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i5 7600k bottleneck - upgrade options?

spenncerr

spenncerr

spenncerr

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690
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Hey,

I recently upgraded my GPU from a 1070 to a 2070S and also picked up a new 144hz monitor. I'm noticing significant bottleneck from my i5 7600k now. Games crashing with CPU load constantly on 100%.

What are my options here? Is upgrading to an i5 9700k seem worth it? Or should I shell out a little more and go down an AMD rebuild?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.
 
i5 9700K? its i5 9600K or i7 9700K :)

Don't bother with the 9600K, 6 core CPU again like your 7600K with no SMT, same with the 9700K tho that does have 8 cores and as far as i can see with a quick look around its still far too expensive.

I think your options are:

10600K: 6 core 12 thread CPU
Ryzen 3600 / 3600X: 6 core 12 thread CPU
Ryzen 3700X 8 core 16 thread CPU

The best gaming CPU in that bunch is without a doubt the 10600K, but not by much, about 10%, if anything at all with a 2070S.

So reasoning those options i would say the fastest is the 10600K, it comes at a premium, the CPU is near £300, a half decent motherboard is £150+ and you're going to need a fairly good cooler to keep it cool.
The 3600 because its close enough in performance, its probably more than enough to drive a 2070S, i have a 5700XT, not quite as fast but near enough and my 3600 has never had problems driving it to its full potential, its also very inexpensive, as is a decent motherboard for it, around £100 / £120 and it will run very comfortably under a £30 cooler.
The 3700X because it has 8 cores 16 threads, that will give it long life without it becoming a problem in the way your 7600K has, its also the same cost as the 10600K and will run on the same inexpensive motherboard / cooling as the 3600.

Another thing to keep in mind is Ryzen 3000 is getting a refresh in about 3 weeks, they will clock higher.....
 
Before rushing out and getting a new system, I'd check what's going on with your existing system as crashing in all games seems weird. What are the games?

Check for malware and viruses, Windows update and drivers.

Do you have any programs running in the background or alongside your games?

Is your CPU overclocked or stock?

How much system ram do you have? 8,16GB?

What's the GPU load gaming. Try higher graphics settings if low.
 
five8five said:
Before rushing out and getting a new system, I'd check what's going on with your existing system as crashing in all games seems weird. What are the games?

Check for malware and viruses, Windows update and drivers.

Do you have any programs running in the background or alongside your games?

Is your CPU overclocked or stock?

How much system ram do you have? 8,16GB?

What's the GPU load gaming. Try higher graphics settings if low.
Click to expand...

My computer is clean of malware and viruses. Drivers are up to date.

Only thing I have running alongside any game is Discord.

CPU is auto overclocked by my motherboard.

I have 16GB RAM.

GPU load is 5-6% while playing Call of Duty for example. On all high settings.
 
Sounds like it might be an unstable overclock, throttling or something, it definitely shouldn't be crashing. It might stutter though. An i7 9700 would be a good upgrade, but they're too expensive for what they are (same with the 9900). If you can get one for a decent price, maybe nearly new / lightly used then it'd be alright, but as far as I know, it won't work in your motherboard without a modified BIOS and possibly a pin mod.
 
Which games are you playing that are using 100% cpu usage? I have a 4790k so 4 core/8 thread and only battlefield 5 really pushes the cpu. But then that is at 80% usage, not 100....

I'd try manually overclocking your cpu as the autoclocks are notoriously bad in my experience. I'd guess that there is a setup issue somewhere as even with 100% cpu usage I wouldn't expect to see gpu usage as low as 5-6%
 
Yeah you're both right.

I just spent the day doing a fresh Windows install and I've removed my BIOS Auto EZ tune and it seems to be stable again now.
 
spenncerr said:
What are my options here? Is upgrading to an i5 9700k seem worth it? Or should I shell out a little more and go down an AMD rebuild?
Click to expand...
You'd have to buy a new motherboard either way. The 9700K won't work on your Z270 board, despite it being the same socket. At least not without sketchy BIOS and hardware mods. The 7700K is the best you can do on Z270 natively, and they're way overpriced on the used market.

Not surprised that the auto-OC was what was causing problems either. They're generally awful, either pumping way too much voltage or just plain not stable.
 
Sorry about all the questions. The crashing sounded weird.

Glad your system is working again and gives you time to consider the upgrade options.
 
humbug said:
i5 9700K? its i5 9600K or i7 9700K :)

Don't bother with the 9600K, 6 core CPU again like your 7600K with no SMT, same with the 9700K tho that does have 8 cores and as far as i can see with a quick look around its still far too expensive.

I think your options are:

10600K: 6 core 12 thread CPU
Ryzen 3600 / 3600X: 6 core 12 thread CPU
Ryzen 3700X 8 core 16 thread CPU

The best gaming CPU in that bunch is without a doubt the 10600K, but not by much, about 10%, if anything at all with a 2070S.

So reasoning those options i would say the fastest is the 10600K, it comes at a premium, the CPU is near £300, a half decent motherboard is £150+ and you're going to need a fairly good cooler to keep it cool.
The 3600 because its close enough in performance, its probably more than enough to drive a 2070S, i have a 5700XT, not quite as fast but near enough and my 3600 has never had problems driving it to its full potential, its also very inexpensive, as is a decent motherboard for it, around £100 / £120 and it will run very comfortably under a £30 cooler.
The 3700X because it has 8 cores 16 threads, that will give it long life without it becoming a problem in the way your 7600K has, its also the same cost as the 10600K and will run on the same inexpensive motherboard / cooling as the 3600.

Another thing to keep in mind is Ryzen 3000 is getting a refresh in about 3 weeks, they will clock higher.....
Click to expand...

Hey,

Coming back to this after a long break - my 7600k is still bottle necking and CPU load is 100% in COD:MW to the point where I'm unable to use Discord alongside playing.

Are the above upgrades still my best bet? I'm looking to move to AMD so a Mobo/CPU bundle would be best. But is it worth my upgrading my RAM at the same time? Currently using (Team Group UD4 3000).

Cheers
 
spenncerr said:
Hey,

Coming back to this after a long break - my 7600k is still bottle necking and CPU load is 100% in COD:MW to the point where I'm unable to use Discord alongside playing.

Are the above upgrades still my best bet? I'm looking to move to AMD so a Mobo/CPU bundle would be best. But is it worth my upgrading my RAM at the same time? Currently using (Team Group UD4 3000).

Cheers
Click to expand...

Yes BUT, at this point i would wait another 2 week's, AMD's new Ryzen 5000 series CPU's are going to launch on October 8'th.

Edit: the RAM is ok.
 
What motherboard is it?

If Z270 - then look at 7700K maybe?
If Z370/90 - then 8800K or 9700K?

Haven't checked all prices, but 9700K looks cheapest (as long as you have a z370/90 board)

HTH
 
humbug said:
Yes BUT, at this point i would wait another 2 week's, AMD's new Ryzen 5000 series CPU's are going to launch on October 8'th.

Edit: the RAM is ok.
Click to expand...

Is this because other Ryzen will go down in price?

CapitalOne said:
What motherboard is it?

If Z270 - then look at 7700K maybe?
If Z370/90 - then 8800K or 9700K?

Haven't checked all prices, but 9700K looks cheapest (as long as you have a z370/90 board)

HTH
Click to expand...

Asus ROG Strix Z270F. I'm looking to future proof for 3-4 years.
 
spenncerr said:
Is this because other Ryzen will go down in price?
Click to expand...

They might, this generation might get a price drop to clear stock, tho i don't know, its because Ryzen 5000 CPU's are going to be better than the current Ryzen 3000 CPU's.

I guess all i'm saying is if you can wait a couple of weeks the next generation of Ryzen CPU's will launch, if you need to upgrade now then yes anyone of the CPU's i previously mentioned will cure your current CPU bottleneck problem.
 
Edit: don't even think about the 7700K, its the same as your current CPU with hyper threading, its not going to make much difference. :)
 
Crashing with a 7600k doesn't sound like the CPU. I have a 7700k and I'm not experiencing any major bottlenecks, and I doubt Hyperthreading is the saviour there!
 
AiiR said:
Crashing with a 7600k doesn't sound like the CPU. I have a 7700k and I'm not experiencing any major bottlenecks, and I doubt Hyperthreading is the saviour there!
Click to expand...

Read above - I'm no longer crashing. But my CPU is definitely bottle-necking.
 
spenncerr said:
Read above - I'm no longer crashing. But my CPU is definitely bottle-necking.
Click to expand...

What makes you think this? TBH I don't like the term "bottlenecking" it indicates that a bus or something has reached it's limit, which certainly is not the case with your CPU and motherboard. I think you may be very underwhelmed by a CPU upgrade.
 
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