Thoughts on a graphics card upgrade & possible CPU bottleneck

[rocky83]

Hey folks,

I'm considering upgrading my PC with a new graphics card that will allow me to run most new games close to 1080p/60fps @ medium to high settings. I currently have an old i7 860 @ 2.8ghz and a ATI HD 6850 so my initial thoughts were to get a GTX 970, however, would my CPU cause serious bottleneck? If so would it be wise to get something like a GTX 960 or the AMD equivalent? I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

[shaithis]

It depends on the game your playing but some will bottleneck that CPU. BF4 and GTAV immediately spring to mind.

Overall though, you probably wouldn't find that many titles that cause a bottleneck and those that do will probably run a few FPS less or just have the occasional dip.

[rapidracer10]

Shouldnt be much of a problem. If you do on some games could maybe oc the cpu?

[rocky83]

Thanks for the replies - I'll certainly be keeping my eye out for any 970 bargains. Overclocking the CPU is also another good (low cost) suggestion so I'll look into that as well.

[lankeyphil]

I wouldn't have thought you would get much of a bottleneck there depending on what games you intend on playing.

Before you go splashin out on a full new setup I'd say as above and go for an overclock should cover you a while as a cheaper alternative.

[Banthon]

Dont forget to double check you can cool an o/ced CPU sufficiently too as they can throttle performance when excessively hot...

[cokker]

Bottleneck is a bit of an awkward thing to pin on a system, to me it tends to come down to the games you play. Some hardly use the CPU like Metro:2033/LL in which case you wouldn't have a problem but something like GTA 5 would probably have some low FPS points in the city areas.

[stephen0205]

overclocking will certainly help in your situation, can't imagine much would bottle neck it once its overclocked, u might be a lucky sod and have one that goes higher than most.

Im super bottlenecked with my amd 860k lol