Is my CPU limiting my gaming performance?

[conan481]

Hi guys.

I've had my processor for a few years now and I'm wondering if I should upgrade. I have an i7 860 and a reference Intel board DP55wg and I'm running two GTX 680 sli. Generally most games are pretty much GPU dependent but I've read of a few games like GTA IV that do use the CPU extensively. Usually when I read benchmarks I see that the difference between processors for gaming is almost nill. A few frames here or there, but I'm now running a 2 year old processor and a cutting edge video card. Is my processor limiting/bottlenecking my performance for games? I can get a Intel I7 3930K for a good deal but then of course I would need new motherboard and ram also. What do you guys think?

 

[geekapproved]

I would say it's holding back those cards, why not overclock it?

 

[conan481]

overclock the cpu?

 

[geekapproved]

umm..yeah.

 

[GothAmKing]

At high settings most of the load shifts towards GPU side in which you a couple of "monsters" plugged in.If you can run BF3 in ultra settings smoothly then its ok.But if you play multiplayer,and you lag in vast multiplayers like 64 player ones then theres a need for an upgrade.Though what I think an i5-3570K should be perfectly fine unless you do heavy video decoding and all.