3570k and Sli gpus

murah · 18 Dec 2013 at 15:38

Hi guys, Is my CPU alright for Sli? about to get another 670.

Not too fond of upgrading from this chip but if I need an i7 then so be it

My cpu can be clocked higher than in sig but need better cooling for it . would this make a difference ?

kefan77 · 18 Dec 2013 at 15:43

your cpu is ok for 670 sli.

setter · 18 Dec 2013 at 15:46

What games do you play mostly? Crysis 3 and bf3/4 are three that i can say from personal experience will exhibit cpu bottlenecking with an i5. Had a 4.5ghz 3570k but had to switch to a 3770k when i went to sli 670's.

murah · 19 Dec 2013 at 14:56

I do play Battlefield

, I don't think I have ever had a bottleneck in the past can you explain what it actually is and does? Would it make having 2x 670's pointless ?

MooMoo444 · 19 Dec 2013 at 14:58

I find BF4 feels choppy and stutters without HT enabled (so running as an i5)

Smooth as silk with all 8 threads rolling.

setter · 19 Dec 2013 at 15:04

With an i5 and sli you end up with very high cpu use constantly, and the cards dont always run at max usage. Switching to an i7 for me seen a good drop in cpu use, (lower temps too) and more consistent higher usage of the gpu's. And games like bf3/4 run a lot smoother.

murah · 19 Dec 2013 at 15:29

BF plays pretty dam smooth on my system already, so if I add a 2nd 670 that would make it less smooth? sorry just trying to get my head around what the bottleneck means in terms of gameplay. Does this mean its pointless to pick another gpu up for now or could I get by on 2 with a 3570k clocked as high as I can get it until I can get an i7?

ALXAndy · 19 Dec 2013 at 19:36

A 3570k is more than good enough for 670s in SLI.

I do know that an I5 2400 will bottleneck them, but that's a locked CPU and was only suffering due to low clock speed.

murah · 20 Dec 2013 at 00:53

So given that BF3 / 4 Was pretty badly coded for Sli gpu's I should be alright ?

So many different opinions on this is confusing me

biuro74 · 20 Dec 2013 at 15:38

Mate, i7 should be better option for SLI in games which stress CPU much due to some CPU workload that is put by GPU drivers. I'd like to see some tests with min/avg FPS and frametime chart (stutters) where i5 and i7 would fight with SLI and some newest games = just to see where's exact difference. So far haven't seen such comparison.

But feel free to get second 4GB GTX and make SLI. It won't hurt

Your CPU is oc-capable, so just in case you can clock it higher, if you notice anything bad. Just don't forget to tell us what was bad and in whicg game

Buying an i7 is last step, when you simply don't want to oc CPU everytime you start playing, or if you experience some strange stuttering/lack of smoothness.

Mr Goat · 20 Dec 2013 at 15:50

I've got an i5 2500k (stock speeds) and am running 2 x GTX 670s in SLI. Playing nothing but BF4 at the moment and it's fine. I'm running at 1080p@120Hz and get between 90 and 120fps at all times with everything on ultra. Happy days :-)

Mr Goat · 20 Dec 2013 at 15:53

Have added my setup to my signature so you can see everything I'm using.

OLDPHART · 20 Dec 2013 at 19:33

Go Sli + gives you the option of using higher res as well 2560x1440.

Running the same GPU 670 4GB SLI at 2560x1440 nice.

setter · 20 Dec 2013 at 20:00

Guys, ive been i5 with sli 670. It is not a pleasurable experience in bf3/4. IT stutters a lot as the 4 cores cant keep up with the demands of the gpu's. The effects are less at high res such as2560x1440. But at 1920x1080 am i5 will bottleneck. Microstutter will ne a major issue.

OLDPHART · 20 Dec 2013 at 20:15

setter said:
Guys, ive been i5 with sli 670. It is not a pleasurable experience in bf3/4. IT stutters a lot as the 4 cores cant keep up with the demands of the gpu's. The effects are less at high res such as2560x1440. But at 1920x1080 am i5 will bottleneck. Microstutter will ne a major issue.

OLDPHART said:
Go Sli + gives you the option of using higher res as well 2560x1440.

Running the same GPU 670 4GB SLI at 2560x1440 nice.

LoL missed a bit of to much Christmas spirit and its only 8.00pm.

Go SLI 2nd hand but with i7 as they will last a good while yet etc , etc

setter · 20 Dec 2013 at 20:28

I7 is a must in bf3 /4 with sli. when i had my 670's i could replicate the cpu bottleneck by turning of ht in bios. oldphart. Go into bios, disable ht and drop your res to 1080p, (2560 snob lol). You'll notice a difference in bf games. More stutter and lower fps, mainly on minimum which are important.

murah · 20 Dec 2013 at 20:44

Hmm a tough choice on my hands. Surely it would be better than what I have now. I know BF has poor Sli optimisation and there is a stutter fix in the works. Interesting to see that not even a decently clocked i5 is capable of handling 2 670's going by what many people here are telling me!

Mr Goat · 21 Dec 2013 at 14:29

setter said:
Guys, ive been i5 with sli 670. It is not a pleasurable experience in bf3/4. IT stutters a lot as the 4 cores cant keep up with the demands of the gpu's. The effects are less at high res such as2560x1440. But at 1920x1080 am i5 will bottleneck. Microstutter will ne a major issue.

Hi, I have to disagree based on my experience. I'm running an i5 2500k at stock speeds with 2GB 670s in SLI and BF3/BF4 run brilliantly in ultra at 1080p. Haven't noticed any microstutter at all. Perhaps I'm just lucky or have the latest drivers and patches sorted things out? Don't want to push murah into spending out on a cpu upgrade if it's not needed.

Best advise would probably be to just try it I suppose murah. If you get issues then consider a cpu upgrade.

murah · 21 Dec 2013 at 16:39

Yeah I'll grab the card and try it anyway just wanted a heads up. To be fair all of my games play flawlessly , BF4 has always been smoother and less crash prone on my rig compared to 90% of my clan members. There is an SLi micro-stutter fix coming to bf4 too!
And If the i5 cant deliver then its off to the MM when I get the posts and hopefully sell my current chip for a decent price knowing it can hit above 4.6

biuro74 · 21 Dec 2013 at 22:56

Mr Goat said:
Hi, I have to disagree based on my experience.

Yup, but don't forget that noticing is a personal feature: one might see stutters which another one couldn't see at all. It's due to our brain difference - it works similar way, but "similar" is a key

Exactly the same is with a sound: one hears a difference between 16-bit and 24-bit sampling (or between 44.1 and 96 KHz sample rate, or between MP3 256bps and pure, uncompressed sample) whether another one would say it's just a snobing.

I presumed Op would see that difference, but he should start from that level like he wouldn't, I mean adding second card and just see what happens.