I currently have an ASUS Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 V2 OC Edition 12GB GDDR6 GPU, but I'm using an Intel i3 10105F CPU, and it feels like it's holding my GPU back. I'm looking for recommendations for CPUs that would work well with my GPU and eliminate any potential bottleneck without spending a fortune. Any advice?
4 Answers
Your decision really depends on your budget. What led you to think that you’re experiencing a bottleneck?
You could upgrade to the best CPU your current motherboard can handle, but that might not be the best long-term investment. LGA1700 CPUs are pretty cheap now, and you could get a whole new CPU and motherboard combo for a similar price. I just picked up a 12600KF and a decent B760M board for about $220. If you have a Microcenter nearby, a Ryzen 7600X bundle might even go for around $269!
If you prefer to stick with Intel, the i5-12400F or i5-13400F would be great choices that won’t break the bank and should eliminate any bottlenecks with your 3060. If your current motherboard only supports older Intel chips, the i5-11400F or i7-11700F are good upgrades that don’t require switching platforms. On the AMD side, the Ryzen 5 5600 or 5700X would be excellent, but you'd need a new motherboard and possibly different RAM if you go DDR5.
For an easy upgrade, you might want to consider an Intel i7-10700 or 10900. They can pair nicely with your 3060 and will give you solid performance. If you plan to upgrade your motherboard as well, the AMD options could be worth a look too.
Thanks for those suggestions! I'll check out the i5 options you mentioned.