I'm currently running a pretty beefy setup, featuring an Intel Core i9-12900k coupled with an MSI B760 Gaming Plus motherboard and an MSI 4070 Super GPU. My cooling solution is the Arctic Freezer 360 iii AIO, and I've got my OS installed on a 1TB Kingston Renegade M.2 NVMe SSD, paired with 32GB of G.SKILL Ripjaws 6400 CL32 RAM. I also have a 2TB WD SN7100 NVMe SSD for my games, powered by a Seasonic Core GX-650+80 Gold PSU.
I've ensured all drivers are up to date, including the NVIDIA and chipset drivers. I'm using Windows 10 (22H2) with the latest updates from June 2025, and I've kept the original BIOS version from September 2024 for my motherboard.
After assembling my PC, I faced some glitches and a laggy performance, but it improved after updates. However, I'm noticing major issues in gaming. For instance, while playing RDR2, I achieve over 100 FPS on average with optimized graphics settings, but my 1% and 0.1% FPS numbers are shockingly low, only hitting about 30-40 FPS with noticeable spikes. This isn't just limited to RDR2; other games exhibit similar behavior.
I've run some benchmarks as well: 27k in Cinebench R23 for the CPU and 18k in Cinebench 2024 for the GPU. Now I'm wondering:
1. What can I change to improve this situation? Is it hardware, software, or perhaps my settings?
2. Would switching from a B760 motherboard to a Z790 provide any measurable performance benefits?
3. Is the Windows 10 issue with the E-cores on the 12th Gen fixed, or should I still consider upgrading to Windows 11? I'd really appreciate any advice or help!
3 Answers
Have you tried testing other games? A title like Cyberpunk 2077 or Warzone has built-in benchmarks that could help identify the issue more clearly. Sometimes performance varies significantly between games.
It sounds like you might be hitting a CPU bottleneck. You should check the temperatures and frequencies of your CPU while gaming. Also, monitor your GPU usage to see if it's being fully utilized. Definitely consider upgrading to Windows 11 since Windows 10 support ends soon.
Thanks for the advice! My CPU temps and usage are okay; they don't exceed 70°C under load, and I see around 30% average CPU usage. I'm going to upgrade to Windows 11 and see if that helps, but I'm unsure if the E-cores issue in Windows 10 has been resolved. Any thoughts?
What kind of RAM are you using? It's important to know the exact speeds and capacities because sometimes that can impact performance. Make sure it's installed as recommended in dual channel as well.
I have 2x32GB of 6400 CL32 RAM installed in dual channel as recommended by MSI.
Good suggestion! I'm going to do some testing with different games.