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Best CPU for your graphics card

Pick your card to see the processors that keep up with it at each resolution.

What "no bottleneck" means here

A graphics card can only show its full speed if the processor feeds it frames fast enough. If the processor is too slow, the card waits, and you pay for performance you never see. This tool picks the processors that keep the CPU and GPU within about 10 percent of each other, so neither one wastes the other.

The pairing depends on resolution. At 1080p the graphics card finishes frames quickly, so the processor matters most. At 4K the card does far more work per frame, so a mid-range processor is plenty. That is why the lists differ for 1080p, 1440p and 4K.

How to use the list

Pick your graphics card and read the list for the resolution you play at. The first entry is the cheapest processor that avoids a bottleneck; the entries after it cost more and give you headroom. Spending more than the first two or three entries rarely buys frames at that resolution.

If you already own a processor, check it against the card on the bottleneck calculator instead. And if you are buying a whole new system, remember that the cheapest listed processor on an old socket can cost more over time than a slightly better one on a platform you can keep upgrading.

Examples

A typical case: a Ryzen 5 5600 with an RTX 4070 is balanced at 1080p and limited by the card at 1440p and 4K, which is the healthy way round. The same chip with an RTX 4090 is held back by about half at 1080p and by 36 percent at 1440p, and only balances at 4K. A Core i5-12400F with an RTX 4060 is limited by the card at every resolution, so the processor has room to spare. The tool shows these results for any card, so you can see where a pairing starts to lose speed before you buy.

Limits of this tool

The picks come from our performance index, which is an estimate, and from launch prices, which are not what you will pay today. Games differ too: strategy and simulation titles lean on the processor far more than most shooters, so if those are what you play, step up one entry.

Questions

Do I need the fastest processor for a high-end graphics card?

Not at 1440p or 4K, where the graphics card does most of the work. At 1080p a high-end card does wait on the processor, so there a faster chip does help.

What happens if my processor is too slow for my graphics card?

The graphics card idles part of the time and your frame rate is lower than the card can deliver. You also get more stutter, because the processor misses frames in busy scenes. The bottleneck calculator estimates the loss.

Does the processor matter more for some games?

Yes. Strategy, simulation, large open worlds and big multiplayer games ask a lot of the processor. Many shooters and racing games ask less. If you play the first group, pick the second or third entry from the list.

Why are some listed processors older models?

The list shows every processor in our table that avoids a bottleneck for that card, from the cheapest up. Older chips are often the best value if you already own a compatible motherboard. Chips from before 2017 are left out.