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How much of a bottle neck, i7-4790 +3080?

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Goal is 4k 60hz, I plan to do a full pc upgrade in around 6 months but at the moment i can afford to either buy a PS5 + a 4k TV or get a 3080 + 4k TV and run that for around 6 months until i can afford to upgrade everything else, Currently running a 4790 non k,16gb ram with a rx5700 non xt and its perfect for 1080p but getting the 4k bug now.
 
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Difficult one to answer objectively but I'll give my own recent experience of doing the inverse (upgrading CPU but not graphics) to help you draw your own conclusions about bottlenecking...

I went from an Nvidia 1080 paired with an overclocked 4790k to the same graphics card paired with an overclocked 9700k (as I'm waiting for a 3080). Performance gains were noticeable but not mind blowing. I'm talking an extra 5-10fps in Division 2 and around 5% in synthetic blended benchmarks at 1440p. In the Division 2 benchmark, both the GPU and CPU were at 99% most of the time before but after the CPU was around 50-70% with the GPU still maxed out.

This means the 4790k was already bottlenecking the 1080 at 1440p, so it would definitely be limiting the 3080.
 
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Not very much at all at 4K Ultra from what I've seen. Even a 4770K was only 5-15% slower that 10900K in many games at 4K Ultra although that was overclocked so at stock the difference will be bigger. There are some benchmarks posted in the Nvidia killer AMD thread posted in the last couple of days but i haven't time to look for them now but look there. Quite shocking how little CPUs matter at 4K. I was going to upgrade my CPU but from what I've seen I'll barely notice any difference. Differences at 1080 almost disappear at 4K iirc.
 
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I'm running a 4790k @4.5 with a 3080. Not done any testing really, but I can tell you that I'm running Apex Legends at 1440p with effects turned up (except the ones that impact CPU) and I got 50fps on my 980ti with those settings, and I'm now getting 140-220 depending on the environment and what's going on. That's me just looking at the FPS counter and not running proper tests.

It's a massive improvement on what I was getting, and I'll be getting a Zen 3 when it's launched.
 
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At 4K it's the minimum FPS that will be lower with an older CPU like yours. How much varies game to game but ultimately in most titles it still won't be a massive limitation at 4K and you'll still get nice performance (and a massive jump from the 5700). Plus when you do eventually upgrade the CPU/mobo/RAM you'll unlock a bit more performance.
 
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Associate
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At 4K it's the minimum FPS that will be lower with an older CPU like yours. How much varies game to game but ultimately in most titles it still won't be a massive limitation at 4K and you'll still get nice performance (and a massive jump from the 5700). Plus when you do eventually upgrade the CPU/mobo/RAM you'll unlock a bit more performance.

Awesome, wasn't expecting this, i was expecting it to be such a huge bottleneck that it would not even be worth it. Definitely going down this route now, the PS5 can wait.
 
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and yet there are other pleps online saying an i7 7700k will be a massive bottleneck with a 30 series card. clearly they just want a card themselves so they chat **** to make others waste money on a cpu upgrade that will do **** all.
 
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It will depend a bit game to game - but generally on average the 4790K is ~18% slower than the latest Ryzen CPUs stock v stock and around 15% slower when you have a good overclock on both. The latest Intels are a little faster again but it isn't a huge difference on top of that.

You will find some games however which can take advantage of extra (real) cores and/or just have better minimums on the newer Ryzen and Intel CPUs which can be noticed in terms of smoothness even when framerates aren't hugely different.

Personally I wouldn't be in a rush to upgrade but it is coming to the point where it is starting to make more sense depending a bit on the newer games coming out soon and/or whether you are intending to play them.

Personally I'm holding my fire and just waiting until I see things on a good offer, etc. and making a decision then - my 4820K @ 4.6GHz copes admirably for a 7 year old CPU but now and again you see the cracks giving away its age.
 
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4090 on 850w = BOOM
4790k 6700k 7700k all perfect for 4k Gsync gaming over 60fps with 3080 and 3090 for sure (they're all basically the same processor within a few percent). Certain games you won't be able to go much over 100fps but otherwise there isn't a single game you won't be able to play 4k maxed out at 60.

I've researched this carefully and my 7700k at 4.9 definitely will not be an issue at 4k with 3090, nor will pcie3. The only performance you lose is a bit off the top of the very high framerates seen in simpler looking games like Fortnite.
 
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How about a 6600k - I'm planning to do a full new build once AMD have revealed their line up and stock is available (happy to do early next year).

But......if I don't have to upgrade then I might just plonk a 3080 (or AMD equivalent in my existing rig and see how I get on).
 
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How about a 6600k - I'm planning to do a full new build once AMD have revealed their line up and stock is available (happy to do early next year).

But......if I don't have to upgrade then I might just plonk a 3080 (or AMD equivalent in my existing rig and see how I get on).
I think only 4 physical cores without HT is already an issue at 4K with existing cards. Worth trying before you upgrade CPU though as only certain games really use more than 4 cores and threads. Less than 8 threads whether physical or HT/SMT is going to really slow you down now or very soon in more and more games. Best to get the new card you want and if there's an issue upgrade whatever else needs it, you might well be able to get a cheap 7700K which would be a lot cheaper and easier than a full MOBO/CPU etc system rebuild.
 
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Yeah some of the recent games performance drops off a cliff on older i5s, etc. but the i7s still hang in there.

We are starting to see games now though where 10-12 threads whether real cores or SMT is starting to become more required.
 
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I think only 4 physical cores without HT is already an issue at 4K with existing cards. Worth trying before you upgrade CPU though as only certain games really use more than 4 cores and threads. Less than 8 threads whether physical or HT/SMT is going to really slow you down now or very soon in more and more games. Best to get the new card you want and if there's an issue upgrade whatever else needs it, you might well be able to get a cheap 7700K which would be a lot cheaper and easier than a full MOBO/CPU etc system rebuild.

Yeah some of the recent games performance drops off a cliff on older i5s, etc. but the i7s still hang in there.

We are starting to see games now though where 10-12 threads whether real cores or SMT is starting to become more required.

Thanks for this......yeah was looking at the I7 7700k's and was thinking it may tide me over for a bit. But I think I'll probably just bite the bullet and go for a whole new rig, probably a safer bet for me, tend to build a rig and leave as is for a few years. Can then retire off the 6600k and the 1070 to my 10 year old, runs Fortnite great so she'll be happy.

Had the machine 5 years now, never missed a heartbeat in all this time and in reality still going strong, but as above I do get the feeling the lifespan is now limited with the next gen on the horizon.
 
Soldato
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Im running my old 3770k @ 4.6Ghz with a 3080 on 3440x1440p and it seems fine.

I have got a slight cpu upgrade itch so I might upgrade if the new Ryzen is great.
 
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