is i5 - 2500k @ 4.4 ghz a bottleneck for 970 gtx?

Got my 970 gtx from MSI gaming series yesterday. Went to that from a 560 gtx ti.

Thing is, I tested out different gametitles like watchdogs, assasins creed black flag and just put everything on highest possible at 1080 p. Mind you that I went with Max 8x aa. I expected things to run flawless. But watchdogs seems to have slowdowns. Also that graphics demo from nvidia with a elf in a tree was stuttering alot. I know this card is a powerhouse. Is the I5 - 2500 k at 4,4 ghz a bottleneck?

WatchDogs has slowdowns on almost every system.

The CPU shouldn't bottleneck you.

You can usually tell what is limiting your system by monitoring the GPU and CPU usage during times where your FPS drops. If your CPU is pegged at 100% whilst your GPU is not close to 100% load (on all the threads that are used by the game that is, as a lot of games still don't use all the cores available), then it is likely the CPU - and vice versa. VRAM shouldn't be causing an issue here, 4GB is plentiful for 1080P even with that level of AA (no harm in checking either way).

I know people were struggling to max out Watchdogs even with a 780 TI, and the 970 is roughly on par if not a little slower. I think it wasn't very optimised from the console version to the PC version.

NoBioN, Yes, you do have a bottleneck. If you want better performance out of your 970GTX and have the moneys to build a faster rig go for it.
Here's two good reads on the performance of the 970GTX, one using a Core i7 3960 Extreme Guru3D and TechPowerUp using a Core i7-4770K. Run some test and see if your performance match's and that will help decide if you want an upgrade

Guru3D 790GTX http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-970-g1-gaming-review,1.html

TechPowerUp 790GTX http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/1.html

Techjesse said:

NoBioN, Yes, you do have a bottleneck. If you want better performance out of your 970GTX and have the moneys to build a faster rig go for it.
Here's two good reads on the performance of the 970GTX, one using a Core i7 3960 Extreme Guru3D and TechPowerUp using a Core i7-4770K. Run some test and see if your performance match's and that will help decide if you want an upgrade

Guru3D 790GTX http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-970-g1-gaming-review,1.html

TechPowerUp 790GTX http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/1.html

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Uhm, where in those articles does it give any evidence that the 2500k will hold back a 970? Last I looked, none of the newer processors were that much faster than a 2500k when it comes to gaming.

Feel free to prove me wrong, I could use an excuse to upgrade, but I haven't found one yet.

edit: Just went looking for benchmarks, and for gaming, the 4770k is something like 1-5% faster than a 2500k. Sorry, but you appear to be talking out of your butt

ratbuddy said:

Uhm, where in those articles does it give any evidence that the 2500k will hold back a 970? Last I looked, none of the newer processors were that much faster than a 2500k when it comes to gaming.

Feel free to prove me wrong, I could use an excuse to upgrade, but I haven't found one yet.

edit: Just went looking for benchmarks, and for gaming, the 4770k is something like 1-5% faster than a 2500k. Sorry, but you appear to be talking out of your butt

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Agreed

There's no reason a 2500K (especially OC'd) should be bottlenecking that system.

As I mentioned, Watchdogs just has stutters... with any system...

ratbuddy said:

Uhm, where in those articles does it give any evidence that the 2500k will hold back a 970? Last I looked, none of the newer processors were that much faster than a 2500k when it comes to gaming.

Feel free to prove me wrong, I could use an excuse to upgrade, but I haven't found one yet.

edit: Just went looking for benchmarks, and for gaming, the 4770k is something like 1-5% faster than a 2500k. Sorry, but you appear to be talking out of your butt

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"talking out of your butt" Really, You arrogant Jerk, no wonder people leave this forum!

NoBioN said:

Got my 970 gtx from MSI gaming series yesterday. Went to that from a 560 gtx ti.

Thing is, I tested out different gametitles like watchdogs, assasins creed black flag and just put everything on highest possible at 1080 p. Mind you that I went with Max 8x aa. I expected things to run flawless. But watchdogs seems to have slowdowns. Also that graphics demo from nvidia with a elf in a tree was stuttering alot. I know this card is a powerhouse. Is the I5 - 2500 k at 4,4 ghz a bottleneck?

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Stuttering in a graphics demo could be a lot of things in your system besides the CPU/GPU. Try re-installing windows.

Techjesse said:

"talking out of your butt" Really, You arrogant Jerk, no wonder people leave this forum!

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You are welcome to prove me wrong

NoBion's i5 is still a very capable processor for gaming purposes, definitely not worth spending $500 for a new platform for just a few frames. I'll definitely agree with Ratbuddy on that, and wouldn't call him an arrogant jerk. I may not post much on the forums, but I do surf it daily. That being said, he is one of the most helpful and active members on the forum just giving someone real world advice. Truthfully I would be pretty P.O'd if I drop that kind of money expecting HUGE gains like you're trying to emphasize when in reality will be negligible to the naked eye.... Just my .02

Techjesse said:

"talking out of your butt" Really, You arrogant Jerk, no wonder people leave this forum!

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First watch it. No name calling.

Second he is correct. Upgrading to a newer processor unless its hyper threaded will have very minimal inpact on gaming. Most I've seen is 5% if at that on top end cards. The CPU's are not 100% used most of the time and the few cases they are, where in this case the i5 2500k falls behind is where hyper threading benefits the system. Though with that is marginal at best.
I've been torn in the past at upgrading my rig. I was about to get it in a new build but friend decided he wanted a newer one and I kept my old one so far. I'll be upgrading probably early next year myself but overall the GPU in the rig is paired just fine with his setup. Going SLI sure it might help if you had at least a i7 2600k a little more but even then it will be marginal.

Unless you want some of the new features or just want a new system upgrading is really a hit/miss right now and many have stated that over the past months/years with Intel rigs being marginal to non-existent increases in performance expecially in games. If your doing something else with the rig, well then there might be a reason to, like video encoding or animation.

Fresh install might help out in the end of Windows. I just upgraded myself to Win8.1 from my original install of Win7 when it originally came out. Minor speed boost overall ontop of just a new OS that has some new features that are quicker than the old Win7.