provided graphics are set properly, I would see if the games are utilizing the other GPU.

 

[LW_Black4]

You have a 3rd Gen cpu, motherboard and 2 graphics cards in SLI. The i7 3770 non-K version will not hold back that graphics setup for any game, but I agree that you should get better framerates with it.

I'd uninstall and re-install the graphics driver to start, and then look to the nVidia website to optimize the settings in-game, and check the framerates again.

 

[amuffin]

How much VRAM do you have on those 680's?

I feel like 2GB isn't enough for 3x1080P monitors.

 

[hyrule571]

I agree with LW_Black4. That i7-3770 at stock speeds shouldn't bottleneck your graphics cards. I would have gotten the unlocked "K" version to begin with though, so I'd be prepared for the future when the CPU starts falling behind.

 

[Poobutters]

I do have the 2 g. ram gtx 680's but I Have monitored the ram usage on the cards and they sit around 1200 mhz usage... so I can't see that as being the issue.. I'm guessing the that it may be a driver issue... and will get better with time... but do you think I would see a performance increase with a over clocked processor? should I replace my cpu in the near future or wait for a better one to come down in price???

 

[engterry]

do u use v-sync ? i bet thats the problem

 

[Poobutters]

ya I do and why do you think that?

 

[noreaster]

V-sync will only not allow the FPS to exceed the refresh rate of the monitor, thus avoiding over-stressing the GPU.
Drivers will increase performance over time with such things as optimizations for specific games, the games you mention are new and may not be optimized at this time.
An overclocked CPU will only improve performance if the CPU is being heavily stressed, and only if the application responds well to increased CPU frequency, some apps rely more on GPU power rather than CPU power, but an i7-3770 at stock should be powerful enough for all games at this time.

 

[thequn]

Heh sounds about normal.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-690-benchmark,3193-6.html