Upgrading my CPU for Fallout 4

[Red]

I typically play a heavily modded Fallout 4 with an RTX 2080ti card in 4k and I have been looking into getting a new CPU for a long time. I currently use a 4770k and I simply first and foremost, want to get the best processor for Fallout 4, and hopefully one that's going to last me another good few years for stuff like cyberpunk 2077 and whatnot. I am thinking about either an 8700k or a 9700k. Budget isn't really an issue.

I want to try and hit 60fps as much as I can, I know how broken the engine is in regards to higher framerates, but I am not interested in that, I just want a beautiful game in 4k 60.

Most of the information I can find in relation to processors and Fallout 4 is outdated, so I am hoping there's a guru here that knows how fallout 4 works in regards to which one of these processors will give me better performance for the game.

Appreciate the help!

[Nite69]

I;m glad ya pointed out about the game engine, I was about to mention that a CPU upgrade wouldn't help around the city cause of the way the game engine is :)

[Red]

Originally posted by Nite69:

I;m glad ya pointed out about the game engine, I was about to mention that a CPU upgrade wouldn't help around the city cause of the way the game engine is :)

I am leaning more towards the 9700k, because most games seem to run better with it. What are your specs and what kind of performance do you get in the city area?

[Nite69]

Originally posted by RedWolf:

Originally posted by Nite69:

I;m glad ya pointed out about the game engine, I was about to mention that a CPU upgrade wouldn't help around the city cause of the way the game engine is :)

I am leaning more towards the 9700k, because most games seem to run better with it. What are your specs and what kind of performance do you get in the city area?

i7 2600K @ 4.2 and a GTX 1070 playing at 1080p I still drop to 25 - 30 in the city, it also happens at the ending battle on the robot DLC

the rest of the game is smooth though, unless I go crazy with settlement building

[hawkeye]

The short answer is that the best you can currently do is an i9-9900k. Maybe Ryzen 3 in 2 weeks time, but only if single-thread speed is higher.)

Long answer below (much of which is guesswork as I don't have the hardware referred to. But I am thinking of moving to 5k and the 9900k, 32gb fast ram, is what I would buy.)

What you are looking for is (1) a cpu with the best single-thread speed and (2) enough cpu threads to allow all program threads to work without interruption.

The 9700k and 9900k are almost the same cpu but the 9700k doesn't have hyper-threading.

Single thread speed using the Passmark benchmark - 2900 (9900k) 2800 (9700k) 2250 (4770k)
Multi-thread - 20200, 17200, 10100
Number of cores - 8,8,4
Cpu threads 8+ht,8,4+ht

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/

The 9900k has twice the number of cpu threads. FO4 runs about 50 threads of code on my pc. Extra cpu threads should help a little. On the other hand the game physics engine is nobbled so it might not make any difference at all.

The 2250 score for the 4770k is good but 4 hyper-threaded cores is where it is weak.

FO4 uses a lot of scripts and pointers to objects. These can be largely memory based, so memory size and speed might be important. I use MO2 which virtualises mods as far as I know. Virtualisation requires cpu and memory. So 16gb memory minimum, 32gb might help with 4k.

4k is more about gpu performance than anything else. But cpu performance is important too.
The articles below are old but you can see the faster the cpu the better the fps and also the number of threads (the i5-4690k is the non-ht version of the 4790k). 4k resolution might also need 4k textures, which memory could help with.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference

https://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/770034-Fallout-4-memory-speed-making-significant-differences-in-benchmarks

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-the-best-pc-hardware-for-fallout-4-4023

Sp just buy the best pc you can afford and read more tech reviews of FO4 performance.

Update -

You can play the game now in 4k using nvidia's DSR control panel options if you don't have a 4k monitor. This method plays the game in 4K but then outputs the image at your monitor's resolution. The performance is the same as if you have a 4k monitor.

I use an i7-2600 and 1080ti. I have an i7-8700k pc as well. I'll do a few 4k benchmarks on the i7-2600 and then swap a few parts around and try it out on the 8700k on a heavily graphics modded game. It'll take a few days to get the time to do it but I'll post the results back here. I meant to do this anyway before buying a 5k monitor to see if the game works in 5k.

[Red]

Originally posted by hawkeye:

The short answer is that the best you can currently do is an i9-9900k. Maybe Ryzen 3 in 2 weeks time, but only if single-thread speed is higher.)

Holy crap wow dude, thanks for all the info. You have got me seriously considering the 9900k now. Legendary help! Thanks so much

[BlackTemplar]

Digital storm + Radeon 970 Sapphire edition gpu = Smooth as hell frame rate with WOTC + Warlike mods enabled. (Big battles man. I mean huge battles)

[Ceejay]

What ever you decide. Even if you go intel. Wait a couple of weeks after Ryzen 3 launches. Rumours are Intel are going to slash some of their prices.

[Red]

Originally posted by blacktemplar:

Digital storm + Radeon 970 Sapphire edition gpu = Smooth as hell frame rate with WOTC + Warlike mods enabled. (Big battles man. I mean huge battles)

I used to be more of an AMD guy, but after a couple too many bad experiences I switched. I still appreciate your recommendation though.

Originally posted by Ceejay:

What ever you decide. Even if you go intel. Wait a couple of weeks after Ryzen 3 launches. Rumours are Intel are going to slash some of their prices.

This is some good advice, I was one click away from ordering a 9900k just a little while ago but I figured I'd wait till my next paycheck anyway. Hopefully they get a little cheaper :)

[Exvalcore]

You'll never need a cpu with better than quad/threaded cores at 4.0ghz for gaming.

[Red]

Originally posted by exeaircore:

You'll never need a cpu with better than quad/threaded cores at 4.0ghz for gaming.

Sure, you might not NEED a crazy CPU for "gaming" and I didn't NEED to buy an RTX 2080ti either, but my needs go beyond just gaming. As I stated in my op, I mod the game heavily, and I need more juice to hit a near constant 4k 60fps. Not looking to achieve the bare minimum eg: 1080p 30fps. I have consoles for that.

My current processor still lets me run most games at a mostly stable 60fps in 4k, I but I obviously want to go beyond that, specifically with FO4.

So thanks for your advice, but it wasn't very helpful in my situation.

[☆☾ Cobalt ☽☆]

Originally posted by RedWolf:

Originally posted by exeaircore:

You'll never need a cpu with better than quad/threaded cores at 4.0ghz for gaming.

Sure, you might not NEED a crazy CPU for "gaming" and I didn't NEED to buy an RTX 2080ti either, but my needs go beyond just gaming. As I stated in my op, I mod the game heavily, and I need more juice to hit a near constant 4k 60fps. Not looking to achieve the bare minimum eg: 1080p 30fps. I have consoles for that.

My current processor still lets me run most games at a mostly stable 60fps in 4k, I but I obviously want to go beyond that, specifically with FO4.

So thanks for your advice, but it wasn't very helpful in my situation.

Well since you intend to run games at 4k, a crazy high CPU isn't needed in the slightest when the GPU is the bottleneck at that resolution. But since budget isn't a factor for you, go for the 9900k and you'll be future proofing for years and if you ever do 3D modelling or video editing it's near perfect for that as well.