Summary
Own a gaming PC and are thinking about upgrading your GPU? Before pulling the trigger, it’s worth checking whether you’ll be better off upgrading your CPU instead. Here’s when a CPU upgrade can be more beneficial than getting a new graphics card.
CPU Bottlenecks in Games You Play? Get a New CPU
If you’ve noticed the games you play aren’t performing at their best, and you’re on the way to the store to get a new graphics card, check performance metrics in said games before pulling the gun ona new GPU. You might discover that your CPU, not the GPU, is holding you back.
Some games are very CPU-intensive, and a new GPU won’t give you the boost in performance you’re looking for. Let’s takeKingdom Come: Deliverance IIas an example. The game isn’t super CPU-demanding outside larger settlements, but it can really push the CPU in the game’s largest city, Kuttenberg.
The screenshot below, taken in one of Kuttenberg’s busier areas, shows the game running on my previous CPU, an AMD Ryzen 5600X. As you can see, my GPU (RX 9070 XT) is poorly utilized, sitting at only 85%. You want to see at least 95% GPU utilization in games; if it’s lower, your CPU is most likely the bottleneck. On the other hand, the CPU was sitting at 66% utilization, which is quite high and could hint at having a CPU bottleneck.
After switching to aRyzen 5700X3D, my GPU utilization jumped to 99%, its power usage almost doubled, and the game now runs about 20FPS faster! On the other hand, the CPU is now less utilized, sitting at only 48%, and also running a lot cooler despite me using the sameCPU coolerwith both processors.
Something similar happened inCyberpunk 2077. In some parts of Night City with many NPCs, my old 5600X simply wasn’t up to snuff. I noticed that my GPU utilization was around 90% or lower. But when I upgraded the CPU, I gained about 10-12 frames on average, and my GPU utilization jumped to 99%.
Now, a CPU that cannot keep pace with a more powerful GPU won’t just limit your average frame rate; it can also cause CPU-induced stuttering. For example,S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2is extremely CPU-demanding, and my old 5600X was not great at running the game, resulting in constant CPU-related stutters caused by loading new assets when moving around the map on top of bottlenecking my GPU.
Upgrading to the 5700X3D didn’t solve the stutters because the game occasionally stutters even with the9800X3D, but they became less pronounced, greatly improving the overall in-game experience.
InKingdom Come: Deliverance II, the stuttering caused by my weak CPU wasn’t as prominent and didn’t really bother me, but it was there. After I got the new CPU, it completely disappeared.
If you’ve got a weak CPU that cannot keep pace with your GPU, you should see similar performance stats when running CPU-demanding games. If that’s the case, think about upgrading the CPU first.
A New CPU Can Boost Performance in Multiplayer Games
A new CPU can be a better investment than a new GPU, even if you prefer playing multiplayer games instead of single-player games that punish your CPU.
Suppose you play multiplayer games with “competitive” settings (most graphics settings set to low) applied. In that case, the burden’s on the CPU, especially in titles that are CPU-limited no matter the visual settings, such asCounter-Strike 2orValorant.
This applies to lower resolutions such as 1080p, but many esports titles can be CPU-limited even at 1440p and 4K.
So, if you aren’t satisfied with performance in your favorite multiplayer pastimes and are mulling over getting a new graphics card, check the CPU and GPU performance metrics in the multiplayer games you play. Chances are that your CPU, not the GPU, is holding you back.
Using Your PC for Other CPU-Intensive Tasks? Get a New CPU
If you use a single PC for work and gaming and earn a living with it, a new CPU might benefit you more than a new graphics card.
For example, if your work includes frequently compiling large projects, semi-pro or professionalvideo editing, complex financial or scientific modeling, CPU rendering, and other tasks where a beefy graphics card is less important than a powerful CPU, get a new CPU now and upgrade the GPU later with the extra cash you will have earned with your new CPU.
To compare how much performance you may gain by upgrading to a new CPU in photo and video editing apps, check out the Puget Systems benchmarkresults page, select the app you’re using, and then select your current CPU and the one you plan to upgrade to.
Another great source of CPU performance metric comparisons isCPU reviewsover at TechPowerUp. The outlet tests CPUs in a multitude of productivity scenarios, from video editing to media encoding to code compilation and more.
Gamer’s Nexusalso includes lots of productivity benchmarks in their CPU reviews, which are also available inwritten form.
A High-Performance Gaming CPU Costs Much Less Than a Beefy GPU
Unfortunately, the GPU market is not in a great place right now. High prices, which will most likely get even higher with tariffs, low availability with many GPUs going out of stock minutes after restocking, and a dearth of proper budget gaming GPUs all have detrimental effects on the gaming GPU market.
On the other hand, the CPU market is thriving. Even with tariffs, CPUs are more affordable than graphics cards. For example, you can get the best gaming CPU on the market, theRyzen 9800X3D, for $500. TheRyzen 7800X3D, arguably the second-best gaming CPU, can be yours for about $400.
The absolute best CPU choice for professionals in need of a powerful productivity CPU that can also run games as well as the 9800X3D, theRyzen 9950X3D, costs $699.
Better yet, outlets such as Newegg and Microcenter sell CPU, motherboard, and memory combos that allow you to switch to a current platform, like AMD’s AM5, for cheaper than what it would cost to get a mid-range graphics card.
For instance, as of time of writing,you can snaga Ryzen 9700X, a great all-around CPU, a decent AMD B650 motherboard, and 32GB of very solidDDR5 memoryfor $400. This combo can provide competitive gaming performance for half a decade.
Then there’s the Ryzen 9600X, which can keep pace with virtually every modern graphics card, no matter the resolution,selling for less than $250. Conversely, $400 can net you something like aRadeon RX 7600 XTor anRTX 5060 Ti 8GB, two overpriced 8GB cards that aren’t well suited for modern games above the 1080p resolution.
With $250 in your pocket, you’re limited to budget GPUs suited for 1080p gaming with medium settings, such as theRX 6600or theRTX 3050, the latter of which I don’t recommend getting in the first place.
The GPU market is really not that great at the moment. The best gaming-grade GPU, the NVIDIA RTX 4090, costs as much as $4000, double its MSRP. More realistic options, such as theRTX 5070 Tior theRX 9070 XT, sell for at least $900 and more than $800, respectively, with many models costing north of $1,000. These are disapointingly high prices for what should be upper-mid-range GPUs.
In other words, you’re able to get aflagship gaming CPUfor $500, while the same amount of cash can only net you a mid-range GPU suited for 1440p gaming without ray tracing, like the 16GB version of the RTX 5060 Ti.
If you’re itching to upgrade your CPU or GPU, unless your GPU is dying or cannot provide a playable experience in the games you plan, get a new CPU instead.
Sometimes, upgrading your CPU can be a better investment than a new GPU, even if you only use your PC for gaming. This is especially true if you’re an esports-focused gamer or if you use your PC for work and fun, and your workflow includes CPU-intensive apps, a new CPU is often a better upgrade option since it will literally make you more cash by reducing the time needed to finish projects.
