[quacker]

Well, but you want to spend money on the GPU if you care about gaming.

Consider these two builds:

1. Ryzen 5 2600 ($150) + RTX 3070 ($500) for $650

2. i5-10900k ($280) + RX 5700XT ($330) for $610

The first build with the RTX 3070 is far better. The RTX 3070 buys you into 1440p high/ultra @ 90+ FPS, or 4k med/high @ 60+ FPS. Will the 2600 bottleneck that GPU? Maybe, but you still get better performance for the price by investing in the GPU versus the CPU.

[BoorishBears]

Who said anything about cutting GPU performance?

Also your comparisons are quite poor... 2600 shouldn't even be in the running here, the 3070 would be held back from doing the thing it does best, high FPS 1440p (in actual games mind you, not just CS:GO)

[quacker]

I mean, you said I should waste my money on a CPU upgrade that would make no difference in 1440p gaming. That's money I can't spend on a better GPU, which would make a difference in 1440p gaming.

[BoorishBears]

You realize you're mentioning a 2600 right? Which will place a tremendous limit on 1440p gaming?

My suggestion over the included build is spending $10 more on the build and getting a 10600K.

Silicon Lottery has found 100% of 10600ks will do 4.7 Ghz sustained all core.

Even at that number it will easily out perform a 3600 in a meaningful way. Over 70% of them do 4.9 Ghz which where it starts to reach i9 levels of performance in gaming by the way...

-

And the cherry on top over the 3600 is you can actually buy the i5 outside of Microcenter. Microcenter is the only place carrying the 3600 for $180... but they also have 10600k on perma-sale for $250.

Meanwhile outside of Microcenter the 3600 is rarer than hen's teeth while the 10600k is widely available at $270. I happen to have 5 microcenters within an hour or so of me, but most people don't have that luxury.

[quacker]

A 2600 + RTX 3070 will outperform a 10600k + 5700XT in 1440p gaming. You're way overestimating how much a 2600 would bottleneck the GPU.

[BoorishBears]

Making a wrong statement confidently doesn't making true.

[quacker]

Benchmarks:

Ryzen 5 2600 + RTX 3070[1]

    80 FPS - Ghost Recon: Breakpoint 1440p / Very High
    78 FPS - Horizon Zero Dawn 1440p / Ultimate
    72 FPS - Red Dead Redemption 2 1440p / High
    115 FPS - Death Stranding 1440p / Very High
    220 FPS - Doom Eternal 1440p / Ultra
    124 FPS - Resident Evil 3 1440p / Max
    75 FPS - Gears 5 1440p / Ultra

i7-10700k + RX 5700XT[2] (I couldn't find benchmarks for an i5-10600k with this GPU from the same source. The 10700k should be as good or better than the i5 though)

    67 FPS - Ghost Recon: Breakpoint 1440p / Very High
    73 FPS - Horizon Zero Dawn 1440p / Ultimate
    70 FPS - Red Dead Redemption 2 1440p / High
    111 FPS - Death Stranding 1440p / Very High
    185 FPS - Doom Eternal 1440p / Ultra
    104 FPS - Resident Evil 3 1440p / Max
    77 FPS - Gears 5 1440p / Ultra

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkQuyRIbWpI

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzSxytXsiTc