Cheapest cpu to pair with rtx 2070 or rtx 2080 for 4k60

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silverwolf0

Gawd
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Jan 14, 2004
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The most important component for gaming is the graphics card and the second is the cpu. But since 4k60 is heavily gpu bottlenecked and the cpu is usually sitting there not doing much, what is the cheapest cpu you can buy that can still handle the load for "most" games at 4k60? (ignoring the handful of cpu intensive games). 4k capped at 60fps and no higher. Cheapest cpu to pair with the rtx 2070? What about the rtx 2080?
 
Grab a Ryzen 5 or 7 second gen and don't look back. Although with third gen Ryzen just around the corner, I would wait for that.
 
Wrong understanding about bottleneck and about CPU usage thinking the CPU will sit doing nothing at 4K... 4K@60FPS will still require more CPU resources than let's say 1080P@60FPS, because there are many graphics elements in a game that actually require CPU horsepower that scale linearly with resolution, but I won't go deep on this right now. if you wanna go in the cheap route for the CPU I'd say go with an AMD ryzen machine, a 2600X would do a great job at 4K.
 
you can choose between ryzen 5 and ryzen 7 but as you said cheapest then ryzen 5 will be my recommendation
 
Araxie said:
Wrong understanding about bottleneck and about CPU usage thinking the CPU will sit doing nothing at 4K... 4K@60FPS will still require more CPU resources than let's say 1080P@60FPS, because there are many graphics elements in a game that actually require CPU horsepower that scale linearly with resolution, but I won't go deep on this right now. if you wanna go in the cheap route for the CPU I'd say go with an AMD ryzen machine, a 2600X would do a great job at 4K.
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Completely wrong. The lower the res, the more CPU intensive the game becomes. Its why Kyle (and many others) only bench CPU performance @ 1080p and LOWER. Try to find CPU benchmarks to prove your point and you will be hard pressed to find any in 4k.
 
What motherboard are you currently running? Would make better financial sense to upgrade what you have than buy MB and CPU if you have a legitimate upgrade path currently.
 
amenx said:
Completely wrong. The lower the res, the more CPU intensive the game becomes. Its why Kyle (and many others) only bench CPU performance @ 1080p and LOWER. Try to find CPU benchmarks to prove your point and you will be hard pressed to find any in 4k.
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false... you are GPU bottleneck First at 4K? yes, that doesn't automatically mean CPU will be doing less task at 4K than 1080P.. CPU test made at low resolutions with lowest settings are meant to rule any possible GPU effect on the test and keep consistency on it, that again, doesn't mean at 4K the CPU doesn't work. you are absolutely wrong if you think at 1080P@60hz a cpu will be doing more task and being more CPU intensive than 4K at the same 60hz.. beyond game logic, physics, Audio and IA, there are graphic settings that are handled by CPU and scale linearly with the resolution as being LOD, draw distance (this is a huge CPU role), some Shadows mipmapping, SSAO have effects on CPU also (as a mere example), Decals, polygons, depending on the game, Dynamic Lighting/Shadows and some reflections.. most (if not all) of those settings scale linearly with resolution and of course depend on the game, not all game behave the same, there are reasons why some games are more CPU intensive than others (GTA5, Watch dogs 1/2, KCD, ME:A, and so on..) so, again: yes, you are first GPU limited at 4K that doesnt mean CPU will be doing nothing or less work than 1080P or 480P.
 
amenx said:
Completely wrong. The lower the res, the more CPU intensive the game becomes. Its why Kyle (and many others) only bench CPU performance @ 1080p and LOWER. Try to find CPU benchmarks to prove your point and you will be hard pressed to find any in 4k.
Click to expand...
You're both wrong. Some games are CPU-bound regardless of the resolution (see: Civilization 6). Some games aren't. Some games need more than four threads (see: recent Ubisoft), but don't fully tie up the CPU.

To answer the OP's question, I'd go with a Ryzen 5. You could also maybe look at used HEDT setups, like X99. If you find someone wanting to get rid of his 5820K/mobo/ram as a set, I could see that being cheaper than buying a new Ryzen 7/motherboard and ram. My 5820K still seems to be more than adequate for most games.
 
The games I play at 4k are 100% CPU limited. If I can get above 90fps, I'll play at a high refresh rate.

Fallout 4/Skrim mods
Kerbal Space Program
Sins of a Solar Empire
Supreme Commander
ARMA 2 & 3
Far Cry 5 Editor
Space Engineers
Total War
GTA V Mods

these are a few examples.
 
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