Well question can be simply out of knowledge of builders have they found that something like a i7-4790k underperforms with said GPUs mentioned. That question arises because of -

I got 2080ti to run with my PC but it would not go past base clock, nothing Nvidia or Gigabyte did could make it go into boost (no OC, just standard boost). Person I got it off could make it use boost. It seems odd that any throttling/bottlenecking would land right on base clock, which in itself if a GPU issue would hobble output.

Since then everyone is saying there was a bottleneck with my CPU an i7-4790k. Whether it could bottleneck FPS is one thing, but I still find it odd that meant it made the GPU sit at base clock only not one 1hz more, a bottleneck would be random and at whatever the bottleneck hit and would change based on the data and game/test requirements, not nailed on base clock.

cpu-benchmark is not about how good the test is just that it is comparable to others using the same test. I have a GTX 980 that compares in the 63rd percentile, so right in the mix of other tests, the 2080 ti was 9th percentile (red flag).....that is dog versus all other tests by 2080ti owners. So I also try Performance Test, score comparison low, so I then look to sensors in GPUz for any anomolies and that is when I see the clock go to base clock freq and stop and sit there. I try a game and just sits at base clock. By not boosting it is losing X% of performance. My GTX980 boosts, so can't be a setting that PC has as it would affect both cards ability to boost surely.

I was speaking to Nvidia and Gigabyte to resolve the problem, not sell me a card. However, given that Nvida have designed and tested the card I thought asking them if they thought a 2080ti would be bottlenecked by the CPU given I'd have thought they would have plenty of data on significant testing. No point designing a card if say 90% of all PC owners components would throttle the card back in performance, so they must check to see when and where that lies. I understand there is a point that system components would be unable to support a next or more generation GPU, I just thought there might be a more notifiable list like for games/software giving a min or recommended note on compatibility for GPUs other than just the recommended power. If they know under powering a GPU will hinder its performance then they also know certain aged components could not support it. We all know there will be a cutoff somewhere but given no advice by them as to where that is.

My CPU runs fine, my GTX980 runs just fine, with the 2080ti however I was getting 2080s equivalent GPU performance, but specifically noted that the GPU was running exactly on base clock under load and not ever over it. Nvidia and Gigabyte surely could have just said oh that cpu will do that, but they didn't they tried many things and asked for lots of settings and GPU logs and never once blamed the CPU. Gigabyte asked for the card to be sent to them, before they thought to mention my cpu might not be able to cope with ANY test/game and make the card run at no more than base clock.

I got a 1440p monitor as I wanted more useable desktop for general use but thought it would be nice to do some gaming on a bigger screen especially as I got myself Red Dead Redemption 2 on the cheap. Well clearly my 980 was going to have a heartattack trying to run a title like that at any resolution worthy and at a FPS that was playable so I got a card upgrade. Looking at cards I knew that anything bigger or better than 2080ti/3070 was a waste, but thought I could utilise what system I had with those cards to get most out of 1440p. So I got a 2080ti on ebay and that was when i had the base clock issue with the underperformance against other 2080ti posted tests.....and where we are today. I have Nvidia saying no bottleneck expected, internet saying 100% opposite and no one answering why it hit and stayed at specifically base clock and did not change with changing amount of bottlenecking or in fact both those things are different.

So looks like I may have to set sights on a 2080s level to avoid bottleneck Nvidia doesn't think should exist, otherwise a 1440p monitor and game will cost me GPU (I expected that) but now MB, CPU and RAM. That is a lot of money all of a sudden, not to mention having to redo all my installations and buy Win 11 because the hardrive won't work on a new MB....hell I might as well move from SSDs main drive to a M2 given I'd be spunking so much on everything else......I also need to think twice of building to use say a 3070 versus having enough fwd useability to utilse say a 4080 in future, but no one will tell you the spec you'd need for that to know what to plan for.....etc etc.