Best mid-range CPU to avoid bottlenecking an RTX 5070?

Question

Ive been building my own rigs since the GTX 970 days so I usually know whats up but these new power requirements and pcie stuff have me a bit tripped up. Im definitely grabbing a 5070 when they drop next month for my 1440p setup but Im torn on the cpu. I dont wanna go overkill with an i9 or something crazy expensive since my budget for the chip is capped at like $350 max. I was looking at the 7800X3D but prices are all over the place right now and I heard some weird things about the newer intel chips. What are you guys thinking is the sweet spot for the 5070 without leaving performance on the table?

ChaiCharioteer · Accepted Answer

> I dont wanna go overkill with an i9 or something crazy expensive since my budget for the chip is capped at like $350 max. To add to the point above: honestly, if youre gaming at 1440p, the cpu matters way less than at 1080p because the load shifts heavily to the gpu. Instead of pushing your $350 limit, just grab the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 6-Core 12-Thread. It sits around $200 usually and leaves you plenty of cash for other components. People get obsessed with core counts but for gaming most titles wont see a massive diff between 6 and 8 cores right now. Another decent option is the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 6-Core 12-Thread. Its newer tech, lower power draw, and fits the budget easily. Only real downside is you lose a bit of multi-threaded speed for work stuff compared to the i7s, but for gaming it works... basically. Ngl, dont overspend on the chip when the 5070 is gonna do the heavy lifting anyway.

TrustMeBro_LLC · Answer

tbh i had issues with the new intel chips and it was super disappointing. The Intel Core i5-14600K 14-Core 20-Thread wasnt as good as expected for stability. Unfortunately the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core 16-Thread is way overpriced now. Just grab the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 8-Core 16-Thread instead for your 5070 because it actually works... TLDR: 7700X is the only reliable choice under budget.

NoirNightingale · Answer

Hey, just saw this and wanted to chime in. Quick question though... are you planning on keeping your current motherboard or are you starting a totally fresh build? Knowing if you're already on an AM4/AM5 platform or switching from Intel would really change the advice. If you're going fresh and want something reliable that wont give you any stability headaches, I'm honestly really satisfied with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 8-Core 16-Thread. Everyone focuses on the older chips but this one is a beast for a mid-range setup because:

It runs incredibly cool and doesn't suck power like the high-end Intel stuff.

You get the latest architecture which helps with the 1% lows in 1440p gaming.

It fits right in your budget and is super stable. I’ve been running it lately and it just works well. No weird crashes or thermal throttling issues to worry about when you finally hook up that 5070.