Could I bottleneck my GTX 1080?

Hi Guys,

I just bought a Gigabyte GTX 1080 Xtreme Waterforce edition and was wondering if my current PC specs could potentially bottleneck it? I run my games at 1440p.

PC Specs:

i5 2500k @4.9ghz (1.37v)
Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz RAM (some say 2133 would boost me by around 15-20fps)
Current GPU is a GTX 680.

Thanks in advance for any advice :)

An upgrade probably wouldn't hurt. Run some benchmarks in 3DMark and compare it to others with the same CPU/GPU. That's the best way to tell.

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/114165/

No way, i5 clocked up to 5Ghz? are you insane? keep it till it dead.

Thanks for the quick response guys :) Guess I should be fine.

Will run a benchmark later once it arrives.

@SPBoss: Lets us know your findings.

@SPBoss: There's a small difference, it also appears that ram speed actually plays a role. There's also just a point where speed doesn't matter. You're looking at about a 10fps difference if you upgraded your ram or tried ocing it. Close to a 30fps difference where your at now depending on the game.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-is-it-finally-time-to-upgrade-your-core-i5-2500k

When you have a CPU clocked that high you won't bottleneck. I still have my i5 2500k buts its @4.7ghz im surprised you have your voltage so low.

the ram speed may be a thing in some games but not in all, and while it may not increase the total fps by much it mostly helps boost the minimum fps, I at least noticed that when I did some tests on gta V with 1600mhz vs 2133mhz

The HWmonitor screenshot was taken after general desktop use and an hour of GTA V with modded graphics, everything maxed out at 1440p. Game stays locked at 60fps and the gpu is dead silent, I am so happy with this compared to my 680 which sounded like a jet engine.

It's funny someone mentioned my low voltage OC, when I first bought the 2500k in 2012 I turned it on without the heatsink attached properly.. it stayed on for 10 mins like that and then the overheat safety precaution powered down my system and I smelt burning. I have no idea how it coped with the abuse I gave it lol.

I can make it stay below 55c and clock it back to 5ghz but the H100 fans are SO loud at full speed so I settled for 4.9ghz at a lower fan rate.

Next goal is a superwide 4k monitor :D

What kind of stable OC are you able to get with the Waterforce version? I also got the GTX 1080 Xtreme (fan version). I was only able to apply a +50 offset for the core and it boosts to a stable 2050 Mhz. If I set the offset higher, it will crash in Firestrike benchmark. I tried increasing voltage and power limit, but Firestrike was not having any of it.

At that speed? In most games no although a few cpu bound games that are able to take advantage more than 4 threads there should be some bottleneck ( Just look at total war warhammer benchmarks how it scales from i5 to i7 )

As others have said. A Sandy Bridge at that clock speed? No worries about bottlenecks there. There are going to be a few exceptions but it isn't going to be anything earth-shattering noticeable. You've got one of the best CPU's ever created IMHO, and it'll probably go another generation (or two) before you see a "noticeable" difference by upgrading. I just came from the exact same CPU to an i7 6700 and while my benchmark scores went up, real world performance...it's hard to tell a difference.

I am afraid that CPU will bottleneck the 1080 for sure, but you should be fine with an 4790 or i5-6600 processors !

@worldofgaming:

What? um ok.....

@BassMan: It runs at 2050 stock speeds, I just changed my fan profile with msi afterburner so now it never goes above 45C even after two hours of intense gaming (my room is 23c). If i try it later on I will private message you with the result :)

@joseph_mach: Thanks, I think I should just upgrade my ram to 2133mhz sticks as it looks like it gives a 10-20fps boost in minimum fps.

This kind of extreme cases are where you might lose a few fps vs an i7(the most notable is the minimum fps see i5 6600 vs 2600k i7) but unless you are pushing way past 60fps you should be fine

@howmakewood: I actually have an i7 2600k lying around as a spare.. I'm wondering what will perform better as I doubt it will overclock like my 2500k.

I also thought most games don't make use of hyperthreading or have things changed now?..

@SPBoss:

Most games anymore make use upto 8 threads.

well there are 2600k's out there that go 5ghz or above on air, just depends how lucky you've gotten with yours, it's essentially same as 2500k with more cache and HT, same thermal solution. but even at 4.5 or 4.6 it should outperform the 2500k handily on new titles as you see on the gears4 chart the difference is rather striking even

@howmakewood: soooo i just swapped out my 2500k with the 2600k. My bios reset and I just reloaded the overclock profile from the 2500k setup and its working..

I'm running at 4.8ghz @1.38v stable.. I'm so glad I don't have to spend ages trying to overclock it lol. Guess i got lucky :)

not bad!