Bought a new GPU, when should i upgrade my old CPU?

JButlerUK · 28 Mar 2017 at 21:05

Hi guys.

So I bought me a shiny new GTX 1080 MSI gaming X 8GB GPU.

Im still running my older i7-3770K @ 4.60Ghz.

At what point will my CPU become the limiting factor in my gaming?

I read all the VR specs (not that I'm there yet, but thinking ahead) that you need i7 chip minimum, so i presume my i7 is still good for a couple years yet?

Also got 16gb DDR3 RAM, so that's not too bad either I guess.

ExRayTed · 28 Mar 2017 at 21:10

Who knows what the future is going to bring with any certainty? I wouldn't worry about it. It'll become apparent at some point that the CPU isn't keeping up. Worry about it then. I don't think it'll be soon though.

You could get a new CPU/mobo/RAM combo now and you would see some improvement - probably only a few fps here and there with some games. The trick I think is to get a worthwhile/significant improvement for the outlay.

JButlerUK · 28 Mar 2017 at 21:56

Agreed. Thanks!!

IvanDobskey · 29 Mar 2017 at 07:13

I'd say a 3770k will be good for gaming for a few years yet.

If i could have bought one second hand for a reasonable price I'd not have bothered going to a 6700k.

Unfortunately people were wanting best part of 200 quid

JButlerUK · 29 Mar 2017 at 09:07

Good point.

Is there anything that will fit the same socket (1155, I think) that would offer significant boost in performance?

IvanDobskey · 29 Mar 2017 at 11:20

I think the 3770k is about the best cpu for 1155 socket. Which is why it commands such high second hand prices.

JButlerUK · 29 Mar 2017 at 11:45

Yay! Good news.

IvanDobskey · 29 Mar 2017 at 12:30

Put it this way, if you decided to sell, there would be no shortage of takers.

Finners · 29 Mar 2017 at 13:08

What is your RAM speed? Some newer games are benefitting from faster RAM.

If you run an overlay program like afterburner with any vsync or FPS cap off and you can't peg GPU usage to 99% then you have a bottleneck somewhere.

Mine dips occasionally is BF1 after dying and going to the spawn screen but whilst playing is a constant 99% usage.

JButlerUK · 29 Mar 2017 at 17:54

DDR3 1400mhz ram roughly, off the top of my head.

I haven't noticed any lag.

Finners · 29 Mar 2017 at 18:02

JButlerUK said:
DDR3 1400mhz ram roughly, off the top of my head.

I haven't noticed any lag.

Sure you know but just checking is that 1400mhz reading in something like CPU-Z or bios?

I ask because programs will often show the base rate which is actually doubled. 1400mhz reading in software would actually be 2800mhz which is very high for ddr3 on Ivybridge.

They are sold at speeds of 1333, 1600, 1866, 2133 and 2400 so your 1400 figure sounds a bit odd unless you have overclocked it.