bottleneck performance?

[KarstenS]

Slot 1 16x - No GPU
Slot 2 16x - No GPU

You can put a GPU in either slot and have it work in 16x PCIe

PCI-E x16 slot doesn't mean it is connected with 16 lanes Read the data sheet carefully. Before I did my mobo update, I've read many of them. And all had something together: Not every slot can operate in x16 mode.

From my research, it typically looks like this:

Boards with 1 PCI-E x16 Slot the slot is typically connected with 16 lanes.

Boards with 2 slots that supports CorssfireX, slot 1 is connected with 16 lanes and slot 2 is connected with 4 lanes.

Boards with 2 slots that supports CrossfireX/SLI, slot 1 is connected with 16 lanes and slot 2 is connected with 8 lanes.

Boards with 3 slots (likeke my actual board) that supports ossfireX and SLI, slot 1 is connected with 16 lanes, slot 2 is connected with 8 lanes and slot 3 is connected with 4 lanes.

Boards with 4 slots that supports CrossfireX/SLI, as i could see, 2 slots are connected with 16 lanes and 2 slots are connected with 8 lanes. But if the slots with 8 lanes are filled, the slots with 16 lanes will operate in x8 too.

So if you need PCI-E at x16, you must put that card into a slot with 16 lanes and watch out to leave partner slots empty. Regular, there is also a warning in the manual to tell exactly this.

PCI-E 3.0 standard starts at x8. Its not fixed to x16

[Laraul]

PCI-E x16 slot doesn't mean it is connected with 16 lanes Read the data sheet carefully. Before I did my mobo update, I've read many of them. And all had something together: Not every slot can operate in x16 mode.

I've noticed a lot of confusion involving the number of lanes per slot, total number of lanes, etc. I do know that the maximum number of lanes is depends on the processor, split up between 4x, 8x, and 16x lane slots. In my case, I have four full size slots, the bottom two are 16 lane (slots 1 & 2), the top two are four lane (slots 3 & 4). That a total of 40 lanes, but placing two 16 lane cards into the bottom two (slots 1 & 2) disables slot 3, giving a total of 36 lanes. From what I can tell Xeon processors tend to have a higher number of available lanes. Usually 32-40 lanes on a Xeon versus 16 for an i7.

You can take a look at the manual for yourself. The PCI section starts on page 74. I do not know how the dividing up of lanes is done on other motherboards. The only way I know to determine what speed and how many lanes a slot is operating at is w/ software that tells me.

I personally haven't seen a noticeable performance difference between a card operating at PCIe 1.0 speed (2.5 GT/s or Giga-Transfers a second) and PCIe 2.0 speed (5 GT/s). PCIe 3.0 operates at 8 GT/s, though it increases efficiency effectively doubling the bandwidth versus PCIe 2.0. But w/o a noticable perception in performance difference, I find this discussion to be moot! IMHO.

[einzele]

So I bought i7 4790k yesterday clocked at 4.4ghz my fps increased from 20ish to 40 or more. CPU bottlenecks this game. A bit research into it, looks like FF actually utilizes hyperthreading but only from 1core. in task manager it shows usage on 5 threads, thread 1,2,3,5, and 7. Ht is used on first core only.
No I didn't buy it for FF, it appears my i5 also bottlenecks in witcher 3, got annoying stutters due to fps drop in crowded places or when running. i7 fixes it all. Also it looks like witcher3 utilizes ht pretty well, all 8 threads are used in that game.

[Judge_Xero]

So I bought i7 4790k yesterday clocked at 4.4ghz my fps increased from 20ish to 40 or more. CPU bottlenecks this game. A bit research into it, looks like FF actually utilizes hyperthreading but only from 1core. in task manager it shows usage on 5 threads, thread 1,2,3,5, and 7. Ht is used on first core only.
No I didn't buy it for FF, it appears my i5 also bottlenecks in witcher 3, got annoying stutters due to fps drop in crowded places or when running. i7 fixes it all. Also it looks like witcher3 utilizes ht pretty well, all 8 threads are used in that game.

Hey, I picked up a used 4770k and swapped out my 4670k, just because of this thread lol. After seeing my i5 capped out when I ran overclocked Ram, I figured hey why not.

I'm seeing the same difference you are seeing other than my frames were not as low as yours were with the i5.

Weird how now my game doesn't stutter when rotating the camera quickly, compared to using an overclocked 4670k

[Laraul]

With the release of the DX11 client, the aforementioned performance problems have vanished. Where as before my framerate would dip to the mid 20s or less, no it drops to about ~40 or so. I need to no longer bother adjusting the "Character and Object Quantity" setting to keep a relatively consistent frame rate.

I don't think we'll be seeing anymore complaints about "performance bottlenecks." At least for a while.

[CGMidlander]

Typically if you have 2 X PCIe full slots then either will run in 16x or 8X (whichever they are designed for, as most Intel Boards are moving to 8X PCIe 3.0 where as AMD Boards still have Native 16x with PCIe 3.0)

That's only true for AMD's FM2+ boards. (Which are for their lower end APUs)
Their AM3+ boards still use the old 990FX/970 chipsets, which are pretty ancient as far as computer tech is concerned. (2011)

[UltimateAoe2]

So I bought i7 4790k yesterday clocked at 4.4ghz my fps increased from 20ish to 40 or more. CPU bottlenecks this game. A bit research into it, looks like FF actually utilizes hyperthreading but only from 1core. in task manager it shows usage on 5 threads, thread 1,2,3,5, and 7. Ht is used on first core only.
No I didn't buy it for FF, it appears my i5 also bottlenecks in witcher 3, got annoying stutters due to fps drop in crowded places or when running. i7 fixes it all. Also it looks like witcher3 utilizes ht pretty well, all 8 threads are used in that game.

Just wondering:

1) How are you able to OC it? >3>. I have the same exact CPU, but I don't know how to/afraid to.
2) Requires something other than the OEM fan? (Liquid Cooling, etc.)