Hey everyone! I built my PC back in 2020 using an Intel i5 9600k overclocked to 5GHz paired with a Gigabyte RX 5700 XT. This year, I upgraded to an 850W PSU and an RTX 5070 Ti. While benchmarking Cyberpunk 2077 at max settings on 1440p (no RT, DLSS, FSR, or FG), I noticed some solid results:
With the 9600k and 5700 XT, I got an average FPS of 29.19, minimum of 25.16, and maximum of 39.96. After switching to the RTX 5070 Ti, my average FPS jumped to 82.46, with a minimum of 65.09 and a maximum of 113.66. Overall, pretty happy with that improvement.
However, I felt like the gameplay wasn't as smooth as expected. I suspected that the 9600k might have been bottlenecking the GPU, possibly around 30%. So, I decided to upgrade to the AMD 9800x3d on an Asus B650E motherboard with 32GB of DDR5 6000 memory, hoping for a substantial performance boost.
After benchmarking again, I got an average FPS of 90.13, minimum of 78.38, and maximum of 120.78. While that's an improvement, it doesn't seem significant enough compared to what I anticipated. I also ran a 3DMark Steel Nomad test on both setups and noticed the scores were very close: 6956 for the 9800x3d and 6863 for the 9600k.
I'm confused about why the performance gain feels minimal. I've tried watching various videos, experimenting with different BIOS settings, and I'm running out of ideas. If anyone has the same setup with the RTX 5070 Ti and 9800x3d, could you share your benchmark results? I would greatly appreciate any insights or suggestions!
3 Answers
Bottleneck calculators can really be misleading; I wouldn't rely too much on those. You should check your GPU utilization during benchmarks. If it's already maxing out with the 9600k, the performance improvement you see with the new CPU is pretty much what you'd expect.
That sounds about right. Just so you know, Steel Nomad is a GPU-centric test, and your CPU won’t affect it much. Performance gains are often most noticeable in CPU-heavy games and higher refresh rates. If Cyberpunk is heavily GPU-focused, you may not see the kind of improvements you were hoping for. Trying different games could give you a better idea of the CPU's benefits.
How's your CPU and GPU usage looking during benchmarks? Also, check the temperatures on both. At higher quality settings like 1440p, CPU bottlenecking usually lessens, which can explain the smaller performance boost. Don’t forget to enable the EXPO profile for your RAM and keep your drivers and BIOS updated!
Thanks for clarifying! I guess that makes sense. It’s just frustrating not seeing the expected boost in Cyberpunk.