Is upgrading from an i5-12400F to a 13600KF worth it for Fortnite and future games?

The 12400F and RX 7800 XT are generally a well-matched combination, so the word “bottleneck” alone doesn’t mean the CPU needs replacing. A 13600KF is faster, especially for high-refresh-rate gaming and CPU-heavy titles, but the improvement may not justify the cost unless you can get it cheaply. Before upgrading, check per-core CPU usage, GPU usage, temperatures, RAM speed, dual-channel operation, XMP, Resizable BAR, and whether anything is causing storage or memory swapping. Fortnite drops can come from shader compilation, background tasks, or game settings rather than the CPU itself.

I wouldn’t buy hardware specifically for GTA 6 yet. The PC release timing and system requirements aren’t reliable enough to plan around, and a later PC version could be more demanding than the console release. Waiting until the requirements and benchmarks are available will give you a much better idea of whether the 12400F or 13600KF is actually a problem.

Your B660M DS3H DDR4 can support a 13600KF with the appropriate BIOS, but its VRM and cooling setup should be considered. The 13600KF uses substantially more power than the 12400F, so make sure the motherboard BIOS is updated, the case has good airflow, and the CPU cooler is strong enough. Depending on the board’s power limits, the new CPU might not sustain its full performance.

At 1080p on low settings, you’re more likely to run into a CPU or game-engine limit because the graphics card has less work to do. Still, the 12400F should deliver better consistency than 70–80 FPS in many situations, so monitor CPU per-core usage and frametime graphs exactly when the drop happens. Also confirm that the RAM is running at its rated speed and that temperatures and power limits look normal.