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Quick Answer
The Ryzen 5 5600X causes a minor bottleneck with the RTX 4070 at 1080p, limiting performance by roughly 10-15% compared to a Zen 4 CPU. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 5-8%. This is still a viable pairing, but Zen 3 is showing its age with high-end GPUs.
The Ryzen 5 5600X was the king of mid-range gaming CPUs in 2021. While it remains a solid processor, it is starting to show limitations when paired with powerful GPUs like the RTX 4070.
At 1080p, where CPU performance matters most, the 5600X leaves some performance on the table:
At 1440p, the GPU becomes the limiter and the difference shrinks significantly:
If you are on AM4, the best upgrade is the 5800X3D, which eliminates the bottleneck entirely. If building new, go with the Ryzen 5 7600 on AM5 for better performance and a future upgrade path.
Our Verdict
The 5600X works with the RTX 4070 but leaves 10-15% on the table at 1080p. If you play at 1440p, the bottleneck is minor and tolerable. For a new build, choose a Zen 4 CPU instead.
No, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D does not bottleneck the RTX 4080 at 1440p or 4K. The 3D V-Cache gives this AM4 CPU gaming performance that rivals Zen 4 chips. At 4K, it performs identically to the 7800X3D. At 1440p, expect only a 3-5% gap.
The best budget CPU for the RTX 4060 is the Intel Core i5-12400F at around $150 AUD. It delivers 93-95% of the gaming performance of more expensive CPUs with zero bottleneck at 1080p. The Ryzen 5 5600 at $160 AUD is an equally good AMD alternative.
The Ryzen 5 5600 may cause a minor bottleneck with the RX 7800 XT at 1080p, limiting performance by about 8-12% compared to a Zen 4 CPU. At 1440p, the bottleneck drops to 3-5% and becomes negligible. This is still a solid pairing for most gamers.