CPU and GPU pairings

Does the Core i7-4790K bottleneck the RTX 3060?

At 1080p, the processor holds the graphics card back in most games. At 1440p, the two are well matched. At 4K, the graphics card sets the pace, by a wide margin.

Intel Core i7-4790K with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

  1. 1080p

    The processor holds this card back in most games

    The processor can prepare about 70% of the frames this card could draw.

  2. 1440p

    Well matched

    Neither waits much for the other: some games will lean on the processor, others on the graphics card.

  3. 4K

    The graphics card sets the pace, by a wide margin

    The processor could keep up with a graphics card about 70% faster.

The processor clearly holds this card back only at 1080p. At 1440p the two are close, and at 4K the graphics card sets the pace, so a faster processor would pay off mainly at 1080p.

  • The RTX 3060 is sold with 8 GB or 12 GB of graphics memory. With 8 GB, some recent games need their texture quality lowered at 1440p and 4K, and a few at 1080p. Stutter and textures loading late are the sign.

An estimate for a typical game at high settings. Strategy, simulation and large multiplayer games lean on the processor more; lower settings and upscaling do too.

Change either part in the calculator

Does your PC deliver this?

Before buying a faster processor, make sure your PC gets what it should from the one it has: a setting left wrong can cost as many frames as the upgrade would add. On a PC with these parts, Bottleneck checks, free:

  • Memory at its rated speed, in dual channel. Games held back by the processor lose the most when memory runs slower than it should.
  • The monitor’s refresh rate. A 144 Hz monitor left at 60 Hz holds every game to 60 frames a second.
  • Heat. A processor or graphics card that slows down to stay cool falls short of these figures.

Then play a game while it measures, and it tells you which part really set the pace, and for what share of the frames: measured on your PC, where this page can only estimate.

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Processors that keep up with the RTX 3060

Current processors that keep the RTX 3060 from waiting at 1440p, starting from the least powerful step up from the Core i7-4790K.

Power supply

A 450 W power supply covers this pair: at full load the Core i7-4790K, the RTX 3060 and the rest of the PC can draw up to about 340 W. The power supply page for the RTX 3060 has the size with other processors.

More pairings

How this is worked out

Each part gets one figure for games from the reference dataset the Bottleneck app uses to judge the hardware it measures, and the two are compared at each resolution. The calculator explains the model; this page is its answer for the Core i7-4790K and the RTX 3060. It is an estimate from the part names: memory speed, settings, heat and the monitor decide what a real PC delivers.