by Which CPU bottleneck the RX 5700XT? Let’s find out
Updated: Jan 31, 2023 11:02 a.m.
A 2019 release, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT still stands as a solid gaming processor today. It directly competes with the more powerful RTX 2000 series cards. But which CPU bottlenecks the RX 5700XT?
Now read: Best CPU for RX 5700XT
Although the card lacks the dedicated Ray Tracing cores found in RTX GPUs, it can still perform Ray Tracing via software. It’s even less efficient than having physical cores, of course.
Still, if we put Ray Tracing aside, the 5700XT is a very capable card. It will need an equally powerful processor to power its instructions in a timely manner and allow it to perform to its full potential.
Let’s discuss which CPUs bottleneck the RX 5700XT and which ones work well with the board.
01
Top CPU to avoid clogging the RX 5700XT
Ryzen 5 3600
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
02
Finalist processor to avoid clogging the RX 5700XT
Wax i5-10600K
Intel Core i5-10600K
RX 5700XT Specifications
Here are the specs of the RX 5700 XT:
- Stream processors: 2,560
- Core base clock: 1755 MHz
- Boost clock: 1905 MHz
- Memory clock: 1750MHz / 14 Gbps
- Memory size: 8 GB
- Memory type: GDDR6
- Bus width: 256 bits
- Power consumption: 225W
- Recommended power supply: 600W
What CPU bottlenecks does an RX 5700XT have?
The RX 5700XT is aimed at high-end 1080p gaming. It can also give you a great 1440p experience. However, you will struggle to run games at 4k resolution with this card. You can still do this, but you’ll have to compromise on the game’s graphics settings.
With that in mind, it’s best to pair an RX 5700XT with a Ryzen 3 3600 or Intel Core i5-10600, at a minimum. Go any lower and you may end up with a CPU bottleneck.
01
Top CPU to avoid clogging the RX 5700XT
Ryzen 5 3600
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
02
Finalist processor to avoid clogging the RX 5700XT
Wax i5-10600K
Intel Core i5-10600K
The processors above have just the right amount of power for the RX 5700XT to deliver its full performance. And, if you choose to boost your frame rates in competitive games, they’ll be able to keep up with the GPU, thanks to their 12 threads and 4GHz+ boost clocks.
Now, even if you want a powerful processor for the RX 5700XT, you don’t want one that’s too powerful. At most, you can pair this GPU with an i5-13400 or a Ryzen 5 7600X. Even with these processors you would have a noticeable GPU bottleneck at 1080p.
But it’s generally a good idea to give your CPU some leg room in case it suddenly needs to serve some background processes.
Why is the bottleneck a problem?
In a gaming PC, a bottleneck occurs when the CPU and GPU deliver vastly different levels of performance.
Since the two components must work together to produce the images on your screen, your frame rate is tied to the performance output of the lower of the two. The more powerful microprocessor simply waits idly while the other catches up.
So, for example, if you were to pair a 5700XT with the flagship i9-13900KS, the i9 would sit virtually unused while the 5700XT would run at 100% and still fail to keep up.
You could have gotten a much weaker processor, such as the aforementioned Ryzen 5 3600, and had the same level of performance since it’s the 5700XT that drives performance in this particular scenario.
A bottleneck is a problem because it wastes resources. Of course, you would want your build to give you the most performance at the cheapest price. To do this, you need to get a CPU and a GPU with similar performance, so that they are both fully utilized.
