I upgraded my gaming setup at the start of the year, moving from a GTX 1660 Super and 8GB of RAM to an RTX 2060 and an additional 8GB of RAM, but I'm still not happy with the performance. My specs are: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 2600, a 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD, and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. I thought the new setup would run games like CS2 better, but I'm still getting similar FPS—around 100-130, and I even experience drops sometimes. I formatted my PC and transferred some games to the SSD, but that didn't help either. Could my outdated CPU be the culprit?
7 Answers
You might want to check if your RAM is compatible. The Ryzen 2000 series CPUs have had some issues with RAM mixing. Did you add RAM that matched the ones already in there? If they’re mismatched, that could cause problems too.
I get where you're coming from. I was let down when I upgraded to the RTX 2060 too—it's not the powerhouse I expected.
It sounds like you're likely hitting a CPU bottleneck. If your GPU isn't maxing out its usage (staying below 100%), it could mean your CPU can't keep up, which can make gameplay feel stuttery even if the FPS looks decent. Upgrading to something like a Ryzen 5 5600 or 5800 would likely improve performance substantially.
Exactly! I had a similar issue when I upgraded my GPU but kept an older CPU. The framerates were okay, but the gameplay felt choppy. Switching to a stronger CPU smoothed everything out.
It’s time to think about upgrading more than just your GPU. Having only 16GB RAM isn’t enough for modern games, so aim for 32GB. After that, you should definitely plan your next CPU upgrade to something like a Ryzen 7, which will help a ton!
Your CPU does seem to be holding back your system, plus having only 16GB RAM isn’t ideal these days. If you can swing it, go for 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and definitely consider an upgrade to a better processor, like the 5800X3D for solid performance. And don't forget to check if your RAM sticks are matched for speed and latency!
Good call on checking the BIOS for RAM settings! Having mismatched RAM can lead to performance hiccups.
I think your CPU is definitely outdated, paired with that GPU. If you can, aim for a full system upgrade in the future to keep up with demands!
Honestly, I’d recommend swapping that CPU out for a Ryzen 5 5600. It’ll make a big difference, and while you're at it, consider getting a B450 or B550 motherboard for better support and features.
I wouldn't stress about changing motherboards just yet; that might be overkill if your current one is working fine.
Also, keep in mind that your GPU and CPU are from the same generation, so it should work well together—it’s just that the CPU might be a bottleneck.