I've been gaming on my PC since early 2023, but lately, my gameplay has started feeling choppy and slow. I usually run games like Apex, COD, Overwatch, and others at 1080p with all settings on low, yet I'm still experiencing a really unresponsive performance, averaging about 90-120 FPS. Is my RTX 3060 8GB and i5-12600K setup a bad pairing, or is there something I can do to improve it?
6 Answers
No, the i5-12600K is still a solid CPU and can handle more powerful GPUs without a problem.
What kind of RAM are you using? Also, did you enable XMP? The 12th gen Intel CPUs really benefit from higher memory speeds.
The 12600K is a decent CPU and should be able to cope with GPUs up to the likes of a 3080 Ti or 4070. That said, it's tricky to recommend the 3060 8GB specifically.
I picked my parts based on price back then and didn't know about the 12GB vs 8GB difference at the time.
I'm running a similar setup with a 5070 Ti at 4K, and even older CPUs like the 9800X3D aren't noticeable in performance compared to it.
I run a 12600K with a 5070, and it works great for me even at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p, the 12600K might be about 5-10% slower compared to newer CPUs, but it still holds up pretty well for low settings.
The 3060 8GB is slower than the regular 3060, but it shouldn’t give you major issues unless you're hitting VRAM limits or playing demanding titles. Just keep in mind that you might not have the same experience in more demanding games like Cyberpunk or Borderlands 4.
But I’m mostly playing tactical FPS games, so they shouldn’t be that demanding.
It might help to declutter and clean up your drive. Since the stuttering can depend on the games you play, keep in mind that the 12600K has a relatively small L3 cache (20MB), which could affect performance in certain cases during gameplay.
I'll definitely try looking into that. I mainly play FPS games like Apex, COD, and Overwatch.
Okay, so what can I do to fix the choppiness and unresponsiveness?