I'm still getting the hang of PC gaming, and I have a question about CPU cache. Specifically, how crucial is the CPU cache for gaming? I mostly rely on my GPU for the games I play. Currently, I'm using a Ryzen 7 8700F with 16 MB of cache. I only have Discord open in the background, so I think the cores and threads matter more for that than the cache itself. I'm considering upgrading from my RTX 5060 to an RTX 5070 for better performance. Should I also think about upgrading my CPU since my cache is on the lower side?
1 Answer
Cache is pretty significant for gaming! That's why the X3D variants tend to perform better in many titles. However, with your Ryzen 7 8700F, you probably won't hit any major bottlenecks when upgrading to the RTX 5070. You might see less performance in the 1% low frames because your CPU will access RAM more frequently due to having only 16 MB of cache, but you’ll still see a noticeable boost in performance from the GPU upgrade.
Got it! Just to be sure, my 8700F should still be good enough, right? I mainly play single-player games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, so if the cache isn't too critical, I might stick with my setup for now.