The two-minute test
Start the game you play most. Turn on a performance overlay: on Windows, the Game Bar with Win+G; on Steam, the one in the settings menu. Play for a couple of minutes somewhere ordinary and watch the graphics card usage percentage.
- At 95% or more: the card has nothing left. Change the card.
- Between 60 and 80%, with the frame rate short of what you want: the card is waiting for the processor. Change the processor.
- Under 100% but with the frame rate pinned at 60 or 144: you have a frame cap or vertical sync switched on. There is nothing to change.
If you want to do it more carefully, the guide on how to identify a bottleneck walks through four methods.
Three machines, two options each
| Machine | Swap | AAA | Esports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 5 3600 GTX 1660 SUPER | As it is | 36 | 189 |
| Processor → Ryzen 5 5600 | 36 (=) | 234 (+24%) | |
| Graphics card → RTX 5060 | 64 (+78%) | 219 (+16%) | |
| Core i5-12400F RTX 3060 12GB | As it is | 54 | 314 |
| Processor → Core i5-14600K | 54 (=) | 369 (+18%) | |
| Graphics card → RTX 5070 | 95 (+76%) | 349 (+11%) | |
| Core i7-8700K RTX 3070 | As it is | 72 | 232 |
| Processor → Ryzen 7 9700X | 72 (=) | 442 (+91%) | |
| Graphics card → RTX 5070 | 87 (+21%) | 232 (=) |
Average FPS at 1080p with 16 GB of memory, estimated by our engine.
What the three cases say
In all three, the new processor leaves AAA games exactly where they were, without a single extra frame. These cards were already flat out, and a faster processor only makes them wait less for work they cannot do any quicker.
The new card does change things: 78% more in the first machine and 76% in the second. The third is the interesting one. With the RTX 5070 it climbs to 87 FPS, but that card does 97 with a current processor. The i7-8700K is now falling short, and there the answer is card first, processor afterwards.
Now look at the esports column, which tells the opposite story. In Counter-Strike 2 or Valorant any card has room to spare and the processor is in charge. In the third machine, swapping the processor nearly doubles the frame rate and swapping the card moves nothing.
When the processor goes first
- You mostly play esports and have a 144 Hz or faster monitor you cannot fill.
- The test above shows low graphics card usage.
- Your processor has four cores, or predates 2018, and you notice hitching even though the average frame rate is good.
- You already have a fast card, an RTX 5070 or better, and you play at 1080p.
In every other case, the card.
What to buy in each case
RTX 5060
$380A card for 1080p. It is the one in the first example: 64 FPS in AAA games where a GTX 1660 SUPER does 36.
CHECK PRICERX 9070
$700A card for 1440p. It performs like the RTX 5070 in the examples and costs $157 less.
CHECK PRICERyzen 5 5600
$157A processor if you have an AM4 board. It drops into the same board and uses the memory you already own.
CHECK PRICERyzen 5 9600X
$185A processor if you are coming from an older Intel and changing the board anyway. Budget for an AM5 board and DDR5 memory as well.
CHECK PRICEAffiliate links: we earn a small commission at no cost to you. Full disclosure
Prices: what each product page on Amazon.com asked on 30 September 2026, before sales tax. They move every week.
FPS: our engine's estimates, not our own measurements. The average of five AAA games at high settings, native resolution, no upscaling. How far off the engine is
The full lists, with every option and its price, are in which graphics card to buy and best CPU for gaming.
Two things to check before you pay
The power supply. A new card can ask for more watts than your current unit provides. The power supply guide has the figure for every card.
The memory. If you have a single stick of RAM, adding the second costs less than either part and gives up to 25% more in some games. Do that before anything else.
Run the numbers on your own machine
Put your processor and your graphics card into the calculator. It tells you which of the two is the limit and how much you would gain from changing each.
Common questions
Should I upgrade my CPU or GPU first for gaming?
The graphics card, in most cases. In the three machines we worked through, swapping only the processor added zero frames in AAA games. The processor goes first if you play esports on a fast monitor, or if graphics card usage sits well under 100% while you play.
How do I know if my CPU is holding back my GPU?
Open a performance overlay while you play and look at graphics card usage. At 95% or more, the card is the limit. If it sits at 60 or 70% and the frame rate is short of what you want, the limit is the processor.
Is a CPU upgrade worth it for 1440p gaming?
Rarely. At 1440p the card works harder and the processor matters less. A Core i7-8700K from 2017 with an RTX 5070 gives the same 70 FPS in AAA games as a new processor. At 1080p that same machine does lose out: 87 FPS instead of 97.