Question Will RX 7800 XT be bottlenecked by i5 9600K at 1440p?

[crazyx3]

I currently have a RTX 2060 paired with i5 9600K on Asus Z390-F motherboard and a 2k monitor. I want to upgrade to a 7800 XT but I suspect I will be bottlenecked by my CPU. The obvious route is to upgrade my CPU as well but if I do I'll have to change my motherboard too because of different sockets which would put me way overbudget. So can anyone tell me how much of a bottleneck will my i5 cause at 1440p and if it's worth it to upgrade?

 

[Order 66]

How much of a budget do you have?

 

[USAFRet]

I currently have a RTX 2060 paired with i5 9600K on Asus Z390-F motherboard and a 2k monitor. I want to upgrade to a 7800 XT but I suspect I will be bottlenecked by my CPU. The obvious route is to upgrade my CPU as well but if I do I'll have to change my motherboard too because of different sockets which would put me way overbudget. So can anyone tell me how much of a bottleneck will my i5 cause at 1440p and if it's worth it to upgrade?

What is your definition of "bottleneck"?

Putting in a better part (the GPU) does not make the system run slower.

 

[crazyx3]

What is your definition of "bottleneck"?

Putting in a better part (the GPU) does not make the system run slower.

I meant CPU util at 100% and GPU not reaching 100% while gaming

 

[crazyx3]

How much of a budget do you have?

around $500

 

[USAFRet]

I meant CPU util at 100% and GPU not reaching 100% while gaming

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

In fact, it is VERY rare to have both of those at "100%".

 

[crazyx3]

I apologize if I sounded confusing. What I meant to say was low GPU utilization due to underperforming CPU

 

[USAFRet]

I apologize if I sounded confusing. What I meant to say was low GPU utilization due to underperforming CPU

And again, "low GPU utilization" is not necessarily a bad thing.

For games, the CPU gives the framerate, the GPU provides the eyecandy.


The CPU will continue to give up whatever framerate it is doing now.
A better GPU may allow you to increase the graphics level.