Would my system be safe to overlock my CPU for gaming?

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Sassan Emadi

Member
I'm currently struggling to hit my target fps in some games even though my GPU usage is less than 50%.

When I check my CPU cores usage during gaming, the usage is constantly at 95+% or even 100%. This leads me to believe that my CPU is what is bottlenecking my system and I was wondering if my system can handle overclocking the cpu.

Specs below:

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z97-P: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X FURY DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - 1 DVI, 1 mHDMI, 3 mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The CPU has a locked multiplier so overclocking by increasing the multiplier isn't possible. In principle BCLK overclock would be possible I think, but not worth it.

What games is your CPU at ~100% in? In most titles you should be GPU bound.

Also, what do you mean 'target fps'? What is the target and at what settings? If you mean you're trying to reach 1000 fps on 720p at low settings ...
 
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Sassan Emadi

Member
So increasing CPU performance would come in the form of a new CPU?

And mainly at the moment I'm playing destiny 2. I'm aiming for above 120 fps at the highest settings I can manage on a 1080p, 144hz monitor.
At the lowest graphical setting, I'm using about 45% GPU with 100% CPU on all cores at about 85-120 fps.
At max settings I'm using approx 65%-75% GPU with 100% CPU, getting about 70-100 fps.

The fact that my GPU usage isn't maxing out leads me to believe my CPU is the issue. From my understanding of this Reddit post http://https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/5tbdp2/guide_how_to_locate_the_bottleneck_in_your_system/, I think I'm right, but I'm not 100% sure.
 
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Sassan Emadi

Member
When I'm not playing CPU usage is pretty low. Is there a way to check it whilst playing?

I tried using MSI afterburner but Destiny bans overlays in game, so you can't see exact usage.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I'd check Task Manager's Processes tab. If you have access to a 2nd monitor, see what it says is using the CPU while gaming.

I assume Destiny 2 has forums, you could ask on those in case there's a specific conflict / issue that regular players of the game will know about.

I think it's worth being pretty thorough on troubleshooting before throwing money at the issue. Not least because if you do buy new things and it's something else causing it, you could end up having similar issues with a new system / upgraded system.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Oussebon said:
I'd check Task Manager's Processes tab. If you have access to a 2nd monitor, see what it says is using the CPU while gaming.
Click to expand...

You can have the Task Manager 'always on top' via the Options menu item.

When you start Task Manager click the Details tab to show all processes and then click the header on the CPU column to sort processes by CPU used (each time you click it the sort order swaps between ascending/descending, you want it descending).

Then click the Options tab and select 'Always On Top'.

You can manually shrink the Task manager Windows to show only the top few processes and only the process name and CPU columns. If you have columns between process name and CPU that you don't need then right click on the header and select 'Hide column'. That will give you the smallest footprint for Task Manager and you should be able to then see what processes are using most of your CPU whilst playing.
 
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Sassan Emadi

Member
That is what I've been doing, I tab out of Destiny 2 and the task manager says the CPU is at 100% and then drops to about 30%.

I've looked online and other people seem to have a similar problem but no definitive cause or solution has been posted. I just can't understand why this happens
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Sassan Emadi said:
That is what I've been doing, I tab out of Destiny 2 and the task manager says the CPU is at 100% and then drops to about 30%.

I've looked online and other people seem to have a similar problem but no definitive cause or solution has been posted. I just can't understand why this happens
Click to expand...

Can you take a screen shot of the Details tab of Task Manager when the CPU is at 100% and post it up here? Take another when the CPU has dropped to 30% and post that here too. :)

Make sure the Details tab is sorted on the CPU column in descending order.
 
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