Hello My cpu is i7 3770 @stock speed (not overcloccked) And using a 680Gtx lightning. Main pc use is gaming. Is my cpu bottlenecking my gpu or the other way around ? What if I upgrade to 780ti ? Again at 3770 stock speed ? Or maybe the upcoming 880 ? Thanks
General answer is "no, you'll be fine". For a more accurate answer, you should include the games you're playing, monitor rez\refresh rate, do you use v-sync, frame rate target (30, 60, 120), preferred game settings (AA leaves), and anything else you can think of really. Unless you've done some monitoring on your Lighting, you could already be bottlenecking it and upgrading the gpu may make little differences in specific conditions. Use MSI Afterburner to monitor both gpu and cpu usage to get an idea where you're currently at.
There is only a very small amount of games that can bottleneck a 3770k....namely arma 3 is one that comes to mind but it also bottlenecks every other intel cpu all the way up to the top of the line. But for the most part you should be totally fine as I have no trouble maxxing out a 290x which is quite a bit faster still and I have the same cpu...though mine is heavily overclocked.
Because you're fine, he/she should be fine too ? sorry, doesn't quite work like that. My 4770K at stock bottlenecks my card, needs to be at least 4.2 to hit my desired frame rates. For what little time it takes to get the proper information from monitoring usage, seems like a good idea before spending half a grand + on a new card.
Thanks guys for the answers. I didn't get used to OC components I always fall under the impression I might brake things in the process. I might OC my CPU someday. Currently I am gaming at stock speed i7 3770K and single 680 Lighning 2GB. Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit. I always use Vsync(60 Hz) as I hate frames going up and down all over the place. My monitor is a Samsung 27inch at 1920x1080 at 60Hz All my games are at a Samsung SSD 840 Pro I hate playing at no AA and enable AA whenever I can Currently im playing BF4,Bf3 to name few. Waiting for GTA5. In BF4 for instant, AB says my GPU power is at 74%,GPU load 99% most of the time,CPU cores at around 50-66% across all cores,RAM used around 4900MB.GPU temp around 60. My settings in BF4 are 1080p Vsync on all on ultra minus effects and Post effects at low. MSAA 4x and no FXAA and 100% resolution scale. 95% I am at 60fps(I get few dips into the 50s at very heavy explosions). iCafe 337.90 driver. Thanks
Based on that info, a 780ti should do well with your system and allow higher settings with better frame rates. In BF3/4 is that for SP or MP ? Also be a good idea to check other games as well. As for overclocking, I'm sure many of us will agree here that it's safe and have yet to fry a CPU, at least without trying really hard lol
If you will ever play MMO games (WoW, Rift, Aion, Wildstar, etc.) then CPU overclock will be necessary.
