GTX 1070 - Can I get the full power?

[Dariz]

Hello guys,

I was planning on buying a GTX 1070 once its released and we get a few custom builds. But a friend recently made me a bit nervous, then mentioning if my setup would be able to handle the card? I didn't quite get the question, but I didn't ask what he meant.
Instead I guess you guys, can give me a correct and good answer to the topic.

Below is my current setup - at the moment I will only upgrade the GPU (soooo old, it was preordered atleast 1 month before release at that time, and its still going strong, but having a hard time)

Simple question is... Will the rest of my setup have an impact, on how my GTX 1070 perform? I don't quite get it. I think my setup should be fine tbh. (For a price comparrision, of course I can spend tons to improve)

CPU: i5-4440 @ 3.10GHz
RAM: 8 GB (can easily be upgraded, no problem)

And of course I currently have a old Radeon 5870 HD - Guess I don't need to mention more. Will just replace my current GPU with the 1070 and my PSU I don't remember, but I know it can do it without problems tho.

[David (PassMark)]

It should be a good upgrade.

Things to consider are, is these physical space in the box? Do you have a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot? Is the power supply large enough and does it have the required cables. Does the 1070 have the required ports (DVI, Display port, etc..) for your monitor(s)? Is there enough cooling in the box?

The answers to all these questions is probably yes.

People might argue that the CPU will hold things back (as compared to a new i7), and it probably will a small amount, but it will still be a lot better than the 5870 HD.

8GB is just enough for most games. You could drop in another 8GB, but for most games I don't think you'll notice a big difference. Most of it would end up being used as disk cache (which isn't a bad thing).

[Dariz]

Hi David,

Everything in your first section I have figured out and its all cool.

I was just wondering how you "measure" if my CPU will fit the GPU? Is there like some kind of guidelines or rules that apply?
Of course a new i7 would be great, and of course increase the overall performance. But I wonder if it would have a impact on how the GPU perform by itself?
Other people made it sound like the performance by the GPU would decrease if the rest of the setup didn't follow along? I don't quite get that.

I'm a lot into IT, studying and working as apprentice (mainly as networking and SCADA technology). So I know a lot already, but I just don't seem to be able to figure this one out.

Regarding the memory I haven't seen the need for more, as of yet. But another block or replacement to 16 or 32GB is easy and doesn't cost that much. It will happen at some point.

[David (PassMark)]

I was just wondering how you "measure" if my CPU will fit the GPU?

There is no fixed rules. It depends.
Some games (and applications) are really CPU dependant, and others are very GPU dependant. It depends on how the software was coded and what settings / resolution you are running at.

For example Minecraft, Civ V and Total War are all known for being CPU dependant. Many (even most) newer games when run at high resolutions (4K) are GPU bound.