Would I need to change CPU to get better FPS?


Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

My current system is:

Intel Core i5 3570K @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz Ram, MSI Gamer X nVidia GeForce 1070 8GB, Windows 10 64 Bit. My OS HD is a 128GB SSD, but my 'gaming' drive is 6TB HDD

 

I have it hooked up to my 4K TV. I am looking at getting a solid 60fps @ 4K with ultra settings or near Ultra. Would upgrading the graphics card be enough, or would it be better off replacing the CPU, motherboard and RAM? Oh, and the liquid cooler (grr)....

4ks sweet spot is also 32Gb ram. 

 

even with my sig machine and 16Gb of ram (+1080ti FE) its approx 25% slower than an identical build, the only difference is he has 4x8s at 2400mhz ram compared to my 2x8@3200mhz ram.

 

a 1070 wont do ultra in modern titles at a stable 4k@60fps, your talking a 1080ti or 1080 to be able to do that, even then its hit n miss.

 

for me itll be another 16Gb of DDR3200 when i purchase a 4k display.

2 minutes ago, Riva said:

I just checked and it was 2.5GB system RAM and 4.7 video RAM. This is at UHD @ 60fps. And i do have a second 4k UHD monitor hooked up as well

Im not saying i cant run eveything at ultra@4k, but i was surprised how much higher the identical machines FPS was over my own, the only difference was, an extra 16Gb of ram, while i was hitting say 55-60fps his was easily 70-90fps on average. Same components, same GPU (both EVGA 1080ti founders) This was in real world testing/burn in when i built the second machine.

 

I have way higher R/Ws over the drives (4x256SSDs in raid0 striped for games vol) but raw FPS his build trounced mine, it could only be the extra 16Gb of sys ram.

Thanks guys :)

Time to do the sad face and look at the possibility of building a new system - urrghhhh 

Are Ryzen CPUs now comparable to Intel ones, or is Intel still the ones to get? arrghhh at GPU prices!

2 hours ago, Riva said:

Weird that you need so much system ram. It could depend on the game engine i guess.

yep, this was various titles and benchmarks tested, was surprised tbh. but hey whats another £150 for another 16Gb of ram compared to the £2k plus ive spent so far lol

2 hours ago, Riva said:

Based on benchmarks Ryzen is comparable. Threadripper seems better so far if you are going for the high end but at the same time we havent seen the i9 X/XE in benchmarks yet

yep, as games become more multicore aware, they Ryzens should in theory gain the edge over the i7s. definately the closest AMD have got in gaming circles to Intel for decades. #

 

im an intel & NV man personally, always have been always will.

9 minutes ago, xendrome said:

What motherboard are you using?

A crap one...

Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D2V Motherboard

 

WOW - just looked up the order... was from 2012! Apart from the graphics card lol

Here is a good one to upgrade to

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  (£178.95 @ Aria PC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£79.47 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: *Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£119.50 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Total: £377.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-08 20:30 BST+0100

 

OR

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  (£274.39 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£79.47 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: *Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£119.50 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Total: £473.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-08 20:38 BST+0100

 

Edited by Mockingbird

ok, I'm going to break with some here.  60fps - 4K at Ultra (or near) for a 1070 is going to be hard ... regardless of the CPU.  Heck ... even the 1080ti struggles on some games at achieving this.  With regards to the CPU ... once again it really depends on what you are playing.  Some games lean heavy on the CPU ... while most (I'd say) lean heavily on the GPU.  The higher the resolution the more strain the GPU takes (higher res really doesn't affect the CPU as much)

 

Anyway, the GPU is your bottleneck at 4K.  Volta should be coming early '18 ... see what it has to offer because if you want "a solid 60fps @ 4K with ultra settings or near Ultra" ... you're probably going to need to wait.  Save up your pennies. 

13 hours ago, Mando said:

4ks sweet spot is also 32Gb ram. 

 

even with my sig machine and 16Gb of ram (+1080ti FE) its approx 25% slower than an identical build, the only difference is he has 4x8s at 2400mhz ram compared to my 2x8@3200mhz ram.

 

a 1070 wont do ultra in modern titles at a stable 4k@60fps, your talking a 1080ti or 1080 to be able to do that, even then its hit n miss.

 

for me itll be another 16Gb of DDR3200 when i purchase a 4k display.

16 GB system RAM is more than enough for current 4K gaming.

 

The GPU clock rate and VRAM are what's important.

4 hours ago, WildWayz said:

Is it worthwhile getting the X chip over standard?

 

PS thanks for the suggestions. That'll be a good start then save for a 1080.

 

Maybe 60hz 2k is more realistic?

The "X" processors are better binned which means that they can overclocked higher.

 

I don't know what that is worth to you.

 

I have a Ryzen 7 1700X so I guess that it is worth it to me.

Slight tweak to Mockingbird's suggestion

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  (£274.39 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£53.98 @ YoYoTech) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£96.97 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£119.50 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£132.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£80.87 @ CCL Computers) 
Total: £757.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-09 09:02 BST+0100

 

 

Still not sure about buying the extra storage. My current 7TB is spread out over a couple of 2TB drives and a 3TB external... and my SSD is quite small and a few years old, so it may begin to get read only sectors... Also the CPU cooler. I am assuming that my  Corsair CW-9060007-WW Hydro Series H60 can only be used on the Intel chips/mobo?

Or would this be better - again using my current H60 cooler?
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£299.94 @ Aria PC) 
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver - 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste  (£6.49 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Motherboard: MSI - Z270 GAMING M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£124.20 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£119.50 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£132.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£80.87 @ CCL Computers) 
Total: £763.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-09 09:51 BST+0100

1 hour ago, WildWayz said:

Slight tweak to Mockingbird's suggestion

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  (£274.39 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£53.98 @ YoYoTech) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£96.97 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£119.50 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£132.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£80.87 @ CCL Computers) 
Total: £757.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-09 09:02 BST+0100

 

 

Still not sure about buying the extra storage. My current 7TB is spread out over a couple of 2TB drives and a 3TB external... and my SSD is quite small and a few years old, so it may begin to get read only sectors... Also the CPU cooler. I am assuming that my  Corsair CW-9060007-WW Hydro Series H60 can only be used on the Intel chips/mobo?

I replaced the MSI B350 Tomahawk with the AsRock AB350 Pro 4.

 

The B350 Tomahawk seems to have a lot of issues esp. with long post time.

 

The AB350 Pro 4, on the other hand, is more reliable and don't have any known issues.

 

I also replaced the 120mm liquid cooler with a bigger (& cheaper)  240mm liquid cooler.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  (£274.39 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Seidon 240V 95.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£46.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£85.18 @ BT Shop) 
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£119.50 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£132.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£80.87 @ CCL Computers) 
Total: £739.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-09 09:51 BST+0100

Edited by Mockingbird
11 minutes ago, WildWayz said:

Thanks again Mockingbird :)

I used to be so up on hardware before I got married... now it's like I am a total n00b again :)

I was out of the loop for a very long time and only had to catchup recently because I wanted to upgrade my hardware.

 

Anyway, as I said, Corsair H60 is compatible with AM4/Ryzen right out of the box.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Vantrue knocks up to 38% off two of its newest Dash Cams for Prime Day by Steven Parker Vantrue reached out to us here at Neowin saying they have a couple of dashcams with deep discounts during the Prime Day Sale. First up we have the Vantrue N4 Pro S that received a mega 36% off its normal MSRP of $419.99 (buying links below). Here are a few of its highlights: Flagship 4K 3CH Dash Cam w/ Triple STARVIS 2: Vantrue's flagship N4 Pro s Dash Camera features 4K+2.5K+1080P /30FPS 3 channel recording powered by Triple STARVIS 2 sensors. Dash cams deliver 155°+160°+165° wide-angle coverage for complete blind-spot-free protection. Whether navigating city traffic, monitoring passengers, or capturing scenic views, this professional-grade car dash camera ensures smooth, detailed footage day and night. Night Vision 4.0 & License Plate Recognition Unleash superior clarity at night with 360 dash camera for cars. Powered by PlatePix tech, dashcam combines 3 STARVIS 2 sensors (enhanced low-light sensitivity) and triple HDR (balanced exposure) for 2x higher license plate accuracy in dimly lit nights or intense backlight. Experience unmatched performance on nocturnal drives, where the system captures clear, readable license plates of vehicles traveling at speeds up to 31mph. Flexible 360° Rear Camera & Front+Rear Recording Modes: The rear dash camera features a 2.5K STARVIS 2 sensor with 360° rotation, enabling seamless traffic or trunk monitoring. Switch to Front and Rear mode (4K+2.5K) to prioritize road recording—this dual-channel mode reduces heat by 30% and saves power compared to triple recording, ensuring 4k dash cam cooler operation and 24/7 reliability even in summer. Captures clear, readable license plates at speeds up to 31mph on lit streets at night. 24/7 Protection with Buffered Parking Mode: Gain round-the-clock security for your parked vehicle with reliable dash cam 3 channel system. Buffered motion and impact detection ensure events are captured from 10 seconds before they occur. All three cameras remain active in parking mode, providing comprehensive surveillance while efficient recording maximizes storage. To activate parking modes, a hardwire kit (sold separately) is required for permanent connection to your vehicle's fuse box. 5G WiFi, Precision GPS, Voice Control: This advanced car video camera dash cam maintains a stable connection to your phone. Its 5GHz WiFi ensures lightning-fast video transfer, making downloads a breeze. The built-in high-precision GPS tracks your route, speed, and location—providing vital data for any incidents. Control settings hands-free with simple voice commands like "Take a photo," keeping you focused on the road. Loop Recording & Super Capacitor & up to 1TB Support: Dash cams revolutionize convenience with loop recording featuring 1/2/3-minute segments. When memory is full, it automatically overwrites older footage. Engineered for reliability, its robust super capacitor withstands extreme temps(-4°F to 140°F), guaranteeing uninterrupted operation even in scorching sun. Expand storage with up to 1TB microSD support, enabling 37+ hours of continuous 4K triple-camera recording (front+inside+rear). VANTRUE Memory Card Recommendation: Note: Dash cam does not include an SD card. Avoid using low-quality memory cards to prevent the camera from malfunctioning. We recommend using VANTRUE industrial-grade microSD cards, which offer longer lifespan (over 3 years) compared to consumer-grade. VANTRUE memory cards are rigorously tested specifically for dash cam recording to ensure optimal performance. Available on Amazon in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities to suit your storage needs. So marketing jargon aside, what do you actually get? What's in the box? N4 Pro S Dash Cam, Rear Camera, 20ft rear camera cable Charging Cable Installation Tool Car Mount Quick Guide Vantrue also claims it is easy to install and comes with an 18-Month Warranty, 24/7 email support, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. The Dash cam is said to also receive regular firmware updates for continuous improvements. With the 20ft rear camera cable, it is versatile enough to fit most vehicles, including cars, SUVs, minivans, trucks, and buses. Vantrue N4 Pro S for $269.99 (was $379.99) 36% off its MSRP of $419.99 No code required. Discount expires on June 26. Vantrue N4S (2026) Next up, there's an even bigger discount on the new (2026 edition) N4S Dash Cam. 2026 New 3-Channel Dash Cam & 360°Coverage Equipped with triple STARVIS 2-powered sensors, the Vantrue N4S dashcam records in super HD clarity: 2.7K front + 1440P interior + 1440P rear.Its 158° front, 165° cabin, and 160°rear wide-angle lenses eliminate blind spots, while HDR and PlatePix technology deliver sharp details and license plates day or night. This dash cam for cars is perfect for rideshare drivers and daily commuters. Night Vision 4.0 & High Temperature Proof Powered by STARVIS 2 Tech, the N4S dashcam for cars enhances light sensitivity and dynamic range in extreme low light. Triple HDR balances harsh contrasts—like headlights against dark roads—while PlatePix sharpens license plates by 2X, capturing crisp, identifiable footage on dark streets, in tunnels, or garages. This New N4S dashcam's supercapacitor design withstands extreme temperatures(-4℉ to 140℉), ensuring stable operation—safer and greener. Easy to Install & 360°versatile Rear Camera Set up effortlessly with our magnetic GPS mount, static cling film, and cable clips. Everything is tool‑free for a clean, wire‑hidden installation, and the mount stays stable on any drive. The rear camera rotates 360°, letting you monitor rear traffic or pivot it inward to keep an eye on cargo, luggage, or pets inside the vehicle. Versatile coverage whenever you need it. 24/7 Smart Parking Mode for Peace of Mind With 4 proprietary parking modes, the N4S 3-channel dashcam for cars lets you customize your protection. Motion detection triggers 10 seconds pre-event recording to capture full event. Collision detection auto-locks footage on impact/collision. Low bitrate/frame rate modes extend recording by reducing file size. Whatever the hour, your vehicle is always protected. 5GHz Wi-Fi & Support up to 1TB SD Card Access and download footage instantly with high‑speed 5GHz Wi-Fi. No need to remove the memory card or wait for transfers—critical clips are ready to view or share in seconds. This dash cam front and rear supports up to 1TB microSD cards (sold separately), giving you ample space for long trips or continuous loop recording. OTA firmware updates ensure your dashcam stays current with the latest features and improvements. So, again, aside from the marketing fluff mentioned above what do you actually get? What's in the box? Vantrue N4S Front and Inside Dash Cam x 1 Rear Camera x 1, Rear Camera Cable (20ft) x 1 Transparency Program card (with digital setup guide) x 1 Car Charger(11.5ft) x 1 USB Data Cable(3.3ft) x 1 GPS Adhesive Mount x 1 Crowbar x 1 Quick User Guide x 1 Electrostatic Stickers x 2 Spare Bracket Base Cable Clips The 2026 Edition of the N4S lets you track your journey with quad-mode GPS + BeiDou positioning. Experience supposedly faster satellite acquisition and reliable logging of your speed, location, and time in any environment. For rideshare or road trips, you can also trust the N4S dash cam front rear and inside cameras as your reliable co-driver. Like the Vantrue N4 Pro S, it is also backed by 24/7 support and extended warranty for complete peace of mind. Vantrue N4S (2026) for $174.99 (was $249.99) 38% off its MSRP of $279.99 No code required. Discount expires on June 26. Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • The concern of this article is not getting "hacked". No one is taking over my Google account and anyone that was is far away from self-hosting their passwords. It was about your big tech account of choice deciding to reduce features or getting out of the password manager business altogether. Bitwarden (or say Proton) is professional security company offering opensource solutions. They are going no where and one can easily download or export their passwords to another password manager service regardless. They again also offer self-hosted option. I doubt many people were sold on this solution based on the write up. The author had a number of warnings and caveats themselves. A local, self-managed solution is not for 99% of users.
    • I've owned nothing but ATi/AMD GPUs since 2002, after my last nVidia GPU in 2001 (3dfx before that), IIRC, and in all of that time I recall getting this error maybe once, certainly no more than twice. Despite all the scuttlebutt as to how poor AMD drivers are supposed to be that has certainly not been my experience at all... Usually it has been a configuration problem of some kind. Then again, since we're dealing with OS versions that are EOL, it could easily be an OS version discrepancy. It's still weird to think that Win11 has been officially out for more than five years!
    • AI will never be the jobs panacea some companies fantasize about today. Oracle is likely using it as an excuse, which we will see a lot of companies doing, I'm certain. They love their "plausible" excuses for their downturns. A couple of weeks ago my wife asked me to call Krogers about some discrepancy in a online grocery order, and it will be the last time either of us does that. I'll just do emails with humans from now on... The AI experience was horrible--the obviously recorded voice started asking a bunch of questions about our orders six months prior(!) and saying, "Is this in reference to your order on January 6, for $****?" You say "No!" and immediately the next question is "Is this in reference to your order on January 29th, for $****?" again, I answered "No!"--and it was incredible--on and on it went like that for fully 20 minutes until we finally got to the present, and only then was I put through to a human with authentic intelligence... I wondered why on Earth the idiot AI didn't start with the most recent orders and work back from there, as it was something anyone with a functioning brain would have done. And why didn't the AI have enough sense to ask me what the problem was in the first place? It didn't take too much deduction to understand that the goal of this "AI" was to cause the person on the phone to hang up in disgust, with no resolution of the problem. That begs another question: why pay for a tool-free problem line if the goal is to avoid solving your customer's problems?... Fortunately, Krogers does have real humans capable of reading an email and understanding it, and if she sees another situation in the future that's route she or I will take. The online grocery delivery service from Krogers has been great, over all, but their AI truly sucks.
    • AI is the justification that company administrators use to lay people off; it is not the end all, be all touted in the media (many of whom can't tell a microchip from a potato chip). Greed is main driving factor behind its adoption; the other is remaining relevant in the face of competition from other entities.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      480
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      172
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      103
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      88
    5. 5
      neufuse
      70
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!