noob question about possible bottlenecking GTX 690

[pasito]

Will an i7 3770k not overclocked (@ 3.5ghz - and with limited overclocking capabilities as its with a H77 motherboard) in any way bottleneck a single GTX 690? Basically will overclocking make a difference to fps in gaming (including high resolutions and cpu intense games).

I want to know if should I get a Z77 just so I can overclock my cpu to make full use of the GTX 690 in high demand games or if this is not needed. Sorry if it is a stupid question.

 

[BoFox]

Oh, yes you better push that CPU as high as you can with Z77, to balance it with the 690. Fast memory would help too (at least DDR3-2133, rather than say, 1600 CAS-9).

 

[pasito]

Thanks for the reply. Is this good enough -8GB (2 x 4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 PC-12800 (1600MHz)? or should I upgrade to DDR3 1600MHz with Heatsink. I only want to spend extra on that which is absolutely neccessary to actually see a difference in gaming, not a cent more.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Some games will be bottlenecked, some won't. However, most of the newer games will perform much faster than any single card (except titan of course which is comparable) even with that CPU.

 

[BoFox]

Thanks for the reply. Is this good enough -8GB (2 x 4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 PC-12800 (1600MHz)? or should I upgrade to DDR3 1600MHz with Heatsink. I only want to spend extra on that which is absolutely neccessary to actually see a difference in gaming, not a cent more.

Well, with your $1000 GTX 690, it'd be worthwhile to squeeze an extra couple % out of the performance by spending $20 more on DDR3 2133MHz memory rather than 1600. Even if you overclock the 3770K to 4.4GHz, your 690 will still be a bit bottlenecked in CPU-demanding games. Some are complaining that even 5GHz isn't enough.

That's probably one of the reasons why Nvidia is integrating a CPU into next-gen Maxwell video cards, because CPUs cannot keep up with the quicker advancement of GPUs.

 

[pasito]

Right, good point. Just wanted to make sure if I am spending money on the expensive 690 that I make the most of it in every possible way.

 

[pasito]

Alright, makes sense I'll do that. In this case, Bofox, is it even worth going for the 690 at this point in time? As opposed to a 680. I suppose there is still a good benefit even with the stock 3770k between these 2 cards?

 

[BoFox]

Hmm, all up to ya - it mostly depends on what resolution you'll be using. If 1080p or 1680x1050, then GTX 670 or HD 7950/70 would be more than good enough for 98% of games out there, while offering much better bang-4-buck.

Titan could be less bottlenecked with the stock CPU than the 690 would be, in that there's less CPU overhead that's required for multi-GPU (but I didn't really look into it to see if Titan is less CPU-dependent or not)..

 

[pasito]

Will start off using my 1080p monitor but in a few months will definitely go to 1440p or more to make use of the GPU. Will consider titan thanks, though I cant get it for anywhere near as good a deal for it as the 690 where I am.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Even for 1080p, with newer games no single gpu can max out and avg 60 fps, I would suggest titan if you have money to spare.

 

[Fx1]

Will start off using my 1080p monitor but in a few months will definitely go to 1440p or more to make use of the GPU. Will consider titan thanks, though I cant get it for anywhere near as good a deal for it as the 690 where I am.

get the 690 the Titan is a total waste of money for its performance vs the 690

 

[pasito]

get the 690 the Titan is a total waste of money for its performance vs the 690

If I do get the 690, is there anything in the other parts of the system that definitely need upgrading to make the best out of the 690:

Motherboard: Intel H77 Chipset

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K Quad Core CPU, 3.5GHz

Cooling: Intel original cooling with heatsink

Ram: 8GB (2 x 4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 PC-12800 (1600MHz)

Video card: GTX 690

I guess the ram can be faster, and can get a Z77 to overclock the cpu, but will I then need better cooling for overclocking? Also, I only want to know what is absolutely necessary to not let down the 690. Ideally I would like the above system as it is, unless strongly suggested otherwise.

 

[Fx1]

If I do get the 690, is there anything in the other parts of the system that definitely need upgrading to make the best out of the 690:

Motherboard: Intel H77 Chipset

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K Quad Core CPU, 3.5GHz

Cooling: Intel original cooling with heatsink

Ram: 8GB (2 x 4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 PC-12800 (1600MHz)

Video card: GTX 690

I guess the ram can be faster, and can get a Z77 to overclock the cpu, but will I then need better cooling for overclocking? Also, I only want to know what is absolutely necessary to not let down the 690. Ideally I would like the above system as it is, unless strongly suggested otherwise.

4.5ghz overclock and decent cooling on the CPU and your good to go. SSD always is a good choice too.

Faster ram doesnt increase FPS since some games like tighter timings and others like higher bandwidth.

 

[Jaydip]

IB has the best IPC among all the Intel's processor now, so even if you are bottlenecked you can't do anything about it.My advice, buy and enjoy.

 

[pasito]

4.5ghz overclock and decent cooling on the CPU and your good to go. SSD always is a good choice too.

Faster ram doesnt increase FPS since some games like tighter timings and others like higher bandwidth.

Yep, getting SSD. I guess I'll go for Z77 then, thanks for replying.

 

[pasito]

IB has the best IPC among all the Intel's processor now, so even if you are bottlenecked you can't do anything about it.My advice, buy and enjoy.

I will surely take that advice - was just wondering how much over clocking mattered as opposed to stock on the 3770k.

 

[Deltaechoe]

Contrary to what a lot of people here are saying, you probably won't be bottlenecked too hard except for a few choice games like the new hitman. Other than that you will probabaly run out of GPU horsepower before your CPU starts to show real performance issues especially at triple monitor resolutions