When it comes to gaming, performance and the experience we will enjoy will be determined primarily by two key components, the CPU and GPU, also known as the processor and graphics card. They both maintain in this sense an important symbiosisand it has such a weight in games that if we make a mistake in any of them, performance can be seriously affected.

It’s a topic that can get quite complicated because when we play each degree has its own requirementsand also the influence of CPU and GPU it will be different depending on the screen resolution and the graphic quality level we choose. In general, the higher the resolution and quality of the graphics, the more weight the graphics card will have and the less relevance the processor will have, and vice versa.

I have already shared with you on this topic updated guide where I explained it in detail what processor do we need for each graphics cardbut today I want to go further and share with you a selection of CPU and GPU combinations that are ideal for gaming at different resolutions and offer the optimal price-performance ratio.

I’m not going to limit myself to a specific model, I will give you alternatives from AMD, Intel and NVIDIA whenever possible, so that you have options that suit both your pocket and your brand preferences, as I am aware that some of you are always willing to make small sacrifices in the end to get components from your favorite brand. In case you have questions, you already know that you can leave them in the comments.

Previous considerations

The starting point when choosing a combination of CPU and GPU is the resolution in which we will play. For mid-range graphics cards with 1080p resolution They are already the optimal option for gaming at this resolution, and economical lower-midrange processors are more than sufficient. It is true that with more powerful processors we could achieve a little more performance, but it would require an extra investment and it is not worth it.

For 1440p Mid-range graphics cards are a fully functional option, although we will need to achieve a completely optimal experience with maximum qualities middle class model. In this case, the influence of the CPU is reduced, but it still has a lot of weight, and we should choose a mid-range model to maintain a good balance between the two components.

Finally we have 2160p resolution, also known as 4K. At this level, the CPU impact is minimal except in very specific cases, so we need to prioritize investing in top graphics card and we can easily accompany it with a mid-range or mid-range processor. For a high-end processor, we can see a slight improvement when using very powerful graphics cards such as the GeForce RTX 4090, but it will not make up for the extra investment we will have to make.

In all cases we must comply a number of basic recommendations which are exactly what I used in this guide:

• The processor must have 6 cores and 12 threads and good IPC, or 4 cores and 8 threads with very high IPC. Its use in games will depend on each specific title, but this is the minimum recommended level.
• Minimum CPU-level references would be Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Core i3-12100F.
• The processor should cost about 50% less than the graphics card. It’s a basic but very useful and functional rule for balancing these combos.
• Ideally, the graphics card has 8 GB of graphics memory in 1080p, 12 GB in 1440p and 16 GB in 2160p, although this does not mean that we cannot play in 1440p with 8 GB or in 2160p with 12 GB.
• In this selection, I gave the highest possible value for the ratio of price and performance in rasterization. Keep that in mind as NVIDIA continues to win when we factor ray tracing into the equation, as well as if we appreciate the technologies present in DLSS 3.5.

The best combination of CPU and GPU for 1080p gaming

This resolution is not very demanding at the graphics card level, which means we don’t need a very powerful GPU play in optimal conditions. At this level, the processor has more influence, but since we will be using graphics cards that are not very powerful we won’t need a high performance CPU to get the most out of them.

Budget up to 300 euros

• Radeon RX 6600 Eagle graphics card for 199.90 euros.
• Intel Core i3-12100F processor for 98.99 euros or AMD Ryzen 5 5500 for 97.99 euros.

We can play with this configuration 1080p with all guarantees for any current game, although in the most demanding titles we will have to reduce the graphic quality a little. If we decide on an Intel processor, we will have an important advantage, which is that we will be able to build a PC with DDR5 and support for the latest industry standards.

Budget up to 450 euros

• GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4060 EAGLE OC graphics card for 309.99 euros.
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor for 131.90 euros or Intel Core i5-12400F for 149.99 euros.

This configuration gives us 25% improvement in GPU performance in 1080p when rasterizing and almost 40% in ray tracing, so the additional investment of 110 euros will be worth it, especially considering that we will have access to DLSS 3.5. We will be able to play in 1080p with all guarantees even in demanding games.

The best combination of CPU and GPU for 1440p gaming

It is a resolution that greatly increases the level of demand. We can use GeForce RTX 4060 or Radeon RX 6600 to play at this level, but the experience really won’t be optimal and we will have to reduce the graphics quality and/or use scaling technologies. It would be ideal to look for graphics cards with higher performance, though The good news is that we won’t have to buy more powerful and expensive CPUs.

Budget up to 450 euros

• Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB graphics card reduced to 284.60 euros (refurbished).
• Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-12400F are more than enough.

This is a temporary offer on a refurbished model but comes with warranty and offers 14% better rasterization performance below 1440p than the GeForce RTX 4060, so it’s a very interesting configuration and we recommend it if we’re on a tight budget. The extra 4 GB of memory is also more noticeable in this resolution.

Budget up to 550 euros

• GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4060 Ti EAGLE OC graphics card reduced to 409.90 euros.
• Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-12400F, as in previous cases.

This combination gives us o 10% higher performance at 1440p compared to the Radeon RX 6700 XT if the graphics memory is not a limiting factor. This combo has other advantages, that it performs better in ray tracing, has lower power consumption and gives us access to NVIDIA DLSS 3.5, but the price to pay is higher.

Budget up to 650 euros

• XFX Speedster QICK 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card for 519.99 euros.
• Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-12400F, as in previous cases.

With this combo we will have more than enough to play at 1440p and enjoy completely optimal experience even in the most demanding games with maximum qualities. To state, in rasterization it is almost at the same level as the GeForce RTX 4070. It costs 579.90 euros in the cheapest version, so we would exceed the budget of 650 euros, but it is an option to take into account if we prefer ray tracing and also by the DLSS 3 ecosystem.

The best combination of CPU and GPU for 2160p gaming

This resolution is very demanding at the GPU level, so we need a powerful graphics card. Radeon RX 7800 XT and GeForce RTX 4070 that I mentioned in the previous section It sticks to type pretty well at 2160p resolution, So they are options to consider if our budget is very tight and we don’t want to exceed 650-700 euros between CPU and GPU.

However, if we want to achieve an optimal level of performance We’ll have to take one more step up, and that means more investment. I will give you two different options which are the best we can choose at the moment.

Budget up to 750 euros

• Radeon XFX Radeon RX 7900 GRE for 614.99 euros.
• Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-12400F, as in previous cases.

It’s a combination perfect price-performance ratio play in 2160p resolution with guarantees, because we have a GPU with excellent performance and 16 GB of graphics memory, which means that we will not come up short in any case and the performance will always be optimal even at maximum qualities in very “daring” games. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is a better choice if we are concerned about ray tracingand also for the value offered by the NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 ecosystem.

Budget up to 1,050 euros

• Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics card for 853.14 euros or MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER for 899.01 euros.
• Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-12400F, as in previous cases.

To achieve a significant jump in performance compared to the previous configuration, we need to invest a lot of money. At this resolution, the difference in performance we achieve can make a substantial difference because We are talking about up to 17% higher performance compared to the previous combination.

This can equate to a 5 to 10 FPS increasewhich in 4K is enough to distinguish between playable and non-playable and will also affect the results obtained by generating frames, especially with FSR 3, since this technology does not use AI and needs at least 60 FPS for a good result.

Other things to keep in mind to avoid mistakes

Each of these combos that we have seen in this article must be accompanied by at least 16 GB of RAM configured in dual channel, since this component can significantly affect performance and 8 GB of RAM is not enough to optimally play all current titles. . In this sense, It’s more important to get to at least 16GB than to install faster or lower latency memoryKeep this in mind if you are forced to make sacrifices.

If we build the processors I gave you for reference you won’t need very powerful cooling systemsIn fact, both run smoothly with coolers they bring from home, and only the Intel Core i3-12100F will come close to 100% utilization in games, so you don’t have to worry about spending more money on a gaming system. more powerful cooling, because it will not be essential.

Upgrading to a higher performance processor such as Ryzen 5 7600, Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Intel Core i5-13600K to name some examples, It would only make sense in very specific and concrete cases.like when we are going to fit a GeForce RTX 4090, because it is such a powerful graphics card that it can suffer from a bottleneck even in 4K, or when we will use NVIDIA DLSS or AMD FSR, because these technologies reduce the rendering resolution, which increases the impact of the CPU on performance.

I talked to you in great detail about this topic in a special where we saw how to get the most out of NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR, so I invite you to take a look at it if you haven’t had the time. However, I firmly confirm this Ryzen 5 7600 is the best choice in terms of performance and price right now for games, if we mount a high-end graphics card and use rescaling, and that In no case is it worth going for the Ryzen 7 7800X3Da solution that remains the best processor for gaming.

Note: This selection contains some links from our affiliates, but none of the products included have been designed or recommended by them or their manufacturers, but have been selected based on our own criteria.