Is My CPU a Bottleneck?

I have an Intel i7-875k, overclocked to 3.6 GHz (when all four cores are under load). My video card is an EVGA GTX970 FTW+. According to HWINFO, when I play Crysis 2, my CPU goes to 3.6 GHz on all four cores, and stays there as long as I play. CPU usage only bumps up to 100% on each core, now and then. It doesn't stay there.

Is my CPU bottlenecking my GTX970? Would an upgrade to an i7-4790K improve my game FPS performance very much?

Thanks...

It will not be a night and day difference, but it should improve some at 1080p resolution. How much, not sure. Crysis 2 is a pretty old game and not sure they test such an old title on new hardware like that.

I wouldn't upgrade just for that reason... but I would start saving for an upgrade...

It's bottlenecking, but not much... yet. Newer games will bottleneck more for sure.
Definitely start saving for an upgrade.

ATMINSIDE said:

It's bottlenecking, but not much... yet. Newer games will bottleneck more for sure.
Definitely start saving for an upgrade.

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Thanks. I'm running a Samsung UHD monitor, and play the game at 1080p with v-sync on - I hate tearing. Even with Crysis 2 set to Ultra, the FPS almost never drops off 60 Hz. Metro Last Light stays at 60 Hz at near maximum settings. The video card is overclocked to 1500 Mhz on the core, and 7500 MHz on the memory. I keep itching to upgrade the board and processor, but everything works flawlessly, so I almost hate to mess with it.

If you use vsync and are holding 60FPS, then the question is kind of pointless as it serves your needs just fine and can't go over 60 FPS anyway. If you start getting more frequent drops or can run without vsync, then I would worry about upgrading.

EarthDog said:

If you use vsync and are holding 60FPS, then the question is kind of pointless as it serves your needs just fine and can't go over 60 FPS anyway. If you start getting more frequent drops or can run without vsync, then I would worry about upgrading.

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Well, besides doing it just for the hobby of it, I thought I might be able to run slightly higher settings, and I'm also thinking about a gaming monitor upgrade at some point. And then there are future games to think about. But doing it for the fun of it is really the main reason. I just wondered how much difference it would make. Thanks to everyone.

I had the same card with a 8320 and just the single card it was fine, but when i went sli it bottlenecked big time.