cpu bottleneck with gtx690

currob · 20 Nov 2012 at 19:00

Hi, I think I already know the answer to this question but would appreciate thoughts:

I have an amd fx8350 oc'd to 4.7GHz and really want to own a gtx690. Would my cpu be a serious bottleneck for this card? If I got better watercooling and took it to 5GHz would that make much of a difference?

Gregster · 20 Nov 2012 at 19:03

Hard to say but if there is, I am sure you wouldn't notice it too much.

Puppetmaster · 20 Nov 2012 at 19:37

What games will you mainly play and at what resolution?

currob · 20 Nov 2012 at 19:42

I will be gaming at 1920x1080 and play games such as skyrim, f1 2012, dirt 3, sleeping dogs, and new games on release. I'm always getting the latest series of radeon when they are released but thinking the gtx690 will last me for years to come

Stev · 20 Nov 2012 at 20:08

a lot of people will say the 690 is wasted at that resolution, espcially if the monitor isnt 120hz

Kaapstad · 20 Nov 2012 at 21:58

currob said:
Hi, I think I already know the answer to this question but would appreciate thoughts:

I have an amd fx8350 oc'd to 4.7GHz and really want to own a gtx690. Would my cpu be a serious bottleneck for this card? If I got better watercooling and took it to 5GHz would that make much of a difference?

Yes the GTX 690 would run better on an intel CPU, having said that when using something like the 690 what you are aiming for is to max everything out not hundreds of FPS. As long as you are hitting 60 FPS mimimum the avg and max can take care of themselves. If you want to go benchmarking then you really need an intel CPU.

Stev said:
a lot of people will say the 690 is wasted at that resolution, espcially if the monitor isnt 120hz

I run 2 GTX 690s at 1600p and in games like BF3 with everything maxed its a little bit of overkill but not as much as some people would have you beleive.

Its better to have too much than too little GPU grunt.

currob · 21 Nov 2012 at 06:33

Kaapstad said:
Yes the GTX 690 would run better on an intel CPU, having said that when using something like the 690 what you are aiming for is to max everything out not hundreds of FPS. As long as you are hitting 60 FPS mimimum the avg and max can take care of themselves. If you want to go benchmarking then you really need an intel CPU.

Yes, it is quality i am looking for rather than performance in benchmarks, i have the money atm so this card would be one that would last me many years but just didn't want to buy it to find out my cpu would let me down if all the settings were at max with current games. ocuk have one on offer atm too so really tempted by it, will probably order it then before the deals change again. Thanks for the replies.

Marine-RX179 · 21 Nov 2012 at 07:48

currob said:
Hi, I think I already know the answer to this question but would appreciate thoughts:

I have an amd fx8350 oc'd to 4.7GHz and really want to own a gtx690. Would my cpu be a serious bottleneck for this card? If I got better watercooling and took it to 5GHz would that make much of a difference?

The following is a test done with GTX690 4GB with various different CPUs both at stock and overclocked, and the performance difference between the high-end AMD CPU and high-end Intel CPU is quite shocking:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/11/06/amd-fx-8350-review/6

To be honest, unless you are gonna upgrade your monitor to a 120Hz or 2560 res, you should just keep your 7970 with your current CPU. There's little point going for the GTX690, because you are only using 1920 res 60Hz monitor, and the FX8350. Your overclocked 8350 would be a even match for your 7970 (and even a bottleneck at times in some games).

weehamish · 21 Nov 2012 at 15:36

Id personally get a 670 or 7950 and then upgrade in 2 more years, this way its still lasting years and proberbly saving you cash.

At 1080p the 670 should be fine.

Marine-RX179 · 21 Nov 2012 at 16:19

weehamish said:
Id personally get a 670 or 7950 and then upgrade in 2 more years, this way its still lasting years and proberbly saving you cash.

At 1080p the 670 should be fine.

OP already got a 7970 according to his sign...he was asking if he should upgrade from the 7970 to GTX690 on an overclocked FX8350

Gregster · 21 Nov 2012 at 16:26

weehamish said:
Id personally get a 670 or 7950 and then upgrade in 2 more years, this way its still lasting years and proberbly saving you cash.

At 1080p the 670 should be fine.

You said the 670 was very expensive but now you would personally get one?

Uncle Petey · 21 Nov 2012 at 16:35

currob said:
I will be gaming at 1920x1080 and play games such as skyrim, f1 2012, dirt 3, sleeping dogs, and new games on release. I'm always getting the latest series of radeon when they are released but thinking the gtx690 will last me for years to come

For the games you play at your resolution, the 7970 is easily enough unless you just want to own a 690

For the money, I'd consider grabbing another 7970 and a 120hz or 1600p/1440p monitor. Dunno if that'd create a bottleneck or anything though...

Kaapstad · 21 Nov 2012 at 18:42

Have you thought about upgrading to an intel CPU/mobo to get the best out of your system with a GTX 690 if your going to spend that sort of money.

weehamish · 21 Nov 2012 at 18:51

gregster said:
You said the 670 was very expensive but now you would personally get one?

Ohh god greg please grow up mate your 40+ maybe 50+ and have snidy remarks all the time! And its not just me, you go on like this with everyone and then save stuff from months back and link it up :\ Sad old man. Was there really any need to post that? Do i follow you about blag every comment you make? NO so stop it your getting annoying :\

I would get one of them but with his system, you know what i ment.

Even though the 670 is a bit overpriced it is coming down plus free games with it now that people will actually play so class it as £60 off if youd buy them games anyways.

If he has a 7970 already then i have no idea lol.

Gregster · 21 Nov 2012 at 18:55

What the deuce???

I asked if you would get one. As you are on a 285, I didn't know if you had changed your mind and decided on a 670 now. I was going to rib you for saying how expensive they were but never mind

weehamish · 21 Nov 2012 at 19:05

gregster said:
What the deuce???

I asked if you would get one. As you are on a 285, I didn't know if you had changed your mind and decided on a 670 now. I was going to rib you for saying how expensive they were but never mind

Maybe i jumped down your throat a bit there

Nah man i got the 660 sorry if i came on a bit strong thought you were having go again

Comes tomoz so will post up how it goes.

tommybhoy · 21 Nov 2012 at 20:26

currob said:
I will be gaming at 1920x1080 and play games such as skyrim, f1 2012, dirt 3, sleeping dogs, and new games on release. I'm always getting the latest series of radeon when they are released but thinking the gtx690 will last me for years to come

Use your head and CrossFire your 7970!

Skyrim loves vram when you mod it and sleeping dogs loves the compute performance, add in the fact you get Hitman that will use compute too along with FC3, no brainer tbph.

Marine-RX179 · 22 Nov 2012 at 05:20

tommybhoy said:
Use your head and CrossFire your 7970!

Skyrim loves vram when you mod it and sleeping dogs loves the compute performance, add in the fact you get Hitman that will use compute too along with FC3, no brainer tbph.

But I still think CF7970 is overkill for 1920 res 60Hz moniter

I really to see the need of him having to upgrade when he already got a 7970 already...

Nuclear Fusion · 22 Nov 2012 at 11:04

No point in upgrading from a 7970 on single 1080p screen. If you have the cash for the 690, then save it and upgrade your 7970 when you need to. It is much better value in the long run than buying an overkill graphics card and hoping it'll last into the future.

tommybhoy · 22 Nov 2012 at 11:48

Marine-RX179 said:
But I still think CF7970 is overkill for 1920 res 60Hz moniter

It is most of the time, Hitman is very demanding with all the IQ set to max, but it's probably looking for a new cap(which isn't going to happen this week due to the thanksgiving holiday).

FC3 is probably going to be the same too.

A single 7970 is going to do the job as well, just not capable of max IQ in a scant few titles at high fps.

My suggestion was more along the lines of saving a whack of cash as it looks like he has an upgrade itch.