I built a computer for my brother using spare parts I had, including a Ryzen 5 3600x CPU, an RX 7900 XTX GPU, and 16GB of Corsair RAM. He reported that while playing Fortnite, the CPU usage spikes to 100% in-game and hangs around 80% even in the menu, while the GPU never exceeds 50% usage, despite running on 1080p medium settings. He's getting very low FPS, dropping below 10 while on the bus in the game, but it goes up to about 70 on the ground with some frequent drops. I've updated all the drivers, but I'm wondering if it's worth reinstalling Windows or if the motherboard might be limiting performance. Any suggestions?
5 Answers
Yeah, pairing a high-end GPU with an older, lower-end CPU is a recipe for this kind of performance issue. If he's not experiencing screen tearing or freezing, you might not need to stress about it too much.
Sounds like the Ryzen 5 3600x is bottlenecking the RX 7900 XTX. It's not the most powerful CPU out there, and with a top-tier GPU, it just can't keep up, especially in CPU-heavy games like Fortnite.
Right? I was thinking the same thing.
Looks like he really needs a better CPU to match that GPU. I run a Ryzen 5 5600X with a 6750XT at 1440p, and my CPU usage stays below 60% in most games, even when pushing high FPS.
It’s worth checking temps too while gaming! If the CPU is throttling from heat, that could explain the performance issues.
I checked and the CPU is around 67°C and the GPU is about 60°C, which seems okay, right?
You mentioned Fortnite, which is known for its variable FPS, especially in certain areas. It sounds like you're just hitting CPU limits, which is normal, but you could look into any background processes that might be using up CPU resources.
Good point! I’ll check the Task Manager next time.
Yeah, especially at 1080p on those settings!