Bottleneck
Bottleneck
Agreed - the i5 by itself doesn't bring huge gains from generation to generation... an i5 6600 is only about 18% faster on a single core. I occasionally run a 3470 I game, and it's fine unless you require more than 4 cores (since in this case, a 1050ti versus 580 is a solid upgrade and offers a big frame boost).
There will be games that depend more on core count/threads but not so much that performance will become an issue (at least in 1080p). At that stage (1080p), you should allocate your budget wisely and opt for a 4gb model, since the difference between the two won’t be noticeable unless you intend to upgrade later and carry the card for future investment.
A bottlenecked rig occurs when components operate at vastly different speeds. If one part moves quickly while another moves slowly, it creates a slowdown. I often wonder if my GPU could be better or if the software is limiting performance. There are many perspectives on this issue. Sometimes a CPU runs at full capacity while the GPU only handles 80%, but after switching to a stronger CPU, the load drops to 30% and the GPU reaches its maximum.