I recently upgraded from a GTX 1060 6GB to an RTX 3060 12GB, but the improvement has been inconsistent. My system has a Ryzen 7 5700G, 16GB of DDR4-3200 memory, a Gigabyte B550M DS3H motherboard, and a 550W 80+ Bronze Segotep power supply. In Apex Legends, my average went from about 80 FPS to 100 FPS, but Marvel Rivals still averages around 80 FPS and can drop to roughly 40 FPS during fights. The GPU usually sits around 45% usage, although it briefly jumps to 80–90%, when the frame rate also rises significantly. Temperatures stay below 75°C. I have already tried various software and graphics settings, including using higher quality settings, but the behavior has not changed. Could the CPU, memory configuration, power supply, motherboard, or GPU clock speeds be limiting performance?
3 Answers
Use a hardware monitor such as HWiNFO64 or GPU-Z while the game is running. Record GPU core clock, power draw, temperature, CPU per-core usage, RAM usage, and whether the GPU reports a power or thermal limit. Also confirm that the card is genuine and running its expected VBIOS and PCIe link speed. A card with an unusual or modified VBIOS can run at conservative clocks even when temperatures look fine.
Low GPU usage usually means the GPU is waiting on something else, most commonly the CPU or memory. The Ryzen 7 5700G should generally work with an RTX 3060, but CPU-heavy games and high-refresh-rate settings can still create a CPU bottleneck, especially during fights. Check per-core CPU usage rather than only the overall percentage, since one or two busy cores can limit frame rate while total CPU usage looks normal. The power supply is unlikely to cause only low GPU usage; if it could not handle the system, you would more likely see crashes, shutdowns, or instability. The motherboard should not meaningfully limit this graphics card either.
A 5700G usually is not an automatic problem for a 3060, so I would verify the actual CPU and GPU clocks before assuming the processor needs replacing.
Make sure the 16GB of memory is running in dual-channel mode. If the two sticks are installed in the wrong slots, or if only one module is being detected, CPU-limited games can suffer from lower and less consistent frame rates. Check the BIOS or CPU-Z to confirm dual-channel operation and verify that the memory is actually running at 3200 MT/s. Also check for a frame-rate cap, background applications, and whether the game is using the RTX 3060 rather than integrated graphics.
The temperature never gets above about 75°C, but I have not checked the core clocks or power-limit status yet.